Joyden's Wood

Joyden's Wood
District	Dartford
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
List of places: UK • England • Kent

Joyden's Wood (or Joydens Wood) is one of over 1,000 woodlands in the United Kingdom looked after by the Woodland Trust. The first records of a wood on this site go back to the year 1600 so making it an Ancient Woodland site.

Location

Joyden's Wood is located on the boundary between the London Borough of Bexley in south east London and the Dartford borough of Kent, most of it is in the latter. It is surrounded by the settlements of Joydens Wood, Old Bexley, North Cray, Wilmington and Swanley.

Wildlife

There are 9 ponds throughout the wood each of which is a habitat for all three British newts:

• The Great Crested Newt
• The Smooth Newt
• The Palmate Newt

Archaeology

There are traces of settlements found in the forest that are over 2,000 years old and deneholes have been found. There is also Faesten Dic, ‘the strong dike’, that was built 1500 years ago by Saxon settlers and runs for over a kilometre through the forest.

During the Second World War, two RAF Hawker Hurricane fighters crashed in the wood and some hollows visible in the wood are bomb craters.

The Estate

Joydens Wood estate, officially an urban village, and normally spelt without an apostrophe, is home to several thousand people, with local infant and junior schools. Buses frequently pass through the estate and are run by Arriva. The B12 bus is contracted by TfL which runs from Joydens Wood to Erith via Bexleyheath. Its local train stations are Bexley and Dartford. There are two small shopping parades, which among other amenities include a post office, butcher, library and petrol station.

Community groups that meet at the Joydens Wood Community Centre in Birchwood Drive include a pre-school, a Women's Institute and a table tennis club.

St Barnabas Church in Tile Kiln Lane has a multi-purpose building used both by the church and community groups. The scouts and guides have a hall; there is also a Freeholders' Association.

Local authority administration of the estate is split between London Borough of Bexley (west) and the Dartford Borough Council (east; falling within the parish of Wilmington).

External links

• Joyden's Wood Section of the Woodland Trust Website
• Wilmington Parish Council
• Joyden's Wood Junior School
• Arriva Buses
• St Barnabas Church, Joydens Wood