Landscape overview

The wide bottomed valley of the River Medway, as it flows through the Medway Gap, is bordered to the east and west by the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. These wooded chalk hills provide a striking contrast with the expanses of the tidal Medway’s flood plain. This contrast in turn provides a wide range of habitats for wildlife to thrive in a relatively small geographical area.

The contrasts to do not end there: the soft undulations of the Downs and the stillness of the marshes are interspersed with features of a more modern landscape. Industrial and residential developments and the scars from an industrial past are scattered throughout the valley, providing a landscape of very different characters.

Valley of Visions is working closely with landowners, farmers and local communities to help conserve and enhance the diverse landscape of the Medway Gap.