Description:

Ashtead Common, owned and managed by the City of London at no cost to the public, is a 200 hectare (500 acre) public open space. Located in north-east Surrey, close to junction 9 of the M25, it forms part of a larger area of open countryside, which includes Epsom Common. It is an ancient wooded common with over 2,300 ancient oak pollards providing a stable habitat for many rare and endangered deadwood species.

Ashtead Common has been part of the Epsom and Ashtead Commons Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1955 due to its rich community of breeding birds. It has also been a National Nature Reserve since 1995 due to the decaying wood of ancient trees and the rare invertebrates that live in it. The site includes two scheduled Ancient Monuments - a Roman villa and a triangular earthwork.