WANDSWORTH COMMON. 101 



allowed to take 60 acres for the purpose of* an Asylum 

 and its grounds. What remains of the Common, in its 

 trisected and shorn condition, is still of considerable 

 value to the residents in the neighbourhood. When 

 the Committee was formed to contest the views of Lord 

 Spencer's lawyers about Wimbledon, the attention of 

 the Commoners of Wandsworth was directed to their 

 legal position. 



In 1870, a Committee for the protection of the 

 Common was formed, at the instance of Sir Henry Peek, 

 who offered 1,000 if the inhabitants would collect 

 4,000 for a suit against the Lord of the Manor to 

 determine the rights of the Commoners. A great part 

 of the money was collected, but when the Wimbledon 

 dispute was arranged, it was ascertained that Lord 

 Spencer was disposed to make a similar arrangement 

 about Wandsworth, and an agreement was soon come 

 to with him. 



Under the Wandsworth Common Act, 1871, the 

 Common was assigned to Conservators, elected by the 

 Ratepayers of the Parish, in consideration of an annuity of 

 250, secured to Lord Spencer on the rates, based on his 

 average income from the sale of gravel. The principle 

 of Betterment referred to in the Wimbledon case was 

 not adopted in the Wandsworth scheme. There arose, 

 in consequence, an agitation among the ratepayers of that 

 part of the parish which is remote from the Common, 

 against the charge for its maintenance; and in 1887 

 the Metropolitan Board of Works obtained legislative 

 powers for relieving the Parish of the charge, and 



