Mitcham Common, CR4, is a large flat area, covered mainly by heath and acid grassland. It extends over 185 hectares in south London, between Croydon, Beddington and Sutton. Today it is divided into distinct sections by a series of roads, and one watercourse.
The site is on naturally poor gravel soil. Most of it is now rough grassland, scrub, with some areas of woodland. A major aim of its modern management is to maintain the acid grassland and heathland, and to prevent encroachment by scrub and trees.
There are three surviving large ponds. There is an education centre.The public course of Mitcham Golf Course occupies much of the common.
Because of it being on poor soil, Mitcham Common was never of any real agricultural importance. Like many such lands, it was saved as an open space by local objections and resistance to its enclosure and sale in the 19th century.
In the 19th century, apart from pasture, it was also used for gravel extraction, which left a number of ponds and lakes. In the 20th century, parts of it were used as waste and landfill sites, and this left some mounds in what would otherwise be a largely flat landscape.The Common is administered by the Mitcham Common Conservators, though the London Borough of Merton, who are their agents, do most of the physical work for them.