318 REGULATION OF COMMONS. 



position of a Common might appear to be, there would 

 always, on investigation, be found common rights 

 sufficient to prevent inclosure. It is to be regretted that 

 in this case the discovery of rights was not made in time 

 to claim restitution of the fifty acres inclosed before 1865. 



The example of the regulation of Hayes Common 

 was followed in 1871 and 1872 by schemes for the 

 regulation of Blackheath, Shepherd's Bush Common, 

 and the Hackney Commons, under the conservancy of 

 the late Metropolitan Board. Blackheath, consisting of 

 267 acres, is one of the most valued of the London 

 Commons. It immediately adjoins Greenwich Park, 

 and is the playground of the great population which 

 has grown up near it. For many years the now 

 popular game of golf was played on this heath, when 

 it was quite unknown elsewhere in the south of England. 

 The Blackheath Grolf Club claims to date from the 

 time of James I., and to be one of the oldest clubs 

 in the United Kingdom. The Earl of Dartmouth, 

 the owner of a large property in the neighbourhood, 

 now nearly covered by houses, was the Lord of the 

 Manor, and very readily gave his consent to the scheme, 

 which has put the Common under the permanent pro- 

 tection and management of the authorities of London. 



The case of the Hackney Commons differs in many 

 respects from those of most of the London Commons. 

 They consist of the Hackney Downs, of 40 acres, the 

 London fields, of 27 acres, the Hackney Marshes, by 

 the side of the river Lea, of 337 acres, and a few 

 smaller areas. The first two of these open spaces are 



