Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces (SANGs)

Homewood Park, Guildford Road, Ottershaw is a lovely 23 hectare (57 acre) park. It is an area of open formal landscape that reflects a small part of the wide and sprawling country estate to which it used to belong. Perched on a raised location is the Botley Manor Mansion, a fine example of a Palladian mansion dating from the 1760s. Once described as one of the finest buildings in Surrey, this Grade II* listed building is no longer integral to the park but can be viewed from it. Homewood Park has officially been owned and managed by Runnymede Borough Council since 1999.

Homewood Park is managed as a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace in order to create an enjoyable natural environment for recreation, away from the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.

Facilities

The park itself offers opportunities for walks and has paths which are suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. There are plenty of open grass areas where children can let off steam, plus woodland to explore and water features to discover. Public toilets located in the car park are open mid-April to mid-September. Disabled toilets are also available, which are accessed with a Radar key. Please remember to take a ticket from a machine in the car park to enjoy three hours of free parking. 

How to get to Homewood Park

By car

Find the large car park on Stonehill Road, Chertsey, nearest postcode KT16 0AG - visit the what3words website to view the car park entrance. Please note, there is a 2-metre height restrictor plus width restrictor on the car park entrance.

By foot and bike

Homewood Park is located approximately 1km north of Ottershaw and 2km south-west of Chertsey. National Cycle Network Route 223 passes along Guildford Road directly outside Homewood Park.

By public transport

The park is approximately a 1.9km walk from Chertsey railway station. Please visit the Surrey County Council website Surrey County Council - Bus timetables for up-to-date details on bus routes and services.

Nature and wildlife

Both native and exotic trees are scattered across the park. English Oak is the most frequent tree and there are some impressive mature specimens. Oaks support more life forms than any other native tree. They are host to hundreds of insect species, supplying many birds with an important food source. In autumn, mammals such as squirrels, badgers, and deer feed on acorns.

The round area of grass to the north-west of Botley Manor Mansion has been managed as a meadow grassland since 2013. The main body of grass is cut and collected once a year in late summer to encourage a beautiful early summer display of meadow flowers which buzzes with wildlife. Cutting areas of grass at different frequencies enhances the structural diversity of the grassland at Homewood Park.