82 
NATURE NOTES 
Metropolitan Commons Act of 1875, did not, unfortunately, cease with that event. 
Events have marched rapidly since, two years ago, indignation meetings were 
held at Mitcham, to protest against the action of the Conservators in prosecuting 
certain men for turning their animals out to graze upon the Common. To be brief, 
I may say at once that the prosecutions have ceased. In the last case, the 
magistrates found that a bona fide claim of right of pasturage had been made out, 
not only for the commoners, but for the inhabitants of Mitcham, and they con- 
sidered that their jurisdiction was thus ousted. No appeal was made by the 
Conservators to a higher Court, the Chairman very candidly telling the members of 
that body that he did not consider it would be worth their while doing so. 
But the matter did not end there. A storm had been raised, and though the 
prosecutions had dropped, the subject could not be left where it was. 
A statement of the history of the Common since the Conservators were first 
appointed was demanded in the Croydon County Council, and this has recently 
been published. It is a document of very great interest. Of course, the whole 
trouble has been caused by the manner in which the Golf Club has been allowed 
almost to monopolise nearly 400 acres of the Common. In the Council Report, the 
whole history of the leases, or licences, to the Club has been made public. The 
Club is in the position of owning the rights, for what they are worth, of two of the 
lords of the manors, whilst the Conservators own the remainder. When the 
Mitcham Common Supplemental Act of 1890 was passed, there was something of 
a race as to who should buy up the various lords’ rights the soonest, with the 
result as mentioned. 
The Golf Club was granted a lease which will not expire until 1930, on the con- 
dition that they transferred their rights as lords of manors to the Conservators, the 
latter to have the option at the end of that period of paying compensation to the 
amount of ;^2,500, or of continuing the licence. The terms of the agreement 
have been vigorously attacked in Croydon, and the County Council has ordered a 
further enquiry, which will undoubtedly have far-reaching effects. 
The Selborne Society is naturally interested in all matters pertaining to open 
spaces, and this one is easy of access and comparatively near to South London. 
The Common has an interesting flora, and a good deal of it is in a wild condition 
of Nature. The laying-out of golf-greens tends to spoil its picturesqueness, and it 
is undoubtedly time to arrest the development of golf-playing there. 
The Golf Club pays a rent of ;^25o per annum to the Conservators, and it has 
been slated that no similar ground could be had elsewhere so near to London for 
less than a £ i ,500 rent. The Croydon County Council has now demanded a further 
enquiry. Its scope is very wide, and will include the determination of the legal 
rights of the manor lords, commoners, the inhabitants of Mitcham and Croydon, 
and the general public. It will judge of the validity or otherwise of the licence to 
use the ground which the Golf Club now holds. This is the most important 
of all. It is also to consider under what terms the licence could be revoked, 
even if the licence be determined as holding good in law. 
Members of our Society in Croydon and .Streatham are watching keenly the 
events which are taking place in regard to this Common, owing to their local 
interest in the matter. But the enquiry is also being watched in other parts 
of London, and when complete, it will have a permanent value in the eyes of 
those who resent the extinction or loss of jHiblic rights on common lands. 
A Correction. — Mr. R. Garraway Rice, I'.S.A., writes to us 
in reference to the report of liis lantern exhiliition at the Town 
Hall, Haverstock Hill, on February 28, in which it is stated that 
his purpose was “ to indicate the disadvantages of the camera 
as an aid to archaeological research.” This, of course, should 
have been “advantages.” “ I shall be obliged,” says Mr. Garra- 
way Rice, “ if you will insert this correction in your next issue, 
for when I exhibit slides of buildings, N'c., of archaeological 
interest, it is my invariable practice to point out the great 
‘ advantages ’ of the camera as an aid to archaeological research.” 
