Rich in flora and fauna, this important reserve contains Kent's last four valley bogs and one of its few remaining fragments of open heath.
Opening times: open at all times.
Volunteer work parties: Tuesdays and Thursdays (and 2nd Sunday of the month Sep-Mar) undertaking habitat management. Be aware that essential management can sometimes be noisy and if you are concerned it may disturb your visit consider visiting on a different day. If you would like to get involved, please visit our volunteering page.
Best time to visit: all year round.
A visit to Hothfield Heathlands is a visit to one of the last remaining heathlands in Kent. After walking through a narrow canopy of broadleaved trees, you break through to reveal the wide-open landscape of Hothfield Heathlands. The spring will bring with it the fresh green growth of Heather, gorse and a myriad of tiny plants.
The coconut scented gorse bushes provide the perfect perch for many bird species, Yellowhammers, White Throat and Willow Warblers all sing boldly from these prickly bushes. Make sure you keep an eye on the floor too, the finger-sized holes of the minotaur beetle are scattered liberally across the bare ground, while the metallic Green Tiger Beetle will be buzzing vigorously around your feet.
A series of waymarked paths allow you to explore most of this unique site, with boardwalks allowing access to some of the wettest parts of the reserve. These wet bogs are home to a wonderful collection of rare plants, many of which are found only at Hothfield. Carnivorous Round Leaved Sundew, cotton grass, bog asphodel and heath spotted orchids are amongst the most dramatic.
The reserve is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust on behalf of Ashford Borough Council.
Our new Triangle Trail at Hothfield Heathlands is a 500m all weather accessible trail, with a smooth even surface path, regular passing places and some gradual slopes.
With our Precious Peatland project, we will be carrying out lots of scrub removal from across the reserve. There will be large excavators carrying out this work, so please keep a safe distance and follow the instructions on any signage. If you have any questions about this work, please contact the Area Manager on ian.rickards@kentwildlife.org.uk
The most vigorous scrub species are birch and alder, adapted to grow very quickly from seed, they are the pioneer species that would pave the way for the site becoming a woodland.
Woodland is a very important habitat, and Kent Wildlife Trust manages thousands of acres of woodland across Kent. However, quality heathland and bog, the main habitats at Hothfield, are not found anywhere else in Kent. Losing this area to woodland would wipe out hundreds of species that would not survive under a canopy of trees.
The trees also have a further detrimental effect on the bogs, sucking up thousands of gallons of water, drying out the peatland. Once the bogs lose their moisture the peat dries up and the carbon stored for hundreds of years gets released back into the atmosphere.
We will also be carrying out path improvements on the rest of the reserve, using sand to raise some of the muddier paths and making them easier to navigate over the winter. We will also be having a new boardwalk installed.
We will be replacing some of the more dilapidated fences, making sure our cattle, ponies and sheep are safe and secure.
At the same time, our wonderful volunteers will be carrying on with the winter work across the reserve. Tree popping birch from the heathland, repairing fences, building dead hedges, fixing paths, looking after the livestock and all the other work that this tireless gang carry out.
The volunteers are out every Tuesday and Thursday and also the first Sunday of every month.
If you need to get in touch regarding Hothfield Heathlands, for any reason, please contact:
Contact number: 01622 662012
Contact email: ian.rickards@kentwildlife.org.uk
Margery Thomas, Hothfield Volunteer and regular columnist looks at the lack of butterfly sightings in recent months, the work volunteers are doing to remove bracken and how this all impact the wider management of the last remaining fragments of heathland…
By August, floral glory has passed from the orchids (heath spotted, southern marsh and a few large hybrids) to the heather or ling. As ever, we hope for a protracted display of purple in the heathy areas, which is likely if the cool nights persist. Orchid…
The wettest winters and springs on record have had at least one benefit. The ponds and pools across Hothfield Heathlands are full of water!
On 19th May one hundred years ago, the first outdoors broadcast by the BBC was of professional cellist Beatrice Harrison playing to and with nightingales in the garden of her Surrey home. Around a million listeners tuned in to the midnight broadcast, and…
Margery Thomas describes another delightful May in Hothfield Heathland where volunteers conducted an amphibian torchlight survey on a number of Hothfield ponds. To learn what they found, read on!
The writer H E Bates moved from Northamptonshire to Little Chart Forstal in 1931. His deep knowledge of the countryside coloured all his writing. In ‘Through the Woods’ (1936), with fine wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker, he wrote in loving detail…
