Oaken Wood

Oaken Wood is a 18.7-hectare (46-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Maidstone in Kent.[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site.[3]

Oaken Wood
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Area of SearchKent
Grid referenceTQ 701 548[1]
InterestGeological
Area18.7 hectares (46 acres)[1]
Notification1985[1]
Location mapMagic Map

Known locally as "Barming Wood" due to the village of Barming being the closest settlement to Oaken Woods,[4] it is an ancient woodland with orchids, dormice, tawny owls, nightingales and many species of bat (alongside various other species).[5]

This site provides the best example of a very unusual topography, with cracking and tilting of underlying weaker strata during the Pleistocene by periglacial processes producing crests and troughs in the surface rocks.[6]

A public footpath crosses the site.

In 2013, plans to uproot parts or all of Oaken Wood for a ragstone quarry were met with controversy due to its environmental importance (with various different species residing there) and its possibility in setting a legal precedent for up to 300 other ancient woodlands in the UK.[7]

References
  1. "Designated Sites View: Oaken Wood". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  2. "Map of Oaken Wood". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  3. "Oaken Wood (Quaternary of South-East England)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  4. "Barming Woods/Oaken Wood". BusinessYab. 2020-04-24. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  5. Turner, Camilla (2015-03-27). "Ancient woods face gravest threat for decades, Woodland Trust warns". the telegraph. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  6. "Oaken Wood citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  7. Boffey, Daniel (2013-09-22). "Oaken Wood in Kent to be uprooted as quarry plan gets go ahead". the guardian. Retrieved 2020-04-24.

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