Kent Wildlife Trust
Kent Wildlife Trust is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve our natural spaces" and to "ensure that 30% of Kent and Medway – land and sea – is managed to create a healthy place for wildlife to flourish". In 2016 it had thirty-one thousand members and an annual income of £4 million. KWT manages fifty-four nature reserves, of which twenty-four are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, two are National Nature Reserves, nine are Nature Conservation Review sites, seven are Special Areas of Conservation, three are Special Protection Areas, seven are Local Nature Reserves, one is a Geological Conservation Review site, thirteen are in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and one is a Scheduled Monument.
Kent is a county in the southeastern corner of England. It is bounded to the north by Greater London and the Thames Estuary, to the west by Sussex and Surrey, and to the south and east by the English channel and the North Sea. The county town is Maidstone. It is governed by Kent County Council, with twelve district councils: Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, Gravesham, Maidstone, Thanet, Tonbridge and Malling and Tunbridge Wells. Medway is geographically part of Kent but is a separate unitary authority. The chalk hills of the North Downs run from east to west through the county, with the wooded Weald to the south. The coastline is alternately flat and cliff-lined.
Nature reserves
Key
Public access
- FP = Access to footpaths only
- NO = No public access to the site
- YES = Free public access to all or most of the site
- PP = Public access to part of the site
Classifications
- AONB = Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
- GCR = Geological Conservation Review site
- LNR = Local Nature Reserve
- NCR = Nature Conservation Review site
- NNR = National Nature Reserve
- Ramsar = Ramsar site, an internationally important wetland site
- SAC = Special Area of Conservation
- SM = Scheduled Monument
- SPA = Special Protection Area
- SSSI = Site of Special Scientific Interest
Sites
| Site | Photograph | Area | Location | Public access | Classifications | Description |
| Ashford Warren and Hoads Wood | Ashford | YES | This site has acid grassland, which is nationally rare, and mature woodland. There are also pools which have water violets, great crested newts and grass snakes. | |||
| Bigbury Camp | Not available | Canterbury | YES | SM | This Iron Age hillfort may have been the site of a battle when Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 BC. It is now part of Howfield Wood. | |
| Blue Bell Hill | Chatham | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty|, NCR, SSSI | This hill has typical chalk grassland flora such as salad burnet, bird's foot trefoil and fairy flax. Butterflies include the chalk hill blue and brown argus. | ||
| Bough Beech | Sevenoaks | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty| | This nature reserve covers the northern end of Bough Beech reservoir, and there is a hide for viewing the many species of birds. The shores have great crested newts, toads and dragonflies. | ||
| Brenchley Wood | Tonbridge | YES | This ancient wood is dominated by mature beech and oak trees. A former pine plantation in the north of the site is now being restored to heathland. | |||
| Broadham Down | Canterbury | YES | This nature reserve has views over the Stour Valley. Three species of bat hibernate on the site, which has chalk grassland, woodland and scrub. Flowering plants include fragrant and common spotted orchids. | |||
| Burham Down | Rochester | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty|, NCR, SAC, SSSI | This site has woodland, chalk grassland, and two chalk pits which provide shelter for birds in the winter and breeding sites in the summer. Woodland flora include orchids. | |||
| Burham Marsh | Rochester | SSSI | These tidal reedbeds on the River Medway provide habitats for waterfowl and waders such as kingfishers, cormorants, herons and geese. | |||
| Collingwood | Cranbrook | YES | This reserve is woodland which has many exotic species as well as native trees. It is centred on a lake which has water lilies and bulrushes. | |||
| Conningbrook Lakes Country Park | Ashford | YES | There are three lakes in these former gravel pits, and other habitats are ponds, a river, grassland and wet woodland. In the winter there are migratory wildfowl and wetland birds such as wigeon, tufted duck and gadwall. | |||
| Cowden Pound Pastures | Edenbridge | NO | SSSI | This small valley has neutral grassland, ancient woodland and marshes. The middle field has one of the largest populations of devil's bit scabious in Kent. | ||
| Cromers Wood | Sittingbourne | YES | This ancient semi-natural wood is located on the south-east slope of a dry valley. Most of it is sweet chestnut coppice with oak standards. | |||
| Darland Banks | Gillingham | YES | LNR | This area of chalk grassland has diverse fauna and flora, including the largest population of man orchids in Britain. There are birds such as willow warbler, yellowhammer, linnet and lesser whitethroat. | ||
