Cow common is about 50 acres and is one of the last that still has grazing cattle in the Chilterns. In the early days, it stretched across what’s now the playing field. There were few trees round the borders and like most commons, it wasn’t fenced. The origin of the common is not known and there are no title deeds.

 

A 1681 map shows Cow Common as common land and in the late 1800s, various properties and farmers have grazing rights to the land. In the 1880s, six farms and six properties had rights for 58 cows. There was no water trough in earlier times, so cattle were walked up to village to drink each day. The last person known to walk them was a war-wounded villager and this stopped some time between the wars when traffic increased.

 

Cow Common used to offer a 9-hole golf course. It was established in 1893 at the far end of the common - away from where grazing right holders herded a few cattle - and with the ninth hole situated across the road by the Icknield Way T-junction. The undulating terrain seemed to pose no problem to the golfers, but nowadays there’s no sign of the fairways or greens. Jerome K Jerome (of Three Men in a Boat fame) mentions playing there is his diary. The club folded in 1921, when members were asked to remove their clubs from the club house, but no-one knows where that was.

 

The common was requisitioned in the war by the Agricultural Executive Committee to produce food. From 1942 Fred Chamberlain ploughed and farmed the land, growing potatoes and wheat. In 1945, they produced 12 sacks/acre of wheat from 27 acres and 250 tons of potatoes from 20 acres. In 1955 the land was reseeded before derequisition in 1956. Later during the war, the common was on the route of an aviation fuel pipeline. These pipelines were installed, sometimes at night to avoid detection by the Luftwaffe, to avoid the need for vulnerable tankers to transport fuel by road. The white posts, half way along the common, mark the pipeline, with “ALD-SAN” indicating Aldermaston to Sandy. The wartime pipeline was replaced in the 1960s and is still in use.

 

Fencing common land is in theory prohibited, but the village needed to fence it to be able to charge rent for grazing or taking a hay crop. The rent would fund a much-needed recreation area. Eventually, records were discovered allowing fencing and ministerial consent was granted on 29.9.59. The common was fenced, the water trough laid and in 1963, it was fertilised with basic slag. Later, in 1983, £5000 was spent to replace the fencing and £200 on spraying thistles.

 

The playing field land used to be in a dip, and in 1959 Grundons were paid £810 to level it. For six months afterwards, groups of willing villagers picked up thousands of stones from the areas, but even so, visiting football teams complained of flinty ground. An air raid shelter had to be demolished and two wells filled. The pavilion was built in 1967 and later vandalised.

 

The last graziers relinquished their rights in 1984 and Ewelme parish council were granted full title to the land in 1998. The council planted 330 trees on what was the 9th hole in 1996.

 

The villagers planted a new hedge round the playing field in March2023, facilitated by the Trust for Oxfordshire Environment. The hedge has a bird-friendly mix of: hawthorn, spindle, dog rose, dogwood, guelder rose, field maple and bird cherry. It’s growing well despite its first summer being dry, thanks to a mulch of straw and grass.

 

Another hedge was planted in December 2023, at the bottom by the rabbit bank, with facilitation from the CPRE Hedgerow Heroes. This hedge has a similar mix to the playground hedge and included blackthorn and holly but no guelder rose. The holly was a mistake. Cows love it. They leaned over the fence and made a meal of it. We’ve since replanted the hedge and covered it in brash, forming a loose dead hedge and protecting it form the herd.

 

There is some diversity of plants, since the common has not been heavily fertilised or treated with chemicals. Amongst the various grasses, there are swathes of buttercups in May, blue germander speedwell and the rarer meadow saxifrage and more of course. We are currently surveying the plants regularly, to provide a baseline for future care of the common.