London - Caswells Chasm, Wimbledon Common, Merton - local postcard

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Caswells Chasm, Wimbledon Common in the London Borough of Merton / photo by Norman Plastow
• Publisher:  Wimbledon & Putney Commons Conservators, 2006
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, south-west London, totalling 460 hectares (1,100 acres).^[1] There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons. Putney Lower Common is separated from the rest of the Common by about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometres) of built-up area of southwest Putney.

Wimbledon Common, together with Putney Heath and Putney Lower Common, is protected by the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act of 1871 from being 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 the London area. There is an area of bog with unique^{[citation needed]} flora. The western slopes, which lie on London Clay, support mature mixed woodland. The Commons are also a flagship site for the stag beetle.

Most of the Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest,^[2][3] and a Special Area of Conservation^[4] under the EC Habitats Directive.^[5] English Nature work with the Conservators on the management plan for the area. Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath are also a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation.^[6]

The Commons are administered by eight Conservators. Five of them are elected triennially and the remaining three are appointed by three government departments: Department of the Environment, 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.^[1] 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 ³/₄ mile (1.2 kilometres) of the Commons. The levy payers are entitled to vote for the five elected Conservators. The levy payers fall within three London boroughs: Merton, Wandsworth (which includes Putney) and Kingston.

In 1864, the lord of the manor, Earl Spencer, who owned Wimbledon House, attempted to get a private parliamentary bill^[7] to 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^[8][9] to take ownership of the common and preserve it in its natural condition.

A 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.

In the 19th century the windmill was the headquarters of the National Rifle Association and drew large crowds each July. ""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.""^[10] Eventually the headquarters were moved to ranges at Bisley.

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.

Beverley Brook runs along the western edge of Wimbledon Common. The watercourse was the historic south west London boundary.^[11]

Near Beverley Brook and Warren Farm, are two Local Nature Reserves managed by the London Wildlife Trust: Farm Bog and Fishpond Wood and Beverley Meads.^[6][12]

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. It is possible the site was settled as far back as the Bronze Age, but it and the surrounding barrows have been badly damaged.^[13]

type=printed

london borough=merton

period=post-war (1945 - present)

postage condition=unposted

number of items=single

size=continental/ modern (150x100mm)