Where is the Medway Gap?
Nestled between Maidstone and Rochester in mid Kent, the Medway Gap is a distinctive valley that cuts through the North Downs and is full of opportunity. It hosts a suite of nationally and internationally protected designations including the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Steep wooded chalk hills with farmland on lower slopes provide a contrast to the vast expanse of the wide-bottomed valley with the meandering River Medway through its middle. Villages and towns, each with its own distinctive character and features, are dotted throughout the valley.
It is an area steeped in history from its impressive collection of 6,000 year old Neolithic monuments, the Medway Megaliths, to the medieval churches and remains of the Bishop’s Palace and more recent industrial heritage. Pockets of old chalk quarries with their sheer, bright white faces scattered throughout the landscape are a reminder of the area’s once dominant cement industry which played an important part in shaping this landscape for over 150 years. Many quarries have now been so successfully reclaimed by nature that they have become attractive nature reserves.
With 13 Rail Trails and nine community trails, each with its own attractive leaflet with interesting snippets of information and easy-to-follow directions, exploring the Medway Gap couldn’t be easier.