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Join us as we find out what’s it been like looking after our flagship nature reserve, Ranscombe Farm, for 20 years.
*If you are a member you should have already received your personal email invitation directly from our team (contact us if you haven’t!). New members will receive a link in your welcome email.
Ben began his career in nature conservation as a volunteer at the age of 16, and went on to do a Masters degree in Conservation at UCL.
He has spent over 20 years working in the landscape of the North Kent Downs, with the last 17 of those at the 660-acre Ranscombe Farm Reserve (Plantlife’s largest nature reserve in England) with its truly unique assemblage of wildflowers.
He is passionate about the landscape of the Kent countryside and understanding the history behind it.
Camille McCawley is Senior Participation Officer at Plantlife and leads the Ranscombe Connect project at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve in Kent. Her work focuses on community engagement, volunteering and co-production, helping more people connect with nature and shape the future of the reserve.
With a background in environmental science and over a decade of experience in community development and participation, she is passionate about making nature accessible and welcoming.
Camille is also a freelance poet and creative practitioner who uses writing to help people connect with nature and place.
Location: Cuxton, Medway, KentOS: TQ 716673What Three Words location: ///hood.pull.drives
Habitat: Chalk grassland, arable fields and ancient woodland
Our Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve is in Medway, Kent.
If you’re visiting by rail, the closest stations are at Cuxton, Strood and Rochester (visit National Rail for more information). There are also several local bus services, details of which can be found at Kent public transport or by calling Traveline on 0870 608 2608.
If you are travelling by car, the main entrance and car park are accessible directly from the A228 shortly before the roundabout (when approaching the M2 from Cuxton).
We are celebrating 20 years of Ranscombe this summer with a full programme of events. Scroll down to find out more and come and celebrate with us!
Ranscombe is our flagship nature reserve – famed for its fantastic display of arable flowers!
Did you know that this year, we are celebrating 20 years of Ranscombe! We’re so proud of the work that we have achieved alongside all of our incredible partners and volunteers to keep nature thriving in this amazing habitat.
To mark the moment, we’re hosting events throughout June to celebrate and we would love for you to join us! Head to the events section below to find out more, or visit our What’s On page to see what we have on throughout the year.
Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve is Plantlife’s flagship reserve. It’s an incredible place for a number of reasons, from being an Important Plant Area for its arable flowers, to forming an integral part of the North Kent Woods and Downs National Nature Reserve.
Ranscombe Farm joined the National Nature Reserve in 2025. It’s an exciting venture which unites our beautiful site with ancient woodlands, vineyards and other chalk grasslands in earning national status for being one of the very best nature conservation sites in England.
Ben Sweeney, Ranscombe Farm Reserve Manager said: “It is truly exciting that Ranscombe Farm, Plantlife’s flagship nature reserve, is now part of such a concerted effort to bring together conservation, community and sustainable land use at the landscape scale. Ranscombe Farm, a wonderful patchwork of arable fields, ancient woodland and chalk grasslands, is a globally significant place for wild plants and other wildlife. Not only is Ranscombe the last wild UK site for Corncockle, it also harbours the largest population of the endangered Broad-leaved Cudweed and a wide variety of rare wild orchids.”
Our reserve is also believed to be the last remaining natural site in the UK for Corncockle and is home to the largest UK populations of Broad-leaved Cudweed Filago pyramidata. The first record in Britain of Meadow Clary Salvia pratensis and Marsh Mallow Althaea officinalis were here too, which is an amazing piece of history to be part of. It really is an arable flower haven!
Sessile Oak Quercus petraea and Hornbeam Carpinus betulus grow in the Sweet Chestnut Castanea sativa coppice. This woodland has existed here since at least AD 1600 and is an important wildlife corridor in North Kent.
Covering more than 560 acres, Ranscombe is a mosaic of habitats! It is made up of chalk grassland, arable fields and woodland. The chalk grassland is full of Common Rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium, Clustered Bellflower Campanula glomerata and Wild Liquorice alongside other wildlife such as Skylarks, Common Blue and Marbled White butterflies.
A large part of the site is within the Cobham Woods Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the whole farm is within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Ranscombe Farm is managed in partnership with Medway Council as a nature reserve, working farm and country park. You are welcome to visit at any time, but please keep to the marked footpaths.
