 Introduction
 Using Richmond Park for education - guidelines.
 Using Richmond Park for education - other resources and information
 Using Richmond Park for education - how to find us
 Map of Richmond Park – John Roques map 1762
 Map of Richmond Park - today
 Biodiversity in Richmond Park
 Management of Richmond Park
Appendix:
 ‘The Royal Parks – A National Treasure’
 The Royal Parks Annual Report
 A Guide to Richmond Park
 A copy of The Richmond Park Magazine.
 Copy of the schedule of Richmond Park as an SSSI.
 Richmond Park NNR postcards.
 Leaflets:
 National Nature Reserves for All
 Richmond Park Management Plan
 A guide to Isabella Plantation
 Cycling in Richmond Park
 Riding in Richmond Park
 Deer in Richmond Park
 Please help protect breeding skylarks
 Leptospirosis Weil’s Disease
 Tick bites and Lyme Disease

Richmond Park is the largest of the eight Royal Parks in London. It is Grade
1 listed historic landscape. It is also London’s largest Site of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a National Nature Reserve (NNR).
Richmond Park is about 955 ha (2360 acres) of historic parkland it was first enclosed in 1627 to use for hunting by Charles 1 who had moved his court to
Richmond Palace. Before them the land was mainly farms and common land.
During Cromwells time he park was given to the City of London but was returned to the Crown at the restoration in 1660. In the 1770s the public won a right of access to the park. In the early 1800s large areas of the park were planted with indigenous trees to create the plantations like Sheen Wood and
Pen Ponds Plantation. After World War 2 the Isabella Plantation was created which is a wonderful mixture of ornamental gardens and wildlife.
Today the park is owned by the Sovereign in right of the Crown. It is managed by the Royal Parks Agency on behalf of the Department of Culture,
Media and Sport.
The park is a wonderful resource for education. In particular it is a resource for learning about:
 history including local history
 historic landscapes
 horticulture
 park and open space management
 biodiversity and wildlife conservation
 sustainability

We welcome groups using the park for educational visits.
Led activities:
 Over the next few years we are developing a full education programme for
Richmond Park. Contact us for information.
 Holly Lodge Centre in partnership with the Royal Parks offers a programme of education activities in Richmond Park especially for those with special needs.
Self led activities:
If you are leading your own group in the park -
 You must get permission in advance from the Park Superintendent.
Address:
Richmond Park Office,
Holly Lodge,
Richmond Park,
TW10 5HS
Tel:
020 8948 3209 richnmond@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk
 If you want to discuss educational use of the park you are welcome to contact The Royal Parks Head of Education & Community Development.
Address:
The Old Police House,
Hyde Park,
London W2 2UH
Tel:
020 7298 2006 e mail: slee@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk

Please bear in mind:
 We try to manage educational use of the park so that wildlife, park visitors and other school groups are not disturbed. This might mean that we suggest:
 suitable dates and time of day for your visit
 areas of the park to use
 group size and numbers of supervising adults
 Stay on roads and footpaths.
 Do not go into enclosed areas of the park.
 Remember that Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve – please don’t disturb wildlife. The deer are wild animals and should not be approached or fed.
 Do not walk across the grassland area between King George V plantation and Lawn Plantation near Pen Ponds – this area is an important habitat for skylarks that are ground-nesting birds.
 Please be very careful not to leave litter – litter is very dangerous to wildlife and especially to the deer.
 We can suggest where to have lunch, use toilets etc.
 Coaches are not normally allowed in the park.

The Royal Parks
 www.royalparks.gsi.gov.uk

Holly Lodge
(Park Office and Holly
Lodge Centre) for a larger, colour map visit our website: www.royalparks.gov.uk
Both the Park Office and the Holly Lodge Centre is at Holly Lodge. The nearest gate is Richmond Gate.
Please make sure that on arrival at Holly Lodge you sign in at the Park Office.
If you are leading a group on a pre-booked activity please make sure that the rest of the group waits until they are met by one of our personnel.

Public transport:
By tube/train:
The nearest underground / national rail station is:
Richmond (Zone 4).
(Bus 371 from the station stops at the Lass of Richmond pub near the
Richmond Gate of the Park)
District Line underground.
Silverlink services to and from Woolwich,
South West Trains services to and from London Waterloo and SW London,
Reading and West.
By bus:
Richmond is in Zone 4.
Bus number
K3
65
From / to
72
Ealing Brway /
Kingston
East Acton /
Roehampton
74
Stops near
Robin Hood Gate, Kingston Gate
Ham Gate
Roehampton Gate
Roehampton Gate
85
170
265
371
Baker Street /
Roehampton
Putney Bridge /
Kingston
Roehampton /
Clapham Junc.
Putney Bridge /
Tolworth
Richmond /
Kingston
Robin Hood Gate
Roehampton Gate
Robin Hood Gate
Richmond Gate, Ham, Gate, Kingston
Gate

By taxi:
If you are taking a cab to Holly Lodge, you may need to help your driver with directions! If you are entering the Park by Richmond Gate follow the park road ahead. At the first turning on your left is a white signpost to Holly
Lodge.
Young people travelling by public transport:
Groups from schools in Greater London are eligible for FREE travel by bus and tube for educational visits under the Transport for London School Part
Travel Scheme. See www.tfL.gov.uk/schoolparty
For groups of up to 10 adults and or children (under 18yrs) travelling together a tube only Zone 1-6 Travelcard costs Adults (£3) children (£0.80).
There is no time restriction with these tickets. If you are travelling with a large group it’s usually worth talking to local tube/bus/train staff in advance.
For children (5yrs-15yrs) a LT Travelcard Zone 1-6 costs Peak (£5.20) or Off
Peak (£2).
By car / coach:
We encourage all our visitors to use public transport if possible unless bringing your car is essential e.g. for orange badge holders.
There are six car parks within Richmond Park and these are clearly marked on the maps. Do not park on the roads or grassland. There is a disabled badge holders only car park for the Isabella Plantation access via Ham Cross.
Parking is available at Holly Lodge only for those visiting the Royal Parks
Office and The Holly Lodge Centre.
Coaches need a permit to enter the Park. Please contact us to arrange one.
There is no charge.

