The London/Surrey Boundary. Oaks Park

SQUARE BY SQUARE LOOK AT LONDON
TQ 27 62

The London/Surrey/Sutton boundary goes from Oaks Farm up the line of Fairlawn Road

Post to the west Banstead prisons
Post to the south Woodmansterne


Sites on the London, Sutton side of the boundary
Freedown Lane
Hunters Field Farm

Oaks Lane
South Lodge
April Cottage

Oaks Park.
This was owned by the Earl of Derby and was originally called Lambert's Oaks. In the 14th It was piece of ancient woodland owned by the Lambert family who planted an oak grove which now form the main drive to the café. the wooded grounds are now a public park having been acquired by Carshalton Urban District Council in 1933.
Woodland Craft Centre
The Oaks. Lord Derby's house was a a castellated mansion rebuilt about 1770 for the eleventh Earl Derby. It was large and irregular, with turrets possibly by Adam, and interiors including a room attributed to Sir Robert Taylor. He entertained the Prince Regent here and in 1774 gave a party in celebration of the marriage of his grandson, later the twelfth earl, to Lady Betty Hamilton. This included a fete champetre in a pavilion designed by Robert Adam, and is said have cost £5,000. He had an illegal cockpit hidden under a trap door in the dining room. The house was badly damaged during the Second World War, became derelict and demolished 1960.
Oaks Park - The Twelfth Earl of Derby ran a sporting estate with racing during the 1700's. The race 'the Oaks' was named after this estate and the name for the 'Derby' horse race was decided here on the flip of a coin between the Earl and Sir Charles Bunbury.

The smallholdings were formed in 1925 by Surrey County Council. It was Council policy to help soldiers returning from the First World War and other to take become farmers..

The Parkland. lies on the northernmost outcrop of chalk on the North Downs. The storm of October 16 1987 uprooted over 15,000 trees in the park but natural regeneration and much replanting are now at work. The soil becomes very dry in the summer and there are specialised plants and insects like Bedstraw and Common Blue Butterfly. There is a ‘Woodpecker Triangle’ where there are all three native woodpeckers, the Greater Spotted, Lesser Spotted and the Green. There are many other birds and animals such as weasels and stoats.

This material has been compiled over many years and from a wide variety of sources
Biological Research Centre
Diamond Riding Centre

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