Part 5 - Chilston Pines and Ponds

5. Chilston Pines and Ponds
Introduction
The Chilston Pines and Ponds site is part of
the old Chilston Park estate, which once
covered a large area stretching up to the
ridge of the North Downs beyond Lenham.
Chilston Pines and Ponds are situated right in
the middle of the county of Kent, in the
parish of Boughton Malherbe. It lies to the
south west of Lenham, a large historic
village dating from medieval times. Chilston
Park is one of a series of Historic Parks and
Gardens constructed along the Greensand
Ridge and is not far from Mote Park,
another grand house and park in the centre
of Maidstone, and Leeds Castle.
The Chilston Pines and Ponds site is now
separated into ‘The Ponds’ and ‘The Pines’ by
the High Speed 1 Railway.
However, it is possible to walk from one to
the other along a small section of quiet road.
Chilston Ponds once formed part of the main
entrance drive to Chilston Park and the
grand Chilston House, dating back to the 18th
century. Remnants of the historic parkland
landscape still survive in the form of ancient
oaks. An ice house once used to keep food
fresh for the main house is located in this
area of the park. The pond that was used to
supply the ice is today home to a wide range
of insects and plant life. Elsewhere on the
site, the grassland is being grazed to help
restore a range of wild flowers.
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Location
Chilston Pines and Ponds: OS map 137 Grid reference: TQ 891508
Approaching from Lenham, the main entrance to Chilston Pines and Ponds is 200m on
your right after the crossroads. Access can also be gained via a stile and also a
kissing gate as shown on the sketch in the introduction.
Chilston Pines and Ponds is situated just outside the southern boundary of the North
Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The site is bounded by the M20
to the south and Lenham Heath Road to the north, with the High Speed 1 Railway to
the Channel Tunnel separating the Pines from the Ponds.
A long distance footpath/National trail – the North Downs Way - passes close by as
does the Stour Valley Walk, which starts in Lenham.
For more location maps of Chilston Pines and Ponds please visit the ‘sites’ page at the
HCC website www.heathscc.co.uk and press the highlighted ‘Part of Chilston Park’
text to link to ‘multi map’
Advice on parking and access can be sought from
Ruth Lovering 01622 842 257 (email: ruth_lovering@hotmail.com)
or Karen Gillett 01622 859 392
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Features of Chilston Pines and Ponds
Landscape
Chilston Pines and Ponds is the eastern most
of a line of historic parks in the borough of
Maidstone.
It is one of six sites in
Maidstone Borough identified on the English
Heritage Parks and Gardens of Special
Historic Interest in England. Chilston House
(now a hotel) can still be seen from certain
parts of the site and again the size of the
Park and its effect on the landscape and the
social structure of the area can still be
appreciated.
The pine trees are a landscape feature of
the park, thought to have been planted by
early occupants of Chilston House to remind
them of Scotland. These trees emphasise
the long established tradition of landscaping
around grand houses to reflect the changing
attitudes towards nature, landscape and our
interaction with it. As such, Chilston Park
provides an example of the ‘landscape
gardening’ movement which was very much a
feature of grand houses from the 16 th
century onwards.
Historically, much
parkland would have been semi-natural
grassland maintained through grazing (often
deer or cattle) with scattered trees, at
least some of which would have been
maintained through pollarding. Pollarding is
similar to pruning in your garden and involves
the removal of all branches from the tree
above a certain height. Pollarding provided a
sustainable timber resource and would have
been repeated when the timber was of
sufficient size. In grazed areas deer and
cattle eat any new shoots, therefore
View to Chilston House (now a hotel)
View of Chilston Pines
branches need to be cut above the grazing
height. The result of pollarding is increased
thickening of the branches and trunk.
Parklands, such as Chilston Park, still provide
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an important matrix of habitats for a
variety of species.
Characteristic fungi on ancient oak
Veteran Trees
Pollarded Oak at Chilston Ponds
Biodiversity
The Chilston Pines and Ponds site has been
designated by the Kent Wildlife Trust as a
‘Local Wildlife Site’. The main ecological
and biodiversity features are the numerous
veteran trees within the site. A remnant of
the historic parkland landscape still
survives in the ancient pollarded oaks. Old
trees, and often their associated fallen
wood, are extremely valuable in supporting
a variety of fungi, lichens, bats, many
beetles and other invertebrates.
Old or veteran/ancient trees are often
venerated.
