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Reculver Country Park is a Special Protection Area (SPA), Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Ramsar site at Reculver, about 3 miles (5 km) east of Herne Bay, in the City of Canterbury district of Kent. It is managed by Canterbury City Council and the Kent Wildlife Trust.[1] It is visited by birds each year during their migrations from the Arctic, and comprises a narrow strip of protected, cliff-top land about 1.5 miles (2 km) long, running from the remaining enclosure of the Roman fort and the church ruins west to Bishopstone Glen. In winter Brent Geese and wading birds such as Sanderlings and Turnstones may be seen; during the summer months the largest colony of Sand Martins in Kent nest in the soft cliffs, on top of which Fulmars were also reported to have begun nesting in 2013, and wading Curlews may be seen at any time.[2] The grasslands on the cliff top are among the few remaining cliff top wildflower meadows left in Kent, and are home to butterflies and Skylarks. Also present is the nationally scarce species of digger wasp Alysson lunicornis.[3][Fn 1] The park first won a Green Flag Award in 2005, and it is estimated that over 200,000 people visit it each year, including up to 3,500 students for educational trips.[4] Canterbury City Council's Reculver Masterplan envisages purchasing farmland to the south of the country park to replace land lost to the sea through coastal erosion.[5]
In 2011 it was found that the shoreline in the Herne Bay area, including Reculver, had come under threat from an invasive species, the Carpet sea squirt (Didemnum vexillum), also known as "marine vomit".[6] First recorded in UK waters in 2008, the Carpet sea squirt is indigenous to the sea around Japan, but it has been carried to other parts of the world, including New Zealand and the USA, on boat hulls, fishing equipment, and floating seaweed.[7] Carpet sea squirt can overgrow other, sessile species, "potentially smothering species living in gravel and affecting fisheries."[7][Fn 2]
Centre for renewable energy[edit]
A visitor centre in Reculver Country Park re-opened in 2009 as the Reculver Renewable Energy and Interpretation Centre, "marking 200 years of the moving of Reculver village".[8][Fn 3] The centre features a log burner fuelled by logs from the Blean woodland, solar and photovoltaic panels provide electrical power, and there are displays describing the history, geography and wildlife of the area.[8]
- ^ Explore Kent (not dated). "Reculver Country Park". Kent County Council. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014;
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Canterbury City Council 2013, pp. 14–5; Matthews. - ^ Matthews; Canterbury City Council 2013, pp. 11, 14–5.
- ^ Canterbury City Council 2012, p. 26.
- ^ "Green Flag to fly at Reculver". Canterbury City Council Online. 26 July 2005. Archived from the original on 2013-04-05. Retrieved 21 April 2014; Canterbury City Council 2013, p. 8; Visit Canterbury (not dated). "Reculver Country Park & Reculver Towers". Canterbury City Council. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Canterbury City Council 2008, p. 33; Canterbury City Council 2013, p. 16.
- ^ Walker, J. (5 December 2011). "Invasive carpet seasquirt spreads rapidly on the Herne Bay coast". KentOnline. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014; Non-Native Species Secretariat (2014). "Carpet Sea Squirt". Defra. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ a b c Non-Native Species Secretariat (2014). "Carpet sea squirt, Didemnum vexillum". Defra. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ a b "Reculver Centre: for renewable energy and interpretation". Canterbury City Council Online. 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24; Visitor Centres and Reserves (not dated). "Reculver Visitor Centre and Country Park". Kent Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Harris 2001, p. 36.
- ^ Vision of Britain (2009). "H.M.S.O. Boundary Commission Report 1885, Kent". University of Portsmouth et al. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
- ^ Vision of Britain (2009). "Ordnance Survey of England and Wales Revised New Series, 20 and 24". University of Portsmouth et al. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
- ^ Vision of Britain (2009). "C. Smith New Map of Great Britain and Ireland". University of Portsmouth et al. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
- ^ Vision of Britain (2009). "Historical maps". University of Portsmouth et al. Topographic maps. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
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