ROWLEY GREEN. 227 



of Common for the other Commoners. Fortunately, 

 however, within a few weeks after the inclosure 

 which was the cause of this action, the Copyhold Act 

 of 1887 was passed into law, a clause of which as will 

 be fully explained later has practically made it im- 

 possible for Lords of Manors to avail themselves in the 

 future of such customs, with any chance of success. 



No similar inclosure is ever likely to take place 

 hereafter, and Rowley Green, it may be confidently 

 expected, will be safe from any further aggressions of 

 this kind. Under these circumstances it did not seem 

 to be worth while to incur the heavy costs of an appeal 

 to the House of Lords, in respect of a matter which, 

 important as it was before the Copyhold Act of 1887, 

 was no longer a serious question, and which affected only 

 the inclosure of a plot of land not exceeding half an 

 acre in extent. 



The two cases, however, of Tollard Farnham and 

 Rowley Green, decided as they were by Common Law 

 Judges, confirmed the view which the Commons Society 

 formed at the commencement of their proceedings, that 

 such cases are far better dealt with by the Equity 

 Judges, who do not seem to be so closely bound by 

 technicalities, and who have a wider range of knowledge 

 of the older law relating to Commons and Customs. 



p 2 



