Wilderness Island is the 2.7 hectare island between the Wandle and Wrythe in

Carshalton Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...

in the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is a London borough in south-west London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to ...

. It is designated a Local Nature Reserve and a

Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI), Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) and regionally important geological site (RIGS) are designations used by local authorities in the United Kingdom for sites of substantive local nature ...

, is owned by Sutton Council and is managed by the

London Wildlife Trust London Wildlife Trust (LWT), founded in 1981, is a local nature conservation charity for Greater London. It is one of 46 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (known as The Wildlife Trusts), each of which is a local nature conservatio ...

Features

A fish pond still remains from a former public garden on the site. Other habitats are woodland, meadows and river. Trees include a

black poplar ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref> ...

, and there are birds such as the woodpecker, kingfisher and grebe. Butterflies/moths include the speckled wood,

holly blue The holly blue (''Celastrina argiolus'') Retrieved April 20, 2018. is a butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family and is native to the Palearctic. The holly blue has pale silver-blue wings spotted with pale ivory dots. Seitz des ...

, and the rare

hornet clearwing The hornet moth or hornet clearwing (''Sesia apiformis'') is a large moth native to Europe and the Middle East and has been introduced to North America. Its protective coloration is an example of Batesian mimicry, as its similarity to a hornet ...

moth. The ponds are an important habitat which have a variety of wetland plants. It is designated a Local Nature Reserve and a

. The site is owned by Sutton Council and managed by the

. Visitors, who must arrive on foot, must obey the envionrmental laws of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

including not disturbing nesting birds at the small site; they have one access — from River Gardens.

History

The island from the seventeenth century was the site of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

mills. It was later the site of a pleasure garden.

References

{{coord, 51.3736 , -0.1578, type:landmark_region:GB-BNE, display=title Local nature reserves in Greater London Nature reserves in the London Borough of Sutton London Wildlife Trust