By Nigel J. Reeve, Community Ecologist, Royal Parks Agency.
11 th December 2002.
Introduction
Richmond Park encloses about 955 ha (2360 acres) of historic parkland and is a nationally important site for wildlife conservation. It is London’s largest
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI, designated 1992) and a National
Nature Reserve (NNR, designated 2000), a recognition of the Park’s national importance for a number of habitat types and their associated flora and fauna.
Centuries of deer grazing have created a unique habitat – the largest and most important area of lowland acid grassland in the Greater London region.
Lowland acid grassland is a priority habitat in the Government’s UK
Biodiversity Action Plan. Acid grassland communities have unique character and value, with their own specialised flora and fauna which include grasses, wild flowers, fungi, invertebrates, reptiles, birds and mammals (English
Nature, 2000a).
Richmond Park is also a top UK site for veteran trees, which have great historic and wildlife importance. The trees and associated dead wood habitat support nationally endangered species of fungi, such as the oak polypore
(Buglossus pulvinus), as well as a remarkable range of invertebrates of UK conservation importance such as the cardinal click beetle (Ampedus cardinalis).
The population of stag beetles (Lucanus cervus), whose larvae feed in decaying wood, is of international importance and Richmond Park is a candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC). More than one thousand species of beetles (more than one quarter of the British list) have been recorded from the Park.
The richness and diversity of the species inhabiting Richmond Park is impressive but many of the park’s characteristic habitats and species are vulnerable or already in serious decline at a local, national and/or international level. It is important to realise that their future in and outside the Park depends, not on the preservation of the status quo, but on the development of more sensitive and sustainable conservation management.

The management of any park or open space is a complicated and sometimes very difficult job. The park is important for wildlife, it is an important heritage resource too and people use the park for so many different things.
The Royal Parks try to manage the park for wildlife, heritage and people.
Decisions about how to manage the park will often be good for one thing but not so good for another! Managing the park is a constant balancing act.
Because Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve looking after the wildlife in the park is a very high priority. English Nature (2000) noted that
“An overarching NNR management objective is to maximise their contribution towards delivering Government’s responsibilities and targets under the Natura 2000 and Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) programmes.”
The Royal Parks Agency has a clear statutory duty “to further the conservation and enhancement of the features for which the site is of special interest” (Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, s28G). Most ‘natural’ environments in the UK must be managed to conserve or improve the ecosystems and species that live in them. All the ecosystems in Richmond
Park have to be managed in one way or another.
Like other Royal Parks, Richmond Park has been open to the public since the
1850s. Visitors can freely enjoy the historic landscape, scenic beauty, the sense of ‘natural wilderness’ and the wildlife of this unique park. In 1990 visitor numbers were estimated at 3-4 million visits per year (LUC 1990).
Concentrations of visitor pressure can cause damage to key wildlife areas, especially if some of the visitors engage in activities that impact directly on threatened habitats and species. Such activities include:
 Damaging or picking plants and fungi,
 Disturbing dead wood,
 Allowing dogs to run free into areas where there are ground–nesting birds or into water bodies,
 Leaving litter,
 Vehicles and bicycles which do not keep to dedicated roads and cycleways.

This list includes some of the ways The Royal Parks manage Richmond Park for wildlife and people.
Traffic -
 Speed limit on park roads is 30mph.
 Traffic is limited to certain roads only.
 Parking is restricted to certain car parks e.g. Pembroke Lodge and
Roehampton Gate, with extra parking for disabled orange badge holders only e.g. at Isabella Plantation and Pen Ponds.
 Visitors are encouraged to use public transport if possible.
 A dedicated cycleway has been constructed and a leaflet explaining this.
 Trade vehicles (vans, lorries, coaches etc) are not normally permitted in the park.
 Wooden posts are placed along soft road verges to prevent vehicles driving off the road or parking.
Education and information -
 Information is provided for the public at park gates and at the park office about the park and its wildlife.
 Holly Lodge Centre in partnership with The Royal Parks offers an education programme especially for people with special needs.
 There is an English Nature leaflet about NNRs.
 There is a programme of guided walks many of them about the wildlife in the park.
 Signs are put up to educate people about the areas where ground-nesting birds are.
Wildlife:
 2 Royal Parks Wildlife Officers work in Richmond Park.
 The Royal Park Regulations prohibit interfering with wildlife.
 The Royal Parks staff and Royal Parks Constables patrol the park.
 The deer herds are culled each year to control numbers.
 The Community Ecologist, other staff and volunteers regularly survey the some of wildlife e.g. birds.
 The Community Ecologist recommends how the park should be managed for wildlife and helps produce management plans.
 Bracken is bashed each year to reduce its growth otherwise it spreads too much.

Other:
 Shire Horses are used for many jobs in the park such as grass cutting, bracken bashing, timber hauling. The horses cause less damage than heavy machinery would.