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The Names?
In Roman Times, much of the Whitstable area was swathed in an unbroken
stretch of native forest. However, as greater commercial
demands were placed on the land, this shrank to a fragmented band of
woodland to the south of the town.
Over the years, different sections of this woodland have
been given
individual names. In some cases, the titles are widely recognised. In others, they
are simply "local
terminology".
So what are these names?
The Answer....
In March 2006, Brian Smith kindly put us in the picture...
by forwarding a map of the area upon which he had named the various
woods....
Woodland
Map - By Brian Smith
As you can see, woodland in the immediate vicinity of Whitstable
disappeared and there are now just a handful of small copses. These are
easy to
identify and name as Willow, Benacre, Convicts and
Longtye woods.
Further south, there exists a far more substantial and
much cherished band of woodland - wedged between the town and the
City of Canterbury. This runs from Blean Wood in
the west to East Blean Wood near the village of
Herne. Over the centuries, it too has been reduced in size by
the need for farmland and the most significant clearance has
occurred along lines carved by roadways. Thus the main
Whitstable-to-Canterbury road (via Blean) is now bordered by
just a few small copses (such as Marley Wood and Honey Hill Wood on
its eastern side). Meanwhile, Denstoude Lane cuts an open
farmland path west from Honey Hill). The end result is a forest
fragmented into three major portions.
As a kid,
I referred to this entire woodland by one name.... "Blean Woods".
Brian tells me that, as a "generic term referring to the
broader wooded area of The Blean", this was a
correct and acceptable name. However, it does mask the fact that
there are many separately named portions. At least, I used the
plural "woods" - acknowledging that there might be
more than one!
One reason for my childhood confusion stemmed from the fact
that even contiguous areas of woodland have been subdivided for the
purpose of naming. For example, Clowes, Thornden, Cane, West Blean and
Cripps form one large expanse of trees.
The boundaries between such woods can seem quite arbitrary.
In places, a roadway provides a clear cut division but, in others,
the reasoning is less clear. Perhaps, ownership played a part
and, as a significant portion belonged to the
Church, there may even have been a link to areas of ecclesiastical
administration. We will delve deeper into this issue when time
permits!
Just to add to the complexity, some "local" names have
been applied to small stretches.
Thus an area of Thornden Wood close to Chestfield Golf Course
gained the name Great Pitt Wood . Brian's map shows possible
"local names" in lower case.
Other pages in our woodland section provide more detail and
include current day
photos of some of the woods. For convenience, each page
addresses a separate band of woodland as described on the menu.
Return to Woodland Menu:
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