Eynsford Circular via Farningham Walk

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Walk Map

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Walk Options

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13. Main Walk (17¼ • 19 km)

1. Short Walk 1, omitting southern loop (14 km)
2. Short Walk 2, omitting northern loop (13½ km)
28. Short Circular Walk, omitting both loops (8 km)
3. Alternative Circular Walk, via Lullingstone (9½ km)

Walk Directions

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1. Eynsford Station to Lullingstone Roman Villa (1¼ km)
• Go down to the A225 and turn left onto the main road. In 400m turn right onto a farm track and follow this past Newbarn Farm. Cross the River Darent and turn left onto Lullingstone Lane, passing the shed housing the Roman Villa.
1. Turn left out of the station and go down to the A225. Cross this busy main road with great care and turn left onto the pavement, going under the railway bridge and continuing along the grass verge for 400m. Just after the end of a lay-by on the left, turn right onto a signposted footpath.
2. Go along this farm track for 600m, passing Newbarn Farm and a cottage, then crossing the River Darent for the first time. Turn left onto the lane in front of Lullingstone Roman Villa and go past the large shed housing it, after which there is a footpath off to the right.

If you are doing Short Walk 1 or the Short Circular Walk (omitting the southern loop via Lullingstone), go to §G.

2. The Roman Villa to Upper Beechen Wood (2¼ km)
• Ignore a footpath on the right and head south on Lullingstone Lane for 600m, joing the Darent Valley Path (DVP). After passing the gatehouse to Lullingstone Castle veer right onto a track curving gently uphill (leaving the DVP). At the top of the slope turn left onto a grassy strip along the boundary of Lullingstone Country Park. In 250m fork right at a Y-junction to head south-west, climbing gently towards Lower Beechen Wood. Follow a waymarked Discovery Trail down through this wood and into Upper Beechen Wood.
1. Ignore the footpath and carry on along the lane, joining the Darent Valley Path? (DVP) as it heads upstream. The lane passes a loop of the river and climbs gently past a few properties, with fields and paddocks stretching down to the river.
2. In 500m you pass the World Garden behind a high brick wall on your left, in a corner of the grounds of Lullingstone Castle. In a further 100m you come to the manor house's imposing entrance.
   • It is worth detouring through the Tudor Gatehouse? to visit the unusual parish church of St Botolph?. This “Church on the Lawn” is open to the public at all times, even though you might have to unhook a chain before walking across the manor house's private lawn to reach it.
3. Carry on past the gatehouse and veer right in front of the manor house's private entrance gate onto a track curving away from the castle grounds, leaving the DVP. The track curves gently uphill, with a large farm field on the left and a prominent cedar tree ahead on the right. When level with this tree turn left off the track onto a broad grassy strip alongside the top of the farm field, now going around the boundary of Lullingstone Country Park? with a line of shrubs and trees on your right.
4. In 200m you briefly join a horse route (waymarked with blue arrows) coming in from a gap in the trees, but at the end of the trees fork right at a Y-junction, leaving the horse route. Follow the mown path gently uphill for 250m, with views across a golf course in the valley to your right.
5. After passing a small children's play area off to your left keep ahead at a series of path junctions as you go through a gap in some trees. You have now rejoined the horse route on a broad mown path slanting up the hillside towards a wood, and are also on a children's Discovery Trail (red arrows).
6. The path heads towards a couple of wooden structures at the top of the downland which you will find are “Framing the View” for photographers: one back towards Eynsford and the other looking across the Darent valley labelled “Chalk and Trees”. At this second viewpoint turn right through a metal kissing gate beside a wooden fieldgate into Lower Beechen Wood, leaving the horse route and passing some “Mega Beasts” on the Discovery Trail.
7. Follow this waymarked trail through the wood, passing a few more wooden sculptures and turning right at a T-junction where there is a signpost pointing back to the car park at the Country Park's Visitor Centre. Along the next stretch there are several little detours to children's activity areas. The path eventually drops down past a metal fieldgate and goes across the end of a small open valley into Upper Beechen Wood, rejoining the horse route.
3. Upper Beechen Wood to Eynsford Riverside (Plough Inn) (4 km)
• Follow the path up and round to the right to emerge from the wood on an old driveway. Turn left and follow it uphill through the park's golf course for 500m, heading west. After going alongside a wood for 100m turn sharp right into the trees, joining the Lullingstone Loop. Keep ahead at a crosspaths and follow this waymarked trail through a long strip of woodland, then north-east along the edge of the country park. After it swings right, turn left onto the DVP and follow it across farm fields past Eagle Heights, then downhill to cross the railway line. Turn left onto Lullingstone Lane and keep ahead on Riverside to come to the Plough Inn.
1. Follow the woodland path as it curves round to the right over a small rise, passing “Wild Wire” (a zip-wire contraption) on the left and emerging onto a stony track at the edge of the golf course, the old driveway to Lullingstone Castle. Turn left onto this track, leaving the Discovery Trail and climbing steadily through the golf course.
2. After 400m the track merges with another from the right and continues alonside a wood. In 100m turn sharp right onto a path into the trees, staying on a branch of the horse route and also joining the Lullingstone Loop (LL), waymarked with black arrows. Keep ahead at a path crossing in the middle of the wood.
3. On the far side you come to a golfers' track with two paths into a long narrow strip of woodland ahead. The suggested route is to take the right-hand path, staying on the LL.
   • If it does not look too muddy you could take the parallel horse route along the left-hand side of the wood, but it gets slightly more road noise from the M25 (in a cutting 1 km away).

