Trosley Country Park is in

Trottiscliffe Trottiscliffe ( ) is a village in Kent, England about north west of West Malling. It is often incorrectly spelled ''Trosley'' after Trosley Country Park at the top of the North Downs, which was once part of the Trosley Towers Estate. The spe ...

, near Vigo, 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. Once part of a large woodland estate then after many changes, it was passed to Kent County Council, who turned it into a large country park.

History

Exercise equipment within Trosley Country Park - geograph

The country park was once part of the Trosley Towers Estate. In 1870,

Sir Sydney Waterlow, 1st Baronet Sir Sydney Hedley Waterlow, 1st Baronet, (1 November 1822 – 3 August 1906) was a British philanthropist and Liberal Party politician, principally remembered for donating Waterlow Park to the public as "a garden for the gardenless". Life He w ...

bought land that contained the village of Fairseat (near Stansted, Kent; west of Trottiscliffe), a major section of Stanstead as well as other pieces of land from

Wrotham Wrotham ( ) is a village on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is north of Borough Green and approximately east of Sevenoaks. It is between the M20 and M26 motorways. History The name first occurs as ''U ...

( south of Trottiscliffe) to Meopham ( north of Trotiscliffe). The manor house in the estate was later demolished. The park was opened in 1976 by Kent County Council. In 2004, an amenity block (with a public toilet facility, offices and store area) was built within the park. It had a

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 ...

(Castanea sativa) timber

cladding Cladding is an outer layer of material covering another. It may refer to the following: *Cladding (boiler), the layer of insulation and outer wrapping around a boiler shell *Cladding (construction), materials applied to the exterior of buildings ...

from the local trees in the park. Also built with a sedum roof and rainwater drainage system recycled into the toilet flushing systems. The building also won the Public Building category of the 2005

Kent Design Awards These awards were created to celebrate design excellence in Kent and were first staged in 2003 and are usually held every two years. They were then renamed 'Kent Design and Development Awards' in 2012. Then have stayed as the 'Kent Design and Deve ...

Ecology

It is situated on the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills a ...

and the

chalk grassland Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover ...

slopes of the park are a Site of Special Scientific Interest. These slopes were formerly used as grazing for farm animals, but were left to naturalise after the farms moved to the lower and more productive

weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

land pastures. After the park was formed, these grasslands were cleared of scrub to allow the rare chalk land plants and animals to re-establish including the

musk orchid ''Herminium monorchis'', the musk orchid, is a commonly occurring species of orchid. It is widespread across much of Europe and northern Asia from France to Japan, including China, Siberia, Mongolia, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, etc. It ...

, and

chalkhill blue The chalkhill blue (''Lysandra coridon'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small butterfly that can be found throughout the Palearctic realm, where it occurs primarily in grasslands rich in chalk. Males have a pale blue colour, wh ...

butterfly. Other meadow insects found include the

dark green fritillary The dark green fritillary (''Speyeria aglaja'') is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic realm - Europe, Morocco, Iran, Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. Description in Seit ...

Recreation

North Downs Way in Trosley Country Park - geograph

The park has various circular trails around the site, within Downs Wood, Great Wood and Butchers Wood. Three main trails are marked. The 'Red Route' is of fairly flat terrain that uses

North Downs Way The North Downs Way National Trail is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Be ...

.The 'Yellow Route' is a trail that uses some of the Red Route but is an easier, shorter trail. The 'Blue Route' is long, and involves more challenging terrain, with steep hills and climbs. It also passes Little Pell (wood) Great Pell Field (meadow). The

leads via a bridleway through the Country Park on its way from

Upper Halling Halling is a village on the North Downs in the northern part of Kent, England. Consisting of Lower Halling, Upper Halling and North Halling, it is scattered over some along the River Medway parallel to the Pilgrims' Way which runs through Kent. ...

. An 'Adventurous Pub Walk' of starts in the park and leads to Ryarsh and Addington, before returning to the park. The Coldrum Trail also starts in the country park and leads to the Coldrum Stones, before returning to the park.

Location

Situated off Junction 2 of the M20 motorway, the park is located off the A227 between Meopham and

References

{{reflist

External links

Kent County PageKent Downs page
Country parks in Kent Parks and open spaces in Kent