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CHAPTER V. 
Brrx HAMSTED Common. 
Te next case of Inclosure which came under the 
notice of the Commons Society—one of the most 
important, not merely as regards the interests of the 
public, but even more so in respect of the legal issues 
involved—was that of Berkhamsted. This Common, 
with an area of about 1,150 acres, is one of the finest 
tracts of open land in the South of England. It is 
distant from London about twenty-five miles, and is 
very accessible by railway. The town of Berkhamsted, 
of about 7,000 inhabitants, lies immediately to the south 
of it. The Common stretches thence to the north and 
west along an elevated ridge, for nearly three miles in 
length, by half a mile or a mile in breadth. Its green 
turf is interspersed with gorse, bracken, and furze 
bushes, and there are many clumps of fine beech-trees. 
It is, in fact, a natural park of great beauty. It is 
bounded on the east by the splendid domain of 
Ashridge, with its Deer Park, eight hundred acres in 
extent, the property of Lord Brownlow. 
In very early times Berkhamsted Manor, with its 
Castle, its demesne lands, and Common, the latter 
originally consisting of 1,450 acres, was the property 
of the Crown. Edward the Third, in 1346, granted 
his interest in it to his son, Edward the Black Prince, 
