and as the same record which calls it Patricesy mentions that it was
given to St. Peter, it might then first assume that appellation, but
this I own is conjecture. Petersham, which is precisely the same in
Doomsday--Patriceham, belonged to St. Peter's Abbey, Chertsey, and
retains its original name a little modernised. Aubrey, Vol. I. p. 135,
derives the name from St. Patrick; but Aubrey was mistaken by seeing
it written Patricesy, instead of Petricesy, in Doomsday; but the
Normans were not very accurate spellers. Petersham was written in the
same manner with an a."[1] "The Parish of Battersea is bounded on the
East by Lambeth, on the South by Camberwell, Streatham and Clapham;
on the West by Wandsworth, and on the North by the River Thames. The
greater part of Wandsworth Common, which extends nearly two miles in
length towards Streatham, and a considerable part of Clapham Common
are in the Parish of Battersea." The boundaries of Clapham Parish,
according to the oldest documents of that Parish and Manor, when taken,
have usually commenced at the corner of Wix's Lane, formerly called
Browmell's corner. The limits of Clapham Parish where it adjoins
Battersea in the early part of last century was the subject of a legal
contest, that part of Clapham Common extending to Battersea Rise
being claimed by both parishes. In 1716 the inhabitants of Battersea
inclosed with a ditch and bank the tract of land in question, and
the people of Clapham levelled the bank and filled up the ditch; in
consequence of which Henry Lord Viscount St. John, the Lord of the
Manor of Battersea, brought an action for trespass against those who
were engaged in this work, or their employers, which was tried at the
Lent Assizes at Kingston, in 1718, when the plaintiff was non-suited.
The men of Battersea however were not discouraged but persevered with
greater determination than ever in supporting their claim by including
when they beat the boundaries of their Parish the disputed ground in
their perambulations; and says Mr. Brayley "it would seem to have been
eventually successful, a certain portion of the Common being now held
on lease of Earl Spencer as Lord of the Manor of Battersea."--_Brayley,
Surrey Mantel,_ Vol. III. p. 281.
[Footnote 1: The Manor of Peckham in the Confessor's reign belonged to
this Parish, which has since been thrown into Camberwell; Penge being
still continued as part of the Manor though separated from the rest by
Streatham and Lambeth.--_Manning and Bray's History and Antiquities of
Surrey_, Vol. I., p. 327.]
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