A large cluster of Dene holes, most capped or collapsed but 3 still open. In 1880s members of Essex field club dug tunnels between some chambers to link. The worked chambers approx 20m underground with vertical shafts through hard sand to reach chalk below. Chambers radiate from base of shaft in a 4 leaf clover configuration. Much debris at bottom of shafts. Not very stable. Reasonable evidence the earliest might have been worked during Romano Britain based on accounts from Plinny the Elder. Origin was obscure by the 1200s.

Cluster of Dene Holes, 3 extant

Thurrock Council public park. No public access to Dene Holes, secured by 2 layers of tall palisade fencing for safety and prevent bat disturbance

SSSI due to significant bat habitat. Brown long-eared bat, Natterer’s bat and Daubenton’s bat