Leigh and Penshurst Walk

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Walk Map

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13. Main Walk, from Leigh to Penshurst (13½ km)

1. Circular Walk, from Leigh (18¼ km)
35. Circular Walk, with shorter ending (16¾ km)
919. Short Circular Walk, omitting Hoath Corner (9 km)
2. Alternative Walk, from Penshurst to Leigh (15½ km)
61. Alternative Short Walk, omitting Hoath Corner (9 km)
3. Alternative Circular Walk, from Penshurst (12½ km)

Walk Directions

Click on any section heading to switch between detailed directions and an outline, or the heading above to switch all sections.

If you doing one of the Alternative Walks from Penshurst station, start at §C.

1. Leigh Station to Penshurst (3¾ km)
• Head south from the station along the road and turn right onto a footpath. Follow this through the Penshurst Place Estate, veering left after 1½ km to go downhill, past the lake and through Penshurst Park. Pass to the right of Penshurst Place and go through the churchyard to the B2176. Turn right onto the road to enter the village.

This section is the same as the start of Walk 1–15.

1. From either platform at Leigh station, take the path down to the road. Turn left and walk along it for 250m, taking care as there is no pavement. At Paul's Hill House turn right up a rough track which soon enters the Penshurst Place Estate. Where it comes to an open field, follow a grassy path across it to the far left-hand corner.
2. Continue in the same direction along a broad tree-lined avenue for 1 km, ignoring a footpath off to the right after 100m and another to the left after 500m. Eventually, where another footpath joins from the right, turn left downhill along another tree-lined avenue towards a lake, with Penshurst Place beyond.
3. After going through a side gate beside a wooden fieldgate bear right to continue on a clear grassy path. In 200m you pass the lifeless stump of the veteran Sidney Oak? (designated one of the country's “Great British Trees” in 2002) and one of its replacements. Go through another side gate and continue alongside a fence, with a line of clipped yew trees and the lake off to your left.
4. Follow the grassy path up to a kissing gate in the fence. Go through this and head S across the parkland towards the right-hand side of Penshurst Place. After passing a cricket pitch on your left, cross the estate's driveway via two metal kissing gates. Continue towards the corner of the hedge-topped stone wall guarding the manor house and keep ahead with the wall on your left-hand side.
5. At the end of the wall, go through another kissing gate and follow a path through the churchyard of St John the Baptist church? (which is worth visiting; its entrance is on the south side). Leave the churchyard through an archway and go past the picturesque houses in Leicester Square? to the B2176. Turn right onto the road to enter the village, soon coming to the Leicester Arms Hotel (a possible early lunch stop) on your left.

If you are doing a Short Walk, go to §K.

2. Penshurst to Salmans Manor (1¾ km)
• Head south-west out of the village on the B2188. At the school, turn right into a lane and follow this to the Warren. Keep ahead along a footpath which crosses the River Eden and continues to Salmans Manor.
1. Continue past the pub and keep left at the road junction in the centre of the village. Go along the B2188 for 200m, passing some attractive old buildings (note the horseshoe-shaped doorway? in the garage). Immediately after passing the primary school, turn right into a lane (The Warren).
2. Stay on this lane for 600m, eventually passing a row of cottages. Where the lane ends, keep ahead down the right-hand edge of a large field. In the bottom corner go through a metal gate and veer right across the grass to a footbridge over the River Eden?. Cross this and continue on an enclosed path.
3. In 200m go through a metal kissing gate and turn right along a narrow fenced path. This takes you around two edges of a large field, with two more kissing gates along the way. After the second of these, do not continue on the broad grassy track ahead (with a tall hedge on its left), but turn right to head NW on another wide track.
4. The track soon comes to a tarmac lane by the buildings of Salmans Manor. Turn left briefly onto the lane, but instead of following it round to the right keep ahead through a wooden side gate to the right of a fieldgate to continue on a tree-lined track.
   • A short detour up the lane would give you a fine view of a large mill pond opposite a particularly attractive oast-house conversion.

