Community Open Day: Saturday 19 September, 10am-4pm

Local people are invited to step inside Chafford Gorges Nature Discovery Centre at a special Community Open Day.  

Essex Wildlife Trust is currently exploring how the much-loved site could once again be used by the local community. The open day follows on from a series of community engagement events, where people were able to feed into the vision of the site and what they would like to see available at the Nature Discovery Centre. The results of those events will be shared on the day, alongside the opportunity for further feedback and ideas.  

The event will give people the chance to look around the refurbished centre, meet the staff that work here, and hear about the activities and opportunities being developed over the coming months. 

Chafford Gorges features a network of pathways around lakes, meadows and woodland in amongst the backdrop of the iconic chalk cliffs from its industrial past. The reserve is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to its importance for wildlife, including an array of native orchid species, rare invertebrates and an abundance of wildfowl on the lakes. 

Theresa Frappell, Project Manager at Chafford Gorges Nature Discovery Park, says: “This is a really exciting moment for Chafford Gorges, but we don’t want to pretend that everything is finished. In many ways, this is where the next part of the journey begins. We’ve spent time listening to local people and understanding what they want from the Nature Discovery Centre and the wider reserve. 

The open day is an opportunity to show people what we’ve heard, what we’ve been able to do so far and, importantly, what we’re going to be testing next. We want people to feel that this is their place. We want the community to help us shape what Chafford Gorges becomes.” 

Community Open Day 

Saturday 19 September 2026, 10am – 4pm 

Chafford Gorges Nature Discovery Centre, Drake Road, Chafford Hundred, Grays, Thurrock, RM16 6RW