Woodmansterne Lavender Fields Short Walk

5 miles / 8km - a little more or less for a longer / shorter loop of Oaks Park

This walk passes through some Lavender Farms, which in July and August, are a stunning sea of purple. It also goes through parkland (Oaks Park) and commons (Banstead Downs). It makes a great summer evening walk.

The walk starts in Banstead Downs (now being cleared of scrub after years of neglect) with London skyline views from the Gally Hills. It then joins the London loop trail, and crosses farmland towards Oaks Park (large area of grassland, cafe with no view, car park, small flower garden) - the parkland grounds of a former country house.

After a loop of the park, you take a public footpath through lavender fields, which in summer are truly spectacular. Note: the public footpath is free, but to leave it and wonder through the lavender there's a charge of £5 (2023) - there's also a shop (e.g. lavender infused short bread) and tea room by the car park.

You then continue along the London Loop before leaving it for Woodmansterne station. Just past after the station is a family orientated pub-restaurant.

• You could start from Belmont station. If doing the walk in reverse, Belmont has a station pub to await your train (there is nothing near Banstead station). Just after the prison, divert north across the common.
• An alternative afternoon route goes via the Little Woodcote Estate, and Naturally Thinking Farm (cafe, free entry to lavender fields).
• There is an alternative, slightly longer, ending via Coulsdon High Street, passing The Pembroke pub, to South Coulsdon station, which has a better train service.
• In reverse: You could just walk from Woodmansterne to the Lavender fields and back, or do the whole walk to Banstead, and continue on to Banstead village to catch the #166 bus.

By Car

• Driver's can catch the hourly #166 bus back to the start (Mon-Sat). On Sun it stops about 15 mins walk short in Banstead village. You can take the train back, but its 2 changes.
• Drivers could just park in Oaks Park or Mayfield Farm (Jun, Jul, Aug), which both have a cafe and car park, and do a short walk in the parkland, and in the lavender fields.

Outbound

Banstead (Zone 6) and Belmont (Zone 5) : Trains from London Victoria via Clapham Junction are every 30 mins.

Return

Woodmansterne (Zone 6) is on the Tattenham Corner branch with a half-hourly service, normally from London Bridge via East C (38-50 mins), but Victoria via CJ and East Croydon (50 mins) on Mon-Fri evenings

South Coulsdon (Zone 6) has regular trains to both Victoria and London Bridge via East Croydon.

Return to your car

The #166 bus follows the route, with stops at Banstead Station, Banstead Village (off route), Oaks Park / Lavender Farms, Woodmansterne station, and Coulsdon High Street. It runs the whole route, 1 per hour, on Mon-Sat. But runs regularly from Banstead Village to Coulsdon section (3x per hour On-Sat, 2x per hour on Sun)

Oaks Park / Lavender Farms : SM7 3BA

• Oaks Park Cafe - facebook.com/Oaksparktearoom - in Oaks Park - open 7 days
• Mayfield Lavender Farm Cafe - Jun-Aug - £5 entry (public footpath is free) - car park - tea room - open daytime and evenings
• Naturally Thinking Farm Cafe - Open all year round till 5pm - free entry - naturallythinking.com/little-woodcote-estate/
• The Smuggler's Inn - CR5 3BE - on the main finish in Woodmansterne route (about 200m after the station, over the footbridge, turn left on the main road) - family friendly food pub
• The Pembroke - pembrokecoulsdon.co.uk - Coulsdon High Street, on the "finish in South Coulsdon" route - modernish high street pub

Mayfield Lavender Farm

Mayfield Farm (mayfieldlavender.com) - SM7 3JA - is one of several Lavender farms in the area, this one is open from June to August. It has a cafe, farms shop and parking, and charges £1 to walk across its fields (i.e. off the public footpath). In the 18th and 19th centuries, the north downs, with chalk soils, was the world centre for Lavender production. While many farms became suburbs in the 20thC, there are still many nurseries in the area. Mayfield particularly welcomes visitors.

Banstead Commons

Banstead Commons Conservators (bansteadcommonsconservators.org.uk) The commons have an illustrious history in the 16th and 18th centuries, but have recently been divided in 2 by a dual carriageway, and become covered in scrub. The scrub is now being removed, and the area returned to chalk downland, to open up views of London. The Gally Hills, named for the gallows that used to be there, have some bronze age burial mounds.

Oaks Park

friendsofoakspark.org.uk - Oaks Park, SM7 3BA, the parkland of a former country house, has formal gardens, meadows, a park cafe, and parking.

After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks!

You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Aug-23 Andrew