Before opening to the public in May 1993 Davy Down had a long history of farming, dating back to at least 1730. 

More recently the land was used for market gardening, which was abandoned when the new A13 was built splitting the land holding in half. 

The farm soon became derelict and unsightly and remained so until the Davy Down Project began.

The area also retains a rich heritage in the form of the impressive railway viaduct across the Mardyke Valley which dates from 1892.

There are also the dominant Stifford Pumping Station buildings, built in 1926-27 to house large diesel engines which provided the power to extract water from a 42m deep borehole in the chalk below. 

Water is still being extracted today using a modern electric pump.