Continue the directions at §E.

3. Penshurst Station to Wellers Town (3 km)
• Leave the station on its southern side and take a footpath initially heading west, then turn left onto one leading to Vexour Bridge. Cross the River Eden and continue on the footpath going past Vexour and Chantlers. Turn left onto a lane and follow it through Wellers Town.
1. If you arrived on a train heading towards Tonbridge, cross the tracks by the footbridge to the westbound platform. Leave the station on its southern side and bear right through a small parking area towards a wooden fieldgate. Go though a metal side gate and bear right to go along a rough track on the edge of a field, with a hedgerow on your right. Continue in the same direction across the next field.
2. On the far side turn left along the field edge. In 150m turn right through a metal fieldgate, as indicated by a footpath marker. Go along the left-hand edge of a small field and over a stile beside another fieldgate into a much larger field. Continue along its left-hand edge for 100m, then go over a stile on the left to head S along the edge of another field, with a line of trees on your right. In 200m go through a gap and keep ahead across the next field.

   In the past this field has been divided, so there might be a temporary wire fence on your right.

3. At the end of this field go through a small metal gate into another field. Bear slightly right towards the far right-hand corner, where there is a narrow footbridge over a stream in the tree boundary. Cross this and keep ahead across a large meadow, heading SW and skirting a projecting group of trees on the left.
4. On the far side go over a stile and turn left onto a lane to cross the River Eden? on the attractive Vexour Bridge. Where the lane swings right keep ahead on the tarmac driveway to Vexour (signposted as a footpath). After climbing for 150m turn right by another signpost onto a short path through a belt of trees and up into the corner of a large field. Keep left and go along its edge, still climbing and passing the buildings of Vexour on your left.
5. In 150m keep ahead at a footpath signpost by a large oak tree (the path from the right is one of the return routes from Chiddingstone). In a further 150m, however, turn right (with no signpost) on a grassy strip towards the right-hand edge of some trees surrounding a few houses. On reaching these turn left to go alongside them for 60m, then veer right across a patch of grass onto a long straight driveway. Follow this out to a lane and turn left onto it.
6. You now have 600m of road walking, crossing a stream halfway along and climbing through Wellers Town. About 75m after passing the last house in this hamlet, turn left off the lane at a footpath sign, going over a stile to the right of a metal fieldgate into a field. Across the valley to the right you can see what looks like a long low building but is actually a trompe-l'oeil.

   The back of some derelict farm buildings at Wat Stock have been crudely painted to resemble a manor house.

If you are doing a Short Walk, go to §M.

