318 REGULATION OF COMMONS. 
position of a Common might appear to be, there would 
always, on investigation, be found common rights 
sufficient to prevent inclosure. Itis to be regretted that 
in this case the discovery of rights was not made in time 
to claim restitution of the fifty acres inclosed before 1865. 
The example of the regulation of Hayes Common 
was followed in 1871 and 1872 by schemes for the 
regulation of Blackheath, Shepherd’s Bush Common, 
and the Hackney Commons, under the conservancy of 
the late Metropolitan Board. Blackheath, consisting of 
267 acres, is one of the most valued of the London 
Commons. It immediately adjoins Greenwich Park, 
and is the playground of the great population which 
has grown up near it. For many years the now 
popular game of golf was played on this heath, when 
it was quite unknown elsewhere in the south of England. 
The Blackheath Golf Club claims to date from the 
time of James I., and to be one of the oldest clubs 
in the United Kingdom. The Earl of Dartmouth, 
the owner of a large property in the neighbourhood, 
now nearly covered by houses, was the Lord of the 
Manor, and very readily gave his consent to the scheme, 
which has put the Common under the permanent pro- 
tection and management of the authorities of London. 
The case of the Hackney Commons differs in many 
respects from those of most of the London Commons. 
They consist of the Hackney Downs, of 40 acres, the 
London fields, of 27 acres, the Hackney Marshes, by 
the side of the river Lea, of 337 acres, and a few 
smaller areas. The first two of these open spaces are 
