Bookham CommonsFamily trail

More InformationWelcome to Bookham CommonsYou can start your walk at the Hundred Pound Bridge car park, Mark Oak car park or the Tunnel car park. It’s a circular walk and at a gentle pace should take you 2 hours.

National Trust

Find out more about what happens on the Surrey Hills

The National Trust is an independent conservation charity and needs your continued support. If you would like to know more about the National Trust, local places to visit, or how to become a member, please contact our local office: 

Surrey

Surrey Hills Estate Office, Warren Farm Barns, Headley Lane, Mickleham, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6DGTelephone: 01372 220640www.nationaltrust.org.ukFacebook: NationalTrustSurreyHills

Photography: ©National Trust Images/John Millar, Joe Cornish, Arnhel de Serra, Paul Harris, John Miller, Britainonview/Rod EdwardsOther photography: Dr. Alan Prowse, Stuart Cole LNHS, Neil Lodge, Ian Swinney, Rob Hewer Printed on 100% recycled paper. Please recycle this leaflet after use.© National Trust 2013. National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846

There are plenty of places to stop off on the way for a picnic, to watch the birds, climb trees or build dens. You can walk the route in any direction you like.

The commons – Great Bookham, Little Bookham and Banks Common, were given to us between 1923 and 1925 and we’ve looked after them ever since.

The National Trust looks after much of the Surrey Hills – from Limpsfield Common in the east to Hindhead Common in the west. In between are Box Hill, Leith Hill and Bookham Commons to name but a few of the places we care for. Our places are great for running around and exploring, building dens and seeing the wonderful wildlife that lives there. You could take a kite on windy days and wear wellie

boots for splashing on wet days. Pack a picnic and make a day of it, or come along for just an hour or two.

Take a look on our website www.nationaltrust.org.uk/surreyhills to read about our latest news and events, to download more trail leaflets, or make friends with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NationalTrustSurreyHills

Free (donations welcome)

Things to look out for along the way

Explore...A kingdom of ancient trees, magical ponds and amazing creatures.

A Central and Eastern Woods

Take some time to explore the woods. Rustle through leaves or splash in the puddles. You could build a den using branches and twigs that you find on the ground – please don’t tear any from the trees.

In this part of Bookham Commons grow our “king trees” – ancient English oaks and holly, both of which are native to the British Isles - some date back at least 500 years when the woods provided timber for housing and shipbuilding. Records suggest that timber may have been felled from the commons to build King Henry VIII’s palace at Nonsuch in Cheam.

B Bird HideLooking over Upper Eastern Pond is our bird hide. Sit quietly and be patient and you may well see some native and non-native birds. In spring the dabchick, or little grebe, nests here and in

C Eastern PlainDue to a different, sandy soil, this open area of the commons supports plants such as heather, dwarf gorse and purple moor-grass.

D Western PlainThis part of Bookham Commons is less wooded than other parts because it was once open grassland, where cattle grazed. The Western Plain is prime hunting ground for sparrow hawks and goshawks. On a May evening, you may be lucky enough to hear the strident call of a male nightingale as he sings for his mate.

Listen carefully – lots of bird song means that the wood is dense enough to provide home, food, shelter and nesting places at different heights for birds. In the spring and summer months, the woodland glades support a variety of orchids. During the autumn months, the woods display a wonderful collection of fungi such as fly agaric, chicken-of-the-woods, sulphur bracket and the wood blewit.

Don’t miss! Look out for the heronry marked on the map. Herons raise their young high up in broad nests. They tend to come back to the site that they hatched at to raise their own young. You might even hear the distinctive noise they make when clacking their beaks together.

Did you know?You can tell the origins of a pond by its shape and size. The largest ones were usually dug for rearing fish; steep sided ponds are old “borrow-pits” where soil, stones or rock was taken away to be used on roads, walls or houses. Most of the medium-sized ponds were dug for farm animals to drink at.

winter, kingfishers and herons can sometimes be seen.

Watch for roe deer on the opposite bank;

Did you know?You can work out the age

of a tree with this simple

formula:

Measure the distance

around the trunk of the

tree (its girth). If the tree

has lots of branches and is

in an open position, then

every 25mm of the girth

will be one years’ growth.

If the trunk of the tree is

tall and straight, with no

branches, then every 12mm

will be one years’ growth.

they like the peace and quiet of this undisturbed part of the commons. You could let us know what you see at the hide by joining our Facebook page – search for National Trust Surrey Hills.

Look out for! Triangular craters in the ground... these were anti-aircraft gun

emplacements from the Second World War and were manned by the Royal Artillery. Though the concrete bases were taken-away after the war, they retain the same unusual shape and are home to caddis-fly larvae and burr marigold.

A

B

C

D

Isle of Wight Enclosure

Manor CottageHandleys Cottage

Merritts Cottage

I.O.W. Pond

Lower Hollows

Heronry

Hill House Wood

Central Wood

Hill Farm

Kelsey’s Pond

Eastern Plain

South East Pond

Banks Common

Banks Farm

Western Plain

Ivy Cottage

Central Plain

I.O.W. Plain

Bookham Stream

Bayfield Plain

Stents Wood

Kelsey’s Wood

Eastern Wood

Sheepbell Pond

Upper HollowsBird Hide

Lower Eastern Pond

Hundred Pound Bridge

To Downside

Upper Eastern Pond

Bookham GrangeTo Leatherhead, London

To The Glade, Fetcham

To Effingham

To Effingham Junction, Guildford

The Plains Car Park

Five Halls

Bayfield Pond

Tunnel Car Park

To Great Bookham

Bookham Railway Station

Mark Oak Car Park

Footpath to Stoke D’Abernon Cobham Road

To Cobham

Sheepbell Farm

To Little Bookham

To Fetchamand Leatherhead

Bookham CommonsA kingdom of ancient trees, magical ponds and amazing creatures

The commons are home to a wonderful variety of wildlife and have been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest by Natural England.

For more information about Bookham Commons please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ bookham-commons

Key

Access and rights of way

A variety of landscapes await you on Bookham Commons... From shady, mysterious oakwoods, to open grassland plains, marshy ponds and wetlands, to wet heathland and wood pasture. Be sure to look out for all the fascinating things along the trail.

Family TrailSurfaced bridle tracksBridle tracksWater courses

Public bridleway

National Trust permissive bridle track

Public footpath

DogsDogs are very welcome on Bookham Commons, though we do ask that they are kept under reasonable control and kept within sight of you.

D Western Plain• Look out for sparrow

hawks and goshawks as this is their prime hunting ground.

• On a May evening, listen out for the strident call of a male nightingale as he sings for his mate.

A Central and

Eastern Woods

• Take some time to explore the woods.

• Rustle through leaves or splash in the

puddles.

• Build a den using branches and twigs that

you find on the ground – please don’t tear

any from the trees.

• Using the formula overleaf, calculate how

old a tree is.

• In Autumn you can look out for fungi such

as fly agaric, chicken-of-the-woods, sulphur

bracket and the wood blewit.

C Eastern Plain• Look out for plants such as heather, dwarf gorse and purple moor-grass which grow here due to the different, sandy soil.

• Look out for triangular craters in the ground... these were anti-aircraft gun emplacements from the Second World War.

B Bird Hide• Sit quietly and patiently in the bird

hide and you may well see some native and non-native birds. In spring the dabchick, or little grebe, nests here and in winter, kingfishers and herons can sometimes be seen.

• Watch for roe deer on the opposite bank.