Ashford Green Corridor

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Coordinates: 51°9′10″N 0°52′50″E / 51.15278°N 0.88056°E / 51.15278; 0.88056
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ashford Green Corridor is a green space that runs through the town of

Local Nature Reserve.[1][2]

The town has been growing steadily since the early 19th century. As the town has expanded, land close to the rivers has not usually been built on, due to the risk of flooding because the

Ashford Borough Council has protected it as green space.[3]

Flood protection

Because the Green Corridor areas are right next to Ashford's rivers, many of them hold floodwater, protecting homes and businesses. This is particularly important now because floods seem to be occurring more frequently.

Wildlife

The Green Corridor brings wildlife to the town. Ashford's rivers are surprisingly natural considering their urban surroundings, and are home for many wild plants and animals.

Local Nature Reserve
.

Heritage

From the manors of Singleton and Buxford in the west, to Boys Hall Moat (a scheduled ancient monument) in the east, the Green Corridor is rich in heritage. Victoria Park, with its fountain and commemorative trees, the intriguingly named 'Watercress Fields', and Martyr's Field with its macabre past - all have stories to tell. Many areas were farmed until relatively recently and are living links to Ashford's past as an agricultural market town.

The Green Corridor

The Ashford Green Corridor web site map shows the various parts of Ashford that make up the corridor.

Aylesford Green

common blue damselfly
have been recorded at the site.

Bowen's Field

The common frog

Bowen's Field is an informal recreation area, adjacent to the Great Stour. It is thought that this site was one of the last areas to be farmed in Ashford, it belonged to a local livestock trader called Mr Sidney Herbert Bowen, died 1971 and he is commemorated on a plaque at the entrance to the site from Victoria Park. This area was also adjacent to the town’s lido (outdoor swimming pool) which was built in 1867 and was at the time the largest in Britain. The site is now a flood storage area consisting of damp grassland, with a large pond where banded demoiselle, blue-tailed damselfly, azure damselfly, smooth newt, and common frog have been recorded.

Boys Hall

The site has good views of the

reedbed. On the Church Road side of Boys Hall, the site is more formal with mature trees such as turkey oak
, providing a pleasant buffer zone between housing and the Southern Orbital road.

Boys Hall Moat

A

Scheduled Ancient Monument dating from the 13th century. The area consists of a moated
island that would have been the site of a dwelling in the past. Mature trees are present on the island that form roost sites for common bird species. The topography of the ground is complex, suggesting extensive earthworks have taken place in the past. The site essentially has an open character although there are areas of scrub.

Buxford Meadow

water mint. The Stour Valley Walk passes through the wood leading to Great Chart
and beyond.

Bybrook Cemetery

Contains many mature trees and a plantation of memorial trees called 'Cherry Garden Wood'.

Church Road Playing Field

Church Road playing field is a very self-contained site on the borders of Willesborough and Sevington. It is a peaceful park with a play area.

Civic Centre North Park

The confluence of the East Stour and Great Stour is at Pledge’s Mill which stands at the northern end of the park. It is thought that there has been a mill on this part of the river from 1086 (a mill was recorded on this site at the time of the Domesday Book). The main features of the park are the pollarded willows, an important habitat for a range of invertebrate species.

Civic Centre South Park

Local Nature Reserve includes the riverside area at Civic Centre Park South. Although this is a busy thoroughfare and close to the skate park, a survey has shown that Water Voles are present in this part of the East Stour. The bridge over the river is a good viewpoint where moorhens and grey wagtails
can be spotted.

Gashouse Fields

This area, positioned between South Willesborough and Newtown, includes some good riverside habitats and an area of woodland called 'The Spinney', with public access.

Godinton

SNCI
.

The old parkland trees and pockets of woodland throughout the grounds provide good habitat for nesting birds such as the

kingfishers
are known to fly along this stretch of water.

Great Chart

Great Chart is a village on the western outskirts of Ashford. Great Chart north is a small parcel of land adjacent to the Ashford Rifle Club and the East Stour.

