Flint – walled buildings, sunken lanes, ancient hedgerows, woodland shaves and chalk pits are familiar features that we associate with the landscape of the Kent Downs. This rich tapestry of features not only give the Downs their unique identity but can also tell us a great deal about how man has shaped and worked the landscape ever since the early days of Neolithic farmers over 4000 years ago.

Step out into the Downs and you’ll find that there’s an even greater wealth of clues lying at your feet, often easily overlooked, but nevertheless hugely important in giving us an idea as to how the landscape has evolved. More often than not, that puzzling bump or strange hollow in a field, perhaps completely at odds with modern day boundaries, is more than just a randomly placed feature, but is a fascinating imprint of man’s activities in the past. In this issue we discover the history behind two features that appear at many locations on the Kent Downs…….

Perhaps best preserved in downland landscapes are features known as lynchets. Often still marked on maps, these are typically pronounced banks within fields, appearing often as terraces or ‘steps’ on steep sided slopes and were formed by the downslope movement of soil through the action of ploughing in former times. Where field boundaries existed soil would accumulate over time against them forming ‘positive lynchets’ on the upper side and ‘negative lynchets’ on the lower side. Many of these features date from medieval ploughing but others, particularly on steeper chalk grassland banks, are indicative of Roman and Neolithic ploughing. A good example can be seen on the Godmersham Downs between Canterbury and Ashford, easily visible from the main road, behind Godmersham church, these are thought to date to Roman or even Neolithic times.

Another feature often found on the Downs is the dew pond. These simple shallow depressions, usually found on the crest of the Downs, were simply stock watering ponds. Because of the porous nature of chalk, most were lined with clay to help prevent water from draining away.

The term ‘dew pond’ is perhaps a misnomer since it is believed that dew in the strictest meaning of the word would not be of sufficient quantity to be able to keep a pond supplied with water. In fact the term ‘dew pond’ was little known more than a century ago and instead these features were often locally known as mist ponds, fog ponds and cloud ponds !! So how were these ponds mysteriously kept fed with water? This interesting question has led to much extravagant speculation in the past ……water dripping from surrounding trees? a long lost Neolithic pond making skill? a gaggle of snaggle toothed witches casting water diving spells??

In all likelihood it is probable that the ponds are simply fed by run off from surrounding ground with some assistance from water accumulating in the form of mist and low cloud. There is certainly an art to constructing these ponds, in choosing the site and in puddling the clay to prevent animals hooves from damaging the clay, but whether many date from Neolithic times is perhaps conjecture. It is known that many were made in the nineteenth century and there were still professional dew pond makers in the 1930’s!. Today these seasonal ponds provide an important habitat for wildlife especially creatures that are able to tolerate the seasonal nature of fluctuating water levels. Great crested newts for example are particulalry adapted to these conditions where predators such as fish are unable to live.

A good example of a dew pond can be seen near West Hougham, Dover. Known as Soval pond this feature can be viewed from the nearby public right of way that runs along the top of Whinless Down towards the village of West Hougham.