328 REGULATION OF COMMONS. 



scheme for the inclosure of Epsom Downs and Epsom 

 Common. The subject was carefully inquired into by 

 the Committee of 1865. The Steward of the Manor, 

 and the promoters of the inclosure, gave strong evidence 

 as to the expediency of this course, and as to the exclu- 

 sive interest of the Lord of the Manor. On the other 

 hand, there was evidence of a powerful local feeling to 

 the contrary. The Committee reported against the in- 

 closure, and the scheme was defeated. Since then, the 

 relations of the Lord of the Manor, the Commoners, and 

 the inhabitants of Epsom, have been in a state of tension, 

 aggravated by the position of the Grand Stand Asso- 

 ciation, who claim certain rights in respect of the 

 annual races held on the Downs, by virtue of a lease 

 from the Lord of the Manor. 



A course of petty encroachments has been pursued 

 by the Lord of the Manor, intended to confirm his claim 

 to an absolute ownership of the land. In 1888 a Com- 

 mittee of Commoners, including Lord Rosebery, the 

 owner of an adjoining property, commenced a suit 

 against the Lord of the Manor and the Grand Stand 

 Association. This suit was stayed pending an applica- 

 tion to the Agricultural Department for a scheme for 

 regulating the Common. On their part the Board of 

 Agriculture have declined to proceed with a regulating 

 scheme so long as the suit is undetermined. A deadlock 

 has consequently ensued. It is to be hoped that one 

 result of the Banstead scheme will be to remove the 

 difficulties respecting a scheme for Epsom Common. 



Under the Act of 1876 there have been schemes 



