Go to navigation
Berengrave Nature Reserve
Medway Council
secured nearly £43,000 to improve access to this former chalk pit,
which is a Local Nature Reserve and Site of Nature Conservation
Interest. Funding from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental) enabled
new steps and boardwalks to be built. It opened on 26 April
2006.
The wooden boardwalks and steep steps provide a challenging but
rewarding walk around this site, which contains a wide variety of
habitats, including:
- open water areas,
- reed and sedge beds,
- willow carr,
- woodland,
- grassland,
- scrub.
The Medway Towns Conservation Volunteers and the Friends of
Berengrave continue to ensure that good access to the site is
maintained. The Friends of Berengrave have secured a Local Heritage
Initiative Grant to research the history of the reserve and install
interpretative panels.
You can find the reserve on the Lower Rainham Road, one mile
from Riverside Country Park, in Rainham at the junction with
Berengrave Lane. There is a small parking area at the entrance.
History
Evidence exists of Stone Age activity, with part of the reserve
believed to be a former Roman burial ground. Official records show
that Berengrave was an orchard during the 19th century. It became a
working chalk pit in at the beginning of the 20th century, when
chalk was dug out to make cement at the nearby Rainham Dock. After
the pit closed, the area remained relatively undisturbed and was
colonised by wild animals and plants.
Berengrave is now owned by Medway Council and is managed as part
of Riverside Country Park. As a Local Nature Reserve, its rich and
varied wildlife can be protected and its habitats improved by
proper management.
Wildlife
The reserve provides a wide variety of habitats, including
ponds, reedbed, woodland and grassland, with good views over Motney
Reedbeds.
In the central area of the chalk pit, there is a lake area which
floods into willow carr and reedbed. In summer, reed and sedge
warblers breed here. The willow carr leads to an area of drier
woodland, where birds such as chiffchaffs, blackcaps, blue tits,
great tits and woodpeckers may be seen.
The glades are open areas within the woodland. Here sunlight can
reach the ground and wild flowers flourish. The washmill ponds are
relics from when the site was a working chalk pit. Chalk from the
pit had to be broken up in the washmills to remove the flint. It
could then be baked with clay to produce cement. The washmills now
provide a home for frogs, toads and newts, which visit in the
spring to lay eggs.
Accessibility
The paths are uneven and will get muddy in wet
weather with a boardwalk in one area that includes steps. It
is not suitable for buggies.
Add this page to my Quick Links:
Add page
Send this page to a friend:
Send