Chobham Heath
Chobham Common is a 1,400-acre (6 km2) area of temperate lowland heath, a globally rare and threatened habitat due to rare soil type, in Surrey, England. Before the early 20th century it covered a larger area. In 1855, by enclosure, it became a freehold partly subject to common land restrictions awarded to Arthur Onslow, 3rd Earl of Onslow and Surrey County Council purchased the slightly reduced area comprising it from the 6th Earl in 1966. It is managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust for nature conservation and public recreation.
Chobham Common is a national nature reserve, Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Chobham Commons or Heaths was a broad term applied to West End Common and Pirbright Common SSSI which has restricted access also in the borough of Surrey Heath, together with Chobham Common itself. Chobham Common was also the Location for films and music videos, including Superman 2 and Dad's Army.
Peat and tumuli at the site suggest that, like other non-mountainous heaths, Chobham Common was transformed from to mostly shrubs, grass and bog when late paleolithic farmers and wood-gatherers cleared much of the primary woodland that before their arrival cloaked the country. This exposed and degraded the fragile topsoils of the site, creating the conditions favoured by heathland. After the initial clearance the area would have been kept free of trees by grazing and fuel gathering. The specific earliest periods of occupation were the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age; analysis of peat cores from areas with similar geology and patterns of settlement elsewhere in southern Britain would suggest the heathland on Chobham Common emerged at some time during these periods.
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