The BWT Timeline
Eighteenth century
The BWT land probably originally belonged to the manor of Mott or Moat Hall, which is shown by estate maps dated 1707 and 1746 to be near Holy Cross Church, but early ownership has not been established.
1800
Edward Hasted's 1800 History of Kent has the following entry; "Moat Hall is a manor in [Bearsted] parish, the mansion of which, from the materials with which it was built, was called Stonehouse. It antiently belonged to the neighbouring priory of Leeds, as appears by several old boundaries and papers, and was most probably part of those demesnes given to it at its first foundation, by Robert de Crevequer, in the reign of King Henry I. These demesnes appear by a rental of the time of king Henry VII to have been held of the manor of Leeds, though they have been long since accounted parcel of this manor of Moat Hall. On the dissolution of the priory in the reign of king Henry VIII this manor, among the rest of the possessions of it, was surrendered into the king's hands, who afterwards ... in [1542] ... settled this manor ... on his new founded dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom it remains at this time. The present lessee of it [1800] under the dean and chapter, is Mr. William Usborne. There is a court baron held for this manor.
1808-45
Leases survive referring to the Wise, Savage and Kipping families and "all that Manor and Manor place of Moathall"
1841
John and Thomas Golding, a Farmer and a Currier were living at "Parsonage" and may have been the occupiers of land close to the church.
1851
Widower George Kipping (31) farmer of 118 acres lived at "Church House" with two servants. In 1841 George had been living on his father's farm at Hadlow. He married some time in the 1840s, but his first wife had died leaving him with no children. On July 20 1853 George married his second wife Elizabeth Maud of Croydon at St John's Church in Hackney. They had three children, William in 1854, Frances in 1856 and Ellen in 1858, then Elizabeth died very soon after Ellen's birth.
1861
Widower George Kipping (41) farmer of 160 acres employing 10 men and 4 boys, was living at Moat Hall with his three children William (6) Frances (5) and Ellen (3) and three servants.
1871
George Kipping appears to have moved to Bethnal Green, where he was described as a Fruiterer. Frederick Kipping (38) "Landowner," George's youngest brother, was living at Moat Hall with his wife Patience (nee Edwards) and baby Douglas. Charlotte Tree, Nursemaid, lived with them and John Cornwell, Gardener lived in the outbuildings. Farm Bailiff John Tree (53) lived on the Ashford Road, with his wife and four children, including John (19) an Under Gardener and Edward (17) a Farm Labourer.
1881
George Wakefield (43) Farmer of 235 acres, employing 17 men, a groom, 4 gardeners and 3 boys was living at Moat Hall with his wife and 7 children.
1891
George Wakefield (53) Farmer and Tallow Melter, his wife and 5 of their children, his wife's mother and sister, and a servant were still in Bearsted, presumably at Moat Hall.
1901
Hubert Hamilton (66) retired local "Sheriff Advocate Substitute", his wife, 2 daughters, a cook and a groom were living at Moat Hall.
1987
Property developers Ward Homes acquired the site which, as it had been used for fruit and vegetable growing, was still designated as agricultural land.
1988
Wards asked Maidstone Borough Council to re-designate the land for housing in the Local Plan.
1989
Wards discussed proposals for 60 houses on 8 acres with Bearsted Parish Council.
1990
Although the Local Plan designated the site an area of local landscape importance, Bearsted Parish Council agreed to support Wards if they included six low-cost homes, a football pitch, pavilion and car park. At a public meeting held in October villagers strongly disagreed with the Parish Council.
1991
A second public meeting was followed by the formation of an Action Group to fight the development. 100 signatures were collected for a petition to Maidstone Borough Council asking for a third public meeting. As a result Maidstone Borough Council asked Bearsted Parish Council to review its position, and the third public meeting was so well attended that it had to move out of the WI Hall on to the village green. A motion against the development was carried by 487 votes to 45.
1992
The next step was a public enquiry meeting in Maidstone chaired by an inspector from the Department of Environment. The Inspector's report confirmed that the site was "an area of landscape importance" and refused permission for the building line to be moved to allow housing there.
1994
The Action Group asked Maidstone Borough Council to grant change of use from "agricultural land" to "public open space and nature conservation area."
1995
The Kent Trust for Nature Conservation agreed that the site had potential as a Nature Reserve in the Len Valley Corridor.
