1852: 15 Victoria c.29: Enclosure of Kennington Common

1852: 15 Victoria c.29: An Act to empower the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings to inclose and lay out Kennington Common in the County of Surrey as Pleasure Grounds for the Recreation of the Public.

[17th June 1852.]

‘WHEREAS His Royal Highness Albert Edward Prince of Wales, Duke of Saxony, Duke of Cornwall and Rothsay, Earl of Chester, Carrick, and Dublin, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Great Steward of Scotland, is seised, in right of His Duchy of Cornwall, of the Lordship of the Manor of Kennington in the Parish of Lambeth in the County of Surrey, of which Two Pieces or Parcels of Land situate in the said Parish, and usually called or known by the Name of Kennington Common, together with a small Piece of Land near thereto, usually called or known as the Pound of the Manor of Kennington, and a small Piece of vacant Land adjoining such Pound in the said Parish, are Parcel: And whereas the said Pieces or Parcels of Land are now open and uninclosed, and it has been represented to Her Majesty, by the Council of His said Royal Highness, that it would tend greatly to the Comfort and Benefit of the Inhabitants of the District in the Neighbourhood of the said Common if the same were inclosed and laid out as Pleasure Grounds for the Recreation and Enjoyment of the Inhabitants of the said District, and others resorting thereto, subject to such Regulations as may be necessary for preventing Nuisances and improper Practices therein, and for that Purpose that the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings should be incorporated as herein-after mentioned, and should have and be invested with such Powers of purchasing Lands, stopping up and diverting Roads, and of improving the Lands to be inclosed as are herein-after contained or referred to: And whereas the said Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings caused a Map or Plan of the said intended Improvements to be made, and which Map or Plan has been signed by the Chairman of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, to whom this Act was referred:’ May it therefore please Your Majesty, His said Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall assenting thereto, that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same.

I. That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings for the Time being, and they are hereby authorized and empowered, with the Consent of the Lord High Treasurer, or of the Commissioners of the Treasury for the Time being, to inclose the said Common and Pieces of Land, and lay out the same as public Pleasure Grounds, and to carry the Purposes of this Act into execution in manner hereinafter mentioned, and according to such Map or Plan as aforesaid.

II. That for the Purposes of this Act, and of all Matters and Things hereby authorized to be done under the Authority of this Act, the said Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings for the Time being (and herein-after called the Commissioners) shall be and they are hereby constituted a Corporation by the Name and Style of “The Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings,” and by that Name for the Purposes aforesaid shall and may have perpetual Succession, and use a Common Seal, to be by them from Time to Time altered as they shall think fit, and shall and may sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, and take and hold Lands and Hereditaments to them and their Successors for ever, for the Purposes of this Act.

III. That the said Map or Plan, after the same shall have been authenticated in Duplicate by the Signature of the flight Honourable the Speaker of the House of Commons, shall be deposited in the Office of the Commissioners, and in the Office of the Duchy of Cornwall, and the Map or Plan so deposited shall remain at the said Offices, to the end that all Persons may at all seasonable Times have Liberty to inspect and peruse the same, at their Will and Pleasure, paying the Sum of One Shilling for every such Inspection.

IV. That from and immediately after the passing of this Act the said Common and Pieces or Parcels of Land shall become and be absolutely vested in the Commissioners, their Successors and Assigns, freed and discharged from all Rights of Common and all other Rights whatsoever, for the Purposes of this Act, and during such Time only as this Act shall continue in force.

V. That for the Purpose of making, forming, and completing the said Inclosure, as shown on the said Plan, and for effecting the Purchase of the Toll House after mentioned, the Commissioners and their Successors shall have such and the same or the like Powers, Authorities, and Privileges of purchasing and taking Lands, and as regards Exemption from Stamp Duties, as in and by an Act passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the Ninth and Tenth Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, intituled An Act to empower the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Woods to form a Royal Park in Battersea Fields in the County of Surrey, are given to the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works, and Buildings, for the Purpose of or with reference to the Formation of the Park therein specified, and in all respects as if the same were herein repeated and made applicable to the Commissioners hereby incorporated; and also that all Powers authorizing incapacitated Persons to contract and convey m the said Act contained shall extend to the Toll House with its Appurtenances to be taken under this Act, and to the Persons or Bodies entitled thereto or interested therein.

