BURNHAM BEECHES. 271 
of Commons as a member of the Society, from the year 
1866 to the end of his life. 
Nothing more was heard of Burnham Beeches till 
1879, when on the death of Lady Grenville’s successor 
to the property, the Manor with its Common and the 
beautiful beeches, together with 175 acres of freehold 
land adjoining, was offered for sale by public auction, 
separated from the great Janded estate, of which it had 
for some years been a part, and which was possibly to 
some extent a security that the Common would not be 
inclosed. 
In the particulars of sale, the common rights, 
existing over the Common, were represented to be few 
and unimportant, and expectations were held out that 
the purchaser would be able to inclose. At all events, 
there was danger that a wanton purchaser might do so, 
and might cut down the celebrated beeches, or otherwise 
interfere with the beauties of the place. The attention 
of the Commons Society and of the Kyrle Society was 
directed to the subject ; inquiries were made as to the 
common rights, and bearing in mind Mrs. Grote’s 
account of the manner in which Lady Grenville had 
endeavoured to get rid of these rights, it was thought 
very desirable that all danger to the Common should 
be removed by the purchase of it by some _ local 
authority, in the interest of the public. Negotiations 
were entered into with the vendors, and a refusal was 
obtained for the property at an agreed price for a week. 
The subject was then brought under the notice of 
the Corporation of London, which had recently obtained 
