1b Goulburn Green

Goulburn Green carries the name of the family that owned this space for over a hundred years but it was donated to Betchworth Parish by Lord Hamilton in the 1980s to provide a community space. It is maintained by the Parish Council and volunteers.

There are five impressive trees on the green - two beautiful Northern Red Oaks, two Cockspur Hawthorn, a holly tree together with two trees planted for the Queens Jubilee a Rowan and Serviceberry trees.

Wildflower strip

At the back of the green, by the brick wall of a former Georgian walled garden, is a 2 to 3m wide strip sown with wildflowers in 2022. The wildflower strip is maintained by volunteers from the 4Bs Nature Conservation Group. Look carefully and depending on the time of year you may spot….

SPECIES LIS TO BE ADDED

A living bench

A couple of benches on the green invite you to pause and sit, but take a closer look before you sit down. The pale grey-green crusts and leafy patches covering this bench aren't simply weathering — they're a thriving community of living organisms that has been quietly colonising the wood for years.

Most of what you can see are lichens — remarkable partnerships between a fungus and a microscopic alga, working together so successfully that they can grow on almost any surface, including bare wood, stone and even glass. The flatter, powdery patches are crustose lichens, fused directly into the wood's surface. The slightly raised, leafier rosettes may include Common Greenshield Lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata) — one of Britain's most widespread species and a reliable indicator of clean air.

But look closer still. Between the lichen colonies you may spot tiny cushions of moss gathering in the cracks and grooves. Hidden beneath the surface, springtails, mites and minute beetles hunt through the lichen like animals moving through a forest. Woodlice shelter in the dark beneath the seat. Fungi are quietly breaking the old wood down, returning its nutrients to the soil.

The sheer density of life on this bench tells you something important: the air here in Betchworth is clean. Many lichens are exquisitely sensitive to air pollution and vanished from much of lowland England during the industrial era. Their return — and their abundance here — is a sign that the Surrey Hills landscape is in good health.

So by all means sit down. Just remember you're sharing the bench.