Joyden's Wood is an area of

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...

that straddles the border between the

London Borough of Bexley The London Borough of Bexley () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has a population of 248,287. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Belvedere, London, Belvedere, Crayford ...

in South East

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and the

Borough of Dartford The Borough of Dartford is a local government district with borough status in the north-west of the county of Kent, England. It is named after its main town of Dartford, where the council is based. Other notable settlements include Greenhithe ...

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is located north west of

Swanley Swanley is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2021 ce ...

, south east of

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in southeast London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley. It had a population of approximately 15,600 in 2021 and is southeast of Charing Cross. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London ...

and south west of

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

. It is one of over 1,000

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

s in the United Kingdom looked after by the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 68 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tru ...

. The first records of a wood on this site go back to the year 1600. It is also the name of a housing estate to the east of the woodland itself.

Wildlife

There are nine

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s in the wood, each of which is a habitat for the three British newt species, the great crested newt, the

smooth newt The smooth newt, European newt, northern smooth newt or common newt (''Lissotriton vulgaris'') is a species of newt. It is widespread in Europe and parts of Asia, and has been introduced species, introduced into Australia. Individuals are brown ...

and the palmate newt. British birds of prey have been noted in the area including

buzzards Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Eastern ...

, sparrowhawks, and

kestrel The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover ...

s. In spring, various flowers grow on the woodland floor such as bluebells, sunny yellow celandines and

lily of the valley Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' ), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...

. Autumn sees a range of fungi grow from deadwood and the floor. Amethyst deceiver and lilac bonnet, and the

fly agaric ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus ''Amanita''. It is a large white- gilled, white-spotted mushroom typically featuring a bright red cap covered with distinctive white ...

. In the winter months, conifer trees grow in abundance.

Archaeology

There are traces of settlements in the forest that are over 2,000 years old, and deneholes have been found. ''Faesten Dic'', ‘the strong dike’, is a boundary feature built around 1,500 years ago by

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

settlers; it runs for over a kilometre through the forest. Archaeological investigation during the 1950s has also revealed that a medieval hall flanked by two smaller buildings was present in the area, now underneath an area of housing that is east of Summerhouse Drive and south of Joyden's Wood Road. The hall was likely constructed out of timber with a tiled roof, and the period of occupation has been dated to between ''circa'' 1280 and 1320 through an analysis of the pottery found at the site. This reflects the likelihood that the site was inhabited for about two generations, but no longer. It is possible that this building was the Manor of Ocholt, which is known from historical records to have been located nearby and which was owned by

Lesnes Abbey Lesnes Abbey is a former abbey, now ruined, in Abbey Wood, in the London Borough of Bexley, southeast London, England. It is a scheduled monument, and the abbey's ruins are listed at Grade II by Historic England. The adjacent Lesnes Abbey Wo ...

. Some of the pottery sherds found were identified as belonging to grey ware produced in the

Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25 road, A25.Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

; such Limpsfield ware was supplied to London and northern Kent, having also been found at nearby sites Cray House and Eynsford Castle. The likely source of fresh water for the hall's inhabitants was a nearby well. A number of earthworks surrounded the hall, although the exact date of these has not been ascertained. Why the hall was abandoned is not clear, but possibilities include a failure in the water supply, a rapid impoverishment of the sandy soil found in the surrounding fields, or the impact of the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

. There was no archaeological evidence suggesting that the house might have been devastated by fire. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, two RAF

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

fighters crashed in the wood and some hollows visible in the wood are bomb craters. A wooden sculpture of a crashed Hurricane lies just west of ''Faesten Dic'', carved by local sculptor Peter Leadbeater.

Joyden's Wood Estate

Joydens Wood Estate is home to several thousand people. Amenities include a post office, butcher, pharmacy, library, petrol station as well as local infant and junior schools. Community groups that meet at the Joydens Wood Community Centre in Birchwood Drive include a

pre-school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical s ...

, a

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organization for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...

and a

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

club. St Barnabas' Church in Tile Kiln Lane has a multi-purpose building used both by the church and community groups. The scouts and guides have a hall; there is also a Freeholders' Association. Local authority administration of the estate is split between the

within

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

and the

within

Demography

According to the 2011 census, 86% of the population is White British.

Transport

Rail

The nearest

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

station to Joyden's Wood is

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

, located 1.8 miles away.

Buses

Joyden's Wood is served by

Go-Coach Go-Coachhire Limited, trading as Go-Coach, is a bus operator running a total of 40 bus services (including school services) across Kent and Sussex. The majority of these services are operated on behalf of Kent County Council from their depot in ...

route 429 (Monday to Saturday) to

and to

West Kingsdown West Kingsdown is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England, on the A20 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Swanley, 5.5 miles (9 km) northeast of Sevenoaks and from London. The area The parish was part of Axst ...

via

and

London Buses route B12 This is a list of Transport for London (TfL) contracted bus routes in London, England, as well as commercial services that enter the Greater London area (except coaches). Bus services in London are operated by Arriva London, Go-Ahead London ...

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north ...

via

Nearby areas

Joyden's Wood borders

to the north, Wilmington to the north east and east,

Hextable Hextable is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies north of Swanley and south of Dartford. History The origin of the village name goes back to Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. Its first documented appearanc ...

to the south east,

to the south,

Ruxley Ruxley is a rural settlement of South East London, England that straddles the boundary of the London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley. It is located 13 miles southeast of Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London, in the Metropolitan Gr ...

to the south west,

North Cray North Cray is an area in South East Greater London, London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Sidcup and south of Bexleyheath and is south-east of Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London in the Metropo ...

to the west and

to the north west.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Joyden's Wood Section of the Woodland Trust WebsiteWilmington Parish CouncilJoyden's Wood Junior SchoolArriva BusesGo-Coach 429 PDF TimetableSt Barnabas Church, Joydens Wood
{{Dartford Woodland Trust Forests and woodlands of Kent Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Bexley Borough of Dartford