1996
Wards made a modified application for 27 homes with sports facilities and a public car park.
1997
Bearsted Amenity Society was formed to fight the development.
2003
On the afternoon of the Bearsted Fayre in June, Wards suddenly began clearing trees from the site, provoking a massive public outcry. At this point Mr & Mrs Ashness, the owners of Mote Hall, most generously decided to buy the land from Wards in order to protect it as green space, and give the bulk of it to the village in perpetuity. In August a group of 50 volunteers started work to clear rubbish from the site. In October the land was offered to The (National) Woodland Trust, who refused it, so the decision was taken to create a local charity to own and manage the land. In December Medway Valley Countryside Partnership was appointed to produce a management plan for the land.
2004
The first meeting of the Bearsted Woodland Trust Management Committee was held in January. Major site clearing work was undertaken by 100 volunteers in April. The first BWT newsletter was distributed to 3,000 homes in June and 250 families joined the Friends of BWT. A BWT stall at Bearsted Fayre helped recruitment. An Open Garden was held at Mote Hall in July. The Jubilee Video Team donated their remaining stock to sell for the benefit of children using the site. The first public meeting (AGM) was held in October. 200 woodland and 50 individual trees were sponsored, and planted by over 150 volunteers in November.
2005
Successful grant applications were made to Living Spaces, the Local Heritage Initiative and the Colyer Fergusson and Woodland Trusts. A new gate was installed at the entrance near the Bowls Club. The Phase 2 planting scheme and a membership renewal campaign were launched in June. BWT were prominent at Bearsted Fayre, and membership rose above 500 families. A second open afternoon at Mote Hall for members and their families displayed the plan for Phase Two planting and recruited more new members. In August the wheelchair paths were completed and regular monthly working parties began. Newsletter No.7 announced a generous future bequest of 12 acres to BWT by Miss Pauline Moore, the owner of the nearby riding school, who officially opened the new paths in September. The second planting phase in autumn 2005 added 87 large trees and 58 boundary trees, the work again being done by volunteers.
2006
In February BWT plans for 8 acres of land purchased by the founder trustees at Gore Cottage (to be called Barn Meadow) were circulated to the whole village. New members were enrolled at Holy Cross Open Day and Bearsted Fayre, bringing membership of BWT Friends to over 700 families by the 3rd AGM in September. A further triangular acre of land above Major's Lake was also purchased to enable a link to be made by a path across the Lilk stream. Mr and Mrs Browne of Gore Meadow generously donated a strip of the bottom of their garden to widen another path on the east of the stream.
2007
In January hedges and trees in Gore Meadow were planted. The bridge appeal was launched in March. In June Councillor Pat Marshall unveiled the new notice board at the Church Landway entrance. In September a Gurka squradron supervised by BWT project leader Dave Johnson, built the new bridge over the Lilk stream, which was opened in the same month by the Mayor of Maidstone (Bearsted resident, Richard Ash) and Major MacCullum, the Ghurka Commanding Officer. After an energetic campaign to raise awareness, BWT won a substantial grant towards footpaths from the National Lottery People's Millions Competition in November. Also in November an avenue of Kanzan cherries was planted along the path beside Holy Cross church.
2008
March saw the first nature conservation visit by classes from Thurnham Infants School, and at Easter 170 children from five local churches enjoyed an egg hunt round the BWT site. In May gentle paths for buggies and scooters funded by grants from the People's Millions Competition and BIFFA, were constructed on both sides of the new bridge, with a special gate for wheelchair access at the end of Sutton Street. The grand path opening in July was attended by over 200 people. In September the 5th AGM gave a resounding go-ahead for the new tractor barn, and in November BWT was joined by its 1,000th Friend.
2009
Army Engineers built the tractor barn between January and March. In March Thurnham Infants school made a nature conservation visit, and HSBC staff built paths in the ancient wood and near Gore Cottage. In June a children's maze was cut in memory of Management Committee member Frank Manning. In July an adventure playground for children aged 4-12 was built by Bearsted Parish Council on BWT land. In September Deputy Chairman Peter Willson was appointed Life President, with a special tree. In October the Trust won the Regional and National rounds of the Biffaward Competition. In the winter 25 new trees were planted along the boundary to screen houses on the A20. The year ended with hard frosts and snow.
2010
As the number of Friends reached 1050, January saw the Lilk stream flooded. Finishing touches were added to the tractor barn.
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