Burham Down

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Burham Down
Burham Down 3.jpg
Burham Down
TypeNature reserve
LocationChatham, Kent
OS grid TQ 735 624
Area110 hectares (270 acres)
Managed byKent Wildlife Trust

Burham Down is a 110-hectare (270-acre) nature reserve between Maidstone and Chatham in Kent. It is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. [1] It is part of the Wouldham to Detling Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest [2] and Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, [3] the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, [4] and the North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation. [5]

Contents

Location

Burham Down lies west of the A229 (Maidstone to Chatham Road) adjoining the KCC picnic site ( TQ735624 O.S. Map 188) on Common Road, Blue Bell Hill.

Bus 101 Maidstone and Chatham/Gillingham stops in Blue Bell Hill village (1/4 mile). The reserve is accessible via a network of public footpaths with parking at two main areas - the KCC Bluebell Hill Picnic Site and roadside parking near the Windmill Pub in Burham. For safety reasons, entry to the two chalk pits within the reserve is by permit only, available from Kent Wildlife Trust.

Being on a hillside, some paths are steep and uneven and there are some stiles.

Description

It is in two parts, totalling 104 hectares. The south-eastern section (excluding the chalk pits) is dominated by woodland and scrub, with two areas totalling approximately 5 hectares, which are managed by grazing using the Trust's own herd of Exmoor ponies.

The northern section, which includes Wouldham Common, is also predominantly woodland with some recently cleared areas, now under grazing management. Access to this section is by arrangement only.

Woodland and scrub areas have a wide variety of tree and shrub species typical of the chalk soil. This provides an important habitat for dormice and breeding birds including nightingale and hobby. Woodland glades and edges have important populations of lady and fly orchid.

Open grassland areas are important for their chalk grassland flora including man and pyramidal orchid, dropwort and thyme. Butterflies include chalkhill blue, brown argus and silver-spotted skipper; the latter was re-introduced to the site in 1998.

The Down provides views over the Weald of Kent.

Related Research Articles

Kent Wildlife Trust organization

Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) 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.

Blue Bell Hill mountain in United Kingdom

Blue Bell Hill is a chalk hill between Maidstone and Rochester in the English county of Kent. It overlooks the River Medway and is part of the North Downs. Settlements on the hill include the Walderslade suburb of Chatham and the villages of Blue Bell Hill and Kit's Coty. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries much of the hill was quarried for chalk.

Windsor Hill

Windsor Hill is a 61.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire. It lies within the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it is featured in the Nature Conservation Review. A small part is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and access to this area requires a permit.

Park Gate Down

Park Gate Down or Parkgate Down is a 7-hectare (17-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Stelling Minnis in Kent. It is also a Special Area of Conservation and is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust,

Queendown Warren

Queendown Warren is a 22.2-hectare (55-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Rainham in Kent. It is a Local Nature Reserve, a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and a Special Area of Conservation.. It is in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust, and part of it is owned by Plantlife.

Westfield Wood

Westfield Wood is a 5-hectare (12-acre) nature reserve north of Maidstone in Kent, which is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Wouldham to Detling Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest and Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I.. It is also in the North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation and the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Burham Marsh

Burham Marsh nature reserve is an 11 hectare tidal Reed bed on the River Medway 5 miles northwest of Maidstone. It is just east of Snodland but being on the east bank of the river it is accessed via Burham. It is part the Holborough to Wouldham Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Hackhurst and White Downs

Hackhurst and White Downs is a 185.1-hectare (457-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Dorking in Surrey. White Downs is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and part of it is in the 200-hectare (490-acre) White Downs nature reserve, which is owned by the Wotton Estate and managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT). Hackhurst Downs is a 29.9-hectare (74-acre) Local Nature Reserve, which part of the 40-hectare (99-acre) Hackhurst Downs nature reserve, which is owned by Surrey County Council and also managed by the SWT.

Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment

Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment is a 1,016.4-hectare (2,512-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Reigate in Surrey. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and a Special Area of Conservation. Part of it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. Two small private nature reserves in the site are managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust, Dawcombe and Fraser Down.

Clayton to Offham Escarpment human settlement in United Kingdom

Clayton to Offham Escarpment is a 422.5-hectare (1,044-acre) linear biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which runs from Clayton in West Sussex to Lewes in East Sussex. An area of 24 hectares is Ditchling Beacon nature reserve, which is managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust.

Lewes Downs

Lewes Downs is a 165-hectare (410-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Lewes in East Sussex. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and a Special Area of Conservation. Part of it is a National Nature Reserve, part is Malling Down nature reserve, which is managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust, and part is Mount Caburn, an Iron Age hill fort which is a Scheduled Monument.

Kemsing Down

Kemsing Down is a 16-hectare (40-acre) nature reserve north of Sevenoaks in Kent. It is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Fackenden Down

Fackenden Down is a 14-hectare (35-acre) nature reserve north of Sevenoaks in Kent. It is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Otford to Shoreham Downs Site of Special Scientific Interest

Otford to Shoreham Downs site in Kent, United Kingdom

Otford to Shoreham Downs is a 145.1-hectare (359-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Kemsing and Eynesford in Kent. It is part of Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and part it is Fackenden Down, a nature reserve managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust

Wouldham to Detling Escarpment

Wouldham to Detling Escarpment is a 311.2-hectare (769-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from Wouldham to Detling, north of Maidstone in Kent. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is part of the North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation and the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and it includes three Kent Wildlife Trust nature reserves and a Local Nature Reserve,

Boxley Warren

Boxley Warren is a 83-hectare (210-acre) Local Nature Reserve north of Maidstone in Kent. It is privately owned and managed by Maidstone Borough Council. It is part of North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation and Wouldham to Detling Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest

Holborough Marshes

Holborough Marshes is a 35-hectare (86-acre) nature reserve on the outskirts of Snodland, south-west of Chatham in Kent. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of Holborough to Burham Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The Larches, Kent

The Larches is a 25-hectare (62-acre) nature reserve north of Detling, which is north of Maidstone in Kent. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Wouldham to Detling Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest and Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I It is also part of the North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation, and Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,

Dawcombe

Dawcombe is a 23-hectare (57-acre) nature reserve north-west of Reigate in Surrey. It is managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation.

References

  1. "Burham Down". Kent Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  2. "Designated Sites View: Wouldham to Detling Escarpment". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  3. Ratcliffe, Derek, ed. (1977). A Nature Conservation Review. 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 47. ISBN   0521 21403 3.
  4. "Wouldham to Detling Escarpment citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  5. ndsac> "Designated Sites View: North Downs Woodlands". Special Area of Conservation. Natural England. Retrieved 16 January 2018.

Coordinates: 51°20′02″N0°29′20″E / 51.334°N 0.489°E / 51.334; 0.489