324 REGULATION OF COMMONS. 



consisting of about 200 acres, in about equal parts 

 in the Manor of Clapham and in that of Battersea 

 and Wandsworth, was, in the beginning of this century, 

 little better than a morass, till the late Mr. Christopher 

 Baldwin, a resident on the Common, used his influence 

 to form a committee of residents to manage it, and to 

 drain and plant it. In consequence of this, it became 

 one of the best ordered and most beautiful of the 

 London Commons. In 1877, on the application of this 

 committee, and with the consent of the Lords of the 

 two Manors, it was placed under a regulation scheme, 

 with the Metropolitan Board as conservators, 18,000 

 being very unnecessarily paid for the manorial rights. 



Beyond the limits of the London County Council, 

 but within the Metropolitan Police area, the district to 

 which the Act of 1866 applied, there are very numerous 

 Commons, with an aggregate of more than 7,700 acres, 

 exclusive of Epping Forest. Of these, 17 Commons, 

 with an area of about 3,500 acres, have been placed under 

 regulation schemes, including Staines Common, 353 

 acres; Chislehurst, 116 ; Hayes, 200 ; Banstead, 1,300 ; 

 Mitcham, 570, and others. Of these it may be worth 

 while to mention the case of Mitcham, as an illustration 

 of the difficulties arising from the uncertainty as to the 

 persons entitled as Lords and Commoners. 



The history of Mitcham Common, which formerly 

 contained nearly 900 acres, but which has been reduced 

 to 570 acres, is very remarkable, and the Common, it is 

 believed, stands in an unique position. The Common 

 originally lay in the parishes of Mitcham, Beddirjgton, 



