Wye and Crundale Downs
Wye and Crundale Downs is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in a number of separate areas east of Ashford in Kent. It is a Special Area of Conservation and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. and it is part of Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Some areas are part of a National Nature Reserve, and another area is listed on the Geological Conservation Review. The most well-known part of the SSSI, usually known as "Wye Downs," is a stretch of chalk downland and woodland located on the North Downs near the village of Wye. The site is a national nature reserve (NNR) owned and managed by Natural England, and comprises a chalk escarpment dissected by several coombes, which were formed by frost weathering in the period following the last ice age. The most spectacular coombe is known as the Devil's Kneading Trough. The field containing Wye Crown is also within the NNR but is privately owned. Originally the Crown was carved in the chalk but is now made of white-painted stone gabions. Crundale is a valley situated a few kilometers north of Wye Downs, the main part of which is Winchcombe Down, another