Epsom Common

Epsom Common was held by Chertsey Abbey in the medieval period and was an area of common land associated with the Manor of Epsom. Following the dissolution of the abbey in 1537, Henry VIII granted the manor to Nicholas Carew and the land then passed through a series of private owners. In 1794, the common was described as "being covered in furze, brambles, hawthorn bushes, large quantities of hornbeams and other pollards: other parts are sour, wet pasture." Local people had free access to the land, rights of pasture and the right to cut turf and gather gorse for fuel. They were forbidden from cutting down trees for timber. In 1936, the common was bought by Epsom and Ewell Urban District…

Epsom Common is a 177.4 ha Local Nature Reserve owned by Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. Since 1984, it has been part of the Epsom and Ashtead Commons Site of Special Scientific Interest Woodland areas, dominated by silver birch and English oak, provide a habitat for birds including woodpeckers, woodcocks, barn owls and tawny owls. Plant species in the heathland and grassland areas include common heather, bell heather and creeping willow. Invertebrates found on the common include the nationally rare Rhizophagus oblongicollis, the beetle Bibloporus minutus and the flies Ctenophora bimaculata and Oedalea apicalis. one of which, the Thames Down Link, provides a route from the River Thames at…