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upon such order being issued, to apply to the Bishop of London
for a faculty to enable the Vestry to lay the said ground out as a
Public Recreation Ground under and pursuant to the Metropolitan
Open Spaces Act, 1881.
The consent of the Vicar had not been received at the close
of the year with which this report deals.
DISUSED BURIAL GROUND, CHURCH STREET.
A communication was received from the Metropolitan Public
Gardens Association in July, 1889, calling attention to the vacant
land in Church Street which until it was disused served as a burial
ground in connection with an adjoining chapel, and stating that if the
Vestry would secure the same as a recreation ground for the inhabitants
and would guarantee to maintain it in future as a public open space
the Association would be pleased to lay out the ground in the first
instance. The subject was referred to the General Purposes Committee
for consideration with the result that negociations were entered into
with the Solicitors to the owner of the property, but as no satisfactory
arrangement could be arrived at for the purchase of the ground, owing
to the excessive value set upon it by the owner, the Vestry on the
recommendation of the Committee decided to take no further action
in the matter.
HIGHBURY FIELDS.
In February 1890, the attention of the Vestry was called to the
fact that Highbury Lodge with five acres of land containing some
fine old elm trees was for sale. A deputation of residents in Highbury
Hill and the vicinity waited upon the Vestry in the early part
of March to urge the desirability of acquiring the estate which was
then advertised for sale by public auction for the purpose of adding the
same to Highbury Fields. TheVestry appointed a special Committee to
ascertain the price and whether the London County Council would be
prepared to contribute towards it. The Committee had an audience of
the North-Eastern Sub-Committee of the Parks and Open Spaces Committee
of the Council upon the subject, which, after giving the matter very
careful consideration, expressed its full sympathy with the views of the