The Wood, Surbiton

The Wood is a public park in Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London. Part of it is a bird sanctuary named after the naturalist Richard Jefferies. The 1.5-hectare (3.7-acre) site is designated as a Local Nature Reserve called 'The Wood and Richard Jefferies Bird Sanctuary'. The Woods was a nineteenth century house which had a lake and woods in its grounds. In the 1930s the house was demolished, and in 1947 Surbiton Council compulsorily purchased the site and turned it into a park. In 1980 the upper part of the park was fenced off to form a bird sanctuary. The site is wooded, and has typical woodland birds such as great spotted woodpeckers and tawny owls. Invertebrates include stag beetles. There is access from Oak Hill Grove.