   Both of these routes pass some ancient oak trees. After about 150m the “Golf Course Ancient Oak” on the edge of the fairway to the right of the LL is thought to be the oldest tree in the park.

4. At the far end of the wood the two routes merge and come out into the corner of a field. Go along its left-hand edge and then a track going through a dip in a wooded area. At the end of the trees leave the horse route (which branches off to the right) to continue climbing on a broad grassy strip between fields.
5. On the brow of the hill there is a bench inviting you to “Rest here a while” by an isolated tree, the Hart Dyke Sycamore?. On the far side you pass an information panel for the Lullingstone Tree Acrostic? at the start of a line of young trees.
6. Follow the path through a belt of trees and turn right downhill along the field edge for 75m. After passing the end of a hedge turn left to go alongside it, leaving the LL and rejoining the DVP. Where the hedge turns left keep ahead across the field, passing Eagle Heights off to your left.

   If your walk coincides with a flying display you might see eagles and other exotic large birds overhead. They are not supposed to attack walkers who stay on the public footpath.

7. Go across the centre's access road and through a gap in the fence opposite. Take the footpath sloping downhill across more large fields, heading towards Eynsford in the valley below and crossing the railway tracks near the left-hand end of Eynsford Viaduct?.
8. The path eventually drops down to a minor road (Lullingstone Lane). Bear left and follow it for 100m, curving around a water meadow dotted with trees. At a road junction on the outskirts of Eynsford keep ahead on Riverside, leaving the DVP. In 250m you come to the first of the possible pub stops in this village (the Plough Inn) on an attractive stretch alongside the river.

If you are doing the Alternative Circular Walk, go to §F.

4. The Plough Inn to Farningham (Pied Bull) (1¾ km)
• Carry on along Riverside, crossing the river to the A225. Turn left onto Eynsford's High Street and go all the way through the village, passing two more pubs and with the option of a short detour to Eynsford Castle. After passing Mill Lane take a parallel footpath to the left of the road, alongside Millfield Meadow. Shortly after the path returns to the main road, bear left into Oliver Crescent and go via Till Avenue to the end of this cul-de-sac. Keep ahead on Cinder Path and turn left onto Farningham's High Street to come to the Pied Bull pub.
  