We are excited to have joined a wide partnership of organisations in launching the North Kent Woods and Downs National Nature Reserve.
Ranscombe Farm will sit in the new National Nature Reserve (NNR) which unites a mosaic of ancient woodlands, vineyards and chalk grasslands in a historic environment where people have lived and farmed for millennia.
The North Kent Woods and Downs National Nature Reserve has earned national status because it is one of the very best nature conservation sites in England.
This groundbreaking NNR, full of internationally important wildlife, is the first of its kind to be made up of such a wide partnership of private landowners and public land managers, it is also the first to be partnership led.
We are also undertaking exciting work at the reserve:
All these important work are made possible thanks to the support our members gave to this year’s nature reserves appeal and an additional grant of over £60,000 from the Veolia Environmental trust.
Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve
Corncockle at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve
Poppies at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve
Ranscombe in the snow
Snow covered trees in mid-winter
Poppies at Ranscombe Farm, Ben Sweeney, Plantlife
Close up of a Fly Orchid
The reserves team on a visit to Ranscombe Farm
Delve further into the secrets of Ranscombe Farm Reserve with our family expedition walk map
This education pack is designed to help teachers use Ranscombe Farm Reserve for learning outside the classroom.
24 Plantlife
Join us for a walk and a tour of a farm with our tenant farmer at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve to learn all about regenerative farming.
Come for a tour with our tenant Farmer Andrew Lingham and Reserve Manager Ben Sweeney to learn all about regenerative farming at Ranscombe Farm and Court Farm.
Farming plays an instrumental role in shaping the landscape of Plantlife’s flagship nature reserve Ranscombe Farm – its past, present, and future. Andrew and his father before him have been farming both arable crops and livestock at Ranscombe since 1978.
A passionate practitioner of regenerative agriculture since the early 2000s, Andrew’s main base at Court Farm, 2 miles south of Ranscombe Farm at Upper Halling, is now home to a developing local food hub, featuring a butchers, bakery, micro-brewery, and soon a regular farmers’ market.
Join Andrew and Ben to find out how our 2 approaches complement each other and about farming with nature to sustain a healthy functioning ecosystem and productive farmed landscape in the face of ever-increasing external pressures.
Please come dressed for the weather and the terrain including:
Please arrive at the Ranscombe Farm car park at 13.45, for a 14:00 start where we will go for a short walk.
At 15:00, we will travel by participants’ cars to Court Farm, Upper Halling. We will try to have some spare spaces available for people not travelling by car for the journey to Court Farm, but this can’t be guaranteed.
We will finish at Court Farm by 17:00.
This event is part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve. It is part of the Ranscombe Connect: Community Participation for Wild Plants and Fungi project which has been made possible through funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Thanks to Lottery Players we have been able to create more opportunities for local people to get involved with Ranscombe Farm Reserve. If you are interested in volunteering at Ranscombe Farm contact us here.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Join us for a relaxed, supportive morning run as part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve.
Join us and for a gentle guided walk through beautiful surroundings, using just your phone to capture nature in new ways. This event is being held as part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve.
Join us to help find and count some of Ranscombe's rare plants as part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve.
Join us for this fun outdoor family session combining a nature scavenger hunt, creative mobile making, and exciting bug hunting. This event is being held as part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve.
Join us to see one of the UK's best collections of ancient and veteran trees at Cobham Wood. This event is being held as part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve.
Join us for this guided forest bathing experience as part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve.
Join us for a walk around Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve to learn about its remarkable history, stories and the plants that call it home.
Explore this extraordinary nature reserve with Richard Moyse, one of Kent’s leading naturalists, former Ranscombe project manager, and one time resident of Cuxton. Meet some of its remarkable plants, learn about its history and hear some of its stories on a 2-mile walk through woodland, grassland and arable fields.
Richard recently had an excellent book published on Ranscombe Farm, copies of which will be available for purchase; all proceeds will be going to support the Kent Field Club.
Please come dressed for the weather and the terrain for example:
To get closer to the areas of some of the best wildflowers, we will be asking participants to drive in convoy further into the reserve along surfaced farm tracks, sharing cars if possible.