Great Chart Wood

Rowanberries

This is a new 23,000 square metre woodland, planted and managed by the Woodland Trust. The land at Great Chart was purchased in 2000 as one of the Woodland Trust's "Woods on your Doorstep project", to create a new community woodland close to Ashford.

The wood was planted using native species, to provide a valuable area for public recreation and wildlife. The land was given to The Woodland Trust by

ash, rowan and hornbeam
.

Prior to planting, an

archaeological
survey revealed a number of earthworks of historical interest, which have been left as found and incorporated into the ride network as unplanted land .

Little Burton

There is access here alongside the river and into an open space next to the Little Burton housing estate. River habitats are good and there are many mature trees, including the species of willow used for making cricket bats, which is sometimes called the

cricket bat willow
.

Woodland has been planted near the estate, and a large pond created. There is also an interesting wetland area near the railway. Access is good, via a network of paths.

As recently as 1992, this land was farmed - there was a large orchard where the houses now stand.

Newtown Green

common blue damselfly
have been recorded at the site.

Queen Mother's Park

It is a useful link for both pedestrians and cyclists from Bybrook and Kennington to the town centre and also beyond to the rest of the Green Corridor. The banks of the Great Stour here have wide margins of riverside vegetation and in places blocks of mature native trees. There is a small woodland garden at the northern end, where European green woodpeckers can be heard. In the past this land was probably sheep pasture - an 1876 Ordnance Survey map shows sheepfolds on the site.

A darker side to the site’s history is illustrated at its entrance off the Hythe Road where a plaque commemorates the martyrs of the 16th century that were persecuted for their religious beliefs.

South Willesborough Dykes

On the west bank of the East Stour river is an area of sheep fields drained by dykes, the area is designated as the South Willesborough Dykes Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI).

Sevington

The community of Sevington was cut off from its church by the building of the Southern Orbital road. Despite this, the church and Court Lodge Farm present quite a rural scene, and the fields nearby make for pleasant walking on public footpaths, with some wildlife interest in the form of ditches and hedgerows. Heading east, the charming village of Mersham is only a mile away.

Singleton Lake

Singleton Lake is a man–made fishing lake, it has areas of

common blue damselfly and blue-tailed damselfly. Singleton Lake has parking, picnic areas and good links to the rest of the Green Corridor and wider countryside in the Great Chart
area.

Swanton

mediaeval moat
can be seen from public footpaths. Swanton Mill used to be open to the public, but unfortunately has now closed. It can still be viewed from footpaths passing close-by.

The bird life of this area reflects the abundance of water and includes teal and heron.

Victoria Park

Victoria Park is a formal park with mature ornamental trees, and a small area of woodland. Some of the trees were planted in the early part of the 20th century to commemorate local townspeople and members of the royal family. A local art dealer donated the large fountain in one corner of the park to the town of Ashford. It was originally designed for the Great Exhibition and resided on the Olantigh Estate at Wye. There is a small pond at the bottom of the park surrounded by a rocky garden.

The Warren

water violet
. A wide variety of birds also inhabit the site.

Watercress Fields & Leacon Road

invertebrates). The river itself supports Water Voles, having sufficient food resources and bankside cover. The rest of the park has an open character that is interspersed with woodland gardens and areas of long grass that are important habitats for bird species and invertebrates. In the past it is thought that watercress
may have been grown on the site. Further along the river at Leacon Road there are some riverside sculptures of aquatic wildlife and an old fording point that once linked this area with Beaver Lane.

Willesborough Lees

The Willesborough Lees is an area of

alder buckthorn and eared willow
.

References

  1. ^ "Ashford Green Corridors". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.
  2. ^ "Map of Ashford Green Corridors". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.
  3. ^ Ashford Green Corridor

51°9′10″N 0°52′50″E / 51.15278°N 0.88056°E / 51.15278; 0.88056

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