Prince's Coverts is an area of of managed woodland in

Oxshott Oxshott is a suburban village in the borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England. Oxshott includes hilly acidic heath which is partly wooded (see Esher Commons and Prince's Coverts) and occupies the land between the large towns of Esher and Leatherhead ...

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. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, to which there is public access. It is owned and managed by the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

who refer to the area as Oxshott Woods. It adjoins

Malden Rushett Malden Rushett is a small village in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It is located at the southernmost tip of the Royal Borough, surrounded by woodland and farmland, and between the larger suburban villages and towns of Claygat ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

, the Pachesham Park estate and Leatherhead Golf Course to the east.

Geography

Princes Coverts is 864 acres (349

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

) of managed woodland owned by the Crown Estate. It includes, separated by roads, a minor northern woodland beyond Fairoaks Lane, ''Great Oakes'' and ''Sixty Acre Wood'', and the irregularly shaped (partly converted to other use) ''Woodlands Park'' to the south. The southernmost portion of the very long and quite narrow, almost rectangular Crown Estate has been assigned to and converted to

Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People is a charity that works with both children and adults with physical and learning disabilities or acquired brain injuries to help them gain new skills and increase their independence, helping them to ...

's Training College and its Dorincourt home for the disabled, Woodlands Park Golf Course,

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

, and Tyrwhitt House, a combat stress centre. While the south drains southward to

Mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

south of the training college, the north, divided by rises, contains three sources of

the Rythe The Rythe is a river or stream in north Surrey, England which is generally open and which is a natural woodland feature for approximately half of its course before being variously culverted and a suburban garden feature, passing between Thames ...

and drains northward.Grid square map

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website The remaining Prince's Coverts area is referred to by the Crown as Oxshott Woods.''Welcome to Prince's Coverts Oxshott'' - Leaflet published by The Crown Estate Office, The Great Park, Windsor, SL4 2HT

History

Prince's Coverts is named after Prince (later King)

Leopold I of Belgium * nl, Leopold Joris Christiaan Frederik * en, Leopold George Christian Frederick , image = NICAISE Leopold ANV.jpg , caption = Portrait by Nicaise de Keyser, 1856 , reign = 21 July 1831 – , predecessor = Erasme Loui ...

, who lived at Claremont Park,

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

north-west, which remains linked by a

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

across Arbrook Common and Farm which has two white-painted metal

coal tax post Coal-tax posts are boundary marker posts found in southern England. They were erected in the 1860s and form an irregular loop between 12 and 18 miles from London to mark the points where taxes on coal were due to the Corporation of London. There ...

s. The Claremont Estate was purchased for him in 1816. He later acquired nearby common land which became a shooting estate. This area became known as Prince's Coverts. Following his death, the estate was repurchased by the Crown since which it has been managed by the Crown Estate.

Land Features

* Jessop's Well (recorded in some maps as Chalybeate) - a

mineral spa Mineral spas are destination spa, spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in traditional medicine, prescientific medicine. ...

converted to a very small spa house that was built in the mid 18th century. The water was sold for a period for 6 d per bottle to owner-occupiers of

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent ...

, London. * Horns Hill - The highest point of the relatively gentle rises in Prince's Coverts at 260 feet (79 metres), is one of a series of knolls consisting of

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

and

London clay The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from t ...

in a band north of the centre of much higher

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...

where deposits have made for a

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

-rich soil. Geologically and in soil terms this range extends through

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

Streatham Hill Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey b ...

Tulse Hill Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London that sits on Brockwell Park. It is approximately five miles from Charing Cross and is bordered by Brixton, Dulwich, Herne Hill, Streatham and West Norwood. History The ar ...

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

and

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. History Penge was once a small hamlet, which was recorded under the name Pence ...

Maps

The Crown Estate publish a leaflet with a detailed map.

Access

The Crown Estate leaflet mentioned below was scanned in 2008, when the Coverts were fenced in, requiring a key for access, but since 2014, access for walkers no longer requires a key and signs indicate that walkers are welcome. Horse riders require a permit. There are many paths through the woodland. There is a 3.5 mile

waymarked Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaz ...

trail starting at Prince's Gate. The entrances are: * Highgate Cottage Gate: on B280 (Fairoak Lane). * Prince's Gate: on A244 * Track to D'Abernon Farm by ''The Star'' pub, A243 (Leatherhead Road). * Footpath to/from Prince's Drive, Oxshott (from gated, private road via a

stile A stile is a structure or opening that provides people passage over or through a boundary via steps, ladders, or narrow gaps. Stiles are often built in rural areas along footpaths, fences, walls, or hedges that enclose animals, allowing people ...

, no key needed). * Narrow gap at NE corner on Fairoak Lane, almost opposite road to Chessington World of Adventures.

More information

*''Welcome to Prince's Coverts Oxshott'' - Leaflet published by The Crown Estate Office, The Great Park, Windsor, SL4 2HT

References

{{Reflist

External links

Copy of the Crown Estate leaflet with mapOS 1:25,000 scale map on BingWalk from Oxshott to Ashtead describing a route through Prince's CovertsCrown Estate Riding Permits
Forests and woodlands of Surrey Crown Estate