FAQs

A National Landscape is a designated exceptional landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are precious enough to be safeguarded in the national interest. On par with National Parks, National Landscapes are protected and enhanced for nature, people, business and culture. No other country in the world has National Landscapes – it is a uniquely British designation that belongs to a worldwide Protected Landscape Family.

The Kent Downs National Landscape offers dramatic views, vibrant communities, a rich historic and cultural heritage and diverse wildlife and habitats making it a worthy landscape for national protection. It is the eighth largest National Landscape and, along with the High Weald National Landscape, covers 33% of Kent’s land area providing a wealth of opportunities for people to explore, enjoy and benefit from this outstanding landscape.

Kent has featured prominently in the history of England, and its close proximity to the continental mainland has resulted in it having a special place in our understanding of how England has related to Europe since prehistoric times. It includes internationally significant sites, such as the Swanscombe Skull site (the oldest such remains found in Britain), and UNESCO World Heritage sites at Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey and Dover Castle.

Kent Downs’ historic and cultural fabric is equally characterised by a rich heritage of historic landscape, buildings, settlements and sites, with a strong ‘time depth’ that spans all periods.  This includes the oldest flint tools going back thousands of years; the earliest monuments in the landscape, dating to the Neolithic; Bronze Age round barrows, and later hillforts of the Iron Age; numerous Roman villas; medieval manor houses, castles, monasteries and churches; up until 19th and 20th-century wartime archaeology.

Heritage is all that has been passed to us by previous generations. This includes our houses, transport, places of work, landscape, history, legends, language, etc.

The historic environment refers to all aspects of the environment resulting from the interaction between people and places through time, including all surviving physical remains of past human activity, whether visible or buried, and landscaped and planted or managed flora.

Designated heritage assets are the buildings, monuments or landscapes recognised for their special architectural, historic or archaeological significance, and which receive legal protection. This includes scheduled monuments, listed buildings, registered parks and gardens and conservation areas.

Currently (as of 2020), Kent Downs has:

• 2,765 listed buildings (16% of all those in Kent)
• 102 scheduled monuments (29% of those in Kent)
• 21 registered parks and gardens (34% of those in Kent)
• 1 protected wreck site.

Scheduled Ancient Monuments (also known as SAMs) are a carefully chosen sample of nationally important archaeological sites. Some contain built structures, whilst many are entirely earthworks or even buried, sub-surface archaeology. They are not always visible, and not always ancient. Some are well-visited English Heritage or other ticketed properties, whilst others are hidden within woodland or fields. Quite a few are on private land, and little known by the public. They range considerably in terms of period and site type, from prehistoric standing stones and burial mounds, to medieval castles and monasteries, to more modern sites such as collieries and Cold War bomb stores.

HAR is a programme established and run by Historic England, who are responsible for managing and protecting our SAMs. The programme identifies sites which are at risk of collapse or deterioration and further damage through various factors such as unstable structures, damage from tree root growth, dirt bike erosion and other vandalism, arable ploughing and more.

The HAR sites in Kent Downs, at present, include:

• 5 listed buildings (three of which are places of worship) 
• 11 scheduled monuments  
• 1 registered park and garden.

In addition to the HAR sites, there are almost 50 SAMs which are identified as being vulnerable, and at potential risk of becoming HAR eventually, if they are not managed properly.

Some monuments, in particular standing structures, such as churches, chapels and castle walls, are in urgent need of repair and stabilisation work, which can be an involved and sometimes costly process. 

Many sites, whether earthworks or ruined structures, are at risk from having extensive vegetation whose roots can damage the buried archaeology or disturb foundations and walls. This requires clearance work across the site, which then needs to be maintained so that they’re not in the same state in a few years' time. 

Many of these sites can also be saved through education: awareness raising of their importance (and existence) and generally getting the community to embrace the sites as part of their local landscape and history.  

This is a newly developing Kent Downs’ project which, funding dependent, will focus on protecting and enhancing some of the most valuable local heritage sites. The range of work involved is vast, and will vary site by site:  

• Assessment of sites for state of vulnerability: volunteer training programme to undertake condition assessment of scheduled sites and Adopt a Monument programme  
• Stabilisation and repair work    
• Ecological enhancement (or mitigation) of sites: reduce the risk of root damage by undertaking scrub removal, increase biodiversity through restored through improved habitats and work with landowners to control management (e.g. introduce grazing, encourage Countryside Stewardship on arable land, etc)
• Increased engagement with sites: guided walks, talks, tours, workshops and other events at sites, engagement targeted to minoritised audiences and diverse histories and inventive activities, including sensory prompts, art responses, etc 
• Increased access and interpretation of sites: access route improvements and new interpretation, 3D modelling of sites not easily visitable and improved heritage content on StoryMaps / website. 
• Community archaeology – understanding heritage: opportunities for fieldwork as part of community archaeology programme, volunteer skills training and continued finds processing and archive work.

There will be several heritage sites, including up to 40 scheduled monuments, incorporated into the project, each with varied levels of work and interaction taking place.

Some of the sites include:

• Anglo-Saxon cemetery on Hanging Hill, Bridge
• Binbury motte and bailey castle
• Church of St Mary, Stowting
• Church of St Mary the Virgin, Thurnham
• Coldrum long barrow and megalithic tomb
• Kit’s Coty and Little Kit's Coty House megalithic tombs
• Lullingstone Roman Villa
• Maplescombe chapel
• Otford Palace
• Thurnham motte and bailey castle
• Ripple Manor medieval moated site
• Rubury Butts bowl barrows, Three Barrows Down
• White Horse Stone.