1. Carry on along Riverside, crossing the River Darent on a narrow road bridge by a ford (with refuges to avoid the traffic if necessary). You pass the (closed) Riverside Tea Room and come to a T-junction with the A225, with Eynsford's High Street to the left and Station Road to the right. Use the pedestrian crossing opposite an entrance into the churchyard of St Martin of Tours?.
2. Turn left onto the main road to go through the village. In 150m you pass a Lucy Box? on the pavement near the village sign, followed by the War Memorial at a road junction. In the next 100m there are two more refreshment places on the right, the Five Bells pub and the Castle Hotel (opposite a lane signposted to the Village Hall).
   • If you want to visit the ruins of Eynsford Castle (which is only 125m away) go down this lane. It zig-zags right and left and a broad wooden bridge takes you through a gap in the curtain wall. After exploring the site return to the High Street.
3. To resume the walk carry on along the High Street for 500m, passing the Baptist Church, a primary school and a row of cottages (all on the left-hand side of the road). Shortly after passing Mill Lane you can get some respite from the traffic by veering left through a wooden gate onto a signposted footpath; this goes along a strip of grassland parallel to the road for 300m, with a hedge on the left.
   • There are several gaps in the hedge if you want to detour through the adjoining Millfield Meadow.
4. After returning to the main road for a final 75m turn left into Oliver Crescent, then immediately fork right into Till Avenue. Follow this back street and then a tarmac path to the far corner of a large triangular green, then bear right onto the continuation of Oliver Crescent.
5. At the end of this cul-de-sac keep ahead on an alleyway (Cinder Path) into Farningham. Turn left onto its High Street to come to the next possible refreshment stop on the left-hand side of the road, the Pied Bull pub.

If you are doing Short Walk 2 (omitting the northern loop), go to §K.


5. The Pied Bull to Franks Lane Bridge (2 • 3¾ km)
• Just past the Pied Bull turn right into Horton Way, a bridleway. After going under the A20 turn left onto a footpath leading to the River Darent. Turn right onto the riverside path, which goes under the M20 and then moves away from the river. At the end of a long straight stretch turn left onto Franks Lane and follow it for 200m to return to the River Darent, crossing it on Franks Lane Bridge.
  • For an optional extension via Horton Kirby, turn right onto a footpath alongside the river. Follow the DVP as far as Westminster Field, then go past a car park and back across the river on its access road. Turn right onto The Street and follow this lane through Horton Kirby, passing the Fighting Cocks pub. Where the lane turns left keep ahead on a footpath. Keep right at path junctions to return to Franks Lane and recross the river.
1. Unless you want to visit the church of Ss Peter and Paul? (100m further along the High Street) then immediately after the pub turn right into Horton Way, signposted as a bridleway. At the end of this short lane continue on a path going under the A20 into a large field. Turn left onto a footpath just inside the tree boundary, which leads to the Darent Valley Path on one of its riverside stretches.
   • If instead you take a grassy path around the field edge there are gaps which would let you reach the DVP.
2. However you get there, turn right onto the riverside path. In 200m it goes under the second of the two main roads bypassing the village, the M20. After swinging right and left there is an attractive 150m stretch right by the water's edge before the path turns away from the river, zig-zagging right and left to continue as a long straight path between fences.
3. Towards the end of this enclosed path you might also be able to glimpse Franks Hall? away to the left, through a gap in the trees. You pass Horton Kirby Cricket Club on the right and go out through a wooden kissing gate onto a minor road (Franks Lane).
4. Turn left and go along this lane for 200m, taking care as there is no pavement and more traffic than you might expect. After it crosses the River Darent on Franks Lane Bridge there is a signposted footpath off to the right, the continuation of the DVP.

The optional extension below follows the river downstream to Westminster Field and returns via Horton Kirby.

5. Optional loop via Horton Kirby (+1¾ km)

1. Turn right onto the footpath, which stays close to the water for 300m. After the river curves away the path continues alongside a fence and then through an area of scrubland. At the end go through a wooden kissing gate into the corner of a recreation ground, Westminster Field.
2. Keep right to go alongside a car park towards a sports pavilion. Just beyond its access road there is a grassy riverside enclosure with benches which would be suitable for a picnic.
   • If you want to abandon the walk and return from Farningham Road station (just over 1 km away), take the surfaced path heading NW away from the pavilion, along an avenue of young cherry trees. On the far side go past a vehicle barrier and up a gentle slope on a fenced path. At the top bear right in front of the A225 onto a tarmac path and follow it to the junction with Station Road. Cross the A225 carefully and go up the approach road to the station. Platform 1 on the near side is for trains to London.
3. To continue the walk cross the river on the access road, leaving the DVP. Go past the side of a new housing development and out onto a lane (The Street) at a bend, by a village sign for Horton Kirby.
4. Turn right onto The Street to go through the village. In 250m you come to the Fighting Cocks pub / restaurant on the right-hand side of the road, a possible refreshment stop.
5. Carry on along The Street for a further 150m. Where it turns sharply left keep ahead on a footpath along the right-hand edge of a field. In the next corner follow the footpath round to the right.
6. Go through a metal kissing gate in the hedge and keep right where the path splits. At the end of this fenced path go through another gate and turn right to cross the river on Franks Lane again.

