Shorne Wood Country Park is located between Strood and Gravesend, in the English county of Kent. It was once part of a large estate, later passed to the county council to be used as a country park. History This park was once part of the large Cobham Hall Estate. The main entrance to the Hall, leads through the park with various other carriage rides around the estate. Then from the 1930s to the 1970s, part of the estate (was leased by Lord Darnley) was used for clay extraction (by a cement company), using clay pit beneath the ancient woodland. Then in 1987, the of land, came under ownership of Kent County Council, then with the help of Gravesham Borough Council, it was turned into a country park and then opened to the public. Facilities It has large areas of ancient woodland and heathland meadows. The former claypit is being returned to nature (with woodland and wetland areas). The wetland ponds have many species of dragonflies, which breed in the park. A large part of the park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) with the designation Shorne and Ashenbank Woods. The park also is accredited with a Green Flag Award by Natural England. The country park has many colour-coded waymarked paths around the country park. These include; Purple Route - Easy 1.4 km, Red Route - Medium, Explorer Trail - 3.7miles, Heritage Trail - 2.2miles. A longer trail (the Darmley Trail - 6.2miles) has also been developed taking area outside of Shorne Wood park, including Darnley Mausoleum, Jeskyns (a one-time farm of 360 acres (147 ha), which is being turned into a greenspace area and country park by the Forestry Commission ), Ranscombe Farm and Cobham Hall. There is also a horse riding and cycle path route around the park. As well as a Sensory Garden for the less abled. Disabled visitors can also use 4*4 electro-scooters (called a Tramper), which can be hired from the visitor centre. The park also has an eco-friendly visitor centre designed by Lee Evans Partnership and costing £1.6m. It as runner up in 2007 Kent Design Awards. It was the first structure to be constructed using Sweet chestnut in the UK. The mainly sweetchestnut structure, also used Oak thinnings were used from Park Wood, Kent near Appledore, as the window and roof joinery. It is mostly powered by a wind turbine. The centre