Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, England is an area of common land at the edge of the former village of
Merrow
Merrow (from Irish language, Irish ', Middle Irish ' or ') is a mermaid or merman in Irish folklore. The term is anglicised from the Irish word murúch.
The merrows supposedly require a magical cap (; anglicised: #Cohuleen druith, cohuleen dr ...
, now a suburb of
Guildford
Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
AONB
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
right on the edge of the ridge of hills that forms the
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...
.
It is owned by Guildford Borough Council, who lease part of the common to Guildford golf club, with the public retaining the right to roam. Most of the common covered by the golf course is chalk downland while other areas are covered by broad leaved woodland. This is predominantly hazel coppice under oak in the older parts of the common, a woodland rich in biodiversity complemented by stands of old yew trees. In the last 100 years the common ceased to be used for grazing and the cutting of hazel, and other tree species such as blackthorn, holly and ash now dominate the landscape, covering areas that were once open grassland.
Sport
Merrow Down was the site of
Guildford Bason
Guildford Bason (or Basin) is a former cricket ground on Merrow Down, on the outskirts of Guildford, Surrey.
Cricket was played on the ground between 1730 and 1786.Guildford Golf Club has used the site of the former race course since 1888.
Prisoner of War camp
In 1942 a POW camp was erected on Merrow Down as Work Camp 57. Initially holding Italian prisoners captured in North Africa, by 1945 it also held German POWs. All Italians had left by September 1946 but 540 prisoners remained in March 1948. The huts were used after the war as temporary housing for local people before demolition in the late 1950s.