Farthing Downs and New Hill (also known as Farthing Down Common)⁹³³¹

Brief Description

Farthing Downs is a chalk downland ridge with fine views, popular with the public for well over 100 years although it has a much longer history dating back to the Stone Age. The nearby New Hill was purchased to protect the downs' immediate surroundings, and is more wooded. Farthing Downs is within the West Wickham and Coulsdon Commons group of sites managed by the Corporation of London.

History

There is evidence of early cultivation by Celtic farmers in the Iron Age, and Saxon burial sites have been found. The tree belt between Farthing Downs and the lower fields was an ancient hedgerow.

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