This month Monkton Nature Reserve celebrates its 40th anniversary.
The 16 acre wildlife oasis off Canterbury Road, Monkton, is managed by not for profit charity the Thanet Countryside Trust.
To mark the anniversary an open day will be held on June 28 from 11am to 3pm.
There will be a guided nature walk, a conservation talk from the Warden, a matchbox challenge for children, a photobooth, plants and pre-loved books for sale as well as a ‘Walk through time’ and a range of stalls plus tombola. Entry will be free.
Reverend Jonathan Aitken, who opened the reserve in 1985, will be returning to the site and giving a speech at 1pm.
The Reserve is in an old chalk quarry, last excavated in 1958 although its history dates back more than 200 years, with the first recorded excavation of chalk from the site being made in 1799.
In 1974, the property passed into the ownership of Kent County Council as the waste regulation authority and three years later the then Thanet Conservation Group gained planning permission to convert the quarry into a nature reserve, including the erection of the Field Study Centre.
In the following year, the group bought the land for £12,500 and in 1982, the Thanet Conservation Group became the Thanet Countryside Trust and achieved charitable status.
In 1985, the Field Study Centre was built and now includes exhibition areas and a museum, an extensive second-hand bookshop, toilet facilities and a small shop. The official opening took place with then-MP Jonathan Aitken doing the honours.
In 1986, the UK’s first artificial bat cave (or hibernaculum) was built by the London British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV).
In 1994, the Dinosaur and Fossil Collection was formally opened and in 2000, the Thanet Observatory was completed.
In 2015, the BBC used the Reserve when filming for episode 2 of their TV series Colour: The Spectrum of Science.
In 2018, The Cabin Café and function room was added to the side of the Field Study Centre.
For a large part of 2020 and early 2021 the entire site was closed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. During this time the Nature Shed Project was established.
Further works took place in 2022 with the car park extension and resurfacing. ‘Go Eco’ educational outreach project for schools and community groups was also completed.
In 2023 there was refurbishment of Damselfly Pond and work on the main entrance. Picnic and play area. A wishing well was built and the Fairy Trail was upgraded. A polytunnel was established, new hedging planted, new containers sited and a Gazebo was erected in the Education Garden.
Last year Monkton Nature Reserve officially opened its new environmental education dome with Herne Bay and Sandwich (with West Thanet) MP Sir Roger Gale performing the ribbon cutting.
The environmental centre is a practical space for educational purposes that supports the reserve’s aims of conservation and education.
Monkton Nature Reserve is set for another bumper year in 2025 following record numbers of visitors in 2024 and news of fresh funding to expand services to local schools and communities.
In January this year it was announced there would be work to create improved pathways to the Environmental Education Centre and into the lower reserve; the surfaces will be suitable for wheelchairs, prams and buggies to provide better access for all.
There will also be two observation decks – also wheelchair-friendly – that will overlook the dragonfly pond and chalk grassland areas. The Thanet Countryside Trust has allocated some money to the project with additional grant support from the National Lottery Community Fund and the Thanet Community Lotto.
The Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust also awarded Monkton a grant for vital conservation work.
The chalk grassland at the reserve is a rare and fragile habitat that is maintained by Warden Andrew Wilkinson and a team of hard-working volunteers. The funding is for critical maintenance of the habitat over the winter of 2025-26, providing extended and improved habitats for the wild flowers – especially the 11 species of orchid that flower each year at the reserve.
Dr Clive Nuttman, Adviser to the Trustees, Thanet Countryside Trust, said: “In 2025, our overarching theme will be ‘Widening Access to Nature and Education’, underpinned by our wheelchair access and school transport initiatives.
“Add in the conservation work scheduled for the year and it promises to be another great year for the charity; we are extremely grateful to all our funders, supporters, donors, members and volunteers.”
The reserve is a haven for wildlife and also has family activities, a picnic area and education programmes
Find out more
Monkton Nature Reserve
01843 822666
History with thanks to Monkton Nature Reserve
If only buses went there.
Just for once, I agree.
Unless you own a car, the Reserve is almost impossible to reach.
Very surprised that there was no mention in the write up for this article of the chalk from this previous Monkton Chalk Quarry providing the foundations for the then newly built in 1954, 3 mile Reculver Wall built between Minnis Bay and Reculver to protect the fields ,agricultural land and this stretch of the North Kent coastline following the terrible and damaging floods of 1953 .