On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:28:26 -0000
"Basil Jet" wrote:
Why are there so many "commons" south of the river and so many "parks" north
of the river?

Probably because london where the king and his retinue lived offically used to
be north of the Thames only and I think the parks used to be the kings hunting
parks. I'm guessing that the commons were simply common ground people could
graze animals on. Of course richmond park is an exception and it still has
the decendents of the deer various kings used to hunt.

B2003