92 WIMBLEDON COMMON. 



ihe two daughters of the Duke of Marlborough. 

 Spencer's son was created Viscount Althorpe and Earl 

 Spencer, and from him the Manor descended in direct 

 line to the present owner. 



The late Earl, who died in 1857, sold Wimbledon 

 Park, the demesne land of the Manor, consisting of 

 1,200 acres, together with the Manor House. He is said 

 also to have offered to sell the Manor itself for 6,000. 

 His son, the present Earl, inherited the Manor, with 

 its manorial wastes of Wimbledon Common, Putney 

 Heath, and two smaller open spaces, East Sheen 

 Common and Palewell Common, but without much 

 adjoining property. He was also the Lord of the 

 Manors of Battersea and Wandsworth, in which are 

 the Common of Wandsworth and part of that of 

 Clapham. 



What we know generally as Wimbledon Common 

 consists of about 1,000 acres, of which 730 are, 

 strictly speaking, waste of the Manor of Wimbledon ; 

 200 acres are in the Manor of Putney, separated by 

 the Kingston Eoad ; and about seventy acres are waste 

 of the Manor of Battersea and Wandsworth . 



The Rolls of the Manor date from the time of 

 Edward IV., and, with a few breaks, are tolerably perfect 

 till very recent times.* Till 1728 they were written in 

 Latin. They are replete with interesting facts, bearing 

 on the condition of the Manor and the rights of its free- 



* Extracts from the Rolls of this Manor were printed by the 

 Committee of Wimbledon Commoners in 1886, and form a bulky 

 volume. 



