Saturday Walkers' Club

Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1

Walk 15 : Leigh to Tunbridge Wells

Penshurst Place & Medway Valley

Length 18.7km (11.6 miles), 5 hours 20 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow 10 hours 30 minutes.
OS Landranger Map No.188. Leigh, map reference TQ 546 462, is in Kent, 4km west of Tonbridge.
Toughness 5 out of 10.
Features The route of this walk is through a landscape of great beauty, confirming the description of Kent as the Garden of England. It proceeds through the grounds of Penshurst Place, with fine views of the house, taking in a truly pastoral landscape of rivers, lakes, woods and rolling hills; and passes through the lovely village of Penshurst. The walk then makes its way along the River Medway and into historic Royal Tunbridge Wells, through woods and parks which extend right into the heart of the town. The suggested tea place is in the colonnaded Pantiles.
Shortening the walk You can reduce the length of the walk by 4km, by more or less following the River Medway from point [5] to point [8] on the map – missing out the steepest hill, but also the suggested lunchtime stop and the best view. This would be a good option if you set out late, and stop for lunch in Penshurst. Except on Sundays, you can also get a 231 or 233 bus about once an hour going to Tunbridge Wells or Edenbridge, from either the bottom of Smart's Hill (a ten-minute walk from the lunchtime pub) or from Penshurst. For bus information, see TraveLine or call 0871 200 2233.
History The stately home of Penshurst Place (tel 01892 870 307) is a perfectly preserved, unfortified manor house, which has been the home of the Sidney family since 1552, when Edward VI gave it to his old tutor, Sir William Sidney. The poet Sir Philip Sidney was born here in 1554. The oldest part of the building dates from the fourteenth century, but the present house represents a curious blend of five centuries of architectural styles. Penshurst Place is open on weekends in March, and daily from the end of March to the end of October. The gardens are open from 10.30am to 6pm, the house from midday to 4pm. Admission (2009) is £8.50; or £7 for the gardens only.

On the south side of St John the Baptist Church, Penshurst, are timber-framed cottages which form part of Leicester Square (named after a favourite of Elizabeth I) and include a post office house from 1850. In the Sidney Chapel of the church are many memorials and the effigy of the top half of Stephen de Penshurst, Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle, who died in 1299. The fine armorial ceiling in the chapel was 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.

The Salomons Museum (tel 01892 515 152) is in the former home of civil rights campaigner Sir David Salomons and his nephew (also named David Salomons), the outstanding Victorian scientist and innovator – he developed the first electrically propelled tricycle in 1874 and the house was the first in England to use electricity for cooking. It is open all year round on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding bank holidays), 2pm to 5pm. Admission is free.

The spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells had its beginning in 1606, when a courtier, Dudley, Lord North, discovered a chalybeate (iron-bearing) spring which made good the damage to his health from dissolute living. At the town's zenith, William Pitt, Dr Johnson, David Garrick and Sir Joshua Reynolds were regular visitors. Queen Victoria frequented Tunbridge Wells as a child, but the 'Royal' prefix was added in 1909 by Edward VII. The colonnaded Pantiles are named from the small clay tiles that Princess Anne paid for in 1698, after her son fell on the slippery ground.

Saturday Walkers' Club Take the train nearest to 9.45am (before or after) from Charing Cross Station to Leigh (Kent), going via East Croydon and Redhill. Journey time 1 hour 7 minutes. On Sundays there is only a direct service in summer, starting from London Bridge; at other times of the year you would need to change at Redhill, with a longer journey time. There are half-hourly direct trains from Tunbridge Wells back to Charing Cross. Journey time about 55 minutes. Buy a day return to Tunbridge Wells.

Note: It is also possible to travel out via Tonbridge, changing there for a connecting service to Leigh. However, you might be charged extra for this.

If driving, you can park near Leigh Station and return by train, changing at Tonbridge for the hourly service to Leigh.

