Wimbledon Common

Wimbledon Common abuts Putney Heath (q.v.) to the north and both are managed, along with Putney Lower Common (q.v.), and the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields (q.v) in Wandsworth by Wimbledon and Putney Common Conservators. The overall area of the commons and heath are just over 461 hectares. Soils are impoverished gravels, ideal for heathland and bogs. The land falls away to the west down through the other main habitat, mature woodlands, to Beverley Brook, where the geology is predominantly London clay.  The Heath was once described as ‘a wide expanse of open ground, uncultivated, where large crowds could assemble, horses could be raced, troops could be exercised and reviewed, duels could be fought and highwaymen preyed on the increasing traffic along the Portsmouth Road.’

The earliest history of the commons dates back to the Palaeolithic Age with barrows such as that at Caesar's Camp, an Iron Age fort. Caesar's Well has a natural spring that reputedly supplied Caesar's camp. In the ownership of the Manor of Wimbledon, in 1864 Earl Spencer, Lord of the Manor, proposed to enclose 700 acres of the common as a park, create a garden on 2 acres for a new manor house near the windmill and sell the remaining 300 acres for building land. The Bill he intended to present to Parliament was delayed by the Select Committee set up to examine open spaces around London.  In 1866, a suit of Chancery was commenced against Lord Spencer and after four years of litigation Earl Spencer came to terms with the residents and a new Bill was drawn up. A Wimbledon Common Committee was set up under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Peek, MP, and eventually the Common was protected by the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act which received the Royal Assent in August 1871. A memorial to Sir Henry Peek is at Caesar's Well.

Under the Act, Earl Spencer conveyed his interest in the commons to a body of Conservators (five elected and three appointed to represent both public and local interests) who were charged with the duty of keeping the Commons open, unenclosed, unbuilt on and their natural aspect preserved. Earl Spencer, as landowner, and his descendants were to be compensated by a perpetual annuity of £1,200, and a rate was to be levied on local residents to keep up these payments and to maintain the Commons. The annuity was finally redeemed in 1968 by a lump sum payment from a redemption fund set up by the Conservators in 1957.

This rate was collected by the Conservators' staff until 1991 when it began to be collected by the three Boroughs in which the Commons fall - Wandsworth, Merton and Kingston - as an addition to the Council Tax. Wimbledon Common has a range of habitats from wet and dry heath, grassland, woodland and 5 ponds, as well as the Beverley Brook that runs through the site.

Among the features on the common are the Windmill built in 1817 converted into cottages in the 1860s, restored in c.1890 and was where Baden Powell began writing Scouting for Boys in 1907. The windmill was restored again in c.1950 and is believed to be the only remaining hollow-post flour mill remaining in this country, and is now a Museum. The common has been used for numerous events over the years including early flying attempts, for reviews of army volunteers in the C19th and for competitions by the National Rifle Association between 1860-90. It is still very much a common with rough grass and bracken contrasting with smooth turf and woodland. It is crossed by numerous paths.