Chartwell and Toy's Hill
Distance: 5.5 Miles (2.5 Hours)
OS Map: Explorer 147 (Start at grid reference
TQ455517)

Parking: Park in the National Trust car park at
Chartwell - free for NT members and £3 for others. The
car park is open every day except Christmas Day and
Boxing Day from 9am until 5.30pm or dusk if earlier.
Leave the car park by the exit (past the restaurant,
shops and toilets) and turn left along the road past the
house. When the wall on the left ends, there is a
lay-by on the right where you could park if you cannot
use the National Trust car park. Take the bridleway
just past the lay-by uphill through woods.
When the path levels out somewhat, take a left turn,
waymarked “National Trust Limpsfield Walk”. Continue
alongside Mariners Hill, with magnificent views across
Bough Beech Reservoir towards The Weald. Follow the
path downhill until you reach Froghole Lane. Turn
right.
When the lane turns sharp right, turn sharp left down
a path immediately before a house called Spark Haw (not
the path immediately beyond, signposted “Crockham Hill
Church”). This path between two houses is not
signposted but there may be a couple of waymarks on the
fence (they come and go). Go downhill between fences,
across duckboards then down the left hand edge of a
field to an asphalt track.
Bear right to a path over a stile just across the
track. Cross the middle of one field, follow the edge
of another and then start to follow the edge of a
third. When the hedge alongside this field turns sharp
left, carry straight on across the field to a gate soon
followed by another gate. Cross a paddock and go
through a third gate to reach a farm track.
Turn left along the track through Grange Farm and
follow all the way (just over half a mile) to a road.
Turn left along the road and take the first track on the
right through a gate. Follow this track past Obriss
Farm and through a gate. Turn sharp left and walk along
the left hand edge of the field. Cross the next field
diagonally right, going over the highest point of the
field to the far corner, then along next field edge. Go
through a short section of wood, then steeply uphill to
enter more woodland and along track between hedges.
Continue round a sharp left hand bend, a steep section
and then a sharp right hand turn (the gate straight
ahead leads to a private house (Bardogs), but the path
on the right is not obvious until you get right up to
the gate). Follow the path up to the road and turn
right uphill. Soon there is a seat and a view point by
Octavia Hill’s Well on the right where you can stop to
rest and admire the scenery.
Continue along the road to the centre of Toy’s Hill
village. Just past the red telephone box on the left
take a path going quite steeply uphill. Follow this
path, bearing right and climbing steeply at first
junction. Carry straight on or bear slightly left at
all later junctions, soon joining the Greensand Way and
following the blue waymarks. The path first climbs and
then descends, emerging from the wood near the former
French Street nursery. Continue along a level track to
a lane coming down from the right. Follow this lane
downhill to the valley bottom, then uphill through
French Street. In the middle of French Street, turn
left along a drive (tarred initially), well signposted
with various waymarks including one for the Greensand
Way. Bear left when the hedge does, and follow
Greensand Way markers until you reach a road.
There are two paths on the other side of the road.
Take the one on the left downhill and back to the
Chartwell car park.
The tearoom is normally open from 10 to 5 (not
Christmas Day or Boxing Day).
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Points of Interest
Octavia Hill’s Well

The well with views of Bough Beech reservoir (Walk
18) and Ashdown Forest was one of the National Trust’s
first properties, given by Octavia Hill, one of the
Trust’s founders, who lived and is buried at Crockham
Hill (Walk 14).
Chartwell

Home to Winston Churchill until his death in 1965.
In addition to the walking routes on our web site we
have published two popular walking guides:

Guide to the
Kent Coast Path: Part 1, Camber to Ramsgate

Guide to Three
River Valley Walks in West Kent: Darent Valley Path,
Eden Valley Walk and Medway Valley Walk
Ramblers' volunteers in Kent work tirelessly to
ensure that our paths are as well protected and
maintained as possible. Of course we also organise
led walks but most of our members are independent
walkers who simply want to support our footpath work.
Please
join us and become a supporter too. You need
us and we really need you.
Mapping contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown
copyright 2015
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