90 WIMBLEDON COMMON. 



duel with Colonel Lennox , and it was here also that 

 Lord Cardigan killed Captain Tuckett in a similar 

 affair of honour. 



The Manor of Wimbledon, in early times, formed 

 part of the much larger Manor of Mortlake, which 

 also included the Manors of Putney and Barnes. The 

 Manor of Mortlake appears to have been granted 

 by Edward the Confessor to the See of Canterbury. 

 It was one of the many Manors belonging to that 

 See which Odo, the fighting Bishop of Bayeux and 

 Earl of Kent, took from the Archbishop. It was, 

 however, recovered by Archbishop Lanfranc, in 1071, 

 in the assembly of Nobles at Pinenden Heath, near 

 Maidstone. It remained in possession of the See of 

 Canterbury until Archbishop Cranmer exchanged it 

 with Henry VIII. for other estates. The King soon 

 after granted the Manor, with its extensive and valuable 

 demesne lands, to Sir Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, 

 who, from having been the son of a blacksmith at 

 Putney, may be supposed to have highly valued this 

 mark of Royal favour. On the attainder of Cromwell, 

 in 1540, the King settled the Manor on Queen 

 Catherine Parr for her life. Queen Mary gave it to 

 Cardinal Pole, but it reverted again to the Crown ; 

 and Queen Elizabeth granted it to Sir Christopher 

 Hatton, who sold the Manor House to Sir Thomas 

 Cecil, the second son of Lord Burleigh. The Manor 

 appears to have reverted to the Queen, who, in 1590. 

 granted it to Sir Thomas Cecil. Cecil was created 

 Earl of Exeter by James I. He settled the Manor 



