Windlesham Arboretum is between the villages of

Windlesham Windlesham is a village in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately south west of central London. Its name derives from the Windle Brook, which runs south of the village into Chobham, and the common suffix 'ham', the Old Engli ...

and

Lightwater Lightwater is a village in the Surrey Heath district of Surrey, England, about southwest of central London. Immediately surrounding towns and villages include Bagshot, Deepcut, Windlesham, Camberley, and West End, Woking. It is bounded to ...

in Surrey,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The arboretum features lakes, monuments, follies, a small chapel and approximately 22,000 mature and rare trees. The Windle Brook runs through the arboretum and has seven main footbridges and approximately ten ponds on each side, some of which are more properly identifiable as lakes based on size. The land and lakes, including a scattered number of buildings altogether consist of just over .

Features

The arboretum, which is also a fresh water park, is located in the south of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Windlesham, where alluvial soils juxtapose, furthest from the brook, with acidic, naturally wet,

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

.Cranfield University National Soil Resources Institute
/ref> A small percentage of land use is for homes, one of which is a farm, within the bounds, which own small parts of the arboretum as their semi-

woodland garden A woodland garden is a garden or section of a garden that includes large trees and is laid out so as to appear as more or less natural woodland, though it is often actually an artificial creation. Typically it includes plantings of flowering shru ...

in the style of Gertrude Jekyll, who lived in Surrey for most of her life. One such home is that of Major William Spowers, who founded the Arboretum, and died there in 2009.

Ownership and rules

The arboretum is owned by a charitable trust. The objects of the charitable trust are to advance education in the study of trees and birds and access to the arboretum is restricted to educational activities. The public is permitted limited access from four main entry points, spread around the compass, during daylight hours. Picnics, barbecues, cycling and leisure activities other than walking, study and reflection are prohibited. It is patrolled most days, and maintained to ensure its use remains in accordance with the trust's objectives.

Archaeology

An archeological survey of the Arboretum was carried out by the Surrey Heath Archaeological & Heritage Trust and found coins and pottery and signs of old

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

enclosure ditches and Romano-British agricultural buildings.

References

External links

Satellite image of Windlesham Arboretum
{{Surrey Heath Arboreta in England Protected areas of Surrey Parks and open spaces in Surrey Woodland gardens