If you would like to take a tour around Epsom Common, please refer to the following map.  Note the numbers on the map are either green or orange:

• The orange numbers are wooden land mark posts
• The green numbers represent points of interest

A corresponding image and text for each land mark or point of interest is given below. Return to the Epsom Common LNR 'Home page'

Area = 436 acres

• 1.  The Stew Pond is a haven for many types of wildlife in and around the pond. Day tickets for fishing are available on the bankside.  Parts of the bank are accessible for disabled fishermen.  There is a large free car park.  This car park is locked half an hour before dusk.  There is also a 6 foot 6 inch height barrier at the entrance.

•  2. The Woodcock Corner derives its name from a bird called the Woodcock which lives in the thick undergrowth often found in woods.  From here you can also access Ashtead Common National Nature Reserve, owned by the Corporation of London.

• 3. Great Pond is the largest pond on the Common.  Restored by the Epsom Common Association and Surrey Wildlife Trust in the mid to late 1970s, it is now conserved as a wildlife reserve and is home to frogs, newts and wildfowl.  The pond was originally constructed by the Abbey of Chertsey in the twelfth century as a fish pond to provide fresh meat in winter.  Great Pond 1999:

•  4. Horton Heath is one of the three remaining areas on Epsom Common where plant species such as heather and purple moor grass survive.  Lowland heathland is a threatened habitat of international importance.  The Council has therefore taken action on Horton Heath to clear the scrub and woodland that has been encroaching on this area.  It is hoped that in the near future grazing can be introduced to the Heath to restore and maintain this habitat.

•  5. Bramble Heath is one of three remnants of lowland heathland on Epsom Common.  Work has been carried out on Bramble Heath by local volunteers to clear encroaching scrub which threatens to out-compete the heather. 

•  6. Castle Heath is one of the three remaining areas of heathland on Epsom Common where plant species such as heather and purple moor grass survive.  Local volunteers have worked hard over many years to keep the encroaching scrub at bay.

• 7. High Meadow.  Recently this area was part of the thick scrub threatening to completely take over the Common.  Volunteers over a number of years have cut back a large area of scrub to ensure that this part of the Common remains open grassland as it has for generations.  To help keep this area as open grassland cattle have been used for several years.  In summer it is ringed off with temporary electric fencing, to allow the cattle to graze here.  The area may be crossed, with care, along the fence line.  Please keep your dog under control.  This area is not accessible to horses.  

  

•  8. Low Meadow.  Like High Meadow, to which it is adjoined, Low Meadow has also been cleared of encroaching woodland and scrub to restore the grassland habitat.  It is also fenced off and grazed in the summer to maintain the open habitat.

•  9.  Christ Church was built between 1867 and 1876 when it was consecrated.  It was built with money donated by Elizabeth Trotter, a local philanthropist who lived in Horton Place (subsequently became the Manor Hospital in the 1890s).  It was hoped that the congregation would be made up of local, working class people, although a large number of worshippers were attracted from Epsom town.

Christchurch in 1960

•  10.  Stamford Green Pond.  This pond is a favourite with children thanks to the many kinds of waterfowl that can be found here.  

•  11.  The Cricketers Pub.  One of the oldest taverns in Epsom, this is an excellent place to stop, either for lunch or just a rest break.  

•  12.  West Heath.  Unlike the other three heaths, West Heath no longer has any heather and is covered in thick bracken during the summer.  It is planned to try and retore West Heath at some point in the future. 

•  13.  Blakes Pond.  This is one of the many small ponds that are dotted around the Common, which are currently being restored by local volunteers.  

•  14.  Webb's Folly.  Who was Webb?  Nobody seems to know.  It is known that this was a Council landfill site in the 1950s.

•  15.  Epsom Well.  The well that made Epsom world famous was situated on Epsom Common.  The well, discovered in 1618 by a cow herd call Henry Wicker, was the source of Epsom Salts.  Once popular across Europe as a cure for constipation, the Well's popularity declined at the beginning of the 18th century.  Today a wishing well remains in the middle of the Wells housing estate. 

•  16.  The Railway.  In 1859 the laying of the railway was very controversial.  Back in 1825, plans had been drawn up for a Grand Imperial Ship Canal linking London with Portsmouth, which would have crossed Epsom Common.  The plans were dropped.

•  17.  Barons and Dixies pond.  These ponds are on the Woodcote side of the Common.  These ponds face long term management issues particularly due to the introduction of non-native plants which threaten the native aquatic wildlife.