An historic forest in Wimbledon Park has been fenced off after last year’s tennis fans used it as a toilet, the Daily Star can reveal. Horse Close Wood is on the Southfields side of the park and dates back to the 17th century.
Tennis fans camp next to the long section of trees every year to get early access to the championship’s famous queue. Locals were furious last year when human poo was found in the woods – where local children play – and last year’s “badly behaved” queue was blamed.
Simon Wright, Southfields resident of 30 years, told the Daily Star: “We have a very old part of Wimbledon Park called Horse Close Wood.
“People were crapping in it because there weren’t enough loos. Locals were very unhappy about that because it is where toddlers play. So, this year under pressure from local residents, the All England Tennis Club have fenced off Horse Close Woods and put in much better loos. I counted 108 of them.
“It has been very successful but there have been isolated incidents of blokes pissing wherever they want to rather than going to use the loos. On the whole, that has been better.”
A Wimbledon sign said the fence was erected to “protect the local habitat and wildlife”. It read: “The All England Lawn Tennis Club has installed a temporary fence around the perimeter of Horse Close Woods during The Championships, 29 June to 12 July 2026.
“This has been done to protect the habitat and wildlife that live in the woods and there will be no access to (sic) until Monday 13 July. Thank you for understanding.
Despite the sign, a spokesman for the All England Lawn Tennis Club, the organisation which runs WImbledon, suggested it was “under the jurisdiction of Merton” Council. The Daily Star contacted Merton Council for comment.
A note stapled to trees outside the fence said the woods dated back to the late 17th century. “It was incorporated into Capability Brown’s 1765 landscaping of an enormous private park for the first Earl Spencer,” the note read.
“Remarkably, it is very much the same size and shape as when first mapped, around 1740. It is valued as the longest surviving English Oak, Ash and Elm Wood for miles around and is normally fully accessible to the public.”