4. Wellers Town to Salmans Manor (1¼ km)
• Turn left off the lane onto a footpath leading to Wat Stock. Continue on a bridleway heading south-east and then south to Salmans Manor.
1. Go across the grass, aiming a little to the left of the building and passing a few isolated trees in the field. As you go down the slope you will see a plank bridge over a ditch at the bottom. Go over this and through a metal kissing gate into a field.
2. Make your way straight up the field towards the left-hand end of the building. At the top go through a metal fieldgate and turn right onto a farm track, passing the derelict barns. At the far end of the barns turn left at a three-way bridleway junction, passing some cottages. The lane swings right and left between ponds in a wooded area, then continues between hedges. At the entrance to Abbotsmerry Barn it turns half-right and goes down a long slope.
3. At the bottom you come to the buildings of Salmans Manor, with a large mill pond opposite a particularly attractive oast-house conversion. Shortly afterwards, where the lane veers left, turn right through a wooden side gate onto a tree-lined track.
5. Salmans Manor to Hoath Corner (2 km)
• Leave Salmans Manor on a footpath heading west, climbing gradually through fields, woods and the edge of Harden Vineyard. Soon after the path joins a track by Oakenden Farm, turn right and take the path through Puckden Wood to Hoath Corner.
1. Go along the track for 100m, with glimpses of the mill pond on your right. Just before a metal fieldgate leading into a large field, turn left through a kissing gate and climb a short flight of steps. This leads through another kissing gate into the field where you continue up its left-hand edge.
2. In 150m turn left through a wooden kissing gate into a small enclosure, leaving it by a metal kissing gate in the opposite corner. Bear right and go across a small fenced-in field to another gate. Go through this and continue along the field edge, passing Harden Vineyard? on your left. At the end of the vineyard go through some trees to a path T-junction. Turn right and follow the path round to the left.
3. In 100m you come to the edge of the wood and go over a stile into a more open area. Follow the enclosed tree-lined path gently uphill between two large fields. At the top continue through a belt of trees to join a driveway by the entrance to “Skipreed”.
4. About 100m along this drive, opposite a house “Oakenden”, turn right up a few steps in the earth bank and go over a stile with two footpath waymarkers. Ignore a gate into a field and take the fenced-in path ahead. At the far end go over another stile with two waymarkers and turn right to go through a small metal gate in the wire fence. Continue along the right-hand side of a triangular strip of grassland between fences.
5. In the far right-hand corner follow the path down through Puckden Wood. At the bottom the path curves right and then veers left up a slope to leave the wood. Climb a broad grassy path between fences and continue along a short driveway to a road junction in the hamlet of Hoath Corner. Follow the road round to the right to come to the suggested lunch stop, the Rock Inn.
6. Hoath Corner to Hill Hoath (2 km)
• From Hoath Corner, take the lane heading west for a short distance and turn right onto a footpath which goes via Trugger's Gill to Stock Wood. Turn right at a path junction and follow this footpath through woods and fields to reach Hill Hoath.
1. From the pub, return to the road junction and fork right onto the narrow lane heading W, signposted to Markbeech. In 150m turn right at an easily-missed footpath sign to go down a fenced path between gardens. After crossing a stream the path continues along the right-hand edge of some rough grassland, heading NW.
2. Just before the far corner follow the path into the trees and down through a small wooded glen, then back up into the corner of a large field. Keep right, initially alongside a projecting piece of woodland. Where these trees end, bear slightly right across the field to find a path leading into a large wood on the far side.
3. The woodland path comes to a T-junction with footpath markers. Turn right onto a potentially very muddy wide path, which soon bends left. After passing a sign welcoming walkers from the other direction to Stock Wood the path narrows and continues between hedges, with a field laid out for show-jumping on your left.
4. At the end go through a metal kissing gate and follow a well-trodden path through a long strip of grassland. At the far end go through another kissing gate, down a short slope and turn right onto an earth track. This leads into a short lane through the hamlet of Hill Hoath, where you pass an attractive low-lying house Withers? on the left and reach a three-way road junction.

If you are doing a version of the walk finishing at Leigh station, go to §J.

7. Hill Hoath to Chiddingstone (1¼ km)
• Take the lane heading north to the entrance to Chiddingstone Castle. If they are open the suggested route is to cut through the castle grounds to the village, rather than skirting around them on the road.
1. At the junction keep left to head N on a quiet country lane. In 300m you pass a corner of the grounds of Chiddingstone Castle on your right (with a locked gate), then in a further 400m come to its main driveway. An estate notice at the entrance confirms that access is permitted through the grounds; they include an attractive fishing lake and some pleasant woodland paths beyond the lawns around the manor house.

On a day when the grounds are open to the public you can take the more interesting route in [?].

2. Road route

1. Continue along the lane to a crossroads and turn right. In 250m this road bends right and crosses a stone bridge, with a view of the manor house beyond the lake. In 150m the road turns sharply left by a pedestrian entrance to the castle (the exit for the alternative route).

