| Beacon Wood Country Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 51°25′24″N0°17′20″E / 51.4232°N 0.2889°E |
| Area | 70 acres |
| Created | 1991 |
| Operated by | Kent County Council, |
| Status | Open 7 days a week, dawn until dusk |
| Website | www |
Beacon Wood Country Park is a public woodland in Bean near Dartford, in Kent, England. It was previously an industrial claypit then re-claimed as woodland park open to the public, currently owned by Tarmac.
The park has had a mixed history. For over 400 years, it was a rounded hill and ancient woodland. The trees have been used to supply timber for various uses. Including building, fencing and within ship construction. Especially the oak trees. [1]
A beacon was placed on top of the rounded hill (approx 300 feet high) during Elizabethan times. It was one of the chain of beacons lit to warn of the approach of the Spanish Armada (circa 1580). Later, some of the ancient woods were cleared and orchards were planted in the 19th century. [2]
In 1885, John J. Allchin leased a section of the site, for the yearly rent of £4-10 shillings to the E.C.Powder Company Limited, who began manufacturing smokeless gunpowder. [3]
In 1900, some 27 small, predominantly Kent-based, cement manufacturers and their subsidiaries merged to form the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers (1900) Ltd., or APCM for short, but also known locally as "The Combine". In 1928 the famous Blue Circle brand name was introduced.
In the 1930s Beacon Wood was taken over for its Clay Reserves, by APCM Ltd. From 1935 to 1964, four million tonnes of clay were excavated, mixed to a slurry and pumped along a 3 km pipeline, from the Bean Clay Pit, to Johnsons Cement Works (between Greenhithe and Stone). The clay was mixed with crushed chalk and burnt in kilns to produce cement. Although clay extraction ceased in 1964, the land remained in APCM ownership, without public access. [2]
In 1991 Blue Circle Industries leased the 70 acres (280,000 m2) disused Clay Pit for 15 years to Kent County Council, who created the Beacon Wood Country Park and an Advisory Group was set up by Groundwork UK (Kent Thames-side) who managed the creation and operation of the park. [4]
Beacon Wood Country Park was created by Groundwork Trust and local Bean residents and then opened to the Public. Who made paths and planted trees within the site. The Official Opening was on Wednesday 10 July 1991, by Sir Derek Barber, Chairman of the then Countryside Commission (now called Natural England). [5]
Groundwork Trust then set up a volunteer group maintaining the woodlands. [6]
In 2001, Blue Circle Industries was taken over and the land passed to the Lafarge Group. Lafarge Cement UK, like its predecessor Blue Circle Industries, was the largest cement manufacturer in the United Kingdom, producing cement products under the old Blue Circle brand.
On 1 April 2001, Kent County Council and Dartford Borough Council took over park management from Groundwork Kent Thames-side. KCC/DBC did not continue the meetings of the Beacon Wood Advisory Group. [7]
In 2004, Kent Thameside Green Grid Design Strategy and Guidelines was produced by Kent County Council. It proposed to extend both Beacon Wood and Darenth Country Park to create a ‘joined’ Darenth and Beacon Country Park. [8]
In October 2005, a feasibility study and proposed action plan, for the creation of an Dartford Ancient Woodlands Country Park (DAWCP), was published. The report was funded by the ODPM and carried out by Gillespies. [9] It proposed linking Beacon Wood Country Park, Darenth Wood (a local SSSI), Darenth Country Park, Lords Wood and Ladies Wood (two other local Gravesham woods). The DAWCP was to cater for increased use, both from large scale development in the area and from further afield. The status of the DAWCP is unclear, as the public consultation phase ended many years ago. [2] No more mentions of the ancient woodland park can be found.
Lafarge granted Kent County Council a 10-year extension to the lease in 2006, making the lease end date 2016.
In April 2012, the country park was closed due to budget cuts within Kent County Council. There has also been a change in the lease agreement between Lafarge and the council, so the site has been returned to the ownership of LaFarge, who are looking for other owners. Nearby Bean residents were worried that this may also include property developers. [10] [11] However, land owners Lafarge Cement UK, entered into a five-year management partnership with Groundwork UK and Bean Parish Council.
