Forest Green's cricket ground, where the game has been played since 1895, is the centrepiece of village life. The large flat green, unusual in this hilly and wooded part of Surrey, made it a natural site for the pitch. The Parrot Inn faces the green, and on a summer afternoon with a match in progress, the scene looks much as it has for over a century.
The area was part of the vast Wotton estate belonging to the Evelyn family. John Evelyn, born at Wotton House in 1620, became one of the most important figures in English horticulture, forestry, and public life. A founding fellow of the Royal Society, his 1664 book "Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty's Dominions" was the first book published by the Royal Society and is credited with inspiring the planting of millions of trees across England. Written partly in response to the Navy's concern about timber shortages for shipbuilding, "Sylva" became hugely influential and went through multiple editions. The woodlands around Forest Green, with their mix of oak, beech, and chestnut, still feel like Evelyn's legacy.
Wotton House itself, rebuilt after a fire in the 18th century, sits a mile to the east. Evelyn's diary, which he kept from 1641 to 1706, is one of the great records of 17th century English life, rivalling Samuel Pepys's. He wrote about the trees, gardens, and countryside around Wotton with a detail and passion that still reads vividly today. The village should not be confused with Forest Green Rovers football club, which is based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, and has no connection to this Forest Green. The village has a primary school and a strong sense of community but few commercial services, with Cranleigh the nearest town for shops.