Lunch The suggested lunchtime stop is the Spotted Dog (tel 01892 870 253) at Smart's Hill. This is a large pub with good food, four log fires for the winter and a superb view across the Medway Valley to Swaylands and Penshurst. Despite being out of the way, this is a very popular and well-known pub, so phone ahead or arrive early to avoid a long wait for lunch. Food is served from midday to 2.30pm during the week, 3pm on Saturday and 7pm on Sunday. Nearby is another large and popular pub, the Bottle House Inn (tel 01892 870 306). Alternatively, for late starters, the Leicester Arms (tel 01892 870 551) in Penshurst serves à la carte and bar meals all day.
Tea There are several tearooms in the Pantiles, some with outdoor seating. Some of the restaurants and winebars here also serve excellent cream teas in the afternoon: Woods Restaurant & Winebar at #62 (tel 01892 614 411) is recommended. Cafés include Just for You at #42 (tel 01892 539 652), The Picnic Basket at #26-28 (tel 01892 527 690) and Gastronomia G. at #7 (tel 01892 618 281). Alternatively, there are several pubs and snack bars near the station. A five-minute walk past the station up Mount Pleasant Road will bring you to The Opera House, a splendid building which more recently was a cinema and bingo hall, and is now a JD Wetherspoon pub.
Travel by Train
  • Out:
  • Back:
Travel by Car

Start: Leigh (Kent) Station is near : TN11 8RU [gmap]

Finish: Tunbridge Wells Station is near : TN1 1GE [gmap]

Return to your car by train:

  • (park at the start) at 4pm
  • (park at the end) at 10am
OS Explorer Map

135 : Ashdown Forest [Amazon]

136 : High Weald [Amazon]

147 : Sevenoaks & Tonbridge [Amazon]
Revised

This walk was fully revised in : Oct-06

For the walk map, please see the Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Other Greensand Hills Walks Hever to Leigh, Leigh to Sevenoaks, Otford to Eynsford, Borough Green to Sevenoaks, Otford (round walk), Yalding to Borough Green, Hurst Green to Chiddingstone Causeway, Sevenoaks to Westerham, Sevenoaks Circular, Yalding to Sevenoaks, Oxted Circular, Staplehurst to Headcorn,

Walking Instructions 

Note: Bold numbers in square brackets refer to the Walk Map in Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1.

