History of Foxley Wood

The ancient name FOXLE first appears in the Surrey Assize Rolls of 1279 but it is not until information from the Messeder map of 1762 and the Tithe map of 1837 that the fields, farmlands and woodlands are seen to complete the jigsaw that we can identify today, situated between the boundaries of the A22 and A23.

Ancient Foxle was probably about 200 acres but today the 19 acres of Foxley Wood, plus other small strips of woodland and field are all that remain.

In 1867 the Lords of the Manor started selling off plots of land for building development and it was George Armstrong, a prosperous merchant and manufacturer of linseed oil cake, who purchased the Great Foxley Estate in c1875 and built the large house "Foxley", later to be known as Foxley Hall.

The estate was again sold in 1893 to Edward Densham, a tea merchant who, with his brothers and father John Boon Densham founded the Mazawattee tea company.

The Foxley estate was finally sold in 1937 to Coulsdon and Purley UDC. It is now owned and managed by the London Borough of Croydon, so preserving this lovely stretch of old woodland in the green belt scheme now designated as a Local Nature Reserve.

The Friends of Foxley volunteer group were founded in 1992 to work in partnership with the London Borough of Croydon to maintain, enhance and manage Foxley Wood for the benefit of local residents and visitors.