Queendown Warren is a biological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

south-east of Rainham 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 a Local Nature Reserve, a

Nature Conservation Review ''A Nature Conservation Review'' is a two-volume work by Derek Ratcliffe, published by Cambridge University Press in 1977. It set out to identify the most important places for nature conservation in Great Britain. It is often known by the initial ...

site, Grade 2, and a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

. It is in the

Kent Downs The Kent Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Kent, England. They are the eastern half of the North Downs and stretch from the London/ Surrey borders to the White Cliffs of Dover, including a small section of the London Boroug ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

. It is managed by the

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 ...

, and part of it is owned by

Plantlife Plantlife is the international conservation membership charity working to secure a world rich in wild plants and fungi. It is the only UK membership charity dedicated to conserving wild plants and fungi in their natural habitats and helping peo ...

History

The reserve covers almost and comprises several distinct sections. The original reserve, which was a rabbit warren in the Middle Ages, forms the current reserve's core. It has probably been open downland for many hundreds of years and has an internationally important community of grassland orchids. A major extension to the reserve was made in 1999 with the addition of pasture on the opposite side of the valley facing the Main Bank. This is being managed to encourage colonisation of species from the original reserve. In 2003 hectares of

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

opposite the Main Bank were added, doubling the size of the reserve. Over time this will be restored to prime wildlife-friendly land.

Flora

Queendown has the usual plants of chalk grassland, and orchids are well represented, particularly the

fragrant orchid ''Gymnadenia conopsea'', commonly known as the fragrant orchid or chalk fragrant orchid, is a herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae native to northern Europe. Etymology The name of the genus ''Gymnadenia'' is formed from Greek words (', ...

, with scattered groups of early spider,

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

and

man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

orchids. Later in the year autumn lady's-tresses may be found. A good variety of chalk grassland butterflies can be seen in summer, including the

Adonis Blue The Adonis blue (''Lysandra bellargus'', also known as ''Polyommatus bellargus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It inhabits the Palearctic realm (Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Southern Russia, Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, T ...

, re-introduced in 2002. At the bottom of the bank, there is a colony of rabbits which, together with grazing cattle, help to maintain the short sward, essential for the maintenance of many orchid populations. The West Bank has several patches of fly orchid and

white helleborine ''Cephalanthera damasonium'', the white helleborine, is a species of orchid. It is widespread across much of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. ''Cephalanthera damasonium'' is the type species of the genus ''Cephalanthera''. Description ''Cephal ...

in the scrub and woodland edges. Some particularly good examples of the many large beech trees on the reserve can be seen in this section. Potters Wood contains native broad leaved trees - oak, ash, beech, birch and wild cherry - and some

sweet chestnut ''Castanea sativa'', the sweet chestnut, Spanish chestnut or just chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the temperate world. A substantial, long-lived ...

coppice managed by traditional methods. The southern part of the wood is on the chalk and has the remnants of many large beech trees which fell during the storm of October 1987. This area is especially good for observing adders.

Access

There is access from Warren Lane, which goes through the site.

Notes and references

{{Kent Wildlife Trust Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Kent Local Nature Reserves in Kent Kent Wildlife Trust Special Areas of Conservation in England Nature Conservation Review sites