Continue the directions at §I.

6. The Plough Inn to Eynsford Station (2 • 1¼ km)
• Carry on along Riverside, crossing the river to the A225. Unless you want to take a short cut through the churchyard ahead, turn left and go along the High Street for 250m. The castle ruins are at the end of a short lane opposite the Castle Hotel. Return via the High Street, Bower Lane and Pollyhaugh to the short cut's exit from the churchyard. Go up an alleyway heading south and turn right onto Pollyhaugh. Follow this residential street (which becomes St Martins Drive) to a T-junction. Turn right and go down Eynsford Rise to the station.
  

1. …

The suggested route to complete this short walk is via the village centre, with the opportunity to visit the ruins of Eynsford Castle. If you want to skip this, take the short cut through the churchyard in [?].

2. Main route

1. …
2. …
3. Go back past the two refreshment places and turn left by the War Memorial into Bower Lane. In 75m turn right into a residential street (Pollyhaugh), which in 100m curves round to the left and comes to a T-junction. Turn right into one of its branches, a cul-de-sac which leads to a small parking area where the short cut route emerges from the churchyard.

3. Short cut (−¾ km)

1. Take the tarmac path going up the left-hand side of the churchyard. Go out in its top left-hand corner and veer right across a small parking area at the end of a cul-de-sac (Pollyhaugh).
4. Go up an alleyway (with vehicle barriers at both ends) heading S and turn right onto the continuation of Pollyhaugh. Follow this quiet street (which becomes St Martins Drive) for 700m, climbing steadily. At the far end turn right and go down Eynsford Rise to the station. Cross the footbridge to Platform 1 for trains to London.
   
7. The Roman Villa to Farningham (Lion Hotel) (3¾ km)
• After passing the site turn right onto a footpath, joining the Darent Valley Path (DVP). Go up the side of the valley for 500m, then turn right at a footpath junction. Follow the DVP past Eagle Heights and gently back downhill, crossing the railway line. Turn left and go along Lullingstone Lane for 100m, then turn left into Sparepenny Lane. In 200m go through a gate on the right to continue on a permissive footpath parallel to the road for 1¼ km. After returning to the road go downhill to a T-junction, turn right and go down Farningham's High Street to the Lion Hotel by the River Darent.
  
1. Turn right onto the footpath, joining the Darent Valley Path? (DVP) heading downstream. The path climbs through a wooded bank and continues up the left-hand side of a large field. After climbing steadily for 500m turn right in front of a hedge to go alongside it, staying on the DVP. …
2. …
3. … turn left and go uphill on Sparepenny Lane? for 200m, passing Crockenhill Lane on the left halfway along.
4. At the entrance to Furlongs Farm go through a gate with a footpath signpost and down a few steps into the top corner of a large farm field, with the ruins of Eynsford Castle visible in the valley below. Follow this permissive footpath parallel to the lane for 1¼ km, mostly along the top of large fields but with a short interlude through the top of Nine Hole Wood?.

   Towards the end you might be able to glimpse the tower of Farningham's church in the valley ahead.

5. In the far corner of the last field return to Sparepenny Lane via a gate and a few steps. Turn right and follow the road downhill into the village. At a T-junction turn right to go down Farningham's narrow High Street, passing The Chequers pub at its junction with Dartford Road.
6. Before reaching the bridge over the River Darent veer left into the beer garden of the Lion Hotel?, where there is an information panel on the riverbank describing what is known about the ornate Farningham Cattle Screen?.
   • If you have brought your own provisions there is a designated picnic area on the other side of the river. Cross the road bridge and turn left through a gate into this pleasant grassy enclosure with benches.