3. Castle Grounds route

1. Turn sharp right off the lane to go up the driveway, which curves gently round to the left in front of the manor house.
2. To go directly to its Tea Room without visiting the house and its collections, go past the main entrance and all the way round the back of the house to find the gift shop and tearoom in the far corner.
3. After exploring the grounds, return to the front of the house and turn right. Follow the path across an arm of the lake on a footbridge and out through a gate in the castle walls, emerging on a bend in the road.
4. There are two more refreshment places along the picturesque village street through Chiddingstone?. The Castle Inn is the first building on the right, and opposite St Mary's church? the Tulip Tree tearoom is up a passageway beside the Chiddingstone Stores.

If you are doing the Alternative Circular Walk, go to §I (to avoid having to retrace 1 km of your outward route from Penshurst station).

8. Chiddingstone to Penshurst Station via Hampkins Hill (2¾ km)
• Head east along the road to Larkin's Farm and continue along a footpath across the brow of Hampkins Hill. Turn left in front of Vexour and go downhill to rejoin the road, crossing the River Eden at Vexour Bridge. Take the right-hand of two footpaths, heading north-east across meadows and fields to the station.
1. To complete the walk follow the street out of the village, heading E.
   • After passing the primary school you could turn right onto a signposted path to see the Chiding Stone?, 200m away. If you take this detour, return the same way.
2. After the path to the Chiding Stone ignore public footpaths off to both sides and stay on the lane, climbing gently with good views of the Greensand Hills on your left. In 400m fork right in front of Triangle Oast (with Larkin's Brewery? in the farm buildings on your left). Almost immediately turn left at a footpath signpost onto a clear path across the brow of Hampkins Hill.
3. At the far end of the field turn left along its edge. In the corner veer right down a narrow path through a belt of trees and turn left onto a tarmac driveway. At the bottom rejoin the lane you left at Triangle Oast, crossing over the River Eden on the attractive Vexour Bridge. On the other side bear right off the lane by a pair of footpath signposts, going over a stile to the left of a metal fieldgate.
4. Take the right-hand of two faint grassy paths to head NE across a large meadow. After skirting a projecting group of trees surrounding a loop of the river fork left where the path splits, avoiding the more obvious route towards a fieldgate.
5. In the tree boundary at the end of the left-hand path you cross a stream on a new wooden footbridge flanked by metal gates. Bear left across a field, heading NNE. In 125m go through a small metal gate in a gap in the trees and keep ahead across the next field.

   In the past this field has been divided, so there might be a temporary wire fence on your left.

