Description
Jubilee Wood abuts Sixty Acre Wood, and although the latter contains species typical of ancient woodland it appears to have long been used for agriculture. Once part of the Hampton Court lands owned by the Crown, in 1587 Queen Elizabeth I gave it to Thomas Vincent. By 1872 it was partly landscaped as parkland and woods created for the Barwell Court Estate. Jubilee Wood was planted to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, divided into two parts by an electricity sub-station; only the eastern end of Jubilee Wood is publicly accessible.
Practical Information
| Site location | Fairoak Lane, Chessington |
|---|---|
| Postcode | KT9 |
| What3Words | ///prom.torn.copy |
| Type of Site | Public Open Land; |
| Borough | Kingston |
| Open to Public | Partially |
| Opening Times | part/unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Rail: Chessington South then bus. Bus: 465. |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2012 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Sixty Acre Wood is shown as fields on John Rocque's map of 1762 and Thomas Horner's parish map of 1813. There appears to have been a farm here from at least the C14th when the land was owned by the Crown as part of the Hampton Court lands. In 1587 Queen Elizabeth I gave it to Thomas Vincent. By 1872 some of the fields had been landscaped as parkland and the woods created for the Barwell Court Estate, the name Barwell derived from the existence of springs here. Various of the trees in Sixty Acre Wood appear to date from then. Trees planted in Jubilee Wood include birch, pedunculate oak and ash, field maple, goat willow, wych elm and hazel.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ165622 (60 Acre Wood)/TQ170617 (Jubilee Wood) |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 29 |
| Site Ownership | Eastern end of Jubilee Wood: RB Kingston. Rest is private |
| Site Management | Lower Mole Countryside Management Project (Sixty Acre Wood) |
| Dates | 1870s; 1887 (Jubilee Wood) |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Kingston |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Metropolitan Importance |
| Green Belt | Yes |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Winey Hill is a pleasant grassy hilltop located in the south of the borough that includes scattered trees, horse-grazed pastures, dense scrub, a large stock pond and some old boundary hedgerows, where several nationally declining birds breed. In 1937 Alderman Clement Hugh Bridge of Chessington Grange in Garrison Lane negotiated with Lady Barker of Barwell Court to enable Surbiton Borough Council to purchase Winey Hill, which was within her Barwell Court Estate, as permanent open space. As a result c.10 hectares were acquired for £5,000 in September of that year. The hill has fine views from the top, at 75 m above sea level. Here a viewpoint has been erected that indicates what can be seen in all directions, from Canary Wharf 17 miles to the north-east and Guildford 13 miles to the south-west to more local sites such as Horton Country Park 1.5 miles to the south east and St Matthew's Church 2.5 miles to the north.
The recreation ground is named after Sir Francis Barker (d.1922) who had lived at Burnt Stub, a mansion house built between 1906-1911, and he later lived at Barwell Court to the west of the Recreation Ground. Barker gave land for the recreation ground on Leatherhead Road and for relaunching Chessington Cricket Club in 1919, which still has its home here. The recreation ground is largely grassed with some planting of hedges and conifers as boundaries to sports facilities and is bounded by housing to the north with open landscape rising to Winey Hill to the west. The playground was refurbished in 2004 and in 2021 new facilities were added.
The Grapsome is the remains of ancient woodland managed as coppice wood with standards, now a small copse on the western boundary of the borough. The site was eroded when the Esher By-pass was built in 1974/5. The area was previously known as Graplingeham, probably so-called after an early owner and is thought to be a moated manor from before the Norman Conquest. By the C19th it is marked as woodland called The Grapsome on the first OS map of 1865.