Hothfield Common is a biological
Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of
Ashford in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
.
It is also a
Local Nature Reserve,
and is part of the Hothfield Heathlands nature reserve owned by
Ashford Borough Council Ashford may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Ashford, New South Wales
*Ashford, South Australia
* Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia
Ireland
*Ashford, County Wicklow
*Ashford Castle, County Galway
United Kingdom
* Ashford, Kent, a town
* ...
and managed by
Kent Wildlife Trust
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 t ...
.
Environment
Fifty-eight hectares of
heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
and lowland valley
bogs with secondary woodland around the perimeter, Hothfield contains Kent's last four valley bogs and one of its few remaining fragments of open heath with patches of acid grassland.
Until the early 20th century, livestock grazing maintained the open character of Hothfield Common. Once this ceased,
bracken
Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells (eggs ...
and
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...
began to overrun the reserve, leading to the loss of the heathland and bog habitat, and resulting in the loss of many rare and highly specialised plants and animals.
Habitat management work initiated by
Kent Wildlife Trust
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 t ...
with the support of
Ashford Borough Council,
Hothfield
Hothfield is a village and civil parish in the Ashford Borough of Kent, England and is 3 miles north-west of Ashford on the A20. It is completely split in two by Hothfield Common.
Geography
In the north west is Hothfield Common, 58 hectares (1 ...
Parish Council and
Natural England
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...
is now helping to restore and maintain a mosaic of open heath, grassland and bog. Once the initial invading scrub has been cut back, grazing with livestock is the key to maintaining suitable habitat. Grazing may occur at any time of the year so dogs should be kept under close control.
Many plants such as
heather,
cross-leaved heath
''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europ ...
, dwarf and common
gorse, heath spotted-orchid,
bog asphodel
''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about in ele ...
, and round-leaved
sundew
''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginou ...
are now thriving, along with keeled skimmer dragonfly and
tree pipit
The tree pipit (''Anthus trivialis'') is a small passerine bird which breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic as far East as the East Siberian Mountains. It is a long-distance migrant moving in winter to Africa and southern Asia. The s ...
as a result of heath and bog
habitat restoration
Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interrupt ...
.
History
The common once covered a large area, possibly stretching from
Ashford to
Charing
Charing is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, in south-east England. It includes the settlements of Charing Heath and Westwell Leacon. It is located at the foot of the North Downs and reaches up to the escarpment.
T ...
. It was one of the extensive heaths of Kent which formed on the free-draining
Greensand
Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...
exposures of the county. For some reason, Hothfield was spared the enclosures of the 19th century, unlike nearby Westwell Leacon, Charing and Lenham heaths. This may have been due to the landowners, the
Tufton family, retaining the area for hunting. Encroachment upon Hothfield Heath began in the 18th century with the establishment of a school at Shipwash Farm and continued in 1835 with the construction of a
workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...
by the West Ashford Union. From then on various households started encroaching upon the edges of the common.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
the common was used as a training camp for troops. Some 300
Nissen huts were left there at the end of the war, and these were re-used by
Ashford Rural District Council as emergency accommodation for homeless families. By 1955 these had all been moved away and the common was returned to the ownership of the Tufton family. However, in the absence of any commoners there was no real use for the land, and it was occupied by
travellers and became a dumping ground for used cars. Following pressure by naturalists such as Dr Scott of Westwell, the District Council eventually purchased the land from the estate for £1,400 and designated 150 acres (60 ha) of the common a
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
. Organisations such as
Kent Wildlife Trust
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 t ...
, the
Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Nat ...
and educational groups were included in the management committee.
Ecology
Hothfield Heath has long been of interest to naturalists. As long ago as the 1820s, botanists such as G.E. Smith were documenting the unusual plants that occur there, particularly those of acid habitats such as
Mat-grass and
Bog Asphodel
''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about in ele ...
. The philosopher and economist
John Stuart Mill was among the people collecting plants there in the 19th century. More systematic studies were undertaken by F.M. Webb and the local naturalists, W.R. Jeffrey and his son J.F. Jeffrey. Their findings are summarised in the Flora of Kent.
Henry Russell was vicar at Hothfield at the end of the 19th century, when he compiled a manuscript ''History of the Village'' which is now housed at
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...
Library. It includes lists of wildlife, including 110 species of plants, although not all of these were on the common. Another early survey of the heath was undertaken by
Francis Rose
Francis Rose MBE (29 September 1921 – 15 July 2006) was an English field botanist and conservationist. He was an author, researcher and teacher. His ecological interests in Britain and Europe included bryophytes, fungi, lichens, higher plan ...
in the 1940s, when he published a description of the bryoflora (
mosses and
liverworts) in the journal of the
British Bryological Society
The British Bryological Society is an academic society dedicated to bryology, which encourages the study of bryophytes ( mosses, liverworts and hornworts). It publishes the peer-reviewed ''Journal of Bryology''.
History
The Society developed f ...
between 1949 and 1951. More recently, the Kent Field Club published lists of plants and animals at Hothfield in 1975.
This information amounts to a comprehensive inventory of the wildlife of the reserve, mostly in the form of lists available from the
NBN Atlas. The flora and vegetation are described in detail in the Flora of Hothfield.
The main features of conservation value at Hothfield Common are the bogs, the
acid grassland Acid grassland is a nutrient-poor habitat characterised by grassy tussocks and bare ground.
Habitat
The vegetation is dominated by grasses and herbaceous plants, growing on soils deficient in lime (calcium). These may be found on acid sedimentary ...
and the woods. There are five
bogs, of which one, which is isolated from the main part of the reserve by the A20, has degraded into wet woodland. The acid grassland occurs in patches throughout, mainly along the paths. Woodland and scrub covers the remainder of the Common and, although there are some
ancient woodland
In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...
species present, it is more recent in origin and less important for wildlife.
Key species in the bogs include the bog-mosses ''
Sphagnum papillosum'' and ''
S. capillifolium'',
bog asphodel
''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about in ele ...
,
round-leaved sundew
''Drosera rotundifolia'', the round-leaved sundew, roundleaf sundew, or common sundew, is a carnivorous species of flowering plant that grows in bogs, marshes and fens. One of the most widespread sundew species, it has a circumboreal distribution ...
and
marsh St John's-wort. In the grassland there is bird's-foot clover (''Trifolium ornithopodioides''),
clustered clover and
subterranean clover
''Trifolium subterraneum'', the subterranean clover (often shortened to sub clover), subterranean trefoil, is a species of clover native to Europe, Southwest Asia, Northwest Africa and Macaronesia. The plant's name comes from its underground s ...
. One of the rarest plants on the reserve is
three-lobed crowfoot, which occurs in pools in some of the bogs. It is also considered an important site for invertebrates, with rare species such as the small shiny furrow bee (''Lasioglossum semilucens'') and the cranefly ''Tipula holoptera''.
Access
The site is open to the public at all times.
References
External links
*
{{Kent Wildlife Trust
Kent Wildlife Trust
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Kent
Local Nature Reserves in Kent
Borough of Ashford