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 Leatherh ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, 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 in

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, 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), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...

) 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 (QEF) 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 ...

'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-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

, 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" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...

south of the training college, the north, divided by rises, contains three sources of the Rythe and drains northward.Grid square map

Ordnance survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

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 Leopold I (16 December 1790 – 10 December 1865) was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 21 July 1831 until his death in 1865. The youngest son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Leopold took a commission in the Imperial Rus ...

, who lived at Claremont Park,

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in the borough of Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London, close to the London–Surrey border; with Esher Commons at its ...

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 on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider ...

across Arbrook Common and Farm which has two white-painted metal coal tax posts. 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 spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in prescientific medicine. Origins Spas were used for mille ...

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 on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

and

London clay The London Clay Formation is a Sediment#Shores and shallow seas, marine formation (geology), geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 54-50 million years ago) age which outcrop, crops out in the southeast of England. The London C ...

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 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...

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–si ...

-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 * W ...

, Streatham Hill,

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 a ...

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 un ...

and

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East Greater London, London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. Etymology The name ''Penge'' is first attested in charter of ...

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 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 passage for humansrather than animals such as livestockover or through a boundary. Common forms include steps, ladders, or narrow gaps. Stiles are often built in rural areas along footpaths, fen ...

, 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 Leopold I of Belgium