  1. [1] From either platform at Leigh Station, take the path down to the road. Turn left and walk up the road, your direction 200°. In 100 metres, you pass an oasthouse conversion called Paul's Farm Oast. 150 metres further on, to the right of Paul's Hill House, there is a signpost indicating the start of the Eden Valley Walk and the Link Path, with a concrete public footpath sign at ground level.
  2. [2] Turn right up this car-wide track, up the hill, your direction 240° initially. In 150 metres you come to a metal fieldgate with a black sign saying 'Penshurst Place Estate Public Footpath'. Cross over the stile to the left of the gate and continue along the track. In 100 metres you come to a wooden post on the right of the path. Go slightly left here, to the far left corner of the field, 250 metres away.
  3. Continue in the same direction down an avenue of plane trees, ignoring a footpath off to the right after 100 metres. In a further 300 metres you come to a metal fieldgate and go through the adjacent squeeze gate, to continue on the Eden Valley Walk and the Link Path.
  4. In 100 metres, where the Eden Valley Walk goes off to the left, you continue ahead on the wide grassy path, now with a fine view of Penshurst Place, Penshurst village church, and the sylvan dales of Penshurst Park on your left.
  5. In 550 metres [3], turn left down the hill, between the trees, on a broad grassy path, aiming towards Penshurst Place. 350 metres down the hill, pass through a squeeze gap to the left of a fieldgate and continue on in the same direction as before. Walk down through the line of oak trees towards the lake.
  6. In 150 metres the path turns half-right and you head for a Y-shaped stile in the fence, 80 metres away. Go through this stile and follow the lake and fence on your left-hand side until, in 150 metres, the fence veers left, at which point you continue straight on towards the stile in the barbed wire fence 180 metres ahead. Go through the stile (with a black sign for 'Penhurst Estate Public Path' on your right-hand side) and walk straight towards the right-hand side of Penshurst Place, your direction due south.
  7. In 450 metres go through a pair of kissing gates to cross a tarmac road and continue south on a grassy path. In 150 metres you come to a projecting piece of Penshurt Place's hedge-topped stone wall and continue ahead with the wall on your left-hand side. In 80 metres cross the Y-shaped stile leading into the churchyard of St John the Baptist Church, Penshurst.
  8. Walk through the churchyard (the church is worth visiting – the second door on your left). Continue out of the churchyard, underneath a cottage which stands on stilts (in a line of remarkable ancient cottages), into Leicester Square and down past the 1850 post office. Some stone steps take you down to the road.
  9. (For those wanting an early lunch, such as those planning to take the short cut later on, turn right here for the Leicester Arms or Quaintways tearoom. Afterwards, return to this point.)
  10. To continue on the main walk, turn left and follow the road as it curves around to the right. The entrance to Penshurst Place is on your left, on the corner. You cross a backwater on a small stone bridge and then, 150 metres beyond this, the River Medway itself on a second stone bridge.
  11. [4] 150 metres further on, going slightly uphill, you come to a sign pointing left to the 'Enterprise Centre' and a green footpath sign on the other side of the road. Turn right onto the footpath, along a grassy car wide track.
  12. In 350 metres ignore a track leading into the field on your right. In a further 350 metres, you come to a hedge with some disused hop poles on your right.
  13. Go past the hedge and turn right along the field edge (even though there may be no indication of a footpath here). You are aiming for a large footbridge which you can see in the opposite corner of the field. Halfway down, follow the field edge round to the left and then cut diagonally across the field to the bridge (this is the route shown on the OS map, but you could walk all the way around the field edge if you prefer). Cross over the River Medway on this footbridge [5].
  14. ([*] Once over the bridge, you have the option of turning left for a short cut. The OS map shows the public footpath heading half-left across the field at 150°, roughly on the line indicated by some mature oak trees; in 200 metres it bends slightly to the right and continues for another 250 metres to reach the right-hand end of a line of trees. At the time of writing, however, there was no path visible across the field, but a well-trodden path around the field edge instead. If you prefer to take this route, you will keep the river close by on your left and eventually reach the same spot in about 600 metres. Either way, go through a gap in the hedge and over a plank into the next field. Turn left and go along the field edge, following it round to the right towards a stile in the barbed wire fence. Cross over the stile, turn right and follow the field edge up and round to the left; when you go over the brow of the hill you will see a large metal footbridge in the bottom right-hand corner of the field. Go down to this bridge, cross back over the River Medway and take the path straight ahead across the field, your direction 100°; this is [8] below.)
  15. [5] To continue the main walk: On the other side of the bridge, turn right to go along the field edge. In 50 metres, where the river curves off to your right, continue straight on across the field, towards a red-brick building in the distance, your direction 290°.
  16. In 220 metres you come to the far side of the field and see a 'Penshurst Estate public footpath' sign. Cross over the ditch and head up the grassy car wide track.
  17. In 200 metres you come to a T-junction with an unmade-up lane, with Ford Place (marked on the OS map) on your right-hand side. Turn left along this track, your direction 220° initially.
  18. [6] In 300 metres you come to a T-junction with the B2188. Directly opposite you can see the old wooden buildings of South Park Farm, with the house of South Park in the background. Cross the road and continue up the road on the far side, signposted 'Smart's Hill, half mile'.
  19. In 650 metres, having ignored a bridleway to the left, you come to a T-junction, where you have a choice. For the suggested lunchtime stop, turn left, following the sign for Fordcombe and Tunbridge Wells. In 150 metres you come to the Spotted Dog on your left-hand side. For an alternative lunch stop, turn right and in 30 metres fork right again. In another 350 metres you come to the Bottle House Inn.
