Ham Street Woods NNR
Ham Street Woods NNR sits on the old escarpment of the old Saxon shoreline - now 10 km from the sea.
County: Kent
Main habitats: Woodland
Area: 97 Ha
The woods are part of Orlestone Forest, a fragmented area of woodland that is the remnant of a continuous oak forest that once covered the Weald.
The dominant trees are pedunculate and sessile oaks, downy and silver birches, and hornbeam. Bluebells, honeysuckle and wood anemone are found amongst the ground flora together with gorse, ling and tormentil in more acidic areas. Damper areas are home to ash, hazel, hawthorn and alder. Here the ground flora includes dog's mercury, greater butterfly and early purple orchid.
Many breeding birds can be seen on the reserve, most characteristic of woodlands. These include treecreeper, spotted flycatcher and redpoll, with nightingale, hawfinch and sparrowhawk.
The woods support a large number of rare invertebrates, most notably species living on dead-wood and butterflies such as the Duke of Burgundy fritillary.
The site is also of archaeological interest and contains many well preserved earthworks including a medieval ditch and bank system and the remains of a staggered medieval dam.
Location and access
The reserve is almost immediately adjacent the town of Hamstreet, 10 km south of Ashford. Hamstreet is on the B2067, and the A2070 forms part of the reserve's western boundary. By car, access to the reserve is via the B2067. The nearest car park is in Ham Street.
The nearest train station is Ham Street (less than 0.5 km from the reserve) served by Southern Railway
.
Two major trails pass through the reserve, the Saxon Shore Way, and the Greensand Way.
Facilities
The nearest toilet and refreshment facilities are in Hamstreet and local vilages.
Signs and leaflets are available for visitor information and there are two waymarked trails (2.5 km and 5 km) through the reserve.
Welcome to the Wildside!
Natural England and The Heritage Lottery Fund have joined forces to deliver an exciting new project called Welcome to the Wildside!.
This project is very much about welcoming everyone to enjoy and experience three very different National Nature Reserves (NNRs) in Kent; Stodmarsh NNR which is just outside Canterbury and Wye NNR and Ham Street Woods NNR that are located near to Ashford. The project's aim is to put people back in touch with nature.
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