Editing Wimbledon Common (section)

==Wimbledon and Putney Commons==
Wimbledon Common, together with Putney Heath and Putney Lower Common, is protected by the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act of 1871 from being [[enclosure|enclosed]] or built upon. The common is for the benefit of the general public for informal recreation, and for the preservation of natural flora and fauna. It is the largest expanse of [[heathland]] in  London, with an area of [[bog]] with a flora that is rare in the region. The western slopes, which lie on [[Clay|London Clay]], support mature mixed [[woodland]]. The Commons are also an important site for the [[stag beetle]].

Most of the Common is a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1004317.pdf |title=Natural England, Wimbledon Common citation |access-date=27 December 2013 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024053604/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1004317.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271004317%27|publisher= Natural England|title= Map of Wimbledon Common SSSI}}</ref> and a [[Special Area of Conservation]]<ref>{{cite web | title = Wimbledon Common | work = UK Special Areas of Conservation site list | publisher = [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|DEFRA]] Joint Nature Conservation Committee | url = http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/protectedsites/sacselection/sac.asp?EUCode=UK0030301 | access-date = 20 October 2014}}</ref> under the EC [[Habitats Directive]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-23 |title=DEFRA, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Special Areas of Conservation |publisher=Jncc.defra.gov.uk |date=26 September 2013 |access-date=27 December 2013}}</ref> [[English Nature]] works with the Conservators on the management plan for the area. Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath are also a [[Site of Nature Conservation Interest|Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation]].<ref name=GIGL>{{cite web|url=http://www.gigl.org.uk/igigl/siteDetails.aspx?sID=M101&sType=sinc|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130423201740/http://www.gigl.org.uk/igigl/siteDetails.aspx?sID=M101&sType=sinc|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-04-23|title=Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath|publisher=Greenspace Information for Greater London|year=2006}}</ref>

The Commons are administered by eight [[Conservators]]. Five of them are elected triennially and the remaining three are appointed by three government departments: the [[Secretary of State for the Environment|Department of the Environment]], [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] and [[Home Office]]. The Commons are managed by the Clerk and Ranger, supported by a Deputy, a Wildlife & Conservation Officer and a personal assistant. There are seven Mounted Keepers (who deal with public safety and security), two groundsmen (for the playing fields), six maintenance workers and one property maintenance worker – some 23 employees in total.<ref name="wpcc" /> There are at least four horses which are used by the Keepers on mounted patrol.

The Conservators are responsible for the annual budget of around £1m. Most of the revenue comes from an annual levy on houses within {{convert|3/4|mi|km|abbr=off}} of the Commons. The levy payers are entitled to vote for the five elected Conservators. The levy payers fall within three London boroughs: [[London Borough of Merton|Merton]], [[London Borough of Wandsworth|Wandsworth]] (which includes [[Putney]]) and [[London Borough of Kingston upon Thames|Kingston]].

In 1864, the [[lord of the manor]], [[John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer|Earl Spencer]], who owned [[Wimbledon Manor House|Wimbledon manor]], attempted to pass a [[private parliamentary bill]]<ref name=Gazette1>{{London Gazette|date=25 November 1864|issue=22915|pages=5834–5835}}</ref> to [[enclosure|enclose]] the Common for the creation of a new park with a house and gardens and to sell part for building. In a landmark decision for English [[common land]], and following an enquiry, permission was refused and a board of conservators was established in 1871<ref name=Gazette2>{{London Gazette|date=25 November 1870|issue=23682|pages=5244–5245}}</ref><ref name=Gazette3>{{London Gazette|date=18 August 1871|issue=23768|page=3643}}</ref> to take ownership of the common and preserve it in its natural condition.