  20. After lunch at the Spotted Dog, turn right out of the pub, retracing your steps back up the road. In 150 metres, continue past the road you ascended before lunch. 30 metres further on, fork left along Nunnery Lane. In 150 metres ignore a footpath on the right.
  21. (After lunch at the Bottle House Inn, go back down the road you came on for 25 metres, then take a footpath on the right. In 200 metres you come out onto Nunnery Lane and turn right.)
  22. Follow this road steeply downhill, ignoring ways off, for the next 500 metres. At the bottom of the hill go straight past the turning to the left, signposted Fordcombe and Tunbridge Wells, following the sign for Walter's Green and Blackham. In 50 metres turn left off the road, where public footpath signs point to both left and right. Cross over the stile and follow a line of oak trees, your direction 140°.
  23. 100 metres further on, you come to the last oak in the row and continue straight on down the hill, for 120 metres, to a wooden bridge with a scaffolding pole railing, crossing a stream through the hedgerow.
  24. On the other side, head across the field on a faint path, your direction 190°, aiming for the right-hand end of a hedgerow on the banks of the River Medway. On reaching it, keep the river on your left as you bear left with the bend of the river. In 120 metres you come to a footbridge on your left. Cross the river on this bridge and bear half-left along a path, heading north-east towards a metal fieldgate 100 metres away.
  25. [7] Cross the stile to the right of the gate, which brings you out to the B2188. Cross over the road but ignore a footpath directly opposite and turn left along the road. In 15 metres take another footpath on the right, over a stile. Head across the field, your direction 70°. In 50 metres cross over a stile and a ditch and continue along the side of the next field, in the same direction as before, with oasthouses on your right-hand side.
  26. In 350 metres you come to the corner of the field. Follow the path as it bears around to the left. 20 metres further on, turn right across the wooden bridge with a scaffolding pole railing, which takes you into the next field, where you continue on a faint path, your direction 70°.
  27. In 150 metres you come to a bend of the river on your left. Ignore a path leading off between trees into the field on your right and continue ahead through a squeeze gap in the wire fence. Head slightly left, your direction 40°, eventually passing under some pylons and meeting the river again in 500 metres. Continue with the riverbank close by on your left-hand side for the next 700 metres, going through hedges and across ditches as necessary.
  28. [8] You then come to a bridge with high metal railings, going over the River Medway. Do not cross the bridge. Instead turn right and go along the left-hand field edge towards a row of trees and an electricity pylon in the distance, your direction 100°. In 250 metres go through a wooden gate to the right of a metal fieldgate and turn half-right uphill.
  29. Ahead of you is a tiny (locked) chapel and graveyard (used because Penshurst churchyard is full), and the path goes up the side of a row of oak trees towards the left-hand edge of the graveyard. You come to a metal fieldgate and go through the wooden gate on its left. 40 metres further on, you pass the wooden gate leading into the churchyard and come out on to the road.
  30. Turn left on to the road (Coopers Lane). In 120 metres you come to a T-junction, with Poundsbridge House opposite. Turn left, down the hill. In 150 metres, at the bottom of the hill, go over the bridge crossing a small brook. 50 metres beyond the bridge, you come to another T-junction, signposted Penshurst and Leigh to the left, with a 1593 house and walled garden on your right. Turn right and, in 20 metres, turn left off the road, over the stile which is marked by concrete and wooden footpath signs. Head straight up the hill, with the edge of the field on your right-hand side, your direction at this point 65°.
  31. For the next 1km you will be walking more or less parallel to the pylons away on your left hand side. In more detail:
  32. In 300 metres the path goes underneath two parallel sets of overhead cables. Continue along the edge of the pond on your right-hand side. 80 metres further on, at the far end of the pond, cross over a stile into the next field. Continue in the same direction, with the field edge on your right-hand side. In 60 metres the overhead cables take a sharp right hand turn, but you continue straight on, to cross a stile which you can see directly ahead of you, your direction 95°.
  33. Continue along the path, with another pond on your right-hand side. In 50 metres go over a stile into the next field and turn right uphill, heading in the same direction as before, with trees and the edge of the field on your right-hand side.
  34. In 150 metres cross over a ditch into the next field and continue ahead. In 200 metres, over the brow of the hill, you again have the field edge on your right-hand side. In another 120 metres, cross over the stile in the corner of the field (with a metal gate on its left-hand side) to follow the footpath between a fence and a copse.
  35. [9] 120 metres further on, you come out on to a road. Turn left down the road. In 35 metres, turn right down a car-wide track, marked by a concrete public footpath signpost and a wooden sign for Squirrelsmead and Barden Mill Cottage. In 160 metres cross a stile to the left of a metal fieldgate. Beyond this, follow the track sharply round to the right. In 180 metres ignore the turning off to the left and continue ahead. 160 metres further on, the track curves around to the left, across a brook.
  36. 450 metres further on, you come to the top of the hill, with a barn on your left-hand side and a large house with an oast chimney on your right. At the end of the track, just beyond the barn, there is a metal fieldgate. Cross over the stile made of steps next to it and go half-right across a concrete yard for 15 metres. Go to the left of the large horse chestnut tree and cross over the stile to the right of the wooden fieldgate, and walk straight ahead with the edge of the field on your right-hand side, your direction due east. In 120 metres cross over the stile into the next field. Follow the path half-left, slightly downhill at first, to skirt a tall hedge up ahead on the right-hand side of the field.
