Elmley National Nature Reserve

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Overview

Elmley NNR, on the south of the Isle of Sheppey, is the only National Nature Reserve in Britain that is owned and managed by a farming family. The Merricks family grazes about 700 cattle on the marshes and it is this wide expanse of grazing marsh which provides such a special habitat for wildlife. You might see boxing hares on the meadows in the spring, but Elmley is perhaps best known for its large numbers of breeding waders and birds of prey on the marshes. Flocks of golden plover, curlew, pintail and teal can be seen here, as well as hunting hen harriers, marsh harriers, merlins and short-eared owls in winter. A myriad of dragonflies and damselflies patrol the freshwater ditches, where you might also see the shy water vole and grass snake. Crickets and grasshoppers can be heard chirruping in the grasslands while several species of rare bees buzz between the wildflowers.

Location

Kemsley

About the area

Kent is home to the White Cliffs of Dover, an English icon that marks the point where the Kent Downs AONB stretches from the Surrey Hills down to the sea. Visitors can explore historic parklands, including Knole Park and Sir Winston Churchill’s former home at Chartwell, or beautiful nature reserves, such as the coppiced woodlands of Denge Wood and Earley Wood and the ancient fine chalk woodland of Yockletts Bank.