Oldbury Hill and Styants Wood
Located within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Oldbury Hill and Styants Wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and home to a huge Iron Age fort built sometime between 150 and 50 BC.
Consisting of 166 acres of woodland, the woods benefit from a good network of paths, including two waymarked circular trails.
The woods have an open, almost forest-like feel to them, and are best enjoyed in late autumn as the leaves begin to fall.
Mainly made up of oak, birch, rowan and beech, the area is thought to have been coppiced since Saxon times, and the practise continues today.
The ramparts of the Iron Age fort – 2.5 miles long and enclosing an area of 124 acres – can still be seen, and was built around 150-50 BC by the Celtic ‘Wealden’ people. Used mainly as a refuge, it was probably not permanently occupied.
The site also features a campsite at its north-west corner, and cyclists and horse riders are welcome to use the waymarked bridleways.
The waymarked paths around the site include some steep sections, and are muddy when wet. Parking is available in Styants Wood, just off Styants Bottom Road.
Easy access information
This park and open space contains uneven trails, un-surfaced or narrow pathways. Also, there are width restricting features, such as stiles and narrow gaps making it difficult for visitors with pushchairs and/or wheelchairs to access some parts of the site.
