Joydens Wood

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name=Joydens Wood
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shire_district=Dartford
shire_county= Kent
region= South East England
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Joyden's Wood is one of over 1,000 woods looked after by the Woodland Trust. The first records of a wood on this site go back to 1600AD making it an Ancient Woodland Site.

Location

Joyden's Wood is located on the boundary between the London Borough of Bexley in Greater London and the Dartford borough of Kent. Locally, the wood is surrounded by the settlements of Joydens Wood, Old Bexley, North Cray, Wilmington and Swanley.

Wildlife

As in all Woodland, wildlife thrives here. The most notable though is the rare Great Crested Newt that has been found in the area. There are 9 ponds throughout the wood each of which is a habitat for all three British newts:
* The Great Crested Newt
* The Smooth Newt
* The Palmate Newt

Archaeology

Joyden's Wood is home to some fascinating ancient monuments. Faesten Dic, ‘the strong dike’ was built 1500 years ago by Saxon settlers and runs for over a kilometre through the forest. Furthermore, there have been traces of settlements found in the forest that are over 2000 years old and deneholes have been found. During the Second World War, twoHurricane fighters crashed in the wood and some of the hollows you can seein the wood are bomb craters.

The Estate

Joydens Wood estate, officially an urban village, and normally spelt without an apostrophe, is home to several thousand people, with local infant and junior schools. Buses frequently pass through the estate and are run by Arriva. The B15 bus is contracted by TfL. Its local train stations are Bexley and Dartford. There are a couple of small shopping parades. Community groups include those that meet at the community hall; *http://www.joydenswoodchurch.webeden.co.uk St Barnabas Church has a multi-purpose building used both by the church and by various community groups; the scouts and guides have an excellent hall; there is also a Freeholders' Association.

External links

* [http://www.wt-woods.org.uk/JoydensWood Joyden's Wood Section of the Woodland Trust Website]
* [http://www.dartford.gov.uk/dartford/joydenswood.htm Dartford Council's Page on Joydens Wood (estate)]
* [http://www.joydens-wood-junior.kent.sch.uk/ Joyden's Wood Junior School]
* [http://www.arriva.co.uk/ Arriva Buses]
* [http://www.joydenswoodchurch.webeden.co.uk St Barnabas Church, Joydens Wood]