  37. In 150 metres, at the far side of the field, cross over a stile which brings you out on to a tarmac lane. Turn right up the hill. In 90 metres there is a house on your right-hand side called Hollanbys. In another 250 metres along this winding road you come to a T-junction.
  38. Turn left on to the road through the village of Stockland Green. In 120 metres you pass Birchetts Lodge on your left-hand side, and a white sign pointing to various other Birchetts. Immediately opposite the drive going off to the left here, there is a concrete public footpath sign on the the right-hand side of the road. Turn right here through the metal kissing gate, down the path leading between the houses. (If you see Birchetts Cottage on your right-hand side, you have gone too far down the road.) In 20 metres cross over the stile and continue along the left-hand side of the field.
  39. In 60 metres, at the corner of the field, cross over the stile on your right-hand side. Turn left and resume your previous direction along the left-hand field edge. In 100 metres, at the top corner of this field, turn left through the kissing gate.
  40. Go straight down the path, between the hedgerows, your direction 80°. In 25 metres there is a a wooden post on your left, pointing straight ahead for the High Weald Walk, but you turn right here through a metal kissing gate and follow a narrow path, heading due south.
  41. [10] In a further 200 metres you come down through another kissing gate on to a road. (David Salomons' House is along the road to your left here, but detouring to it on foot is not recommended. This is a busy road with no pavement. There is an unmarked side entrance on the right in about 350 metres, but if this is closed then continuing to the main entrance to the house and Salomons Museum would involve walking along this road for 750 metres, and a total detour of well over 1km.)
  42. To continue the walk, go straight over the road and on to the narrow footpath opposite. This is a potentially muddy little path which makes its way between hedgerows, steeply downhill. In 500 metres you come out on to a busy minor road, where you turn right.
  43. In 20 metres the road crosses over a small brook and passes the Redsheen Kennels at Mill Farm. 200 metres further on, the road curves around to the right, and there is a public footpath sign off to the left.
  44. Turn left off the road here on to a track going downhill, your direction 135°. In 120 metres cross over a fast flowing stream and follow the path as it starts to make its way back uphill. 50 metres up the hill, the path forks. Take the right-hand fork, your direction due south. In 60 metres you come to wooden fieldgates with signs saying 'Keep Out'. Continue along the track, towards the woods.
  45. 80 metres further on, you come to a metal fieldgate and go over the stile on its left-hand side, into the wood, to continue along the woodland path. In 200 metres you come to a Forestry Commission sign saying 'No admittance to vehicles'. Ignore the paths to left and right and continue straight on, ignoring all ways off.
  46. In 500 metres you come down to a wooden fieldgate. Go through the kissing gate on its left. 200 metres further on, you come to the end of the public footpath. Ignore a track leading down to the right and continue ahead on a wide track which passes to the left of a brick building belonging to Southern Water Services.
  47. 40 metres further on, you come out on to a residential street, on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells. You are on a corner with Coniston Avenue heading left and Bishops Down Park Road ahead, with a footpath between them. Go up Bishops Down Park Road, your direction 145°. In 150 metres you come to a T-junction and turn right, still on Bishops Down Park Road, past a house called Charlcombe on your left-hand side. There is a golfcourse on your right-hand side as you go along this road.
  48. 300 metres further on, turn half-right on to a path, still alongside the golfcourse and now heading due south. In 450 metres, with Grange Cote on your right-hand side, you come to a road T-junction. Turn right, your direction 240°.
  49. [11] Before the end of this cul-de-sac, turn half-left onto a small grassy area and go up to the A264 at a junction, with the Major Yorke pub on the other side. Cross the main road carefully and go down Major Yorke Road opposite, then immediately turn half-left past some low wooden posts onto a wide path leading into the woods of Tunbridge Wells Common, your direction 100°.
  50. In 150 metres cross over a path to go straight on. In another 180 metres go past a scaffolding pole barrier and over a tarmac road (Fir Tree Lane) to continue ahead, with a cricket pitch on your left-hand side.
  51. Ignoring ways off, in 200 metres you come to a tarmac path, where you turn right downhill, your direction 155°. Continue to ignore ways off.
  52. In 350 metres you come to the A26 by a mini-roundabout. Cross this busy road carefully and go down steps to the left of the Swan Hotel to reach the Pantiles. The bar at the back of the hotel is a possible tea place; Woods Restaurant & Winebar, which does cream teas, is a short distance off to the right. For more alternatives, and to continue the main route, turn left into the Pantiles: Just for You and The Picnic Basket are in the parade of shops on the left; Gastronomia G. is near the end on the right.
  53. After tea, continue north-east along the Pantiles to reach Neville Street, with King Charles the Martyr Church opposite. Cross Neville Street by the pedestrian lights to your right. On the other side of the street, turn left and then immediately right into Cumberland Walk. At Gracelands Palace Chinese restaurant, turn left up some steps and a brick alleyway to the start of the High Street. Continue along the length of the High Street, about 300 metres, to its intersection with Vale Road. On the other side of Vale Road you can see signs for Tunbridge Wells Station.
  54. You can enter the station from either side, but trains to London depart from platform 1 on the left. Continental Flavour, a coffee shop, is up ahead on Mount Pleasant Road, opposite the back entrance to the station (on the same side as platform 2). There is also a snack bar in the parade of shops just past this entrance, and The Opera House pub is a short walk up the hill, past the station.