6. In 200m go through a gap and continue along the left-hand edge of another field. At the far end go over a stile into a large field and turn right to head E along its edge.
7. In the field corner go over a stile beside a metal fieldgate. In 50m go through another gate and turn left along the field edge. About 100m before reaching the railway embankment ahead, turn right by a footpath marker post to go straight across the field. On the far side go through a gap to continue on a rough track along the left-hand edge of a field.
8. In the corner go out through a metal side gate and across the parking area for a timber yard onto Platform 1 of Penshurst station?, for trains to Redhill. Cross the footbridge to Platform 2 for trains to Tonbridge and/or refreshment at the Little Brown Jug, directly opposite the station on the B2027.
9. Chiddingstone to Penshurst Station via Beckett's Farm (3 km)
• Turn left off the lane outside the village onto a footpath heading north to a footbridge over the River Eden. Fork right off the main path onto a footpath leading to a house (Chested). Go out along its driveway and turn left briefly onto a minor road, then turn right onto a footpath heading east across fields to Beckett's Farm. Go across its driveway onto another footpath heading east and then north-east across fields to the station.
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2. 50m after the path to the Chiding Stone, turn left off the lane onto a signposted footpath, the driveway to a house “Coachmans”. At the end of the drive bear right as indicated in front of a wooden fieldgate onto a fenced path skirting around the house. On the far side follow the path gently downhill alongside a wood. Keep ahead where another footpath joins from the left to reach the River Eden, crossing it on a new wooden footbridge.
3. Shortly after crossing the river go through a metal gate on the right into the corner of a field. Turn left to continue in your previous direction along its edge, veering slightly away from it at the end to go through a gap into the bottom of a sloping field. Make your way over to its right-hand edge and go up to the top corner.
4. After going through a gap in the trees make a similar manoeuvre in the next field to continue along its right-hand edge, heading N. In the corner go over a stile to the right of an old metal gate and bear right across a field which slopes downhill, aiming just to the right of an attractive tile-hung house “Fissenden” which comes into view.
5. Go over a stile onto the house's driveway and follow it out to a lane (Hampkin's Hill Road). Turn left onto the lane, then in 60m turn right onto a signposted footpath. Make your way past a metal fieldgate to go along a strip of grassland between a hedge and a meandering stream.
6. At the end of the hedge bear left towards the field corner. Go through a wide gap in this potentially muddy area and veer right up a slope to continue along the right-hand edge of a field, towards the buildings of Beckett's Farm. Go over a stile in the field corner onto a track towards the farm buildings.
7. Veer left briefly onto the driveway leading away from the farm, then immediately go over a stile on the right into a large field. After passing the farmhouse turn half-right to go across a patch of rough ground (with no clear path) towards a plank bridge over a ditch 100m away. Go over this and continue along the right-hand edge of a large field, heading E.
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10. Hill Hoath to Penshurst (3½ km)
• Follow the Eden Valley Walk south-east via Wat Stock, eventually crossing the River Eden into Penshurst. Turn right on the B2176 to enter the village.
1. At the junction turn right, now on the Eden Valley Walk? (EVW). After passing some more houses keep left where the lane opens out, ignoring another footpath ahead past some stables. Head E along a farm track and take a surfaced path to the left of some new buildings. Continue on a grassy path and fork right where this splits, onto a clear straight path heading SE.
2. In 300m, soon after a narrow path joins from the left, go through a kissing gate into a wood. Continue along a broad woodland path for 400m, climbing gently at first. At the far end go over a stile to emerge on a minor road. Cross the road and continue on a bridleway just off to the right, going through a metal fieldgate to head diagonally across a field on a grassy path. On the far side leave it through another gate and turn left onto a lane.

   At a fieldgate on the left after 100m there is a view of the painted barn at Wat Stock (the trompe-l'oeil seen earlier on the Alternative Walk).

3. The lane bends to the left round a large pond. In a further 50m keep ahead on an unsurfaced track past some derelict farm buildings, briefly reversing the outward route of the Alternative Walk. You now follow this potentially muddy track (the old coach road) all the way down to Penshurst, with a huge array of polytunnels behind the line of trees on your right and glimpses of the Eden Valley on your left.
4. After a long descent the track merges with the driveway from Salmans Farm and you cross the River Eden on a brick bridge. In a further 500m you reach the B2176, with Penshurst Place visible in the grounds ahead. Turn right onto the road to enter the village.
5. In 150m you come to the Fir Tree House tearoom on your right, the first of several possible tea places. The walk continues round to the left at the road junction in the centre of the village, where stronger fare is available on your right at the Leicester Arms Hotel.
   • The Porcupine Pantry is 600m further on, in the next section.

If you are doing an Alternative Walk (or taking the shorter ending on the Circular Walk), go to §N.

11. Penshurst to Ensfield Bridge (2¾ km)
• Head east out of the village on the access road to Penshurst Place, signposted as the Eden Valley Walk (EVW). Continue on the private road towards Well Place Farm, which you skirt by taking a footpath up a field to its left. Head north-east along a track to Killick's Bank. Turn right onto a footpath going down to the River Medway and continue alongside it to a road. Cross the river on Ensfield Bridge.

The remainder of the walk is essentially the same as Walk 1–19.

