MALVERN HILLS. 173 



to the public, and to remove several fences and 

 erections. 



In 1882, an inclosnre was attempted of one of the 

 Commons, not part of the Hills, but adjoining them, 

 and included in the limits of the old chase. An action 

 was brought in the County Court of the district to 

 abate this inclosure, by Mr. Henry Lakin, an old 

 inhabitant of Malvern. The judge of the Court, Sir 

 Rupert Kettle, an able lawyer, after long argument, 

 recognised the old right of common over all the wastes 

 of the ancient chase, without distinction of parish or 

 manor boundaries, and ordered the fences to be removed. 

 His judgment proceeded on the same lines as that of Sir 

 Greorge Jessel in the Epping case. The decision greatly 

 facilitated a general arrangement. 



The Malvern Committee, under the guidance of Mr. 

 Edward Chance, and, after his untimely death, of Sir 

 Edmund Lechmere, Bart., M.P., a large landowner in 

 the neighbourhood, then negotiated with the Lords of 

 Manors of the district, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 

 and others. Ultimately the consent of all was obtained 

 to a general settlement of the question, and to the 

 regulation of all the Commons forming the Malvern 

 Hills, under a special Act of Parliament passed in 1884. 

 The Act places the control and management of the 

 Hills under a body of Conservators, partly elected by 

 the vestries of surrounding parishes, and partly nomi- 

 nated by the Lords of Manors therein. This fine 

 range therefore is safe from all future encroachments, 

 and is free for the enjoyment of the public. 



