Parks and playgrounds directory

Location

Limpsfield Road, Sanderstead.

Area

0.08 hectares.

Facilities

• Pond

History

Hamsey Green Pond possibly existed in Neolithic times, as there is substantial evidence around the pond of Neolithic and Iron Age settlements.

The pond was mentioned in the Elizabethan Manor Rolls for Sanderstead Manor, when it was referred to as "Wychemere" and has been in many boundary disputes dating as far back as the 13th Century. The position of the pond at the junction of two roads (similar to Sanderstead Pond) suggests that it was used as a watering hole for cattle.

Hamsey Green Farm was situated on the west side of Limpsfield Road and, on the east side just behind the pond a wheel‐wright and undertaking business was established by James Bex before the Common became enclosed in 1866 to create pasture and arable fields. Both farmer and wheelwright would have used the pond for their water supplies. Cartwheels originally had metal tyres, which due to the uneven tracks and unmade roads would become loose with the friction. It was therefore customary at the end of the day to take the horse and cart through the water in order to swell the wood of the wheel beneath the tyre so that the two fitted properly together again.

The 1930s brought the encroachment of suburbia resulting in the pond shrinking due to the lowering of the water table. It was probably not until the 1960s when the pond came under the control of Tandridge Borough Council that it was restored. Later in the 1990s the boundaries changed and the pond came under the control of Croydon Council.