Chequer's Wood and Old Park

Chequer's Wood and Old Park is a 106.9-hectare (264-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the eastern outskirts of Canterbury in Kent.^[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site.^[3]

Chequer's Wood and Old Park

Site of Special Scientific Interest
Location	Kent
Grid reference	TR 173 586[1]
Interest	Biological Geological
Area	106.9 hectares (264 acres)[1]
Notification	1985[1]
Location map	Magic Map

This site includes Fordwich Pit, which has yielded a large collection of early Acheulian handaxes from two periods of the Middle Pleistocene. Some date to 712,000 to 621,000 years ago, while others date to the Anglian glaciation event (c. 437,000 years ago). Making the earlier artefacts the oldest Acheulean handaxes in northern Europe, and the site the earliest excavatable archaeological site in Britain^[4], as two earlier known occurrences - Happisburgh and Pakefield - are located in cliffs. The site is also notable for the discovery of stone tools during the Anglian glaciation, as this represent some of the best available evidence for early human species being able to occupy high latitues during glacial events (ice ages) ^[5][6]. Early human stone artefacts have, however, been found widely across the site and are believed to be of a similar age ^[7].

Habitats include alder wood in a valley bottom, acidic grassland on dry sandy soil, oak and birch woodland, scrub and a pond.^[8][9]

Access

The site is owned by Canterbury City Council and the Ministry of Defence, and includes a pond (Reed Pond) which is managed by a local environmental organisation. There is a footpath and cycle path through it. The majority of the site, formerly used by the military for training, has no public access.