Holmwood Common – Holmwood, Surrey

Address: National Trust, Holmwood Common, Blackbrook Road, Holmwood, Surrey, RH5 4NX

Holmwood Common is full of history and a lovely place to visit for a dog walk. A 650 acre ancient common South of Dorking which was once owned by King Harold and William the Conqueror. Here you can walk a circular route which will take you roughly 2 hours to walk at a gentle pace. The path is made up of flat terrain so it’s great for an easier dog walk. There are other footpaths which are signposted which will extend your walking time if you would prefer a longer walk.

One of the great things about visiting here is that you have free parking at all 5 car parks surrounding the Common. We parked at Fourwents Mill Road Car Park which is placed at the side of the large Fortwents pond – a great place to sit and watch the wildlife and even enjoy a picnic.

There are several spots that you can sit and enjoy the area as benches are scattered all through the walking trails. A great place to stop and enjoy is the View Point where you can see the Spire of St. Barnabas Church on Ranmore Common and views of Surrey’s woodland.

During our walk we met several other people walking their dogs, so Yianni and Yoko were able to stop and play around in between investigating the new area. The signs for the walking routes were probably the best we have ever had on a dog walk with signs of the different paths at every corner and even signs to the different car parks so you knew how to get back to your car. Please be aware that there are also Bridle ways through the common which are clearly marked.

For most of our walk, we were shaded through trees, with clear openings in between. We came across a large open space which previously was the football pitch for the village. Yianni and Yoko enjoyed racing and rolling around the area but it would be a great spot for a family kick around or even a game of rounders.

The History of Holmwood common

The town of Holmwood was once home to Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and her husband - the country home of Mrs Pankhurst’s Women’s Social and Political Union. Women recovered there from forcible feeding and campaigns were planned there. This home was close to the Common, so they would often visit the woodland and use it as a space to entertain their visitors. Can you imagine the life-changing conversations they would have while they roamed through the trees and walked along the pathways!

In the midst of the last Luftwaffe campaign on the night of March 14th 1944, a German Junker 88 bomber plane was shot down over Holmwood Common. The German plane was shot down by a RAF Mosquito night fighter when it was returning from a raid on London. After dropping its remaining bombs, it crashed into the undergrowth, killing all of the four crewmen on board. Following the crash, the site was excavated by archaeologists in the 1970s and 1990s and then by the National Trust in 2012 with all the remains being moved to the Wings Museum in Balcombe, Sussex.

So if your looking for a dog walk with easier walking terrain and beautiful woodland, this is definitely a place to visit.

Have you and your dog been to explore the great Holmwood Common or have another dog-friendly woodland adventure you can recommend? We would love to hear from you, so please feel free to leave us a comment below.

Love from the Aurora Pets Team x

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