Editing Berkhamsted (section)

====Land dispute: ''The Battle of Berkhamsted Common''====

The ''Battle of Berkhamsted Common'' played an important part in the preservation of common land nationally.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge-estate/documents/map-of-bobc-walk.pdf | title=The Battle of Berkhamsted 150th Anniversary Walk | publisher=[[National Trust]] | access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref> After 1604 the former Ashridge Priory became the home of the Edgerton family. In 1808–1814 [[Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater]], demolished the old priory, and built a stately home, [[Ashridge|Ashridge House]]. In 1848 the estate passed to the Earls Brownlow, a branch of the Egerton family.{{sfn|Sanecki|1996|p=none}}

In 1866, Lord Brownlow of Ashridge House (encouraged by his mother, [[Marian Alford|Lady Marian Alford]]) in an action similar to many other large estate holders tried to [[enclosure|enclose]] Berkhamsted [[Common land|Common]] with {{convert|5|ft|m|1|adj=on}} steel fences (built by Woods of Berkhamsted) in order to claim the land as part of his family's estate. In response to the enclosure action and in defence the historic right of the public to use the ancient common land, [[Augustus Smith (politician)|Augustus Smith]] MP and [[George Shaw-Lefevre]] organised local people and 120 hired men from London's East End to dismantle the fences on the night of 6 March, in what became known nationally as the Battle of Berkhamsted Common.{{sfn|Birtchnell|1988}}<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.hertfordshirelife.co.uk/home/herts_history_the_battle_of_berkhamsted_1_4455536 | title=Herts History: The Battle of Berkhamsted | publisher=Hertfordshire Life | date=14 March 2016 | access-date=27 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge-estate/whats-on/the-battle-of-berkhamsted-common | title=The Battle of Berkhamsted Common | publisher=National Trust | access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref><ref name='NatTrust'>{{cite web|title=Marian Alford|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/belton-house/features/lady-marian-alford-1817-1888|publisher=[[National Trust]]|access-date=15 January 2020}}</ref>

Lord Brownlow brought a legal case against Smith for trespass and criminal damage, Smith was aided in his defence by [[Robert Hunter (National Trust)|Sir Robert Hunter]] (later co-founder of the [[National Trust]] in 1895) and the [[Commons Preservation Society]]. [[John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly|Lord Justice Romilly]] determined that pulling down a fence was no more violent an act than erecting one. The case, he said, rested on the legality of Brownlow's action in building the fence and the legal right of people to use the land. He ruled in favour of Smith. This decision, along with the [[Metropolitan Commons Act 1866]], helped to ensure the protection of Berkhamsted Common and other open spaces nationally threatened with enclosure. In 1926 the common was acquired by the National Trust.<ref name="commons">{{cite news|title=Mr. Shaw-Lefevre on the Preservation of Commons|newspaper=The Times|date=11 December 1886|page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ashbrook|first=Kate|url=http://commons.ncl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kate-Ashbrook.pdf|title=Modern commons: a protected open space?|access-date=24 October 2014|archive-date=10 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410010041/http://contestedcommons.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kate-Ashbrook.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/more-news/exhibition-and-commemorative-walk-marks-anniversary-of-battle-to-save-berkhamsted-common-1-7006636 | title=Exhibition and commemorative walk marks anniversary of battle to save Berkhamsted Common | publisher=Johnston Publishing Ltd. | work=Hemel Gazette | date=12 October 2015 | access-date=14 October 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313202936/http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/more-news/exhibition-and-commemorative-walk-marks-anniversary-of-battle-to-save-berkhamsted-common-1-7006636 | archive-date=13 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref>