Space to Visit

West Wickham Common is part of the West Wickham and Coulsdon Commons, six of the Open Spaces, Parks and Gardens around London owned and managed by the Corporation of London as part of its commitment to sustaining a world class city. Each Open Space is a unique resource managed for the use and enjoyment of the public and for the conservation of wildlife and historic landscape. West Wickham Common is a relict heathland, woodland with ancient oak pollards.Much of the site was once open heathland. Products such as heather for roofing, and gorse for fuel, would have been regularly harvested from the sprawling heath whilst grazing cattle and sheep prevented young trees for becoming established. On the slope towards Gates Green Road the oak trees were pollarded.
The branches were harvested, when they reached the required size, at a height beyond the reach of the grazing animals, so that the trees would grow again. Many of these ancient oak pollards still exist and could be more than 600 years old.