324 REGULATION OF COMMONS. 
consisting of about 200 acres, in about equal parts 
in the Manor of Clapham and in that of Battersea 
and Wandsworth, was, in the beginning of this century, 
little better than a morass, till the late Mr. Christopher 
Baldwin, a resident on the Common, used his influence 
to form a committee of residents to manage it, and to 
drain and plant it. In consequence of this, it became 
one of the best ordered and most beautiful of the 
London Commons. In 1877, on the application of this 
committee, and with the consent of the Lords of the 
two Manors, it was placed under a regulation scheme, 
with the Metropolitan Board as conservators, £18,000 
being very unnecessarily paid for the manorial rights. 
Beyond the limits of the London County Council, 
but within the Metropolitan Police area, the district to 
which the Act of 1866 applied, there are very numerous 
Commons, with an aggregate of more than 7,700 acres, 
exclusive of Epping Forest. Of these, 17 Commons, 
with an area of about 3,500 acres, have been placed under 
regulation schemes, including Staines Common, 353 
acres ; Chislehurst, 116; Hayes, 200; Banstead, 1,300; 
Mitcham, 570, and others. Of these it may be worth 
while to mention the case of Mitcham, as an illustration 
of the difficulties arising from the uncertainty as to the 
persons entitled as Lords and Commoners. 
The history of Mitcham Common, which formerly 
contained nearly 900 acres, but which has been reduced 
to 570 acres, is very remarkable, and the Common, it is 
believed, stands in an unique position. The Common 
originally lay in the parishes of Mitcham, Beddington, 
