Welcome to the Darent and Cray

The River Darent and River Cray are chalk streams - a unique type of freshwater habitat which is rare and threatened on a global scale.

Most of a chalk stream's flow comes from groundwater springs, instead of rainwater flowing directly into the river. This creates a freshwater habitat which is relatively stable in terms of its flow rate and range of temperatures.

Chalk streams are characterised by high water quality (due to the filtering action of the chalk aquifer) with very low sediment inputs, so they provide important habitats for native fish and invertebrates. There are only 210 chalk streams in the world:160 of these are in England.

Please use the links on the right to explore the Darent and Cray catchments, and find out more about the local area.