SOUTH LONDON PARKS 157 



seen at night, at one time scared the neighbourhood, 

 and enticed the adventurous. The only historical 

 incident, connected with the fields, is the duel fought 

 there in 1829 between the Duke of Wellington and 

 the Marquess of Winchelsea ; the latter having person- 

 ally attacked the Duke during the debates on the 

 Catholic Emancipation Bill. The Duke aimed his 

 shot through his adversary's hat, who then fired in 

 the air, and the affair of honour was thus settled. 

 Battersea Fields were approached, in those days, by the 

 old wooden Battersea Bridge which had superseded 

 the ferry; the only means of communication till 1772. 

 The present bridges at either corner of the Park have 

 both been built since the Park was formed. 



Like Victoria Park, Battersea was administered 

 with the other Royal Parks, in the first instance. The 

 Act of Parliament giving powers to the "Commis- 

 sioners of Her Majesty's Woods" to form the Park 

 was passed in 1846, but so much had to be done to 

 the land, that the actual planting did not begin until 

 1857. The ground had all to be drained, and raised, 

 and a proper embankment made to keep out the river. 

 Just at this time the Victoria Docks were being exca- 

 vated, and the earth dug out of them was conveyed 

 to Battersea. Places were left, to form the shallow 

 artificial lake, mounds raised, to make the ground round 

 the water undulating, and the rest of the surface of 

 the Park levelled. Altogether about a million cubic 

 yards of earth were deposited in Battersea Park. The 

 extent is 198 acres, and from the nature of the 

 ground, except the artificial elevations near the lake, it 

 is quite flat. The design was originally made by Sir 

 James Pennethorne, architect of the Oflice of Works, 