If you are doing the Short Circular Walk (also omitting the northern loop), go to §J.


8. The Lion Hotel to Franks Lane Bridge via Horton Kirby (3¼ km)
• Follow the DVP through the inn's garden and alongside the river, crossing over to the other bank where it passes under the A20. The riverside path also goes under the M20 and then moves away from the river. At the end of a long straight stretch the path comes out onto Franks Lane. Leave the DVP by continuing on the footpath opposite, which leads to The Street. Follow this lane through Horton Kirby, passing the Fighting Cocks pub. Where The Street swings right, turn left onto a footpath crossing the river into Westminster Field. Veer left and rejoin the DVP but in the opposite direction, through some scrubland and then alongside the river to Franks Lane Bridge.
1. Follow the signposted Darent Valley Path through the inn's garden and along the riverbank. The path continues between a wooded area and the river for 200m, then crosses it on a footbridge and goes underneath the A20.
2. In a further 250m the riverside path …
3. …
4. Go straight across Franks Lane onto the footpath opposite, leaving the DVP. In 150m another footpath merges from the left. Go through a metal kissing gate and a belt of trees into a large field and turn left along its edge, ignoring another footpath straight ahead.
5. In the field corner go out onto a lane at a bend (with Rays Hill to the right). Keep ahead (on The Street) to go through the village of Horton Kirby. In 150m you come to another possible lunch place on the left-hand side of the road, the Fighting Cocks pub / restaurant.
6. Carry on along The Street for a further 250m. Where it swings right by the village sign turn sharp left onto a short lane, signposted as a footpath. Go past the back of the properties in Millen Court and cross the River Darent towards a sports pavilion in a recreation ground, Westminster Field.
   …
7. To continue the walk veer left in front of the pavilion and go alongside a small car park to the corner of the recreation ground. Go through a wooden kissing gate onto a clear path through some scrubland, then alongside the river on a tree-lined stretch. At the end turn right onto a minor road (Franks Lane again).
9. Franks Lane Bridge to Farningham (Lion Hotel) (2¾ km)
• Head west on Franks Lane to its T-junction with the A225. Turn left onto the main road, then turn right into Calfstock Lane. After going up this lane for 450m turn left into a field on the eastern edge of Farningham Wood (Purgate Bottom). Follow a fenced track up its right-hand side. Shortly before reaching the top veer right onto a grassy track through the trees to a small open area. Bear left onto another track leading to a viewpoint on the southern edge of the wood. Leave the wood and go along two sides of a large field down to its bottom left-hand corner. Go through a small wooded area and turn right onto the A225. Go under the M20 and straight across the A20 at a roundabout, then down through the Lion Hotel's car park to its beer garden.
1. Follow Franks Lane away from the river, soon passing the modern brick entrance to Franks Hall on the left. After climbing gently for 250m keep left where the road forks by the entrance to The Lodge to come out onto the A225. Turn left and go along its pavement, heading back towards Farningham. In 175m cross the main road carefully into Calfstock Lane.
2. Follow this long cul-de-sac uphill, passing a number of houses in the first 200m. After the last property ignore a track on the left (leading up to Great Folly Field) and continue along the lane for a further 250m, now with fields behind hedges on both sides. Shortly before reaching a wood veer left towards a fieldgate and go through a side gate with a “Walkers Welcome” sign.
3. Ignore a stile into the field ahead (Purgate Bottom) and follow a fenced grassy track up its right-hand side. About 75m before reaching its top corner veer right through a wide gap onto a grassy track into the wood, passing an information panel for Farningham Woods Nature Reserve.
4. The track curves left and in 100m emerges into a small open area. Go straight across this and bear left onto another grassy track climbing gently through the wood, heading SSW. In 250m it comes to the southern edge of the wood, with a view across a large field to Farningham in the Darent valley, and the M20 motorway snaking through the landscape.
5. Leave the wood through a wooden kissing gate and turn left, now on a public footpath heading E along the top of the field. In the next corner veer right, staying inside the field on the right of way, and go all the way down its left-hand edge.
6. In the bottom corner keep left, going past a vehicle barrier onto a short concrete track. This leads into the turning circle at the end of a cul-de-sac where you take a path on the right into a wooded area, sloping downhill with a few steps along the way. At the bottom turn right again to come out onto the pavement of the A225 (Dartford Road). Follow it under the M20 towards a roundabout.
7. You need to reach the minor road directly opposite, the continuation of Dartford Road. You can avoid the slightly awkward area in front of the service station by switching to the left-hand side of the A225 before crossing the other main road, the A20; in both cases use the traffic islands and take great care as traffic can be quite fast.
8. After going down Dartford Road for 125m turn left into a car park and make your way down to …

If you are doing the Main Walk, go to §L.

