326 REGULATION OF COMMONS. 



of Mitcham and their Commoners, with respect to in- 

 cisures, but the great uncertainty as to the boundaries 

 of the Manors made it difficult to resist. In 1535, 

 a hundred acres were inclosed by the Lord of the 

 Manor of Beddington, and 200 acres were inclosed in 

 1820. In 1882 the Lord of the Manor of "Wellington 

 commenced to assert his right to inclose a small portion 

 of the Common. The Commoners and inhabitants 

 determined to oppose. Mr. Bidder, Q.C., a resident in 

 the district, put himself at the head of the movement, 

 and brought a suit in the usual form to restrain the 

 inclosure, alleging his rights over Mitcham Common. 

 Owing, however, to the extraordinary conflict of evi- 

 dence in the early and late records, it was impossible to 

 show conclusively that the piece inclosed was part of 

 this Common, and the Court held that the plaintiffs had 

 failed to establish their case. 



Looking at all the documents dispassionately from 

 1086 to the present day, one is almost driven to the 

 conclusion that this fine tract of Common never formed 

 part of the possessions of any Manor. It appears that, 

 in very early times, the King held all of the Manors 

 interested, and granted them out without any specific 

 reference to the Common, and also granted out smaller 

 tracts of land in the same parishes as those in which the 

 Manors were situated. The consequence may have been 

 that the Common was retained as a Crown possession, 

 or, perhaps, was looked upon as public property, or 

 " folk-land," upon which all the neighbouring land- 

 owners might exercise common rights. 



