Harrow Weald Common
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Harrow Weald Common is an 18-hectare area of woodland, heath and pasture in Harrow Weald in the London Borough of Harrow . It is considered of considerable importance for wildlife, and it was formerly part of the Stanmore and Harrow Weald Commons and Bentley Priory Site of Special Scientific Interest , but in 1987 the boundaries of the SSSI were revised to exclude the Common. [1] [2] It has been designated by the Mayor of London as a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation .
History
The word weald is derived from Old English wald , a wooded upland. Harrow Weald Common is one of the remnants of the once extensive Forest of Middlesex . In the eighteenth century it was a haunt of highwaymen. Following the Enclosure Acts , one of the rights granted to the commoners was gravel extraction, and this took place on a large scale in the nineteenth century. In the 1880s there was an attempt to get government agreement to the sale of the Common, but a successful campaign to oppose this was supported by W. S. Gilbert , who lived locally at a house called Grim's Dyke . In 1899 the Metropolitan Commons (Harrow Weald) Supplemental Act revoked most of the rights of the commoners and a board of Conservators was set up to manage the Common. [3]
Harrow Weald Common is Common Land not owned by anyone, and in 1965 it was placed under the protection of Harrow Council. [4] [5] The Harrow Weald Common Conservators are now a Friends Group which manage the site. [6]
The site
The site includes Grims' Dyke Open Space. Grim's Dyke or Grim's Ditch is an ancient earthwork which runs for three miles between Harrow Weald Common and Pinner Green . Its purpose is unknown, and it may date from the fifth or sixth centuries. [3] Adjacent to the site are the City Open Space, Harrow Weald SSSI , a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest , and Bentley Priory Nature Reserve , a biological SSSI.
There is access from Common Road and Old Redding.
See also
References
- ↑ London Borough of Harrow, Management Plan: Old Redding Complex, 2010, p. 18 Archived 2012-09-14 at the UK Government Web Archive
- ↑ Natural England, Harrow Weald citation
- 1 2 London Gardens Online, Harrow Weald Common, Grim's Dyke Open Space, The City Open Space
- ↑ London Borough of Harrow, Management Plan: Old Redding Complex, 2010, p. 1 Archived 2012-09-14 at the UK Government Web Archive
- ↑ Common Land in England, Harrow Weald Common
- ↑ "Harrow Council, Harrow Weald Common" . Archived from the original on 2012-08-19 . Retrieved 2012-06-24 .
External links
- VisitWoods, Harrow Weald Common and Weald Wood, a London Borough of Harrow wood
- BBC, Domesday Reloaded, Harrow Weald Common
- Harrow Council, Harrow Weald Common
- London Gardens Online, Harrow Weald Common, Grim's Dyke Open Space, The City Open Space
51°37′26″N 0°20′46″W / 51.624°N 0.346°W / 51.624; -0.346