Journal entry – John Grey – 2 May 1835

Saturday 2nd May 1835



Rode Westward through the Farms of Highwood and Coastley.  At the latter was pleased to see the good effect of draining done last Autumn in a wet Field that is now dry and looks promising for a crop of Corn, inspected some draining that is now on progress and surveyed the other Farms and woodlands in the Coastley district.  The fences on that Estate are generally very bad, consisting of banks of earth with here and there a thorn growing.  This is the consequence of neglect at an early period.  There is another circumstance which I am exceedingly annoyed at, but for which I fear there is now no remedy, which is, that nearly all the boundary Fences have by some means, for one cannot call it accident, been thrown upon the Hospital, and with such Fences, it becomes a heavy burden to the Farms.   This is the case to a considerable extent all over the property and may perhaps be accounted for by the supposition that the adjoining owners of small Property declined any share in the boundary fences, which were therefore made and subsequently kept by the Hospital.  In some instances too, those proprietors might be tenants of the contiguous lands of the Hospital, & relieve themselves of those Fences by calling them the Hospitals, till custom sanctioned the fraudulent arrangement. In the evening forwarded several Agreements for Mining Leases, signed by the Lessees with a Letter to the Secretary.