High Halstow National Nature Reserve is on the

Hoo Peninsula The Hoo Peninsula is a peninsula in Kent, England, separating the estuaries of the rivers Thames and Medway. It is dominated by a line of chalk, clay and sand hills, surrounded by an extensive area of marshland composed of alluvial silt. The ...

north of Chatham. It is also part of the Northwood Hill

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

Reserve (which is 270 hectares of

grazing marsh Grazing marsh is a British Isles term for flat, marshy grassland in polders. It consists of large grass fields separated by fresh or brackish ditches, and is often important for its wildlife. History Grazing marshes were created from medieval tim ...

, woodland and farmland). It was declared a National Nature Reserve in 1951. The reserve and the woodland lies on the hill to the north of the village of High Halstow. The woodland, is situated on

London Clay The London Clay Formation is a Sediment#Shores and shallow seas, marine formation (geology), geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 54-50 million years ago) age which outcrop, crops out in the southeast of England. The London C ...

, comprises large

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

trees and hawthorn scrub, with several

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning . Species of otherwise unrelated trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', a ...

trees.

English elm The field elm (''Ulmus minor'') cultivar 'Atinia' , commonly known as the English elm, formerly common elm and horse may, Republished 1978 by EP Publishing, Wakefield. and more lately the Atinian elm, was, before the spread of Dutch elm dis ...

was formerly abundant but has largely been killed by Dutch elm disease. The woodland has a diverse flora with over 200 plants recorded, including trees and shrubs. It is also noted for its diversity of butterflies. A number of rare moths have been recorded at the site. The sloe carpet ('' Aleucis distinctata''), least carpet ('' Idaea vulpinaria'') and a colony of the

white-letter hairstreak The white-letter hairstreak (''Satyrium w-album'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Appearance and behaviour A dark little butterfly that spends the majority of its life in the tree tops, feeding on honeydew, making it best observed thr ...

butterfly have been noted on the reserve. Also nine species of

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...

have also been recorded in the reserve. The reserve is also home to a flock of nightingales. Also the UK's largest and most famous colonies of

little egret The little egret (''Egretta garzetta'') is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on ...

s, they have been nesting at the site since 2000, reaching approximately 93 pairs by 2007. Entrance to Northward Hill Nature Reserve - geograph

The reserve may be visited either from (grid ref TR220606) the carpark off Northwood Avenue, to the South-of the woodland. Or from Buckland Farm (the RSPCA Farm and carpark), to west of the woodland. The reserve has a nature trail with attractive sea views and long distance views of the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

. The

Saxon Shore Way The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman Empire, Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, in total. This mean ...

long distance path passes through the reserve between

Cooling Cooling is removal of heat, usually resulting in a lower temperature and/or Phase transition, phase change. Temperature lowering achieved by any other means may also be called cooling. The Heat transfer, transfer of Internal energy, thermal energ ...

and High Halstow.

Smuggling

The wooded hill has been used by

smugglers Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

in the early 18th century. One documented tale was recorded in 1728. A couple of men from Medway crossed the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

in February 1726. The men smuggled over of tea from

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

, as well as a few yards of

calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...

and a few silk handkerchiefs on a small ship called ''The Sloweley''. Once they landed on the

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

shore, they hid the goods in the woodland on Northward Hill before later moving it to

Chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

church.

References

{{reflist, 30em National nature reserves in England Nature reserves in Kent Hills of Kent