BERKHAMSTED COMMON. 59 
when creating him Duke of Cornwall, and from that 
time, till a few years ago, the property was an appanage 
of the Duchy of Cornwall, but for many years past it 
was leased to the owners of Ashridge, with a special 
reservation of the Commoners’ rights. 
The adjoining domain of Ashridge was from an 
carly date the property of the Earls of Bridgewater, 
and on the death of the last of this line (the Duke of 
Bridgewater), came into possession of Earl Brownlow, 
the grandfather of the present owner. So long as the 
Manor and its Common were vested in the Duchy of 
Cornwall, there was little danger of inclosure. In an 
evil time, however, and in pursuance of an unwise 
policy, the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall, in 1862, 
was induced to sell their estate to the Trustees of the 
late Lord Brownlow, for the sum of £143,000. These 
Trustees wanted the Common, not for the purpose 
of turning it into cultivated land, but as an addition to 
Ashridge Park. They had no sooner become possessed 
of the manorial rights of Berkhamsted, than they com- 
menced a series of proceedings, with the object of 
getting rid of the Commoners and inclosing the Com- 
mon. ‘Their first act was to negotiate with the people 
of Berkhamsted for the substitution of a metalled and 
shorter road for the grass drive which traversed the 
whole length of the Common from north to south, and 
which formed the means of communication between 
the town of Berkhamsted and the districts north of 
the Common. The consent of the vestry of the parish 
was obtained for this; but apparently they were left 
