Introduction
The Commons are an area of calm and tranquility in the midst of the urban sprawls of Wimbledon, Putney and Kingston-upon-Thames in South West London.
"He does not know Wimbledon Common who is not familiar with its labyrinths of leafy glades, its tangled thickets of wild red rose, bramble, and honeysuckle; who has not often traversed its turfy plateau and had the perfumes of odoriferous herbs borne in upon his senses; who has not pondered over its rusty pebble, and wondered whence they came; tried to acquaint himself with what may be gleaned of local history; First of all, to the Conservators of the Common, to whom we really owe very much, one may appeal for the preservation of the heath in its wild state... one prays earnestly that the Common be not vulgarised... by making this lovely spot ordinary - a kind of level, well-ordered suburban park, for this windswept Common is not ordinary; it stands alone, and is therefore priceless".
- Walter Johnson: Wimbledon Common; its Geology, Antiquities and Natural History, 1912
