Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces (SANGs)

Timber Hill and Chaworth Copse, Guildford Road, Ottershaw together cover an area of 9.2 hectares (22.7 acres). The sites share a boundary, along which is a public footpath. Both areas are currently covered by secondary woodland. This means woodland growing on a previously unwooded site, possibly as the site would have been used as farmland in the past. Local people recollect that there used to be views from the top of Timber Hill (at a height of about 50 metres) out towards London. For further information about this site, Ottershaw Chase and Ether Hill, please collect a leaflet from the dispensers located close to the car park, or you can download a copy. Timber Hill & Chaworth Copse are managed as Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces in order to create an enjoyable natural environment for recreation, away from the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.

• Ottershaw Chase and Ether Hill leaflet

Facilities

A waymarked trail takes you around the woodlands from the car park through Timber Hill towards Chaworth Copse and out onto Brox Road near Meath School. After a short walk along the pavement, the route follows a footpath back into the open space, and uphill to return to the car park. Currently, most of the paths are unsurfaced and natural and in places can become muddy in wet weather.

How to get to Timber Hill & Chaworth Copse

By car

Timber Hill car park is located on the A320, Guildford Road, Ottershaw, nearest postcode KT16 0PB - visit the what3words website to view the entrance. Free parking and dedicated disabled parking bays are available. There is a 2.1-metre height restriction at the car park entrance.

By foot and bike

Timber Hill and Chaworth Copse are situated just to the south of Ottershaw, off the A320. There are several other access points, utilising the network of public footpaths and informal paths crossing the site. The woods are across the road from the National Cycle Network Route 223 which follows the path alongside the A320.

By public transport

The closest rail stations are either Chertsey (3.7km) or Addlestone (4km). Please visit the Surrey County Council - Bus timetables for up-to-date details on bus routes and services.

Nature and wildlife

There are a lot of silver birch trees growing at Timber Hill. Birch are fast-growing pioneer trees which readily colonise open ground. They are short-lived with typical lifespans of being 60 to 90 years old, although some individuals can live up to 150 years. As pioneer species, one of the important functions which birch trees fulfil in ecosystems is that of improving soils. Their roots draw up nutrients into their branches and leaves, which the trees use for their growth. Some of these nutrients are returned to the surface of the soil each year when the leaves fall in the autumn, hereby becoming available for other organisms in the woodland community.