1. Head E out of the village on the B2176, passing the picturesque houses in Leicester Square?. Where the road turns right keep ahead through a stone and brick archway, now on both the Eden Valley Walk? (EVW) and Cycle Route 12 (CR 12).
2. As you go along the driveway a locked gate in the high brick wall on your left affords you a glimpse of the formal gardens. At the end of the wall you pass the large car park for Penshurst Place on the left.
   • The Porcupine Pantry is at the back of this car park. If you detour there for refreshment, return to this lane afterwards.
3. Continue along the driveway for 400m (shown as a private road to Well Place, but still a public footpath). Shortly before it starts to ascend, turn left through a squeeze gate into a field, temporarily leaving CR 12. Go along the field edge parallel to the road, then through another squeeze gate. Follow a broad grassy path diagonally up the next field (with a fine view back to Penshurst Place).
4. At the top go through a squeeze gate to the right of a fieldgate and head NE along a track. In 80m keep ahead where it joins a concrete lane, rejoining CR 12 for the next 600m to Killick's Bank. After passing this isolated house veer right across a lane junction. Go through a squeeze gate (or over a nearby stile) into a field.
5. Follow a faint grassy path downhill, heading E. At the bottom of the field cross a wooden bridge over a backwater and go across the grass to the River Medway. Turn left and walk along the riverbank to Ensfield Bridge. Turn right onto the road to cross over the river, rejoining CR 12 again.
12. Ensfield Bridge to Leigh Station (2½ km)
• Continue on the EVW for a further 700m, then cross back over the river and take the footpath heading north towards Leigh. Go around the village green and turn left onto the B2027. At the Fleur De Lis pub turn left into Lower Green for the station.
1. On the other side of the bridge turn left and follow the cycle route for about 400m. Where it bends left down a slope go through a side gate next to a metal fieldgate to maintain direction near the left-hand edge of a large field.
2. On the far side go through a metal gate and bear left across the corner of a field towards another gate. Go through it onto a short path through the tree boundary to the cycle route. Keep ahead at this path crossing (leaving the EVW, which continues towards Tonbridge along the Straight Mile? to the right).
3. Cross a bridge over a backwater and fork left on the main path, which soon comes to a substantial bridge over the main river. Cross this and follow a grassy path across a meadow, heading NW.
4. On the far side go through a wide gap in the hedge and continue along the left-hand side of a field, heading towards a broad track which you can see going up a slope. Go through a kissing gate and follow this track over an embankment and then under a railway bridge carrying the Redhill–Tonbridge line?.
5. After another short climb the track swings round to the left. Veer right onto the top of a residential street (Green View Avenue) and go down it to Leigh's village green. Make your way to its far left-hand corner, with St Mary's church? visible on a knoll on the far side.
6. Turn left onto the B2027 and go through the village for 250m, passing some attractive almshouses, the Village Stores and a restored water pump. The last refreshment place before Leigh station is the Fleur De Lis pub at the junction with a side road (Lower Green).
7. To complete the walk turn left into Lower Green and go along it for 225m to the railway bridge. There are two tarmac paths leading up to the platforms of Leigh station (with no footbridge linking them). Platform 2 is for trains to Tonbridge; go under the bridge and up to Platform 1 for trains to Redhill.
13. Wellers Town to Penshurst (2¼ km)
• Turn left off the lane onto a footpath heading towards Wat Stock, but in the hollow turn left to join the Eden Valley Walk further along. Follow this bridleway eastwards, eventually crossing the River Eden into Penshurst. Turn right onto the B2176 to enter the village.
1. …
2. Turn left along the bottom of the field. In the corner go through a belt of trees via a couple of stiles and turn half-right to go gently uphill across a field. In the middle of the far side two more stiles and a footbridge take you into another field where you follow a faint grassy path slanting up the slope, past a projecting group of trees to the top of the field.
3. Go over a stile in the tree boundary and turn left onto a broad track, joining the Eden Valley Walk? (EVW). …
4. …
5. In 150m you pass the Fir Tree House tearoom on your right (which is usually closed at lunchtime). Keep left at the road junction in the centre of the village to come to the suggested lunch stop on your right, the Leicester Arms Hotel.
14. Penshurst to Leigh Station direct (3¾ km)
• Head east out of the village and go along the access road to Penshurst Place, signposted as the Eden Valley Walk (EVW). Continue on a private road towards Well Place Farm, which you skirt by taking a footpath up a field to its left. Leave the EVW and head north for almost 1 km, then turn right and go along a tree-lined avenue and across a field to a minor road. Turn left and follow the road down to the station.
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4. At the top veer left in front of a fieldgate, leaving the main branch of the EVW. Follow a grassy path going along the right-hand edge of several large fields (interrupted by a short stretch through a wood) for almost 1 km. At the end of the last field bear right onto a broad tree-lined avenue heading NE.

