 Bankes' Crown Survey of 1609 has 'Five closes of pasture called Mapperley lying between Basford Waste and Nottingham Lordship in the occupation of Thomas Blithe, freeholder' and ‘two other closes of pasture next thereunto adjoining the one called Mapperley in the occupation of Robert Staples, freeholder'.By the early seventeenth century it seems that what was known as 'Mapperley' was Mapperley Hills Common, a narrow strip of land, shown on Bankes' map, all to the east of Mapperley Hills Road (present day Woodborough Road), which began about where Alexandra Court now stands and continued northeast, ending close to the top of present-day Porchester Road.It measured about long and from only to wide.