We will meet at Ranscombe Events Car Park which can be found at – What3words: arts.bind.notes
All ages are welcome and under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
This event is part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve. It is part of the Ranscombe Connect: Community Participation for Wild Plants and Fungi project which has been made possible through funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to Lottery Players we have been able to create more opportunities for local people to get involved with Ranscombe Farm Reserve. If you are interested in volunteering at Ranscombe Farm contact us here.
Join us for a fun outdoor family session combining a nature scavenger hunt, creative mobile making, and exciting bug hunting. Discover wildlife, get creative with natural materials, and enjoy quality time together in nature.
Suitable for children aged 5 – 10 years. Children must be accompanied and supervised by an adult at all times.
Numbers are limited for safety reasons so make sure to book your tickets if you’d like to guarantee your places.
This event is part of Plantlife’s 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve. This event is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund through the Ranscombe Connect: Community Participation for Wild Plants and Fungi project.
Join us for this relaxed, supportive morning designed to bring women together through movement, fresh air, and community. This isn’t about pace. It’s not about distance. And it’s definitely not about being ‘fit enough’. It’s about feeling safe, supported, and confident outdoors. All experience levels welcome.
Please email SkellyWAGS here, to express your interest in this event and they will send a booking form.
Thanks to Lottery Players we have been able to create more opportunities for local people to get involved with Ranscombe Farm Reserve. If you are interested in volunteering at Ranscombe Farm you can contact us here.
Join us to see one of the UK’s best collections of ancient and veteran trees at Cobham Wood. This event is being held as part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve.
Immediately west of the woodland at Ranscombe Farm is Cobham Wood, which is home to one of the UK’s best collections of ancient and veteran trees.
Join the National Trust’s Jonathan Ireland and Plantlife’s Ben Sweeney to discover the story of these two nationally important sites, the challenges that they face, and the plans for working together in the future as part of the new North Kent Woods and Downs National Nature Reserve.
All ages welcome however under 18s must be accompanied and fully supervised by a responsible adult.
We will be meeting at: National Trust South Lodge Barn, Lodge Lane, Cobham, DA12 3BS, what3words parts.term.moving.
This event is part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve. It is part of the Ranscombe Connect: Community Participation for Wild Plants and Fungi project which has been made possible through funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to Lottery Players we have been able to create more opportunities for local people to get involved with Ranscombe Farm Reserve. If you are interested in volunteering at Ranscombe Farm contact volunteering@plantlife.org.uk
Some of these events are being delivered by local community organisations. Your booking details will not be shared with other third parties. You can read our full Privacy Notice here.
Join us at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve to listen for bats using detectors and then, using UV torches, look out for hidden biofluorescence and celebrate our dark skies. This event is being held as part of our 20th anniversary celebration week at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve.
Join us for an in-person adventure under the stars with the Kent Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE Kent) and Plantlife as we launch the new Medway Dark Skies project!
Explore the mysterious world of bats using bat detectors, then, don’t miss the special ‘Reveal’ segment where biofluorescent secrets are revealed.
Perfect for nature lovers and night owls alike – grab your friends and get ready for a memorable evening, celebrating the CPRE Kent Dark Skies project launch and Plantlife’s Ranscombe Farm Reserve.
Medway Dark Skies
Step into the gentle rhythms of the land at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve, a place celebrated for its ancient woodland, sweeping chalk grasslands, and extraordinary array of rare wildflowers.
This guided forest bathing experience invites you to slow down, soften your awareness, and reconnect with the natural world through a series of sensory invitations.
Together, we’ll move quietly through this richly diverse landscape, pausing to notice the subtle beauty of the season, from delicate blooms to birdsong and the textures of the earth beneath our feet, offering space to arrive, breathe, and be in quiet relationship with this special place.
We will end by gathering together for a woodland tea ceremony, sharing herbal or foraged teas in stillness and reflection, allowing time to gently integrate the experience before returning to daily life.
This event is offered in partnership with Hinoki and Plantlife. Thanks to this collaboration, places are supported to make the experience more accessible, while maintaining the depth and quality of the practice.
HINOKI Forest Bathing
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