Langley Vale Wood is one of four First World War Centenary woods created by the Woodland Trust. It is located in Langley Vale, near Epsom, on the North Downs. It consists of 641 acres, including some ancient woodland (120 acres) and open downland. Access is by public right of way and there is a charging car park at the site. [1] [2] [3]
Parts of the site near Walton-on-the-Hill and Tadworth were used for army training during the First World War and 8,000 troops were billeted here at Tadworth Camp. Nearby Round Wood was used for gas training. Not far away was Woodcote Park Convalescent Camp. [1]
The site was purchased by the Woodland Trust in 2014 and they have since planted about 180,000 trees. [3] [4] Langley Vale Wood was formally opened on 24 June 2015 by HRH the Princess Royal. [5]
The Woodland Trust have commissioned several installations around the site. [1]
'Afterwards' by Margaret Cole, 'May, 1915' by Charlotte Mew, 'The Gift of India' by Sarojini Naidu, 'Futility' by Wilfred Owen, 'Matthew Copse' by Will Streets, 'Lights Out' by Edward Thomas, 'Grodec' by Georg Trakl. [1]
Also there is the Sainsbury’s Community Orchard with picnic tables, the Poppy play area, Verdun Oaks grown from descendants of acorns from the battlefield of Verdun, Cherry Avenue with trees bearing boards telling the stories of local soldiers, the carved soldier's bench, and the HMS Paragon memorial seat. [1] [3]
The charging car park on Headley Road opened in May 2023 and a visitors' centre is planned. [10]
The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972.
Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Reigate and the borough also includes the towns of Banstead, Horley and Redhill. Parts of the borough are within the Surrey Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Northern parts of the borough, including Banstead, lie inside the M25 motorway which encircles London.
Ashtead is a village in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, approximately 16 mi (26 km) south of central London. Ashtead is on the single-carriageway A24 between Epsom and Leatherhead. The village is on the northern slopes of the North Downs and is in the catchment area of The Rye, a tributary of the River Mole.
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about 14 miles south of central London. The town is first recorded as Ebesham in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The earliest evidence of human activity is from the mid-Bronze Age, but the modern settlement probably grew up in the area surrounding St Martin's Church in the 6th or 7th centuries and the street pattern is thought to have become established in the Middle Ages. Today the High Street is dominated by the clock tower, which was erected in 1847–8.
Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs in Surrey, approximately 31 km (19 mi) south-west of London. It is named after the ancient box woodland found on the steepest west-facing chalk slopes overlooking the River Mole. The western part of the hill is owned and managed by the National Trust, whilst the village of Box Hill lies on higher ground to the east. The highest point is Betchworth Clump at 224 m (735 ft) above OD, although the Salomons Memorial overlooking the town of Dorking is the most popular viewpoint.
Tadworth is a large suburban village in Surrey, England in the south-east of the Epsom Downs, part of the North Downs. It forms part of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. At the 2011 census, Tadworth had a population of 7,123
Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, bordering Berkshire and just over 20 miles (32 km) west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining hillside, the site of memorials. Runnymede Borough is named after the area, Runnymede being at its northernmost point.
The Tattenham Corner line is an 8 mi 14 ch (13.2 km) railway line in Surrey and Greater London, England. It runs from its western terminus at Tattenham Corner, near Epsom Downs Racecourse, to a junction with the Caterham line south of Purley. There are intermediate stations at Tadworth, Kingswood, Chipstead, Woodmansterne, Coulsdon Town and Reedham. All seven stations are managed by Southern, which operates all passenger trains. Most services run between Tattenham Corner and London Bridge via East Croydon.
Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is 3 miles (5 km) south of Sutton, 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Croydon, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and 13 miles (21 km) south of Central London.
Nork is a residential area of the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey and borders Greater London, England. Nork is separated from its post town Banstead only by the A217 dual carriageway, and the built-up area is also contiguous with similar parts of Tattenham Corner and Burgh Heath. A thin belt of more open land separates it from the communities to the north: Epsom, Ewell, Cheam and Belmont. There are two parades of shops, one called the Driftbridge and another at the north-eastern end of Nork Way, the street which runs centrally through the residential area. Nork lies on chalk near the top of the gentle north-facing slope of the North Downs, 175 m (575 ft) above sea level at its highest point.
Kingswood or Kingswood with Burgh Heath is a residential area on the North Downs in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. Part of the London commuter belt, Kingswood is just to the east of the A217 separating it from Tadworth and has a railway station. Burgh Heath in its north is combined with it to form a ward. Reigate is 3.6 miles (5.8 km) south of its centre and London is 15.5 miles (24.9 km) to the north northeast. Kingswood with Burgh Heath had a population of 6,891 in 2011.
Langley Vale is a village in the Borough of Epsom and Ewell, in Surrey, England, approximately 15 miles (24 km) south of central London. As its name suggests, the village is in a dry valley between Epsom Downs and Walton Downs. Historically part of the Ashtead Park estate, Langley Vale was the location of a farm in Medieval times. The modern village began to develop in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Headley is a village and civil parish in the North Downs in Surrey, England. The nearest settlements are, to the west, Mickleham and Leatherhead; to the north, Ashtead and Langley Vale; to the east, Walton-on-the-Hill; and to the south, Box Hill. It is just outside the M25 motorway encircling London.
Cherkley Court, at the extreme southeast of Leatherhead, Surrey, in England, is a late Victorian neo-classical mansion and estate of 370 acres (1.5 km2), once the home of Canadian-born press baron Lord Beaverbrook. The main house is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.
Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse in a hilly area near Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs.
Copthorne was a hundred of Surrey, England, an area above the level of the parishes and manors, where the local wise, wealthy and powerful met periodically in Anglo-Saxon England for strategic purposes. After the Norman Conquest the lords of the manor took to annual hundred meetings and their status became eroded by royal-approved transactions of land, as meanwhile the manorial courts and moreover royal courts seized jurisdiction over the Hundred Courts.
The Queen's Green Canopy (QGC) was an initiative that began in May 2021 in the United Kingdom in honour of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. To increase and protect the native tree cover, people were urged to create this 'special gift' for the Queen, to mark her 70 years on the throne.
Christine Charlesworth FRSA is an English sculptor. She has undertaken many private and public commissions, some of her works standing in locations in England.