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  • Northward Hill

Northward Hill

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Address
RSPB Northward Hill, Rochester ME3 8DS
Grid ref
TQ768765
What3Words
moisture.upward.broached

You'll find Northward Hill on a ridge overlooking the Thames Marshes and its resident marsh harriers. It's a working farm with cows and sheep, surrounded by scrubland that's rich in nightingales and whitethroats. There's also a lovely bluebell wood and a large rookery.

Plan your visit

Opening times

  • Nature reserve: open at all times.
  • Car park: open daily, 10am-4pm. 
  • Toilets: closed.
  • Cherry orchard: closed.

Festive opening times

  • Christmas Eve: closed.
  • Christmas Day: closed.
  • Boxing Day: closed.
  • New Year’s Eve: open, 10am-4pm.
  • New Year’s Day: open, 10am-4pm.
  • All other days in the festive period are open our usual opening hours as above.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free, but donations are very welcome
Children
Free, but donations are very welcome

Facilities

  • Car park
  • Toilets are closed
  • Accessible toilets are closed
  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails

Accessibility

How to get here

By road

Leave M2 at junction 1 and join the A228, signposted Grain. Turn left off A228 for High Halstow. In the village turn left onto Cooling Road towards Cooling. After approximately 1 mile, the reserve is signposted as a right turn.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Other ways to get there

Due to the remote location of the reserve, arriving by public transport is not easily achieved. We recommend that you contact the reserve for more information.

Get directions from Google Maps
View on What3Words
RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 4.9Mb

Northward Hill trail guide

Contact Northward Hill

  • RSPB Northward Hill, Rochester ME3 8DS
  • northkentmarshes@rspb.org.uk
  • 01634 222480

What will you see?

Our star species

    Grey heron adult

    Grey heron

    Nearly 150 pairs of grey herons nest in the trees at Northward Hill.

    Standing Lapwing illustration

    Lapwing

    In spring, lapwings come to the wet grasslands here to breed.

    Little Egret

    Little egret

    Up to 50 pairs of little egrets have recently joined the grey herons in the treetop heronry at Northward Hill.

    Nightingale illustration

    Nightingale

    Each year at least 20 nightingales breed in the hedgerows and scrub. Listen for their song in April and May.

    Male wigeon

    Wigeon

    Large flocks of Wigeon pack onto the flooded grassland in winter.

Recent sightings

Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, adult, male in breeding habitat pasture, Northumberland

Find out about recent wildlife sightings at Northward Hill.

read more

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter

Herons and egrets nest in woodland. Nightingales return and sing in dense undergrowth. Carpets of bluebells form mid-April-May and whitethroats sing from the scrub. Avocets nest on reservoir islands.

Hobbies hunt dragonflies over the marsh, while marsh Harriers quarter the reedbeds. You could see the rare white-letter hairstreak butterfly in the woodland, or turtle doves on overhead wires.

Swallows gather around farm buildings. Noisy jays in wood gathering acorns. Dragonflies fly over reserve in late summer. Migrating waders such as spotted redshanks and green sandpipers may be seen on the reservoirs.

Large numbers wildfowl gather on marshland floods. Wintering thrushes, finches and buntings gather in scrub. Redwings and fieldfares can be seen in the orchards below wood. 4,000-rooks look spectacular as they prepare to roost in wood.

About Northward Hill

Habitat

On a ridge overlooking the Thames Marshes, Northward Hill includes scrubland rich in nightingales and whitethroats, a lovely bluebell wood, a large rookery and a cherry orchard. It is also a working farm with cows and sheep.

The reserve also includes great swathes of flat marshes, where lapwings, avocets breed, wigeons and teals flock in large numbers over winter.

Conservation

The marshes lost their value for wildlife when the land was drained in the 1940s. In the early 1990s, we purchased 278 ha of arable farmland and grazing marsh with the aim of restoring wetland habitats and extending the area of woodland. What were once arable fields are now grassland, and can attract up to 120 pairs of breeding waders, including avocets, lapwings and redshanks.