The Friends of Beacon Woods Country Park was set up in September 2012 to promote community involvement in managing the park and to encourage local residents to use the park as well as highlight the importance of environmental education and awareness. [2] [12]
The Borough of Dartford is a local government district in the north-west of the county of Kent, England. Its council is based in the town of Dartford. It is part of the contiguous London urban area. It borders the borough of Gravesham to the east, Sevenoaks District to the south, the London Borough of Bexley to the west, and the Thurrock unitary authority in Essex to the north, across the River Thames. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Dartford, the Swanscombe Urban District, and part of the Dartford Rural District. According to the 2011 Census, its population was 97,365, increasing to 116,800 in the 2021 census.
Charnwood Forest is a hilly tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally 600 feet (180 m) and upwards, the area exceeding this height being about 6,100 acres (25 km2). The highest point, Bardon Hill, is 912 feet (278 m). On its western flank lies an abandoned coalfield, with Coalville and other former mining villages, now being regenerated and replanted as part of the National Forest. The M1 motorway, between junctions 22 and 23, cuts through Charnwood Forest.
Swanscombe /ˈswɒnzkəm/ is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is 4.4 miles west of Gravesend and 4.8 miles east of Dartford.
Northfleet is a town in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is located immediately west of Gravesend, and on the border with the Borough of Dartford. Northfleet has its own railway station on the North Kent Line, just east of Ebbsfleet International railway station on the High Speed 1 line. According to the 2021 census, Northfleet has a population of 29,900.
The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford. 'Darenth' is frequently found as the spelling of the river's name in older books and maps, Bartholomew's Canals and River of England being one example. Bartholomew's Gazetteer (1954) demonstrates that Darent means "clear water", a result of it springing from and running through chalk. The purity of the water was a major factor in the development of paper and pharmaceuticals in the area.
Stone is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located 2.5 miles east of Dartford. In 2011 the parish had a population of 10,778.
Greenhithe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located 4 miles east of Dartford and 5 miles west of Gravesend.
Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located 18 mi (29 km) south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in Essex, which can be reached via the Dartford Crossing. To its east lies the Borough of Gravesham and to the south the district of Sevenoaks.
Dartford is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Gareth Johnson of the Conservative Party. It is the longest bellwether constituency in the country: the party of the winning candidate has gone on to form the government at every UK general election since 1964. Candidates for the largest two parties nationally have polled first and second since 1923 in Dartford.
Walderslade is a large suburb in Kent in Chatham split between the unitary authority of Medway and the boroughs of Maidstone and Tonbridge & Malling in South East England. It was, until 1998, fully part of Kent and is still ceremonially associated via the Lieutenancies Act. It encompasses almost all the ME5 postcode district.
Bean is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located 4.4 miles south east of Dartford and 5.4 miles south west of Gravesend. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1643.
Cliffe Woods is a small estate on the Hoo Peninsula in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It was, until 1998, part of Kent and is still ceremonially associated via the Lieutenancies Act. It forms part of the parish of Cliffe and Cliffe Woods.
The following is a list of recreational walks in Kent, England.
Blue Circle Industries was a British public company manufacturing cement. It was founded in 1900 as the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd through the fusion of 24 cement works, mostly around on the Thames and Medway estuaries, together having around a 70% market share of the British cement market. In 1911, the British Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd was formed by the addition of a further 35 companies, creating a company with an initial 80% of the British cement market.
Ebbsfleet Valley is a new town and redevelopment area in Kent, South East England, and part of the Thames Gateway, southwest of Gravesend. Development is coordinated by the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation.
Capstone Farm Country Park is in Chatham, Kent, Medway, in Kent, England. A former farm converted into a landscaped park and open-space area. This park is set on 114 hectares of converted farm land, on the North Downs, near Walderslade. It is within the Kent Downs, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Shorne Woods Country Park is located between Strood and Gravesend, in the English county of Kent. It was once part of a large estate, later passed to the county council to be used as a country park.
Lullingstone Country Park is near Eynsford, in Kent, England. A former deer park of a large estate, it was later sold to become an open-space and woodland park. The park and Lullingstone Castle are a Scheduled Monument, and an area of 66.4-hectare (164-acre) is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest Kent.
Darenth Country Park is in Darenth near Dartford, in Kent, England. On the site of a former demolished hospital site Darenth Park Hospital, also the site of a scheduled ancient monument and the site of ancient Saxon burials. Due to this protection it was turned into a millennium open-space park.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) 
Media related to Beacon Wood Country Park at Wikimedia Commons