| Downe Bank | Orpington | YES | SSSI | Charles Darwin, who lived locally, carried out scientific research on the chalk grassland site, and it was the first to be purchased by the KWT in 1962. | ||
| East Blean Wood | Canterbury | YES | NCR, NNR SAC SSSI | This site has mixed coppice with some mature oaks. Insects include the rare and protected heath fritillary butterfly, and there is a wide variety of woodland birds. | ||
| Fackenden Down | Sevenoaks | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty|, SSSI | This site is mainly chalk grassland, with some woodland and scrub. There are a variety of orchids, and butterflies such as the brown argus, common blue and dark green fritillary. | ||
| Cranbrook | NO | This site has been planted with sweet chestnut, which dominates most of it. Flora includes bluebells, early purple orchids and marsh-marigold. | ||||
| Hewitt's Chalk Bank | Sevenoaks | NO | This former refuse tip has a large mound which is the soil from the excavation of a railway tunnel. Habitats are grassland and scrub, and unusual flora include grass vetchling and dark mullein. | |||
| Holborough Marshes | Snodland | YES | SSSI | The marshes have a variety of wetland habitats; freshwater marshes, woodland, brackish and tidal reedbeds, wet grassland, scrub, and freshwater and saline dykes. Flowers include the grey mouse-ear. | ||
| Hothfield Heathlands | Ashford | YES | LNR, SSSI | This site has areas of heath and the best valley bog in the county, both habitats which are uncommon in Kent. Over a thousand insect species have been recorded, several of which are nationally rare, such as the bee Lasioglossum semilucens and the cranefly Tipula holoptera. | ||
| Ivy Hatch | Sevenoaks | YES | Several streams run through this small site, and there are many wetland plants, including sphagnum moss. There are many common spotted orchids, and trees such as alders and hazels. | |||
| Kemsing Down | Sevenoaks | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty| | Habitats in this downland site include ancient and secondary woodland, scrub and chalk grassland. There are man, pyramidal and common spotted orchids, and butterflies include the brown argus and grizzled skipper. | ||
| Kiln Wood | Maidstone | YES | This wood is mainly oak, hornbeam and hazel, and it is managed by coppicing. A stream at the northern end has lady fern, herb paris and broad buckler-fern. | |||
| Maidstone | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty|, NCR, SAC, SSSI | This site has chalk grassland, woods and scrub. Grassland flora include autumn gentian, pyramidal orchid and broad-leaved helleborine, and there are butterflies such as the chalkhill blue and marbled white. | |||
| Longfield Chalk Bank | Longfield | YES | This site is mainly chalk grassland. but it also has areas of woodland and scrub. Fauna include the common blue butterfly, slow worm, common lizard and willow warbler. | |||
| Lydden Temple Ewell | Dover | YES | NCR, NNR SAC, SSSI | This site has some of the finest chalk downland in Europe. Flora include the burnt-tip and early spider orchid. There are butterflies such the Adonis blue and chalkhill blue. | ||
| Marden Meadow | Tonbridge | YES | SSSI | These unimproved neutral meadows are cut for hay each year and then grazed. There are also ponds and hedgerows which are probably of ancient origin, and trees include midland hawthorns and wild service-trees. | ||
| Nashenden Down | Rochester | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty| | This nature reserve was created from a large arable field in 2009, and it is being regenerated with chalk grassland species, partly by colonisation from a steep bank which escaped ploughing and partly by seed spreading. An area of scrub provides a habitat for birds. | ||
| Oare Marshes | Faversham | LNR, NCR Ramsar, SPA SSSI | This site has salt marshes, fresh water dykes and reed beds. It is of international importance for migratory, overwintering and breeding wetland birds. | |||
| Oare Meadow | Dover | YES | SSSI | This small site has a pond and bog, which are fed by a spring. Wetland plants include ragged-robin and yellow iris There is also a flower meadow. | ||
| Old Park Hill | Dover | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty| | This steeply sloping hill has woodland, scrub and grassland. Scrub encroached on the other areas when the site was neglected, and KWT is removing it to restore its mainly grassland habitat, providing an increased area suitable for meadow butterflies, reptiles and orchids. | ||
| Park Gate Down | Canterbury | YES | SAC, SSSI | This dry valley has ancient chalk grassland with areas of scrub and woodland. It has many orchid species such as early-purple, common-spotted, pyramidal, green-veined and monkey. | ||
| Parsonage Wood | Cranbrook | YES | SSSI | This is an example of a woodland ghyll in the High Weald. The trees are mainly coppiced, but some of the ground flora are species which are indicative of ancient woods, such as butcher's broom, violet helleborine and pendulous sedge. | ||
