Ashtead Common, nearly 495 acres (c. 200 ha), is a wooded area open to the public, to the north of the village of

Ashtead Ashtead is a large village in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, approximately south of central London. Primarily a commuter settlement, Ashtead is on the single-carriageway A24 between Epsom and Leatherhead. The village is on t ...

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. It is owned and managed by the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

, after being bought by the City due to concern in the 1870s that access to the open countryside around London was being threatened. 180.5 ha of the common is a National Nature Reserve. Together with

Epsom Common Epsom Common is a Local Nature Reserve in Epsom in Surrey. It is owned and managed by Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. It is part of Epsom and Ashtead Commons, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This is a nationally important wildlife loca ...

it forms part of a larger area of open countryside called

Epsom and Ashtead Commons Epsom and Ashtead Commons are a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the outskirts of Epsom and Ashtead in Surrey. Epsom Common is a local nature reserve, and Ashtead Common is a national nature reserve, The site also includes a t ...

, which is designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI).

Background

Ashtead Common Nature Reserve Information board

Ashtead Common has been part of the Epsom and Ashtead Commons SSSI since 1955 due to its community of breeding birds. It has also been a National Nature Reserve since 1995 because of the wood of decaying ancient trees and the rare invertebrates that live in it. It contains a wooded common with over 2,300

pollarded Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. In ancient Rome, Propertius mentioned pollarding during the 1st century BCE. The practice oc ...

oaks, between 300 and 400 years old. These provide a habitat for many rare and endangered deadwood species. The area is of conservation interest in Britain and Europe. Also within the common are bracken, scrub grassland, semi-improved neutral grassland and various aquatic habitats. Trials have been undertaken on how to deal with the invasion of Michaelmas daisies. It was concluded that grazing by goats was the most successful management option. There are remains of a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

and tile works on the common. These are scheduled ancient monuments. There are also some

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

. When the Southern Railway planned to build a new line to connect

Chessington South railway station Chessington South railway station is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, England, and is the terminus of the Chessington Branch Line. It is served by South Western Railway, and is down the line from , in Travelcard ...

with

Leatherhead railway station 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, Leathe ...

in the 1930s, work was delayed by the outbreak of the Second World War, and afterwards the introduction of the "

Green Belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

" stopped development of the area. Part of the land reserved for the railway to the south of Ashtead Wood was subsequently used for the construction of the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

Access

Ashtead Common, together with Epsom Common, extends from the M25 Junction 9 near

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 ...

to the outskirts of

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

. There are many entrances to the common for walkers, including in north

and

. The

Thames Down Link The Thames Down Link is a official walking route linking the Thames Path and the North Downs Way. It starts in the town centre of Kingston upon Thames and finishes at Box Hill & Westhumble railway station. Name The path is so called as it conn ...

long distance footpath, from

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

to Box Hill and Westhumble station, cuts across the western half of the common.

References

External links

MapAshtead Common pages
on the City of London Corporation website {{coord, 51.323, -0.320, type:landmark_region:GB-SRY, display=title Parks and open spaces of the City of London Corporation Parks and open spaces in Surrey Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Surrey