The recorded history of Epsom Common, Surrey's largest local nature reserve, goes back to Saxon times, when England was a feudal agricultural society and local people grazed animals on the land. Over the last century, the landscape has changed dramatically due to changing lifestyles and it's now predominantly woodland.
Ashtead Common
Ashtead Common, owned by the City of London Corporation, is regarded as a prime example of relic wood pasture, valued for its historic landscape and important habitat. Its 495 acres are a mosaic of woodland, grassland, scrub and various wetland habitats including ponds, streams, ditches and springs.