Barnes Common is

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

in the south east of

Barnes, London Barnes () is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It takes up the extreme north-east of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west sou ...

, England, adjoining

Putney Lower Common Putney Lower Common is an open parkland space in the London Borough of Wandsworth between the town centres of Putney and Barnes. It is part of Wimbledon and Putney Commons, lying 1.5 miles from the rest of the common area. Geography The comm ...

to the east and bounded to the south by the Upper Richmond Road. Along with

Barnes Green Barnes may refer to: People *Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station **Barnes Bridge railway station **Barnes Railway Bridge ...

, it is one of the largest zones of common land in London with of protected commons. It is also a Local Nature Reserve. Facilities include a full-size football pitch and a nature trail. The common is made up of mixed broadleaf woodland,

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

and acid grassland and is generally flat. It is owned by the Dean and Chapter of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

, acting through the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

, and managed by the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

, advised and assisted by the charity Barnes Common Limited (previously known as Friends of Barnes Common).

Transport

Barnes railway station Barnes railway station is a Grade II listed station in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in southwest London, and is in Travelcard Zone 3. It is down the line from . The station and all trains serving it are operated by South Wester ...

is just within the common. The common is served by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 33, 72,

265 __NOTOC__ Year 265 ( CCLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerianus and Lucillus (or, less frequently, year 1018 ' ...

and 485.

History

Singer and rock musician

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

died on the common on 16 September 1977 when the car he was being driven in crashed into a tree, at what is now Marc Bolan's Rock Shrine. In August 1736 the common hosted a cricket match between

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. This is the only time that a reference to the common is found in surviving cricket records.

References

External links

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames: Barnes Common Management Plan 2009-14

Barnes Common Limited
* {{Authority control 1736 establishments in England Barnes, London Common land in London Cricket grounds in Surrey Cricket in Surrey Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in Surrey English cricket venues in the 18th century History of Surrey Local nature reserves in Greater London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Sport in Surrey Sports venues completed in 1736