Hector Wilks was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 botanist and conservationist

Conservationist

Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...

. He is perhaps best known for rediscovering the Monkey Orchid

Orchis simia

The Monkey orchid is an orchid species of the Orchis genus. It is known for its pungent odor, which some say is similar to that of feces.-References:...

 (Orchis simia) in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 at a site near Faversham

Faversham

Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...

 and subsequently introducing the species to Park Gate Down

Park Gate Down

Park Gate Down is a stretch of chalk downland near Elham in East Kent. The site is owned and managed as a nature reserve by the Kent Wildlife Trust and is also listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation...

 near Elham

Elham

Elham is a village in East Kent situated approximately south of Canterbury and north east of Folkestone in the Elham Valley.-Toponomy:The origin of the village's name has always been a matter of argument. The village is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Alham. This may have derived from...

. The site near Faversham remains one of only two native sites for the Monkey Orchid in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

and has remained closed to the public since its discovery. On the 21 May 2007 Park Gate Down was renamed "The Hector Wilks Reserve" in recognition of his involvement with the reserve from its inception.