A Farming in Protected Landscapes funded project is uncovering the hidden history of the Kent Downs National Landscape – and bringing its long-lost ponds back to life.
A ghost pond in the Kent Downs National Landscape
Across the Kent Downs, hundreds of small ponds sit tucked into field corners, woodland edges and quiet farmstead hollows. Dew ponds, sole ponds, farm ponds – many have been part of the landscape for centuries, dug by hand to water livestock long before modern farming took over. Today, many are lost, surviving only as ‘ghost ponds’: shallow depressions in the ground, their history buried in mud and silt. The Kent Downs National Landscape team is working to change that through its Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) funded Heritage Ponds Project, which combines archaeological research with hands-on restoration to uncover and revive these historic features.
Investigating the ghost ponds
Mapping and investigating a forgotten landscape
Around 1730 pre-1900 ponds have been identified across the Kent Downs National Landscape – many now lost or filled in over time. The first stage of the project involved mapping these features and selecting a smaller number for detailed investigation. In summer 2025, working with archaeological partners from Archaeology South-East, Wessex Archaeology and the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, the team investigated 25 ponds. Archaeologists visited each site, taking core samples to analyse pollen, insect remains and other environmental evidence.
Radiocarbon dating will help confirm the age of the material and build a clearer picture of how these ponds evolved, how they were used, and how the landscape around them has changed over the centuries. One of the most promising sites was Great Dowles Farm in Elmsted, where the Canterbury Archaeological Trust uncovered well-preserved peat layers – evidence of long-term waterlogging and a rich environmental history waiting to be explored.
The Kent Downs National Landscape team worked with specialist contractors to bring ghost ponds back to life
Bringing ghost ponds back to life
Alongside the research, practical restoration is underway. Five ghost ponds have been brought back to life so far. One of the most significant restorations took place in October at Cobham Wood, a National Trust site within its historic SSSI parkland. The pond appeared on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1871, and archaeologists believe it may originally have been a small Victorian quarry.
Before restoration, the pond was struggling – bramble had smothered the surrounding area, and the free-draining geology beneath meant it held only a shallow pool of winter water, far from ideal for wildlife.
Working with specialist pond contractors, the team reshaped the pond to improve habitat for amphibians and invertebrates, installed a bentonite clay liner to help it retain water year-round, and cleared the overgrown vegetation to open the space back up to sunlight. The restored pond is now already supporting amphibians, invertebrates and other wildlife.
Restored ponds are already a haven for amphibians and other wildlife
Heritage and nature recovery, hand in hand
The Heritage Ponds Project brings together archaeology, conservation and community to reconnect the Kent Downs with its own history. From scientific sampling to hands-on pond restoration, the work shows what is possible when archaeologists, landowners, contractors and conservation partners come together with a shared purpose – and it brings the landscape one step closer to safeguarding its remarkable natural and cultural heritage for generations to come.
