Barnes Common

Barnes Common
Broom on Barnes Common
Type	Common land
Location	Barnes, London
Area	49.55 hectares (122.4 acres)
Open	All year
Status	Local Nature Reserve[1]

Barnes Common is a local nature reserve on common land in the south east of Barnes, London, England, adjoining Putney Lower Common to the east and bounded to the south by the Upper Richmond Road.^[2] Along with Barnes Green, it is one of the largest zones of common land in London with 49.55 hectares (122.4 acres) of protected commons.^[3] It is also a local nature reserve.^[1] Facilities include a full-size football pitch and a nature trail.^[1]

The common is made up of mixed broadleaf woodland, scrubland and acid grassland and is generally flat.^[2] It is owned by the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral, acting through the Church Commissioners,^[2] and managed by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, advised and assisted by the charity Barnes Common Limited (previously known as Friends of Barnes Common).^[1][2][4]

Mill Hill is effectively an enclave of eleven large houses (three of them listed buildings), surrounded by the Common.

Transport

Barnes railway station is just within the common. The common is served by London Buses routes 33, 72, 265 and 485.^[2]

History

Death of Marc Bolan

Singer and rock musician Marc Bolan died on the common on 16 September 1977 when the car carrying him as a passenger slammed into a tree,^[5] at what is now Marc Bolan's Rock Shrine. He was found unconscious in the wreckage of the purple Mini, which, driven by his girlfriend, Gloria Jones, failed to navigate a small humpback bridge, near Gipsy Lane on Queens Ride, Barnes, south-west London, lost control and struck a steel-reinforced chain link fence post, and he was pronounced dead at the scene on the arrival of paramedics near the post located in the woods.^{[citation needed]} Jones was critically injured but was conscious after the crash and survived it.

Cricket match

In August 1736, the common hosted a cricket match between Surrey and London. This is the only time that a reference to the common is found in surviving cricket records.^[6]

Barnes Common Limited

Legal status	Not-for-profit membership organisation[4]
Headquarters	Barnes Common, Barnes, London SW13 0HT
Main organ	On the Common (newsletter)[7]
Affiliations	affiliated to Barnes Community Association and associated with the South West London Environment Network[4]
Staff	none
Website	barnescommon.org.uk

References

1. "Barnes Common". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 28 February 2013. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
2. "4.2. General information" (PDF). Barnes Common Management Plan 2009-14. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
3. "Common Land and the Commons Act 2006". Defra. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
4. "Home". Friends of Barnes Common. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
5. Beaumont, Mark (14 November 2017). "Marc Bolan's last days: how glam rock's teenage dream became a nightmare". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
6. Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
7. "Threats to Barnes Common". Friends of Barnes Common. Archived from the original on 14 August 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.

External links

• London Borough of Richmond upon Thames: Barnes Common Management Plan 2009-14
• Barnes Common Limited
• "Map of Barnes Common". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.

51.470154°N 0.237007°W / 51.470154; -0.237007