MALVERN HILLS. 173 
to the public, and to remove several fences and 
erections. 
In 1882, an inclosure was attempted of one of the 
Commons, not part of the Hills, but adjoining them, 
and included in the limits of the old chase. An action 
was brought in the County Court of the district to 
abate this inclosure, by Mr. Henry Lakin, an old 
inhabitant of Malvern. The judge of the Court, Sir 
Rupert Kettle, an able lawyer, after long argument, 
recognised the old right of common over all the wastes 
of the ancient chase, without distinction of parish or 
manor boundaries, and ordered the fences to be removed. 
His judgment proceeded on the same lines as that of Sir 
George Jessel in the Epping case. The decision greatly 
facilitated a general arrangement. 
The Malvern Committee, under the guidance of Mr. 
Edward Chance, and, after his untimely death, of Sir 
Edmund Lechmere, Bart., M.P., a large landowner in 
the neighbourhood, then negotiated with the Lords of 
Manors of the district, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 
and others. Ultimately the consent of all was obtained 
to a general settlement of the question, and to the 
regulation of all the Commons forming the Malvern 
Hills, under a special Act of Parliament passed in 1884. 
The Act places the control and management of the 
Hills under a body of Conservators, partly elected by 
the vestries of surrounding parishes, and partly nomi- 
nated by the Lords of Manors therein. This fine 
range therefore is safe from all future encroachments, 
and is free for the enjoyment of the public. 