10. The Lion Hotel to Eynsford Station via the High Street (3 km)
• Cross the river on the road bridge and follow Farningham's High Street past the church to the Pied Bull pub. Turn right onto an alleyway (Cinder Path) and continue along Oliver Crescent and Till Avenue to the A225. Turn right onto the main road, towards Eynsford. In 75m you can take a parallel footpath on the right for 300m, but for the rest of the way you have to go along the pavement. Continue along Eynsford's High Street to the church, with the Castle Hotel and the Five Bells pub as possible tea places.
  • At the Castle Hotel you could detour off to the right to visit Eynsford Castle.
  For the suggested route to the station (away from the main road), take the path through the churchyard to its top left-hand corner. …
  
1. Go out onto the High Street and turn left to cross the river on the road bridge, with a view of the Farningham Mill? development upstream as well as the Cattle Screen. In 125m you could detour through the churchyard of Ss Peter and Paul? and leave through another gate at the far end. In a further 100m you pass another pub, the Pied Bull.
2. Go past its car park and turn right into Cinder Path, signposted as a footpath. At the end of this short alleyway keep ahead on Oliver Crescent. After passing a small green bear left in front of a large triangular green onto a signposted footpath. Follow this short tarmac path and then a cul-de-sac (Till Avenue) alongside the green to the A225 and turn right onto its pavement.
3. You have to walk most of the way into Eynsford on this main road, but in 75m you can get some respite from the traffic by veering right through a wooden gate onto a signposted footpath; this goes along a strip of grassland parallel to the road for 300m, with a hedge on the right.
   …
4. At the end of the meadow you have to put up with the traffic for 500m, passing a row of cottages, a primary school and the Baptist Church (all on the right-hand side of the road) before you reach a lane signposted to the Village Hall, opposite the Castle Hotel.
   • …
5. To complete the walk continue along the left-hand side of the High Street, soon passing the Five Bells pub and the War Memorial at a road junction, then a Lucy Box? on the pavement near the village sign. In a further 150m you reach an entrance into the churchyard of St Martin of Tours? by a pedestrian crossing, shortly before the A225 becomes Station Road.

The station is 800m away via Station Road (with another refreshment place en route, the Malt Shovel Inn). The route described below is 250m longer but uses a quiet residential street.

6. …
7. …
11. The Pied Bull to the Lion Hotel (1 • ½ km)
• … Turn left to go back under the A20 on the riverside path, which crosses the river and leads directly into the beer garden of the Lion Hotel.
  • Alternatively you could simply continue along the High Street, crossing the river on the road bridge to reach the inn.

The suggested route between Farningham's two hostelries is a short loop outside the village, but if you want to visit the church you might prefer to take the direct route in [?].

1. Main route (1 km)

1. Carry on briefly along the High Street but …
2. However you get there, turn left onto the path in front of the River Darent. After going back under the A20 it crosses the river on a footbridge and continues between the river and a wooded area.
3. The path leads directly into …

2. Direct route (½ km)

1. Carry on along the High Street, passing Horton Way on the right. In 75m you could detour through the churchyard of Ss Peter and Paul? on the left and exit through its lychgate further along.
   • Shortly before reaching the road bridge there is a designated picnic area on the right, a pleasant grassy enclosure with benches overlooking the river.
2. As you cross the bridge there is a fine view of a puzzling structure spanning the river as well as the Farningham Mill? development upstream. Even if you are not stopping at this inn turn right into …
12. The Lion Hotel to Eynsford Station via Sparepenny Lane (3¼ km)
• Go up the High Street and turn left into Sparepenny Lane. In 200m go through a gate on the left to continue on a permissive footpath parallel to the lane for 1¼ km, along the top of several large fields and a small wood. At the end return to Sparepenny Lane and follow it down to a T-junction at the bottom. Turn left into Riverside (leaving the DVP) and repeat your outward route to the suggested tea place, the Plough Inn. Continue across the river to the A225. … …
  