The [[Wimbledon Windmill|windmill]] stands near the centre of Wimbledon Common as usually understood; in fact the unmarked parish boundary with Putney Common runs right past it (line marked --- on the map). Here [[Robert Baden-Powell]] wrote parts of [[Scouting for Boys]], which was published in 1908.
[[File:West end of Caesar's Camp, Wimbledon Common. - geograph.org.uk - 20689.jpg|thumb|left|Remains of the ditch between the two main ramparts of the Iron Age hill fort]]
In the 19th century the windmill was the headquarters of the [[National Rifle Association (United Kingdom)|National Rifle Association]] and drew large crowds each July for the [[Imperial Meeting]] - the Association's National Championship. "These annual gatherings are attended by the élite of fashion, and always include a large number of ladies, who generally evince the greatest interest in the target practice of the various competitors, whether it be for the honour of carrying off the [[Elcho Shield]], the Queen's or the Prince of Wales's Prize, or the shield shot for by our great Public Schools, or the Annual Rifle Match between the Houses of Lords and Commons."<ref name="british-history.ac.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45294|title=Putney &#124; Old and New London: Volume 6 (pp. 489–503)|publisher=british-history.ac.uk|access-date=25 January 2014}}</ref> The Association left Wimbledon in 1889 as the Meeting outgrew the ranges there, relocating for the 1890 Meeting at a new complex near [[Bisley Camp|Bisley]], Surrey.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Bisley |url=https://nra.org.uk/nra-bisley/about-bisley/ |website=National Rifle Association |publisher=National Rifle Association of the UK |access-date=27 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827155235/https://nra.org.uk/nra-bisley/about-bisley/ |archive-date=27 August 2020}}</ref>

Two broad, shallow pools, Kingsmere and Rushmere, lie near roads on the higher parts of Wimbledon Common and seem to be the result of gravel extraction. The more remote Queensmere is somewhat deeper, being impounded in a small valley. These were often referred to as "Pen Ponds".

[[Beverley Brook]] runs along the western edge of Wimbledon Common. The watercourse was the historic south west London boundary, and is paralleled by the [[Beverley Brook Walk]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=14368&inst_id=118&nv1=browse&nv2=sub |title=AIM25 collection description |publisher=Aim25.ac.uk |access-date=27 December 2013}}</ref><ref name=bbw>{{cite web |url=https://www.merton.gov.uk/system/files?file=beverly-brook-walk.pdf |title=Beverley Brook Walk |publisher=London Borough of Merton |access-date=19 June 2023 |archive-date=19 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619110051/https://www.merton.gov.uk/system/files?file=beverly-brook-walk.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

Near Beverley Brook and Warren Farm are two [[Local Nature Reserve]]s managed by the [[London Wildlife Trust]]: Farm Bog and [[Fishpond Wood and Beverley Meads]].<ref name=GIGL/><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.merton.gov.uk/environment/parks/beverley_meads.pdf|title= Fishpond Wood & Beverley Meads Local Nature Reserve, Merton|publisher= London Wildlife Trust|year= 2001|access-date= 2 September 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131225034939/http://www.merton.gov.uk/environment/parks/beverley_meads.pdf|archive-date= 25 December 2013|url-status= dead|df= dmy-all}}</ref>

At the southern end of the common on the part used by the [[Royal Wimbledon Golf Club]], but with a public footpath running through the middle, are the remains of an [[Iron Age]] hill fort known (in fact only since the 19th century) as Caesar's Camp. Though the main period of use as an ''[[oppidum]]'' seems to have been the 6th to 4th centuries BC, there is some evidence that it was indeed stormed by the Romans, probably in the [[Invasion of Britain by Claudius]]. It may have been taken by the ''[[Legio II Augusta]]'' under [[Vespasian]] in their push westwards in AD 44.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wimbledonmuseum.org.uk/index.php/on-view/early-wimbledon/pre-history |title=Wimbledon Museum |publisher=Wimbledon Museum |access-date=27 December 2013}}</ref> It is possible the site was settled as far back as the [[Bronze Age]], but it and the surrounding barrows were deliberately destroyed by [[John Erle-Drax]] in 1875.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news/9646547.Wimbledon_s_worst_vandalism/|title=Wimbledon's worst vandalism|website=Wimbledon Guardian|date=13 April 2012 |access-date=4 April 2018}}</ref>

During World War One, an area of the common known as The Plain was used as one of ten air bases protecting London. In 1914 and before, model aircraft were flown here.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wpcc.org.uk/latest-news/news/post/87-wimbledon-common-airfield-memorial|title=Wimbledon Common Airfield|website=Wimbledon And Putney Commons|access-date=15 April 2020}}</ref>