Vinters Valley Nature Reserve

About

This 90 acre park on the eastern edge of Maidstone is managed as a nature reserve for disappearing flora and fauna, offering a tranquil spot for those wishing to escape the hustle and bustle.

However, this reserve has a long and rather prestigious history.  As you move around you will find steps, walls, a lake and footpaths among other interesting feature such as the ice-house and the barrel bridge.  James Whatman, the 18th Century industrialist, extensively developed the medieval park in to the English Landscape style, which was so much more fashionable at the time.  He engaged Humphry Repton, the renowned landscape gardener, who completed one of his famous 'red books' for this site.  In the mid-19th Century James Whatman's grandson updated the garden again and added many exotic trees, shrubs and he created a large kitchen garden.

Whilst the house was destroyed by fire in the 1950s, the site still exists with many of the original garden features such as the ha-ha, the rockery and a lime tree avenue.  The Victorian barrel bridge and the ice-house are now managed as bat hibernation sites.

Vinters Valley Nature Reserve is run by a Trust and Committee and a group of dedicated local volunteers under the banner of "Vinters Valley Park Trust".  For more information about how to make a donation or about the wild life their website is Vinters Valley Nature Reserve.