VI. That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners to lay out and plant the said intended Inclosure, and to drain and otherwise improve the same, and from Time to Time to keep the same and the Fences thereof in good and sufficient Repair, and to erect and build any Lodge or Lodges or other ornamental Buildings thereon, and to keep the same in good and sufficient Repair, and to employ Gate or Lodge Keepers, and all other necessary Persons for the Order and Management of the said Inclosure, and to make and form convenient Approaches to the same Inclosure, in such Manner in all respects as they may deem suitable and proper, and shall allow the same, when so inclosed, laid out, and improved as aforesaid, to be used and enjoyed as Pleasure Grounds for the Recreation and Enjoyment of the Public, under such Orders and Regulations for preventing Nuisances and improper Practices, and for opening and closing the Gates of the said Inclosure, or any of them, at such Hours or otherwise as the Commissioners may from Time to Time prescribe, and for appointing Keepers and other Officers to preserve Order therein, and for the general Management thereof in all respects, as the Commissioners shall from Time to Time deem expedient; and for effecting any of the Objects of this Act it shall be lawful for the Commissioners to accept private Subscriptions from Persons willing to contribute towards making the aforesaid Inclosure and otherwise carrying into execution the Powers of this Act.

VII. That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners to stop up a Portion of the Public Highway or Road intersecting the South-western End of Kennington Common aforesaid known as the Brixton Road, as the same is described in the said Map or Plan as being proposed to be stopped up and diverted, and to divert the same as in the said Map or Plan, and also to alter, widen, and improve the public Highway or Road called the Camberwell New Road at or near its Junction with the Clapham Road in the said Parish of Saint Mary Lambeth within the Limits marked out in the said Map or Plan, in such Manner as the Commissioners shall think fit, and to inclose such Parts of the said Lands not wanted for the said Roads in all respects as is shown by the said Plan, but so that such Diversion and Inclosure shall not be made until the new or substituted Road shall be made and fit for Use, and opened to the Public.

VIII. That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners to purchase, pull down, and remove the Toll House and Toll Grate, and the Site thereof, situate in the Clapham Road aforesaid, adjoining the said Common; and in case the same shall be so purchased the same shall not be pulled down until the Commissioners shall have erected and built a new Toll House and and Gate at or near the Junction of the said intended Diversion of the Brixton Road with the Clapham Road aforesaid.

IX. That it shall be lawful for the Commissioners to stop up, divert, widen, or alter all or any of the Roads, Ways, Paths, or Passages, Sewers, Pipes, Drains, or Watercourses which now lead into, upon, through, across or over any Part or Parts of the Site or intended Site of the said intended Inclosure, and to set out and make such other Roads, Ways, Paths, or Passages, Sewers, Drains, or Watercourses, as to the Commissioners may seem fit and necessary; and that as well the Ground and Soil of such Portion of the said Brixton Road as the Commissioners are herein-before empowered to stop up and divert as aforesaid, as the Ground and Soil of such Roads, Ways, Paths, or Passages, Drains or Watercourses, as, under the Authority of this Act, shall be stopped up, and the Fee Simple and Inheritance thereof respectively, shall be and the same are hereby vested in the Commissioners and their Successors for the Purposes of this Act, freed and discharged from all Estates, Rights, and Interests whatsoever.

X. Provided always, That the Commissioners shall not stop up or interfere with the said Portion of the public Road or Highway intersecting the End of Kennington Common aforesaid before they shall have caused the said intended Diversion of the same Road to be made and completed.

XI. Provided always, That if the said Inclosure shall at any Time hereafter cease to be maintained as Pleasure Grounds for the Recreation and Enjoyment of the Public, the same shall thereupon revert to His said Royal Highness, His Heirs and Successors, as Parcel of the Possessions of the Duchy of Cornwall, and be subject to the same Limitations, Powers, and Authorities, in every respect, as the other Lands and Possessions of the said Duchy, and in the same Manner as if this Act had not been passed; without Prejudice to any Roads or Ways made, stopped up, or diverted under the Powers of this Act.

Source: Collection of Public General Statutes 1852.

Further reading: History Workshop.