308 VILLAGE GREENS, 



marked circular camp, corresponding to that on Cadbury 

 Hill, on the other side of the marshy valley which 

 stretches from Clevedon to Portbury; and those who 

 climb the hillside to reach the level ground are rewarded 

 by a splendid view. The villagers of Walton-in- 

 Gordano set great store on their Common Hill as their 

 place of recreation. The turf is close and soft and 

 springy, as it always is on the tops of these limestone 

 hills, and the sheep and horses of the Commoners kept 

 the grass always short. The Common is in the Manor 

 of Walton, which is vested in the Trustees of Sir C. 

 Miles, the owner of Leigh Court, who is also owner of 

 most of the land in the parish. 



The Lord of the Manor had from time to time 

 bought up any land for sale in the parish, with the 

 object of extinguishing the rights of common ; and a 

 series of'aggressions took place, in the shape of inclosures 

 of parts of the Common. The object apparently was to 

 convert the Common into a game preserve. The 

 villagers, tenants of the owner, who had been in the 

 habit of turning out animals to graze on the hill, were 

 warned not to do so, and so far as they were concerned, 

 the warning was equivalent to a command, as they had 

 but two alternatives, namely, to submit or to leave the 

 parish. A considerable fringe of the Common was in- 

 closed and planted. Barbed wire fences were erected 

 across it. Thorns were planted in various parts of it. 

 The footpaths over the hill were blocked up. A large 

 portion of the Common was stocked with rabbits, and 

 the shooting on it was let. 



