Harrow Nature Conservation Forum



Stanmore Common



Stanmore Common is the northernmost of Harrow’s open spaces. It is a wonderful place to explore: paths snake through woods to emerge suddenly in open glades where heather and tormentil bloom, then enter the woods again where ancient mounds hide among the trees. Streams cut tiny ravines through the yellow gravelly soil, spanned by wooden footbridges. The site is not so large that a visitor will get permanently lost, but big enough to ensure that they will find a new glade or stream on each visit.

Stanmore Common is open all year round and welcomes all visitors. All that we ask of visitors is that you treat the site with respect – that includes not dropping litter, not picking flowers or fungi, not lighting fires, not damaging trees or fences, and keeping dogs under control. A bridle path runs along the north and east perimeters of the common for the benefit of riders. Horse riding is not allowed elsewhere on the Common.

Geology and Natural History
Under Stanmore Common lie the rounded stones of the Pebble Gravels, underlain by the relatively well-drained Claygate beds. Many streams rise on the common and flow north and east to meet at the marshy Pynding Mersc. The quick drainage has generated acid soils, so that the Common is home to plants not seen in the rest of Harrow, including heather and heath spotted orchid.

The site was formerly a wood-land used for pig husbandry by local “commoners”, but many trees were removed by the 17th century. These areas remained open heathland grazed by sheep until the end of the 19th century, when livestock numbers fell and secondary woodland appear-ed. The remaining open heaths are dominated by grasses such as Yorkshire fog, purple moor grass and common bent but also support acid-loving plants such as heather itself (picture left) together with heath bedstraw, common tormentil and devil's-bit scabious. These remnants of open acid heathland are of particular ecological interest, and work funded by the London Heathland Heritage Project is ongoing to return some of the secondary woodland to heath.

In wetter areas are found the heath spotted orchid and other regionally rare species such as lesser skullcap, together with marsh thistle, lesser spearwort and five species of rush including the uncommon jointed rush and the rarer sharp flowered rush. Continual management is required to prevent these open areas becoming covered with scrub and then reverting to woodland. Several older clearings and wet flushings once housed quite extensive sphagnum bog, especially around stream sources. Unfortunately only remnants have survived until today.

The primary and secondary mixed woodland which dominates most of the Common is largely composed of mature silver birch and oak trees, with stands of aspen throughout. Hornbeam and ash are fairly common on the eastern side where the soil is less acidic. Scattered throughout the site are beech, rowan and sycamore with the odd Scots pine, larch, sweet and horse chestnut. The ground flora of these woods is rich and interesting, particularly along the stream margins where it includes lesser spearwort, marsh horsetail, pendulous sedge, giant fescue, Lady's smock, watermint, gypsy wort, soft rush and great horsetail. In the spring a scattering of bluebells grow on the valley slopes.

The bird species known to breed at Stanmore Common include all three woodpeckers, tawny owl, tree creeper, whitethroat, nuthatch and cuckoo. Other bird species can be spotted, some of them spending the winter, others on passage. As well as the ubiquitous grey squirrel mammals recorded on the Common include foxes and weasels which feed mainly on shrews, hedgehogs and woodmice. Muntjac deer can sometimes be seen and pipistrelle bats feed over larger ponds. Grass snakes and slow worms are also present, while common lizard was reported in former years but has not been seen recently – please tell us if you see one. The special insect fauna of the site includes many scarce species associated with wetland, woodland and decaying timber habitats, while the streams support stoneflies, water crickets and other invertebrates characteristic of clean unpolluted water. Hundreds of species of fungi have been found here by members of the Harrow Natural History Society (please note that the collection of fungi is not allowed).

Archaeology
Stanmore is rich in archaeological remains. Two are obvious within the Common. “Boudicca’s Mound” is probably in reality a medieval warren constructed to house rabbits destined for the kitchen. Brewer’s Ponds were created in the late 19th century to serve Clutterbuck’s Brewery, the prominent building with the clock tower on the west side of the A4140 “The Common”, now sadly no longer a working brewery.

Map above reproduced by permission of Geographers' A-Z Map Co. Ltd. (c)Crown Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Licence number 100017302.


The number 142 bus runs along the A4140 “The Common” while the junction of the A4140 “The Common” and the A409 Common Road is served by the 258 bus. There is a car park off Warren Lane (HA7 4LB, map reference TQ 16157 94082). Alternatively a pleasant and largely road-free route leads from Stanmore Common through Stanmore Country Park to Stanmore Jubilee Line station – click here for details. The meeting place for all events such as guided walks and conservation work parties is the car park in Warren Lane.

The Common is managed by voluntary wardens who work to record species and enhance the site’s biodiversity. Larger scale work, such as mechanical cutting of the open areas to prevent scrub growth, is performed by council contractors. Stanmore Common needs volunteers. If you would like to help, whether at one of our working parties or as part of the warden team, contact us as below.

Link to detailed map of reserve

For more information, see the London Authority "Wildweb" description and National Biodiversity Network species list for this site.

Contact details
Warden: Simon Braidman
Phone: 020 8386 2502
simonbraidman@hotmail.co.uk 		Assistant Warden: David Bailey
Phone: 0785 744 0634
yeliab@ymail.com

Back to Harrow Nature Conservation Forum home