Introduction.

The county of Kent is of particular interest, being the area of England nearest to the Continent. Its nearness to London has resulted in early and fairly detailed study of those parts near to the City. Several well-known botanists of the latter part of the 17th Century lived in, or visited, the County. John Ray, Samuel Doody, William Sherard and J.J.Dillenius all made observations on plants, and moss species are recorded by them.

Many of the early botanical writers merely copied these records, but about 100 years later, L.W. Dillwyn and Dawson Turner made a journey through the County, and give a few original records in their “Botanists’ Guide through England and Wales", published in 1805. In 1816 T.F.Forster published his "Flora Tonbridgensis", with a full list of mosses, but as the area treated includes parts of Sussex, it is, in some cases, difficult to know whether some of the species were, in fact, found in Kent. It is, however, good early account of the plants of the area.

Little botanical matter from Kent was published subsequently, until, about 1845, Edward Jenner published a second flora of the Tunbridge Wells district, “A Flora of Tunbridge Wells”. As with Forster's flora the area covered includes part of Sussex.

Then, in the latter half of the 19th. century, E.M. Holmes widely studied the mosses of the county, and published his records in two papers in the Journal of Botany and, later, in the Victoria County History of Kent. He included records by several other bryologists, notably E. George, T. Howse, Lord Justice Stirling and W.E. Nicholson. These papers, with herbaria, give a reasonably full account of the mosses at that time. All these botanists, except George, have left herbaria containing Mosses.

In 1909 the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies met at Woolwich, and, for this meeting, the "Woolwich surveys" was published. The botanical section was undertaken by J.F. Bevis and W.H. Griffin and a full list of mosses for that area is included, many repeated from Holmes.

In 1913, H.C. Napier published a list of mosses from Abbey Wood in the, "Pioneer", a local Woolwich paper. There appear to be no other records of his work. In 1925 was published St. John Marriott's "British Woodlands" an ecological study of the same wood. Bryophytes are included. Many miscellaneous records of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries are scattered in several publications and herbaria.

Recently local botanists of note have laid much attention to the mosses of the county, and the extensive field studies of F. Rose, and E.C. Wallace have provided a full picture of the present distribution of species. This has been published by Rose in the Transactions of the British Bryological Society. More locally, E.C. Green (Folkestone) and P.R. Bell (Whitstable), have made records, and Green has contributed to the South-Eastern Naturalist and the Transactions of the Folkestone Natural History Society.

Generally, reports of local Natural History Societies are disappointing, and few local museums have bryophyte herbaria. The results of my searches amongst such material are recorded in the succeeding chapters.

Kent is divided by Watson into two botanical vice-counties; V.C.15, East Kent, and V.C.16, West Kent. The division follows the River Medway from its mouth southwards to Yalding, from whence the Beult is followed to Stile Bridge. From here the road A-229 through Staplehurst, Cranbrook and Hawkhurst to the Sussex border, is the dividing line between the districts. In the West I have included in Kent the Metropolitan boroughs of Woolwich, Greenwich, Lewisham and Deptford, now in the county of London.

In the "Summary of the Distribution of Species" vice-counties are not mentioned if a species has been found in both 15 and 16, but if the record is from one only, the V.C. is indicated in brackets after the name of the species. In the summary the indications of herbarium specimens, such specimens as I have seen, and the authorities for records, are given in the same way as in my "Bedfordshire Mosses". The nomenclature followed is that of Brotherus 1924-25).

Description of the County.

Kent forms the major part of the large peninsular it the S.E. corner of England. It is very diverse in its soils and geology, and, although the range in altitude is only from sea-level to 850 ft, at the highest point, there is a very wide range of habitats except the mountain and moorland types.

The North Downs extend from the Surrey boundary at Biggin Hill to the coast at Dover, forming a ridge of high land across the county, with a steep escarpment to the south. North of this the dip slope is more gradual down to the Thames estuary, with long, deep valleys cutting into the hills. To the south there is a narrow gault belt between the chalk and the greensand ridge which runs parallel with it. The large basin of the Low Weald lies between the greensand and the dome of the High Weald, of which only a small part is in Kent, extending from Sussex along its southern boundary.

Much of the county is extensively farmed, but the High Weald, the greensand, the clay-with-flints on the North Downs and the London Clay area of the Blean have large areas of woodland. There are boggy and heathy areas, limited in extent, on the Hastings Beds, the Folkestone Beds of the greensand, and on the Eocene sands and gravels in N.W. Kent.

