Woodland for sale

Along the back boundary there are many pollarded hornbeams with some pollarded beech. The large beech, almost certainly the Buckbeech, a large ancient pollarded boundary beech, as identified on the older maps will be seen. At the most easterly corner there is a marker stone with RT on the inside and CK on the outer. Who was RT? At the entrance there is a substantial open area, where there is a bench and plenty of space for parking and camping. This season sees a very good harvest of chestnuts waiting to be collected on the floor. In times past pollarded trees were a familiar way of marking boundaries, usually 'cant' markings of convenient areas and these would be harvested at regular intervals.

Trees

Sweet chestnut dominates but there are plenty of mature oak, some mature beech and large chestnut trees. Previously beech has been planted at the last coppicing of the chestnut but the young beech have been outgrown by the chestnut but would benefit greatly from small amount of halo felling to give them more light and the opportunity to grown on unhindered.

Wildlife

A herd of deer wander though the whole area, an occasional lone deer also wanders though. Their resting places at night can be seen where the ground is scraped clear of vegetation. Buckbeech Wood is part of Denge Wood, the whole is full of the most interesting flora including lots of orchids and twyblades, the nationally rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly. Denge Wood doesn't have a wildlife designation but is certainly worthy of one. You'll find lots of bluebells in season.

Access, tracks and footpaths

Access to the ride-stop entrance on the southern boundary of Buckbeech Wood is over ¾ mile along a private forest track, A-B on the plan, although a fair distance it is a very pleasant walk. There is a full right of way in perpetuity, from the public highway in Garlinge Green (by gate A). The track leaves the public highway at gate A for about 900 metres it then passes through the main woodland down to the valley bottom, here there is a sharp right turn and for 250 metres the track passes though chestnut up the slope of the valley side, round to the right by the Forestry Commissions woodland and comes out into an opening. Here the track turns left and for about 270 metres winds through mature woodland until coming to another track. Buckbeech Wood is just to the left on the right side. Although the writer has been up and down here in a car a higher vehicle would be better

Note: the historical track goes outside our ownership as shown as Land Registry maps across unregistered land at one point so we have retained and given wood owners a right of way over retained land. This is quite common, when land is sold off maps are drawn in solicitors' offices on small scale maps and often do not represent what is on the ground.

Rights and covenants

There is a full right of way in perpetuity from the public highway at gate A to the wood and along the wood's frontage. The track to the entrance is all stoned.

As is the case for all our woodlands, the purchaser will be asked to enter into a covenant which serves to protect the peace and quiet of the woodland.

Local area and history

Garlinge village name derivation is obscure but may be Old English from Geon-ling (gren-hlinc), meaning green lynch, (green hill or green bank) evolving through Grenling, Grelinge or Gerlinge, Grellnch, Garlyng and Garlings to its present form.

Around Canterbury, much of the land is covered by very extensive areas of woodland. Looking in a south-west direction down from high on Chartham Downs, you can see spread out below the huge forest areas including Denge, Pennypot, Eggringe, Capel and several other smaller woodlands - in total some eight square kilometres of semi-natural ancient woodland.