Stubbs Wood Country Park is in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...

, 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 ...

, England. It is located on the

Greensand Ridge The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand is an extensive, prominent, often wooded, mixed greensand/sandstone escarpment in south-east England. Forming part of the Weald, a former dense forest in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, it runs ...

, close to

Ide Hill Ide Hill is a village within the civil parish of Sundridge with Ide Hill, in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It stands on one of the highest points of the Greensand Ridge about three miles south-west of Sevenoaks. Its name first appear ...

village. The site is owned and managed by Sundridge with Ide Hill Parish Council.

History

In 1769, it was part of Whitley Forest, which has remained largely intact due to the varied geology and poor soil types on the Greensand escarpment, which are unsuitable for

intensive farming Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ag ...

. The forest is a

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 ...

as part of the larger Scords Wood and Brockhoult Mount area (which includes

Toys Hill Toys Hill is a hamlet which lies within Brasted civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. It lies to the south of Brasted Chart, also in the parish. The hamlet is situated on the steep scarp slope of the Greensand Ridge, a promine ...

). The ancient forest is home to some plants that are scarce in Kent. The forest suffered badly in the Great Storm of 1987. Replanting was partly funded by the Ide Hill Society with monies given to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

and

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...

. Some huge ancient

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

trees survived the gales.

Holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

whitebeam The whitebeams are members of the family Rosaceae, comprising subgenus ''Aria'' (or, according to some authorities, its own genus) of genus ''Sorbus'', and hybrids involving species of this subgenus and members of subgenera ''Sorbus'', ''Torminar ...

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

and

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, r ...

trees are present. Bluebells carpet the ground in the spring.

Ownership

On April 4, 2014 Stubbs Wood was put up for sale by Kent County Council, which announced a three-week consultation period. With the intention of keeping public ownership of the woods, a campaign was started. The woodland, which is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest and also part of the

Green Belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

, has a number of restrictive covenants which limit its potential future use, it also includes a network of public footpaths, which needed to be retained. Sundridge with Ide Hill Parish Council took over the ownership and management of the site in 2015.

Hanging Bank

A part of the forest near to

is known as Hanging Bank. On 28 January 1554, during Wyatt's rebellion against Queen Mary, a rebel force of about 500 men led by

Henry Isley Sir Henry Isley was an English nobleman involved in Wyatt's Rebellion. The Isley family were established landowners of Kent county.Loades, p. 79. Henry Isley owned Sundridge manor estate in Brasted, his brother Thomas Isley (Jr.) in Vinters Park ...

clashed with a similar-sized loyal force led by

Lord Abergavenny Marquess of Abergavenny (pronounced Aber''genn''y) in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom created on 14 January 1876, along with the title Earl of Lewes (pronounced "Lewis"), in the County of Sussex, for the ...

and

Sir Robert Southwell Sir Robert Southwell PRS (31 December 1635 – 11 September 1702) was a diplomat. He was Secretary of State for Ireland and President of the Royal Society from 1690. Background and education Robert Southwell was born near Kinsale in County ...

, at Wrotham Hill. After a running battle over about , the rebels made their last stand at Hartley Wood, where they were defeated. A

gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

was set up in the wood and many people were hanged.

Lady Amherst's Drive

Sarah Amherst was the first wife of

William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst, GCH, PC (14 January 177313 March 1857) was a British diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Governor-General of India between 1823 and 1828. Background and education Born at Bath, Somerset, Amhers ...

, who was

Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

from 1823 to 1828. Born William Pitt Amherst, he inherited the Montreal estate on the outskirts of nearby

from his great uncle

Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign ...

, who commanded the British forces in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

who took

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

(under

General Wolfe James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec. ...

) and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

– hence the name of his estate. While the estate house was long ago demolished, Wolf’s own Quebec House in nearby

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. It is recorded as early as t ...

is now under the management of the

. The Amhersts were responsible for introducing the Asian game bird known as

Lady Amherst's pheasant Lady Amherst's pheasant (''Chrysolophus amherstiae'') is a bird of the order Galliformes and the family Phasianidae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khrusolophos'', "with golden crest". The English name and ''amherstiae'' commemorates Sara ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

. Lady Amherst was fond of a drive along the Greensand Ridge through Stubbs Wood with its panoramic views of Kent. The drive follows the line of the ancient road, the route from Bessels Green (near Sevenoaks) and Sundridge leading through Whitley Forest to

. In the late 18th century, this track was re-routed via Goathurst Common and made into a road.

Greensand Way

Lady Amherst's Drive (now a track) remains as the footpath through Stubbs Wood from

Sevenoaks Weald __NOTOC__ Sevenoaks Weald is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the Low Weald, immediately south of Sevenoaks town, with the village of Sevenoaks Weald at its centre. It was formed in ...

to Ide Hill. Walk 6 in ''Walking in Kent'' (Ide Hill to Manor Farm and then back to Ide Hill) follows the route through the wood. Parts of the forest are accessible via horseback and bicycle on the public bridleways. Some of the paths at the top of the greensand ridge are suitable for people with walking difficulties, but others (near the Hanging Bank) are very steep.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Kent Council PageSevenoaks Council pageKent Downs AONB note
Country parks in Kent Sevenoaks