   The final 1½ km is the same as the start of Walk 1–15 (in reverse).

5. At the end of the long avenue carry on in the same direction across an open field, then down a rough track to a road. Turn left onto the road, taking care as there is no pavement.
6. Follow the road downhill for 250m to the railway bridge under the Redhill–Tonbridge line?. … Platform 1 is for trains to Redhill; go under the bridge and up to Platform 2 for trains to Tonbridge.
   • If you want some refreshment the Fleur De Lis pub is 225m ahead at the T-junction with the B2027.

Walk Notes

1. The Sidney Oak was reputedly planted in 1554 at the birth of Sir Philip Sidney but was judged to be many hundreds of years older when it died in 2016. Cloned saplings have been planted around the Penshurst estate and its acorns distributed around the world.
2. The Sidney Chapel in St John the Baptist, Penshurst contains many memorials and a fine armorial ceiling, restored in 1966. By the side altar is the Luke Tapestry (in Greek), made by Penshurst's former village doctor: it honours the partnership between medical science and Christianity.
3. Some of the half-timbered and tile-hung houses around Leicester Square (named after a favourite of Elizabeth Ⅰ) are Victorian imitations, like the post office house of 1850. “My Flesh also shall rest in Hope”, inscribed on the archway from the churchyard into the square, is from Psalm 16:9.
4. The large horseshoe-shaped doorway in the shop / garage is a relic of its days as the village smithy.
5. The source of the River Eden is in the Titsey estate, 2 km north-east of Oxted on the slopes of the North Downs. It flows into the River Medway near Penshurst.
6. Harden Vineyard grows Regent grapes which are used to make a rosé wine.
7. Withers is a 15^thC timber-framed hall house, with the bricks on the ground floor being added in the 19^thC. The side facing the lane is actually the rear of the house.
8. Chiddingstone remains largely unspoilt because the Streatfeild family sold many of the buildings to the National Trust in 1939. It has been used as a location in period films such as A Room with a View.
9. St Mary, Chiddingstone contains many memorials to the Streatfeild family. On display is a Vinegar Bible of 1717, so called because in St Luke's Gospel, Chapter 20, “The parable of the vineyard” is written as “The parable of the vinegar”!
10. The Chiding Stone is a large sandstone boulder where wrongdoers were supposedly told off (chided) by the other villagers.
11. Larkin's Brewery was established in 1986 and moved to the family's farm a few years later. Chiddingstone Cider is also produced here.
12. The Penshurst Platform Gallery in the shelter on Platform 1 displays works by local artists associated with Jessops Farm Studios.
13. The Eden Valley Walk runs for 24 km, linking the Vanguard Way to the west of Edenbridge with the Wealdway and the Medway Valley Walk in Tonbridge. There are few rights of way alongside the River Eden itself and from Penshurst much of the route actually follows the River Medway.
14. The Straight Mile was dug in 1830, an unsuccessful attempt to straighten out the meanders of the River Medway. The canal never filled with water and the project was abandoned.
15. The Redhill–Tonbridge line opened in 1842 as part of the main line between London and Dover, and retained that status until the direct line via Sevenoaks opened in 1868.
16. St Mary, Leigh dates from the 13^thC, although there were earlier churches on this hilltop site. In the 19^thC two parties were responsible for different parts of the building and each employed their own architect for its restoration, with the result that the chancel now has a different type of stone from the rest of the church.

» Last updated: October 20, 2024

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