MALVERN HILLS. 171 
Malverne.” The Forest was on the same footing as 
that of Epping, in the sense that the waste or common 
lands were claimed by the Lords of the thirteen Manors 
of the district, the Crown enjoying only forestal rights 
over them, and over the inclosed lands adjoining. 
The earliest reference to the Forest in extant docu- 
ments is a grant by Henry III, a.p. 1228, to the Monks 
of St. Mary of Malvern, of inclosures in the Forest. 
Edward I. granted the Forest to Gilbert de Clare, Earl of 
Gloucester, on marriage with his daughter Joan, where- 
upon the Forest became, technically speaking, a chase- 
The chase passed subsequently through the hands of 
the Despencer family and that of the Earl of Warwick. 
It afterwards reverted to the Crown, and so remained 
till the reign of Charles I. 
Charles sold his interest in it to the Dutch engineer, 
Cornelius Vermuyden, with the understanding that it 
should be disafforested. The attempt to effect this 
gave rise to fierce disputes between the Grantee, the 
Commoners, and the Lords of Manors. For long the 
“countrie remained verie untractable,”’ to use the 
language of one of the proceedings of the time. The 
outcome was that one-third of the waste lands was 
given to Vermuyden, in lieu of the forestal rights 
of the Crown, the other two-thirds being left to 
the Lords of the Manors and their Commoners, and to 
form the open Hills of the present day. It appears that 
the small holders of land, at the time of the disafforest- 
ing, attached great value to their rights over the 
Commons. In one of the many suits between the 
