The Green

The Green at Forest Green

The Green, roughly triangular and approximately 26 acres, played an integral part in the community, and a track then crossed diagonally from the apex, sufficiently wide for horse-drawn carts to travel to Waterlands. Cricket was played on the pitch to the east of this rough road, and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897 were centered here. Sports and spirited games followed. Further games and dancing appear to have followed until dusk, when rockets were let off, answering ones from Okewood and Ockley being visible.

The green is a wonderful place for walking, watching wildlife and sitting and enjoying the tranquil Village life. The green is also central to the community of the village, and forms a critical part of the residents’ recreational needs. The cricket pitch and outfield are areas well-used for social activities such as the Coronation and Jubilee celebration parties, and other social events which are organised in conjunction with the Forest Green Cricket Club.
 
The Forest Green village green is of national importance for its biodiversity and the rarity of its habitats. In a world where 98% of our flower meadows have been lost to intensification and overgrazing, Forest Green is a wonder. For residents that overlook the Green there is next to nowhere that you could get a more nationally important and biodiverse view.
 

The Pond

Along the Horsham Road is a natural pond, providing a delightful setting among the rushes and reed-mace for nesting moorhens and ducks. Flora and fauna have been studied by young Volunteers of the British Trust for Conservation. Their care and attention, given over weekends when they camped in the village hall, resulted in a plaque being placed on the bank in 1975 reading, among other things, “SAVE THE VILLAGE POND CAMPAIGN.” These helpful enthusiasts have been rewarded by the mass of aquatic plant and insect life to be found there. The pond is not deep, but only on two occasions in living memory has it ever run dry; in 1921 and in 1976, both years of drought.

The Green in general encourages many birds. Larks, whose nests are so well concealed, are not frequent as of old, but wagtails, marsh tits, kestrels and woodpeckers are found, to mention only a few. Endemic are the swallows, house martins and swifts, which, because of clay surrounds to the pond, are encouraged to nest. Every autumn one can witness an amazing collection of these migratory birds preparing for their flights.