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Welcome to Hambrook Marshes: a unique wildlife haven in the city of Canterbury

The beautiful landscape of Canterbury’s biggest green open space is a natural wildlife haven, home to thriving bird life and a wealth of plants and wildflower species. Open all year round, its tranquil riverside paths and wetlands are the perfect way to enjoy nature in the city.  

Visiting hambrook marshes

Hambrook Marshes is close to Canterbury city centre, easy to get to, and open at all times.

NB As a wetland, areas of Hambrook Marshes may be flooded during periods of heavy rain. Wellies are currently strongly advised!

Full information for visitors, including location, travel options, facilities and accessibility.

get involved

Volunteers at work

If you love Hambrook Marshes there are plenty of ways to help out.

Make a donation | Volunteering

about hambrook

Did you know that the land by the River Stour that is now Hambrook Marshes was once a 40 feet deep quarry?

Find out more about the history, and the plants, birds and wildlife that now thrive here.

WILDLIFE TO LOOK OUT FOR IN JANUARY

  • redwing
  • tufted duck
  • black-headed gull

latest news

  • DECEMBER NATURE NOTES
    With shallow flooding at times during December, the marshes started attracting in some birds, with peak counts of 53 black-headed gulls, 37 mallard and three herring gulls. After more or less vanishing during an icy spell in November, snipe numbers built…
  • NOVEMBER NATURE NOTES
    The weather turned much more wintry towards the end of the month, and a hard frost on November 29th may have been responsible for the snipe flock declining from 32 on the 12th to just 17. This could be due…
  • NEW BENCHES
    We are very grateful to our local KCC councillor, Mike Sole (pictured), for providing us with £400 from his KCC Member’s grant. We’ve used it to add five more rustic benches along the Great Stour Way, which were installed in…
  • OCTOBER NATURE NOTES
    There were autumnal signs aplenty in October. A little grebe on the river on October 3rd, occasional meadow pipits and skylarks flying over (left), eight tufted duck and a coot back on the Tonford lake, four mallard on the newly…
  • FAREWELL GUFF AND SLAM
    The large tags that have defaced the A2 bridge for so many years have vanished! Being in such an exposed and elevated location, they were an eyesore to walkers 200 yards away and there had long been an aspiration to do…
  • YET ANOTHER FIRE
    Our hay crop was cut on October 13th and rowed up a couple of days later, but in the early hours of the16th someone set light to it, creating this ugly black scar across the field.   Fortunately, nature can prove remarkably resilient,…
  • GREEN FLAG AWARD FOR HAMBROOK
    We’re delighted to have been given a Green Flag Award, the quality badge for green spaces. Jon Winder, Chair of Love Hambrook Marshes, said: “Hambrook Marshes this week received a prestigious Green Flag Award. We are one of only four…