46 



Hurst Hill are further to the east and beyond our radius. It will 

 therefore be seen that the Charts all stand on the hills immediately 

 adjacent to, but beyond the confines of, the Weald. 



It is common knowledge that soon after the Norman conquest the 

 ruling monarchs took possession of large tracts of forest land for 

 hunting, holding them as royal forests. The forest laws which 

 applied to these royal forests were very severe, and the people of the 

 districts affected were thus deprived of rights that they had formerly 

 enjoyed ; they were also oppressed in many other ways. This 

 afforesting, as putting the land under the forest laws was called, 

 caused such intense dissatisfaction locally that Richard I was com- 

 pelled to disafforest large tracts lying to the south of the North 

 Downs and to the east of the River Wey, and it seems very probable 

 that the portions we now know as the Charts were included. Under 

 King John there was again a strong inclination to re-afforest many of 

 these parts, but a confirmation of Richard I's Charter was obtained. 

 Then followed some years of controversy between the Crown and the 

 people as to which particular tracts of land were to be held as royal 

 forests and which were to be given over to the people for the enjoy- 

 ment of their rights, resulting, during the thirteenth century, in the 

 granting of numerous charters, and it is by no means improbable that 

 one of these had special reference to the district under our notice. 

 That being so, it is only natural that those who, originally less 

 favoured than their neighbours in the Weald, had, by the afforesting 

 of their commons, been deprived of many of such rights and privi- 

 leges as they formerly had enjoyed, should, on regaining them, 

 desire to hand down to posterity a record of their success. The 

 naming of the lands in question " Charts," as signifying that the re- 

 gained rights and privileges had been certified by charter would bean 

 appropriate memorial of their victory. The fact that these commons 

 were wooded would soon lead to that meaning being attached to the 

 term in a general sense — i. e. chart, a wooded common. 



One word of warning in conclusion. It must not be assumed that 

 because the inhabitants of the district have certain rights over the 

 charts the public at large possess equal rights, or, indeed, any rights 

 at all over them, and it should be remembered that when we, as 

 members of the general public, roam over these fair lands without let 

 or hindrance, we do so by courtesy, not by right. The property in 

 the common land belongs to the lord of the manor, who, under 

 certain conditions, has rights of enclosure, and, as a matter of fact, 

 some portions of the Charts have recently been enclosed, but, on the 

 other hand, some other parts have been made common land in 

 perpetuity, largely through the action of that ever vigilant body, the 

 Kent and Surrey Committee of the Commons and Footpaths 

 Preservation Society, and so long as the Association is adequately 

 supported in the good work that they have undertaken we are un- 

 likely to be deprived of free access to any large portions of these 

 pleasant hunting-grounds. 