We manage the marsh for the benefit of the breeding wader population, wintering and migrating waterfowl, water voles and scarce invertebrates. We are continuing to improve the soil condition for invertebrates upon which feeding waders rely.

In spring, a carpet of bluebells and the song of blackcaps and nightingales fill the wood, creating a haven that is perfect for enjoying the outdoors. We continue to coppice the wood and provide rides and glades which attracts a variety of plants and caterpillars.

We aim to make the site accessible to everyone without impinging on our conservation priorities. The reserve is usually a place of quiet beauty but it is also a working farm, so there will be occasions of more activity the entrance track can become pot-holed.

Partners

RSPB Northward Hill is a fantastic home for nature, helped by the tremendous support of many individuals, groups and organisations. In addition to RSPB members and supporters, local community members and a tireless team of volunteers, we would particularly like to thank the following organisations for their financial support:

  • Biffa Award through the Landfill Community Fund
  • Bretts Environmental Trust through the Landfill Community Fund
  • CEMEX Community Fund through the Landfill Community Fund
  • Douglas Glanfield Memorial Trust
  • Future Jobs Fund
  • Gravesham Borough Council
  • Heritage Lottery Fund
  • Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust through the Landfill Community Fund
  • Natural England through Defra
  • SITA through the Landfill Community Fund
  • WREN/FCC Environment through the Landfill Community Fund
Biffa Award
Landfill Community Fund
Bretts Environmental Trust
CEMEX Community Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust
SITA
WREN
FCC Environment

Site information

As a great place for nature the woodland and reedbed at Northward Hill is recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Natura 2000 site.

Please remember this is a working farm, there may be occasional vehicles on some trails and livestock can be in the fields and orchard.

Latest forum posts

  • unidentified Bird at Cliffe Pools

    can anyone please help me identify a bird I saw sat eve at Cliffe Pools please I would say the bird was the size of a small goose, was white, but not as bright as an egret, with some black markings. it was swimming and had its rear in the air as it f...

    Posted 09/10/2017 by miles k
  • Apples

    Does anyone know whether we are free to pick apples on Northward Hill, or are these left for wildlife?

    Posted 27/08/2017 by Carol W
  • Red legged partridges?

    I was driving past Northward Hill towards High Halstow when 3 game birds walked across the road. Looking in my bird book they looked like Red Legged Partridges because of the red eyes. Is this likely to be what they were?

    Posted 30/09/2016 by Kathryn B
  • what a great welcome to Northward Hill

    as a new RSPB member i decided to have a quick drive to Cliffe Pools and to Northward Hill to find their exact locations, where to park etc... i was only at Northward hill for 5 minutes so imagine my surprise that as I drove back down the access lane...

    Posted 27/01/2016 by miles k
read our forum

Latest blog posts

  • Red-banded Sand Wasp.

    Yesterday afternoon when I was locking up Northward Hill RSPB my attention was drawn to a flash of lime green at my feet, at first I thought it was a caterpillar being dragged off by some ants (there is a huge ant colony in the sandy soil by the rese...

    Posted 18/06/2022 by Dr Hoo
  • This weekend at RSPB Northward Hill (AKA Mob Rules)

      Today I spent quite more few more hours on the reserve than I can normally afford, so I was there in  the afternoon for about 4 or 5 hours.   I spoke to Sonja Hardy, the Warden and assured her I would be locking up this reserve and RSPB Cliffe Pool...

    Posted 13/06/2022 by Dr Hoo
  • Northward Hill 31/05/2022.

    Whilst the weather has been disappointing of late and looks to start improving gradually over the next few days finally, quite a few insects have braved the cooler temperatures to hunt, feed and mate. Red Ants are farming the Aphids, Robber Flies are...

    Posted 01/06/2022 by Dr Hoo
  • Last Nightingale Walk of 2022.

    This evening was RSPB Medway Local Groups’ last Nightingale walk of the year. The males only sing for about six weeks as they seek to establish their territories and hope to entice a female to pair up with them. Rather sadly any still singing beyond ...

    Posted 26/05/2022 by Dr Hoo
read our blog

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/northwardhill

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