Old gnarled trees are a
feature both of the countryside and
human interaction with it. Literature and
art abound with examples of old trees
with heavy drooping boughs. Often these
trees are given human characteristics,
both good and evil, which may include the
ability to speak and even move (as
characterised by the ‘Ents’ in Tolkein’s
Lord of the Rings). For these reasons the
conservation of these trees takes on an
importance beyond the physical and
biodiversity reasons. Veteran trees have
the potential to inspire and enthuse
people, and to encourage interaction with
the natural world.
At Chilston these
trees certainly provide a ‘WOW’ factor.
However, following at least a century of
neglect, many of these trees are
extremely vulnerable. Continued neglect
may cause many more to decline. HCC are
now looking after these fantastic trees as
well as planting new ones, which will mean
that generations to come will have access
to these wonderful old features of the
countryside
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Hedgerows
In many parts of England, hedgerows
are an intrinsic part of the farmed
landscape. Hedgerows are included in
the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP)
and locally in the Kent BAP, as
important habitats of conservation
concern in their own right. Indeed
hedgerows are the most significant
wildlife habitat over large stretches of
lowland UK and are an essential refuge
for a great many woodland and farmland
wildlife.
important source of firewood. Consequently,
hedgerows are a living part of our history
and many are archaeological features in
their own right.
Hedgerows provide a record of our use of
the countryside over the centuries. For
example, the particular mix of shrub and
tree species in some of Chilston’s hedges
reflects both the age of the hedgerow and
local management customs, contributing to
local
landscape
character
and
distinctiveness.
The hedges at Chilston are especially
important for butterflies and moths,
farmland birds, and mice. Furthermore,
the Chilston hedgerows also act as a
wildlife corridor for many species
including reptiles and amphibians,
allowing these animals to move safely
between various habitats. Hedgerows
also provide fruit, berries and nuts for
both wildlife and people.
It is recognised that hedges are
important not just for biodiversity, but
also for farming, landscape, cultural and
archaeological reasons. Traditionally,
hedgerows were used to keep animals in
or out, to mark ownership boundaries
and rights of way. There is also good
evidence that hedgerows, and in
particular hedgerow trees, were an
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Ponds
There are two ponds at Chilston which
contain several amphibian species
including great crested newts, common
frogs and smooth newts. Consequently
these ponds are important habitats
identified in the Kent Local BAP.
In addition to amphibians, both ponds
are teaming with wildlife and could be
used for supervised pond dipping. Pond
dipping with nets should be conducted
with care to ensure the safety of
children and also to avoid disturbing or
catching any amphibians (see next
section).
The pond closest to the
railway line is less deep than the ice
pond and would therefore be a better
choice for this activity.
Great crested newts
Great crested newts are fully protected by
law.
This means that only licensed
conservationists are permitted to handle
them and it is against the law for anyone
else to deliberately catch or disturb great
crested newts. You should never set newt
traps where they live; even shining a torch in
to a pond to observe them is now considered
likely to disturb normal behaviour, and so is
not permitted.
Great Crested Newt
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Archaeological features
18th century Ice House
As discussed in earlier sections, this site
forms part of the Chilston House estate
(see Map on page 13). The house (now
Chilston Park Hotel) is an 18th century
Grade 1 listed building and can be seen from
some areas of Chilston Pines and Ponds.
The Ice House and Ice Pond
The Ice House and Ice Pond are locally
significant
especially
in
terms
of
appreciating how a large grand house
functioned.
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The ruins of the 18th century Ice House
overlook the round Ice Pond and the original
main driveway/entrance road to the grand
Chilston House (now Chilston Park Hotel).
Until 1966 the Ice House was still largely
intact.
However, at this time it was
considered dangerous and filled in. Possibly
most of the archway to the entrance is still
there (stones poking through the grass) but
it is likely to have been damaged when the
ice house was covered in. As shown in the
photograph, the Ice House was a
considerable feature of the landscape and it
appears that its overall setting was
complemented by numerous trees which
were likely to be Scots Pine.
The
archaeological report commissioned by HCC
indicates that the landscape features of the
Ice House, the pond and trees are regionally
significant as many such sites have not been
retained in their original context. (Chilston
Old main entrance/driveway to Chilston Park
Ice House, Chilston Park, Lenham, Kent,
Archaeology South-East)
The Ice House just before demolition
The round Ice Pond has been retained
Remains of the Ice House 2008
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Map showing Chilston Park in the 1800s
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