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Croham Hurst is a 33.6
Its human occupation goes back thousands of years. In 1968 two hut sites were discovered with low turf walls, which were part of a
Friends of Croham Hurst Woods website
{{coord, 51.3509, -0.0773, display=title, type:landmark Sites of Special Scientific Interest in London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Croydon
hectare
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 i ...
(83.02 acre) biological 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 ...
(SSSI) and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in South Croydon
South Croydon in south London is the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon and running as far south as the former Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is bounded by Waddon to the West and Selsdon and Sanderstead to the ...
in the London Borough of Croydon
The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...
. Its SSSI designation is due to its importance for nature conservation, but it is also a Regionally Important Geological Site.
The site is a steep hill, which is ancient woodland, although there are few very old trees because until the railways made cheap coal available, the timber was used for fuel. On the lower slopes there is a diverse community of plants dominated by oak and hazel on rich soils overlying chalk. Further up the trees are mainly beech on Thanet Sands, and towards the top the main trees are oak and birch on the acidic Blackheath pebble beds.
The Thanet Sands have eroded, but the Blackheath beds are bound by a natural cement, and this has resisted erosion to make a natural cap to the hill. The top is mainly bare of trees, with rounded pebbles made when the area was the base of shallow seas in the Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...
epoch around 50 million years ago. The sparse vegetation at the top is mainly wavy hair-grass, heather and bilberry
Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus '' Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is ''Vaccinium myrti ...
.
History
Its human occupation goes back thousands of years. In 1968 two hut sites were discovered with low turf walls, which were part of a Mesolithic
The Mesolithic ( Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymo ...
settlement around 5,000 to 3,000 years BC. Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
flint tools show that settlement continued into the later Stone Age. There is also a Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
round barrow, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
, with a plaque marking the site.
In the medieval period Croham was one of the four manors in the parish of Sanderstead
Sanderstead is a village and medieval-founded church parish at the southern end of Croydon in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, and formerly in the historic county of Surrey, until 1965. It takes in Purley Downs and S ...
. In the late sixteenth century its then owner, Sir Olliphe Leigh of Addington, sold it to John Whitgift
John Whitgift (c. 1530 – 29 February 1604) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to his death. Noted for his hospitality, he was somewhat ostentatious in his habits, sometimes visiting Canterbury and other towns attended by a retinue of 8 ...
, the Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...
. Croham Hurst then became part of his Whitgift Foundation, an educational and nursing charity which is still operating today. In the late nineteenth century Croham Hurst became a popular spot for visitors, few of whom knew that it was not public property. When the Foundation announced plans to sell the site in 1898, with the lower slopes being developed, the people of Croydon launched a campaign to save the site, which resulted in the whole of it being acquired by Croydon Corporation
The County Borough of Croydon was a local government district in and around the town of Croydon in north east Surrey, England from 1889 to 1965. Since 1965 the district has been part of the London Borough of Croydon within Greater London.
Hist ...
on 8 February 1901. It became part of the London Borough of Croydon in 1965.
The site was badly damaged by fire in June 2018.
Access
There is access from Croham Manor Road, Bankside and Upper Selsdon Road.See also
*List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Greater London
In England, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are designated by Natural England, which is responsible for protecting England's natural environment. Designation as an SSSI gives legal protection to the most important wildlife and geolo ...
References
External links
Friends of Croham Hurst Woods website
{{coord, 51.3509, -0.0773, display=title, type:landmark Sites of Special Scientific Interest in London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Croydon