A 16 acre site set inside an abandoned chalk quarry on the Isle of
Thanet in East Kent. Monkton Nature Reserve is managed by the
Thanet Countryside Trust. There are over 350 species of flowering
plant including 8 species of orchid. 25 species of butterfly have
been recorded, and innumerable other species of insect, mammal and
bird-life. The reserve is home to the first artificial bat cave to be
constructed in the UK. The bat cave, or Hibernaculum is normally only
in use in the winter months.
There are two ponds inside the reserve, one of which is on the quarry
floor and is a water-table pond with a fluctuating water level, while
the other is a butyl-lined pond in a secluded location. This pond is
overlooked by a small bird hide. Both ponds are regularly visited by
grass snakes on hunting expeditions and are also good breeding sites
for the Great Crested Newt. The water-table pond is used by a small
number of the rare water vole.
There is a small young woodland in land above the quarry, and this is
becoming well used by the bird population. Breeding numbers of Turtle
Dove in this woodland have risen from one to five pairs over the last
ten years.
A 1:1 scale replica of a Bronze Age Barrow has been constructed in the
woodland. This is a long term project to obtain experimental data for
the Thanet Archaeological Unit.
The quarry cliffs are of Late Cretaceous age (Santonian) and contain
some good chalk fossils. Collecting can only be carried out with
supervision. The cliffs act as home to a number of bird species
including a large colony of Jackdaw, a pair of Little Owls, and
occasionally nesting Kestrels.
On-site is an Environmental Education Study Centre, which contains a
number of different exhibitions, including a large geological
collection. Fossils, rocks and minerals from the Mesozoic, Cainozoic,
and Pleistocene are on display, with the collections containing a
number of unusual items, including a fine specimen of a tooth palette
from the Cretaceous shark Ptychodus polygyrus.
Thanet Observatory is situated in the centre of the nature reserve. It houses a 12" f5.89 reflecting telescope.
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