Dene Holes Joydens Wood

A Memory of Bexley.

I recall around the mid to late 1950's going down to Joydens Wood along a small lane off Vicarage Road. In the woods there were a number of deep holes or shafts dug into the sandy soil for a depth of about 20 feet or more. These were just large enough to climb down by pressing hands and feet to the sides and then using footholds cut into the sand descend to the bottom. Some of the holes had small caverns opened out. I believe little is known about the origins of these holes but one stores they were dug by Anglo-Saxons to secrete their food etc from marauding tribes.

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