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NATURE NOTES 
Passengers by the main line of the Brighton Railway must be well acquainted 
with a particularly fine group of old oaks by which the train passes between 
Croydon and Caterham. Not quite so near the railway, but crowning a ridge of 
down a short distance to the east, is an equally fine cluster of beeches. One is 
tempted to imagine that both the Purley Oaks and the Purley Beeches must be 
survivals of some considerable tract of natural woodland. Purley, indeed, seems 
to have been nothing more than an “estate,” though an estate of importance, 
about which hangs a curious literary interest. Towards the end of the eighteenth 
century the estate was brought by William Tooke, who hairpened to be a friend 
of John Horne, better known to posterity as Horne Tooke. Mr. William Tooke 
had troubles with the lord of the manor of the district, one Thomas de Grey. 
Mr. de Grey seems to have been an arbitrary gentleman ; for, failing to score any 
success over his neighbour by litigation, he applied to Parliament for authority to 
make extensive enclosures of common lands and fields in Norfolk and Surrey. 
This proposal Mr. Tooke thought to be very prejudicial to his interests. He 
complained that the ordinary procedure applicable to an Enclosure Bill had not 
been followed, and urged the House of Commons to delay the passage of the Bill. 
A deaf ear was turned to his pleadings, and he saw himself about to be “deprived 
of a large portion of his estate, which was chiefly valuable on account of his right 
to fatten sheep on the neighbouring downs.” In his extremity he applied to 
Horne, and that gentleman hit upon the humorous expedient of libelling the 
Speaker ! A short philippic in one of the most prominent papers of the day 
brought Mr. Horne to the Bar of the House, where he delivered an eloquent 
defence of his conduct, comprising, presumably, a denunciation of De Grey’s 
Enclosure Bill. The device was completely successful. Mr. Horne suffered 
nothing more serious than a few days’ detention by the Serjeant-at-Arms, and the 
Bill was deprived of its obnoxious character. The friendship between Horne and 
Tooke was naturally cemented by the services thus rendered. Horne became a 
constant resident at Purley, and here he amused himself with the curious etymo- 
logical disquisitions which were eventually published as “The Diversions of 
Purley,” the author about the same time assuming the name of his friend and 
being adopted as his heir. 
Satisfactory as were Horne Tooke’s efforts to prevent enclosure in the eigh- 
teenth century, Purley has long since lost its commons. Its downs have been 
parcelled out, but have retained their general character of open country until 
recently. The enormous growth of Croydon has, however, of late years reached 
the neighbouring parish of Sanderstead, and houses are fast covering the Purley 
Downs. In these circumstances some public-spirited residents are endeavouring 
to save for the neighbourhood its most characteristic feature, the Purley Beeches. 
A beautiful bit of woodland it is. 
* * * * * * • * 
The whole wood extends to little more than thirteen acres. The owner has 
offered to make it over to the public for the sum of .£5,400, which is but half its 
building value. It is proposed that the parish of Sanderstead, the rateable value 
of which is advancing by leaps and bounds, should find the bulk of this money 
(£4,000) by a rate of 2d. in the pound. This is the utmost that Sanderstead can 
do, for the rating powers of parish councils are small; the balance of £1,400 
must be raised from outside, if the Beeches are to be saved. Croydon one would 
naturally expect to assist, but the rates of Croydon are abnormally high, the 
ratepayers have taken alarm, and at the moment it is useless to ask Croydon for 
anything. Private subscriptions have so far produced £430, nearly £1,000 is 
still wanting. An appeal to the Surrey County Council is in progress, and it 
would certainly 1 be a very proper act on the part of that body to facilitate the 
preservation of a feature of the county which is at the same time so beautiful and 
so unusual. 
Swiss Alpine Plants — an Appeal. — We have received the 
following appeal from the Ligue pour la Beaute recently established 
in Switzerland. 
May I be allowed to call the attention of members of the Selborne Society 
to the harm done to the Swiss flora by the numerous English visitors, who uproot 
