Joyden's Wood

Joyden's Wood
Joyden's Wood  Joyden's Wood shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ487712
Civil parish	Wilmington
London borough	Bexley
	Dartford
Ceremonial county	Greater London
	Kent
Region	London
	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DARTFORD
Postcode district	DA2
Post town	BEXLEY
Postcode district	DA5
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
	South East England
London Assembly	Bexley and Bromley
List of places UK England London

Joyden's Wood is an area of ancient woodland located south-east of Bexleyheath and south-west of Dartford, on the border between South-East London and Kent. It is one of over 1,000 woodlands in the United Kingdom looked after by the Woodland Trust. The first records of a wood on this site go back to the year 1600.

Wildlife

There are nine ponds in the wood, each of which is a habitat for all three British newts:

• The Great Crested Newt
• The Smooth Newt
• The Palmate Newt

Archaeology

There are traces of settlements in the forest that are over 2,000 years old, and deneholes have been found. There is also Faesten Dic, ‘the strong dike’, that was built 1500 years ago by Saxon settlers and which runs for over a kilometre through the forest.

During the Second World War, two RAF Hawker Hurricane fighters crashed in the wood and some hollows visible in the wood are bomb craters.

The estate

Joydens Wood estate, officially an urban village and normally spelt without an apostrophe, is home to several thousand people, with local infant and junior schools. Three buses pass through the estate: Transport For London route B12 to Erith Via Bexleyheath, Arriva Kent route 403 to Bluewater via Dartford and to Sevenoaks via Swanley, and Go-Coach route 429 that runs from Dartford to Swanley and is extended to Bluewater and to Eynsford or Crockenhill on a Sunday. The closest railway stations are Bexley and Dartford, which both provide frequent services to Central London. There are two small shopping parades, which among other amenities include a post office, butcher, library and petrol station.

Community groups that meet at the Joydens Wood Community Centre in Birchwood Drive include a pre-school, a Women's Institute and a table tennis club.

St Barnabas' Church in Tile Kiln Lane has a multi-purpose building used both by the church and community groups. The scouts and guides have a hall; there is also a Freeholders' Association.

Local authority administration of the estate is split between the London Borough of Bexley (west) and Dartford Borough Council in Kent (east; falling within the parish of Wilmington).

Nearest places

• Bexley
• Wilmington
• Swanley
• Dartford
• Bexleyheath

External links

• Joyden's Wood Section of the Woodland Trust Website
• Wilmington Parish Council
• Joyden's Wood Junior School
• Arriva Buses
• Go-Coach 429 PDF Timetable
• St Barnabas Church, Joydens Wood
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