It was originally owned by the de Vinter family and latterly by the Whatman family. The land, which spanned from weavering in east, to the sittingbourne road side of the vinters park housing estate, consisted of park and woodland, with a stately Manor House. The land was sold for development in the middle of the last century, the Manor House mysteriously burned down, and the vinters park estate was built in the 1970s. The grove green estate was built in the 1980s. In the middle lies the nature reserve, which was initially purchased by the county council and then ownership transferred to a trust, following its recognition as a site of significance for local nature by two local people, who essentially saved this land from further development.