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Witley Common is an area of woodland and heath, close to Witley, Surrey, in the United Kingdom. It is part of a much larger Site of Special Scientific Interest, the Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons.

The land has been occupied since the Bronze Age — it features ancient burial mounds which have been dated to this period. It has been used as common land by many generations over the centuries — particularly for grazing, turf-cutting and, during the 16th and 17th centuries, for iron workings.

Witley Common again proved useful during the First and Second World Wars when the land was used by the army as a training camp (Witley Camp) with up to 20,000 soldiers based there at one point. In the late 1940s, it was gradually restored to its pre-war condition.

Today it is managed by the National Trust, to provide a mixture of habitats for wildlife, with birch, oak and pine woodland, as well as open heathland. Birdlife includes willow warblers,nightjars and nightingales. The area is populated by many rare species and has a broad range of both deciduous and evergreen varieties of trees. The area is a water catchment for the upper reaches of the River Wey.

Witley Centre

Witley Common contains a nature information centre, known as The Witley Centre, built and managed by the National Trust. The centre features a countryside exhibition. The centre often hosts school groups and children's holiday activities.

References

1. "Witley Common". Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. 3 December 2017.
2. "Witley Common | Surrey Archaeological Society". www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk. Surrey Archaeological Society.
3. Lawn, M. R. (1994). "Late Territorial Behaviour of Willow Warblers Phylloscopus trochilus". Journal of Avian Biology. 25 (4): 303–307. doi:10.2307/3677277. ISSN 0908-8857.

External links

• Surrey County Council
• Ornithologist review
• Photo
• information at the National Trust

51°09′14″N 0°40′30″W / 51.154°N 0.675°W / 51.154; -0.675

v t e Surrey Hills National Landscape
North Downs	Botley Hill Box Hill Colley Hill Combe Bottom Gatton Park Hackhurst and White Downs Hog's Back Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment Newlands Corner Norbury Park Ranmore Common Seale Chalk Pit Woldingham and Oxted Downs
Greensand Ridge	Albury Heath Blackheath Common Colyers Hanger Devil's Jumps Devil's Punch Bowl Frensham Common Gibbet Hill Gong Hill Hankley Common Hankley Farm Holmbury Hill Leith Hill Moor Park Oxmoor Copse Puttenham and Crooksbury Commons St Martha's Hill Stockstone Quarry Thursley Common Winterfold Forest Witley Common Wotton Common
Low Weald	Brook Brick Pit Chiddingfold Forest Netherside Stream Outcrops
Rivers	Law Brook Mole Ock Pipp Brook Tillingbourne Wey
Lakes and ponds	Busbridge Lakes Frensham Ponds Silent Pool
Long-distance paths	Downs Link Greensand Way Mole Gap Trail North Downs Way Thames Down Link Vanguard Way Wey South Path
National Cycle Routes	NCR21 NCR22

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