1. From outside the Lion Hotel go uphill on the High Street, passing The Chequers pub at the junction with Dartford Road. In a further 75m turn left into Sparepenny Lane?. In 200m, just before a ‘national speed limit’ sign, turn left onto a signposted footpath. Go down a few steps and through a wooden kissing gate into the top corner of a large field.
2. …

   Towards the end you can see the ruins of Eynsford Castle in the Darent valley below.

3. In the far corner of the last field return to Sparepenny Lane via a gate. Follow the lane downhill to a T-junction on the outskirts of Eynsford. Turn left into Riverside, repeating your earlier route to the suggested tea place, the Plough Inn.
4. …

…

5. …
6. …

Walk Notes

1. The Darent Valley Path follows the course of the river for 31 km, from Sevenoaks (near its source in the Greensand Hills) to the River Thames at Dartford.
2. The Tudor Gatehouse of Lullingstone Castle was one of the earliest all-brick buildings in Britain.
3. St Botolph, Lullingstone dates from the 14^thC and contains some impressive memorials to ancestors of the Hart Dyke family, the owners of Lullingstone Castle. It also has an elaborately carved wooden rood screen and some particularly fine stained glass windows, the oldest dating back to the 14^thC.
4. Lullingstone Country Park was a medieval deer park in the estate of Lullingstone Castle. Some of its veteran trees (notably oak, hornbeam, beech and sweet chestnut) are over 500 years old. The park was used as a decoy airfield in World War Ⅱ and as a result Shoreham was dubbed “the most heavily bombed village in Britain”.
5. The Hart Dyke Sycamore was planted in 1871 by the owners of Lullingstone Castle to celebrate the birth of their son and heir, Percival Hart Dyke.
6. The Lullingstone Tree Acrostic is one of the Queen's Green Canopy projects commemorating Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee in 2022. The first letters of the 13 tree names spell out SAVE THE PLANET.
7. Eynsford Viaduct was built in 1862 to take the railway over the Darent valley, with nine high brick arches and a stone parapet. In the past some repairs have been made with poorly-matched bricks and it has been given listed building status to maintain its original appearance.
8. St Martin of Tours, Eynsford was built by one of William the Conqueror's knights in the 11^thC on the site of a Saxon church. It has retained its Norman ground plan with apsidal chancel.
9. A Lucy Box is the name given to a type of electrical junction box from the Victorian period, originally made by the Lucy Foundry in Oxford. Many were used to control the supply to tram and trolley bus networks, but this one (manufactured by Hardy & Padmore) would have distributed the supply to neighbouring buildings.
10. Ss Peter and Paul, Farningham dates from the 13^thC; the tower was added about a century later and enlarged in the 19^thC. It contains a painted alabaster monument of 1597 to Antony Roper, the grandson of Sir Thomas More. Unusually for an Anglican church, the 15^thC font depicts the Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church.
11. Franks Hall is a large Elizabethan country house, completed in 1591. The estate declined in the 19^thC and it had multiple owners in the 20^thC, most recently as a business headquarters.
12. The name Sparepenny Lane implies this was a private toll road which was cheaper than the main turnpike.
13. Nine Hole Wood was gifted to the Woodland Trust in 1997. This open-access woodland was originally part of a 9-hole golf course.
14. The Lion Hotel was originally a coaching inn. Farningham's High Street was on the main London-to-Folkestone highway, but the A20 and M20 now take all the through traffic away from the village.
15. The Farningham Cattle Screen was once thought to have been the remains of a medieval bridge, or an 18^thC folly. It is not known why such an ornate structure was built simply to prevent cattle from straying downstream while crossing the ford. It was restored by the Parish Council in 2008/9.
16. Farningham Mill was built in the late 18^thC. In 2013 the water mill and surrounding properties were converted into a residential estate.

» Last updated: December 12, 2024

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