Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Walk 36 : Borough Green to Sevenoaks
Plaxtol, Ightham Mote & Knole House
| Length | 15.5km (9.5 miles), 4 hours 40 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 8 hours 30 minutes. |
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| Toughness | 4 out of 10. |
| OS Landranger Map | No.188. Borough Green, map reference TQ 608 573, is in Kent, 9km east of Sevenoaks. |
| Features | Nine of the 15.5km are before lunch: the walk goes south from Borough Green through woods and along streams and past several interesting houses, to the old village of Plaxtol with its Cromwellian church. Then through the park of Fairlawne House and past its Japanese garden to Ightham Mote, a beautiful moated medieval manor. The route onwards is up a potentially muddy bridleway and through orchards to Lunch at a gourmet 'bar and brasserie', The Snail at Stone Street. After lunch, the walk is through orchards and woods leading to the 1,000-acre Knole Park and its 365-roomed Knole House, and then up by footpaths off to tea in Sevenoaks, with the station 1km downhill from the centre. |
| Shortening the Walk | You could order a taxi from Plaxtol; or from The Snail pub in Stone Street at lunchtime. There are also occasional buses to Sevenoaks from both places. For bus information phone 084 57 696 996 or 01342 893 080. |
| History |
The Cromwellian church at Plaxtol, built in 1649, and has a fine seventeenth-century hammer-beam roof that was originally painted blue. Thomas Stanley of Hamptons, later beheaded for his part in the execution of Charles I, contributed money for repairing the church. There is a slab in the nave floor recording the death, within one month in 1771, of four young children of the Knowles family. Knole House was a palace of the Archbishops of Canterbury from 1456 until it was seized by Henry VIII in 1532. In 1566, Elizabeth I granted it to the Sackville family. It is described as a calendar house, with 365 rooms, 12 staircases and seven courtyards. The house, with its tapestries, paintings and collection of seventeenth-century furniture, is open to visitors from April 1st to the end of October, Tuesday to Sunday (plus bank holiday Mondays) with last entry at 4pm. Admission is £4.50, children £2.25. The house stands in a park of 1,000 acres. There is no charge for walking in the park, and in any case the route described in the book'swalk directions follows public rights of way. Ightham Mote pronounced 'item') is a lovely Tudor and medieval moated manor house and garden (tel 01732 810 378), and can be seen close to from the public way, without paying to go in. It is, anyway, only open to the public from 11am to 5pm, from April 1st to October 31st (closed Tuesday, Saturday). Tickets cost £4.50, children £2.25. It also has a tea pavilion for light refreshments. |
| Lunch | The Snail bar and brasserie (tel 01732 810 233) in Stone Street is run by the Slow Food Company and provides gourmet food at relatively gourmet prices (one grilled banana costs £3.50). It serves lunch until 2.30pm daily (not Monday). You can eat sandwiches in the garden. |
| Major Updates | Lunch now at The Padworth Arms (as the Snail is more of a restaurant) [details] |
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| Warning | This text was taken from an older edition of the book, and is a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk. |
Walking Instructions
For a map and detailed walking instruction, please see Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