| Polhill Bank | Sevenoaks | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty| | This chalk grassland site is on a south-east facing slope. There is also an area of scrub, which provides a habitat for birds such as blackcap and willow warbler. Flora include rock-rose. | ||
| Quarry Wood | Maidstone | YES | The wood is mainly sweet chestnut coppice, but at the northern end there are mature oak and beech trees. A small stream runs along the bottom of the valley. | |||
| Queendown Warren | Sittingbourne | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty|, LNR, NCR, SAC, SSSI | This site has dry grassland and woodland on a south facing slope. It has two rare plants, early spider orchid and meadow clary, and a rich variety of insects. | ||
| Romney Marsh | New Romney | YES | LNR, Ramsar, SSSI | This site is formed from ancient sand dunes which have been left behind as the sea has retreated over the last two thousand years, and it has plants such as sea spurrey. There are also ponds left by gravel extraction, some permanent and others which dry out in the summer. | ||
| Ruxley Gravel Pits | Orpington | NO | SSSI | There are four water filled pits with areas of fen. Over 500 plants species have been recorded and 169 birds, out of which 53 breed on the site. There are also 23 butterfly species, 23 dragonfly and over 500 beetles. Water quality is high. | ||
| Sandwich and Pegwell Bay | Ramsgate | YES | GCR, LNR, NCR, NNR, Ramsar, SAC, SPA, SSSI | This site has the only ancient dune pasture in the county, and other habitats include saltmarshes, shingle beaches and sand dunes. It is internationally important for its birds, including black-tailed godwit, oystercatchers and sandwich terns. | ||
| Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve | Sevenoaks | SSSI | This site has flooded gravel pits which have over two thousand species of fauna and flora, including a variety of breeding and wintering birds. There are also areas of reedbeds and woodland. | |||
| Sladden Wood | Dover | YES | The main trees in this ancient wood are hornbeam, field maple and hazel, and there are ground flora such as green hellebore and yellow archangel. | |||
| South Blean | Canterbury | YES | This site has native woodland, conifer plantations, heath and bog. KWT is gradually removing the conifers to allow natural regeneration, and it also manages the site by grazing and coppicing. Birds include nightjars and nightingales. | |||
| South Swale | Whitstable | YES | LNR, Ramsar, SPA, SSSI | This coastal site has wetland and grassland, with mudflats which attract a large population of waders and wildfowl in winter. Flora include yellow horned-popies, sea-lavender and golden samphires. | ||
| Spong Wood | Ashford | YES | Common trees in this coppiced wood include sweet chestnut, oak, hornbeam and hazel. Orchids can be found on the high slopes and ramsons lower down. | |||
| Spuckles and Kennelling Woods | Faversham | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty| | These ancient woods on the steep escarpment of the Kent Downs have diverse trees including mature oaks and beeches. Flora include greater butterfly and lady orchids. | ||
| Stockbury Hill Wood | Sittingbourne | NO | This wood is mainly yew, hornbeam and oak. It has a variety of orchids, such as bird's-nest, lady and fly. There are orange tip and holly blue butterflies. | |||
| Stone Wood | Not available | Ashford | YES | This site was clear felled in 1992 and left to regenerate naturally. The KWT acquired it in 2002 and is encouraging native plants and animals to occupy it. | ||
| Turners Field | Tenterden | YES | This field is managed as part of an organic farm, and has grassland, a stream, a pond, scrub and mature woodland. Herbs include pepper saxifrage, black knapweed and bird's-foot trefoil. | |||
| Tyland Barn | Not available | Maidstone | YES | This is the headquarters of the KWT. It has a nature park which is designed to show the variety of habitats in the county, such as a pond, wildflower meadows and woodland. | ||
| Wattle Wood | Tenterden | YES | This ancient coppice with standards wood has diverse flora and fauna. There are many early purple orchids, and mammals such as dormice. | |||
| West Blean and Thornden Woods | Herne Bay | YES | NCR, SSSI | More than fifty species of birds breed in these woods, and the diverse invertebrate fauna include five nationally rare and thirteen nationally scarce species. There is also a population of the declining and protected hazel dormouse. | ||
| Westfield Wood | Aylesford | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty|, NCR,SAC, SSSI | This is described by the KWT as an "internationally important yew woodland" on steep chalk slopes. There is also an area of hazel and ash coppice, with ground flora such as butcher's broom and green hellebore. | ||
| Yockletts Bank | Canterbury | YES | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty|, SSSI | This sloping site has woodland on dry chalk soils. There are diverse woodland breeding birds, and the ground flora is dominated by bluebells, but there are also many orchids. |