Much of the coast along the Thames estuary is uninteresting, heavy clay marshland, although there are small shell-sand beaches at Allhallows, Grain and Leysdown. Low clay cliffs with ravines occur in the N.E. of Sheppey, and clay and gravel cliffs from Whitstable for a few miles eastwards. East of Reculver, all round Thanet to Pegwell Bay, the chalk cliffs would be more interesting were it not for the concrete promenades of the resorts. Chalk cliffs also extend from Deal nearly to Folkestone. Extensive dune formations occur at Sandwich and Deal, at Romney Warren and at Camber. Greensand Cliffs south-west of Folkestone are good, and Dungeness is the largest shingle-beach in Europe.

The climate of Kent is somewhat variable. Along the Thames estuary north of the Downs the average annual rainfall is about 22 inches, and in some seasons is as low as 16 inches. Humidity is low, as the area is exposed and winds are often very drying especially in spring. Although somewhat harsh in these respects, frosts are relatively rare; only in deep winter is the temperature likely to fill below 32^oF.

The North Downs, averaging only 600 ft. along the top of the escarpment, seem to feel the effect of altitude very much. High rainfall -- over 30 inches a year --, much low cloud, relatively high humidity and low temperatures with winter snow, are the characteristics of the climate of the top of the Downs. The Low Weald is a large Spring radiation-frost basin. The average rainfall, is about 27 inches a year, and humidity is high, as is seen from the richness of the hedgerow epiphytic moss flora. In the High Weald area we get progressively wetter, with an average annual rainfall, at Tunbridge Wells of about 33 inches.

The varied habitats and climate promote a good moss flora, and to date many species of mosses have been recorded. F. Rose (in Trans. Brit. Bryol. Soc., l, pp.202-210. 1949) has divided the County into sixteen botanical districts based on natural features, and in the following description I have attempted to follow him. I have, however, defined rather smaller areas than he has, and avoided river basins in favour of other natural features. This has resulted in more districts and some differences. The following districts are described.

1. The Metropolitan area, covering the highly urbanised area of the Eocene soils west of the River Darent, and corresponding to Rose's district 1.
2. The Eocene area between the Darent and the Medway, including the Hoo peninsular.
3. The Sittingbourne-Faversham district including the Eocene and brickearth areas from the Medway to the Blean.
4. The Isle of Sheppey.
5. The Blean; the wooded Eocene area bounded by the Stour between Chislet and Chilham, thence to Selling, Boughton-under-Blean, Hernhill and Whitstable, thence eastwards along, the coast to Reculver, corresponding to Rose's district 3.
6. The Old Wantsum Channel, including the low-lying areas from Reculver to the coast, the Eocene areas eastwards from Canterbury, and the dune areas around Sandwich and Deal.
7. The Western Chalk, west of the River Darent, corresponding to Rose's district 5.
8. The West Central Chalk, between the Medway and the Darent, corresponding to Rose's district 6.
9. The East Central Chalk, between the Medway and the Stour, corresponding to Rose' s district 7.
10. The Eastern Chalk, from the Stour to the coast, corresponding to Rose's district 8.
11. The Isle of Thanet, corresponding to Rose's district 9.
12. The Sevenoaks area, comprising the gault and the greensand west of the River Shode.
13. The Maidstone area, comprising the gault and the greensand between the Shode and Ashford.
14. The Eastern Terrace, comprising the gault and the greensand east of Ashford to the coast at Folkestone and Hythe.
15. The Western Low Weald, being the Weald clay area west of Hadlow and Tonbridge.
16. The Central Low Weald, comprising the Weald Clay and river drift between Tonbridge and Hadlow in the west and Biddenden, Smarden and Pluckley in the east; approximately the orchard area of the Weald.
17 The Eastern Low Weald, being the remaining Weald Clay area.
18. The Western Forest Ridge, comprising the Hastings Beds west of Pembury.
19. The High Weald, being the remaining area of the Hastings Beds, including the Isle of Oxney.
20. The Romney Marsh and Dungeness, including the marshy areas of the Rother Levels which run inland at Shirley Moor, the Reading Sewer and the Kent Ditch, corresponding to Rose's district 15.

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Last updated January 2005.