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Tolworth Court Farm Fields

Local nature reserves in Greater LondonNature reserves in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Tolworth Court Farm Fields 14
Tolworth Court Farm Fields 14

Tolworth Court Farm Fields is a 43.3 hectare (107 acre) Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in Tolworth in the Royal Borough of Kingston, London. It was designated an LNR in 2004.The site has been farmed since Domesday Book in the eleventh century, and it was probably part of a high status manor in the Middle Ages. The hedgerows show signs of a ditch and bank next to them, and this together with ancient trees suggests that the hedges and layout of the fields pre-date the late eighteenth-century Enclosure Acts. The landscape has changed little in the last 150 years. The fields are currently managed as neutral hay meadows. The northern field is damp and has plants typical of periodically waterlogged fields, such as creeping bent and marsh foxtail. Mammals on the site include woodmice, field voles and roe deer. The wildlife has increased considerably over the years, it is regularly visited by little white egrets, herons love the water and the waterlogged field for frogs and lizards. There are several pairs of Kestrels, Sparrow hawks can be seen working the trees. A pair of Buzzards, Red Kites have been seen on a regular basis. A trip over the fields late in the evening will reward with several Tawny owls calling to each other, and numerous bats flying around. In 2017 a Jersey Tiger Moth was recorded resting on a bush. There is a very large array of Butterflies and moths. There is access from Kingston Road near Jubilee Way.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Tolworth Court Farm Fields (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Tolworth Court Farm Fields
Greenlands, Epsom and Ewell West Ewell

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N 51.371 ° E -0.279 °
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Bonegate Open Space

Greenlands
KT19 9PS Epsom and Ewell, West Ewell
England, United Kingdom
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Tolworth Court Farm Fields 14
Tolworth Court Farm Fields 14
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Chessington Hall
Chessington Hall

Chessington Hall was a country house in Chessington, England. It is important in literary history as the home of Samuel Crisp (1707–1783), a close friend of Fanny Burney, the novelist. At the time of the house's existence, Chessington was a village in Surrey; it now forms part of the urban sprawl of contemporary Greater London. At the time of Samuel Crisp's occupancy, Chessington was a tiny village that stood on a large and nearly desolate common. Crisp retreated to the isolation of Chessington Hall after the failure of his play Virginia in 1754, after selling his house in Hampton, and much of his book and art collection. Crisp shared the house with his friend Christopher Hamilton. Crisp was a close friend of Charles Burney, the musicologist, and came to know his daughter, Fanny Burney. It is likely that Fanny wrote much of her second novel, Cecilia (published in 1782), in the summer house at Chessington, and the pair were frequent and fond correspondents. Crisp died on 24 April 1783 and is buried in the churchyard at Chessington. He is commemorated by a memorial in the church. The original house, said to date to 1520, was demolished in 1832 and replaced by a new building. From about 1850 to 1910 the Hall was occupied by the Chancellor family; their estate papers are housed in the Surrey History Centre in Woking. In the 1930s the village of Chessington was chosen as a centre for council housing. The house and estate were purchased by compulsory purchase order of Kingston Borough Council in 1946, and the Hall demolished in 1965, at a time when historic houses were regarded as of little value. The housing estate built on the estate is a typical example of 1950s architecture. Nothing survives of the rural charm or history of Chessington Hall, except for the monuments and graves of its occupants in Chessington churchyard.