Friends of Barnes Common

What will students see and do?

Are you looking for easy and reasonably priced trips for your students? Barnes Common is focused on conservation and education in London. With open access and a lifelong learning officer to assist your visit, planning your trip will be relatively easy.

For families and individuals, access is free. School parties should seek prior consent (see details at end).

Barnes Common is one of London’s oldest “Commons” (since ‘time immemorial’, records date back to 925AD). Owned by the Church it is managed by the London borough of Richmond upon Thames (LBRuT), which works in partnership with The Friends of Barnes Common (FoBC) to improve conservation and educational engagement for this Local Nature Reserve.

In 2019, FoBC was additionally awarded the conservation contract for the Leg o’ Mutton Reservoir, another nature reserve in Barnes.

Barnes Common provides many options depending on the style of trip you are planning.

As a formal learning trip, you can contact the Lifelong Learning Manager to plan customised hands-on learning experiences. Volunteering options (including DoE) can also be arranged for older students to interact directly with nature and its needs.

As one of the main focuses of Barnes Common is on conservation, special attention is paid to habitats. Acid grasslands, ponds and reed-beds, meadows, secondary woodlands, a brook, and a community orchard provide tons of options to craft a bespoke itinerary.

While at Barnes Common, your students will have the opportunity to see a variety of flora and fauna. For fauna, you can expect all manner of invertebrates, butterflies and birds. Flora, however, is the star of the show. Expect a fantastic array of more than thirty
grasses – unusual in this urban setting: these provide excellent backdrops to flowering species, many small but vital to a healthy habitat. Sheep sorrel is abundant, as are cat’s ear and some bedstraws. Larger flowers include ox-eye daisies, Burnet roses (with a documented history of over 300 years in the area!), celandine, and many more. There are over 30 species of trees and shrubs to identify.

The Beverley Brook may seem an odd choice of focus as it’s a small waterway with only 150m adjacent to the Common. However, it is representative of how vital each and every part of an ecosystem is.

You can combine multiple educational opportunities with a visit to the community orchard. FoBC have a fun Heritage Tree Project where they are attempting to map old orchard trees in the area through DNA testing.

Finally, the Leg o’ Mutton Wetland is a nearby extension. For an in-depth look into wetland wildlife, this small area has a surprising amount of importance for birds and other wildlife.