The original area (before the spoil tip) was known as Foulmead Marsh and the community (with help from Dover District Council) chose the name of the new park to be Fowlmead (Fowl – "bird", Mead - "meadow").

[3] As of 2017 the organisation's website gives the name of the park as Betteshanger Park.Fowlmead Country Park and Nature Reserve was initially developed under the management of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) [4] with £18.8 million funding from English Partnerships, as part of the National Coalfields Programme (NCP).

The surface material of the entire park (shale from the colliery) was mixed with recycled green waste and fertiliser to create a rich topsoil and 130,000 shrubs and trees were planted.

[9] Quinn Estates helped finish the delayed construction works, including the Kent Mining Museum and Visitor Centre.

Red listed birds including Skylark, Linnet, Cuckoo, Yellow Hammer, Starling, Mistle Thrush, Turtle Dove8.

See plan 6535/EC04-W Update Ecological Appraisal Seahive Jan 2023 for Locations and numbers of Lizard Orchids at the Park.

Over 20 species of invertebrate with a conservation designation have been recorded at the Park in surveys carried out by Aspect Ecology.10 In addition the Norfolk Hawker dragon fly has been recorded and three rare moth species have been identified: • The Bright Wave moth Listed as Rare under the GB Red list (based on pre 1994 guidelines) and Endangered under the Kent Red Data Book (Kent RDB1)11.

In 2016 over 1,300 Common Lizards were moved from the Discovery Park in Sandwich to Betteshanger for their long term protection.

(see planning application 14/00058.Condition 55) Protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and a priority species in the Kent Biodiversity Strategy 2020-2045) Grass snakes and Slowworms are also present.

At least 7 species of Bat have been recorded by Aspect Ecology at Betteshanger Country Park in good numbers.

Turtle Doves are the UK’s fastest declining bird species and are vulnerable to extinction their numbers having dropped by 98%.7 Other Red Listed species include: Skylark, Linnet, Yellow Hammer, Mistle Thrush, Cuckoo, Starling Fungi.

Over 130 species of fungi have been recorded at Betteshanger Country Park by local enthusiasts.These include rare species such as Pterula Multifida (Coral Pterulaceae) and Barometer Earthstar (Astraeus hygrometricus) Bloody Milkcap (Lactarius sangilfluus) Toads Ear (Otidea bufonia) and Weeping Bolete (Suillus granulatus) Additional Information.

Various cycling and running competitions are held at the Country Park [14] including a Guinness Book of Records record attempt twenty-four-hour Mobility Scooter Endurance Challenge by the Red Wheelies (Mobility Scooter Formation Team).

[16] In 2022, the park became the only location in the UK, to hire an off-road electric vehicle called the 'e-Spider' with unique pendulum suspension by the French designed and manufactured Swincar.

[18] The "Waiting Miner" statue was commissioned by the Central Electricity Generating Board and was moved from its original site (outside Richborough power station) when the coal-fired plant was decommissioned.

Each of Kent’s mining communities (Betteshanger, Chislet, Snowdown and Tilmanstone), had their own recommendations for a new site for the statue, but these were ignored and eventually it was resited outside the National Coal Board’s office in Dover.

The Coal Board Offices eventually closed down in 1987, leaving the statue isolated on the seafront in Dover.

It included the creation of the Miner's Way Trail (a 30 mile cycle-route linking all the coal mining villages in East Kent).

[21] The campaign committee considered Aylesham Village Square (another former mining community) or on the A258 highway at the entrance to Betteshanger Park.

[23] The campaign group then were granted £5000 in funds from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust for seating, information boards and the plinth around the statue.

The park then held the Kent Miners Festival, which took place over the Sunday and Monday of the bank holiday weekend, 29–30 August 2010.