Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
=='''History'''== |
=='''History'''== |
||
− | The area was originally a part of the estate of Footscray Place. |
+ | The area was originally a part of the estate of Footscray Place. After being used during the 1939-45 war as a naval training establishment, the house was sold to Kent County Council for use as a museum. However, in 1949 the building was destroyed in a fire. In the following year the grounds were renamed Foots Cray Meadows and made over as a public park. |
Further information needed, please |
Further information needed, please |
Revision as of 22:29, 7 February 2012
Foots Cray Meadows is the largest public open space in the London Borough of Bexley, situated in the south-east of the borough bordered by Sidcup, Albany Park, North Cray and Bexley Village. The site, which has been designated as a local nature reserve (LNR), covers 97 hectares (nearly 250 acres), with the River Cray forming a central feature of the landscape. The meadows are controlled and managed by Bexley Council.
Further Information needed, please
Address: Foots Cray Meadows, Rectory Lane, Sidcup, Kent DA14 5NG (Map:; OS grid reference TQ478715)
History
The area was originally a part of the estate of Footscray Place. After being used during the 1939-45 war as a naval training establishment, the house was sold to Kent County Council for use as a museum. However, in 1949 the building was destroyed in a fire. In the following year the grounds were renamed Foots Cray Meadows and made over as a public park.
Further information needed, please
Habitat
The site is an informal open space with a variety of wildlife habitats. The rolling landscape includes ancient woodland and the River Cray, with its adjacent woodlands and wildflower margins. Large areas of the site are managed as wildflower meadows, but this has still left large swathes of amenity grassland for recreational pursuits.
Further information needed, please
Species
Birds
Information needed, please
Other vertebrates
Information needed, please
Invertebrates
Information needed, please
Practicalities
Directions
Foots Cray Meadows is accessible from North Cray Road (A223) and Rectory Lane (which runs from Bexley Lane, Sidcup, through to Foots Cray High Street). The nearest train station is Albany Park. The 492 bus route passes the site on North Cray Road.
Access
Information needed, please
Facilities
Information needed, please
Listings
Tuesday 7 February 2012 (10.30-12.45): 8 Little Grebe, 3 Cormorant, Little Egret, pr Mute Swan, 2 Egyptian Geese, 2 prs Shoveler, 6 prs Gadwall, 33 Mallard, 8 Tufted Duck, Grey Heron, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, 2 Snipe, Green Sandpiper, 13 Moorhen, 14 Coot, 94+ Black-headed Gull, 6 Common Gull, Stock Dove, 19+ Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, 11+ Ring-necked Parakeet, 2 Green Woodpecker, 5 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Kingfisher, Pied Wagtail, 5 Wren, Dunnock, 6 Robin, 13 Blackbird, 4 Song Thrush, Redwing (3 flocks – 12, 36 and 4), 3 Mistle Thrush, 6 Long-tailed Tit, 6 Blue Tit, 6 Great Tit, Jay, 6 Magpie, 18 Jackdaw, 39+ Carrion Crow, 3 Starling, 2 Chaffinch, 3 Greenfinch, 5 Goldfinch (Ralph Todd).