BANSTEAD COMMONS. 189 
they form a range of open land of the utmost value to 
London, the most bracing district within easy reach of 
it, from which salubrious breezes reach the crowded 
valley below, unaffected by any impurities. 
Banstead Down, the second in size of these four 
Commons, lies immediately above the populous and 
growing suburb of Sutton. Banstead Heath, the 
largest, adjoins Walton Heath, which is in a separate 
parish and manor. Between them lie the Park Down and 
Burgh Heath—the one a range of open land near to 
the woods of Banstead Park, the other a small but 
picturesque area, nearly covered with gorse and bracken. 
The Parish of Banstead consists of 5,528 acres, and 
is conterminous with the Manor of Banstead, and its 
dependent Manors of North and South Tadworth, 
Preston, Great Burgh, and Southmerfield. The earliest 
mention of the Manor of Banstead is in Domesday 
Book, which informs us that it was in the hands of 
the Bishop of Bayeux, and held of him by the Earl of 
Clare. It is probable that at some time in the reign 
of Edward the Confessor, the whole Parish was held by 
the King, and that subsequently it was divided into 
the several Manors above described. 
The Manor of Banstead passed, in 1195, into the 
hands of Mabel de Mowbray, wife of Nigel de Mow- 
bray; and in 1223 into those of Hubert de Burgh, 
Earl of Kent, who secured a grant of Free Warren 
in Banstead from the King. In 1273 it reverted by 
exchange for other land to Edward I., and thence- 
forward remained in the possession of his successors 
