Westerham and Chartwell
Length: 5.1 miles (2h 30m)
OS Map: Explorer 147 (Start at grid reference
TQ446540)
Click map to enlarge and click
again to enlarge further
There are several car parks in and around Westerham.
The largest, Darent car park, is on the eastern edge of
town past Quebec House. Wherever you park, make
your way to The Green, dominated by a large sculpture of
Winston Churchill.
Head up the High Street to highest point then
continue downhill until junction with Croydon Road
(B2024) on right. Turn left up narrow Lodge Lane
and at end take footpath on right. Keeping left at
any junctions continue to bridge over River Darent.
Follow track round to right and immediately after house
on right take path steeply uphill between fences.
At top pass through kissing gate into copse then second
kissing gate into woodland.
Continue through woodland, eventually descending
towards a house. By this time you are following
the Greensand Way and will continue to do so until you
reach French Street. Turn right in front of house
and follow broad path until junction of paths with post
bearing many waymarks, not all of them pointing in the
right direction.
Bear left and follow Greensand Way, keeping left
where route is unclear, to reach clearing at junction of
multiple paths with welcome bench. Bear right to
bench, turn left past it and take left fork after a few
metres. Follow Greensand Way through woodland,
passing remote cottage then descending to junction of
paths by gateway to April Cottage on right. Go
forward uphill soon reaching Hosey Common Road.
Bear right across road and take path on other side
steeply uphill. As path levels out, turn left at
waymark post. Continue without change of
direction, soon descending to Mapleton Road at entrance
to Chartwell where refreshments can be obtained if open.
Take path opposite, climbing between fences, to reach
Hosey Common Lane. Go straight across on broad and
sometimes muddy track, avoiding side paths until track
bears left on approach to French Street and gates to
gardens are visible. Here Greensand Way goes sharp
right but for this walk you turn sharp left into
woodland, soon meeting drive to house. Turn left
then right in front of house and continue through
woodland to meet Hosey Common Lane again. Turn
right until end of fence surrounding Evergreen Acres
Farm on left then turn left through woods and soon meet
Hosey Common Road.
Go straight across and take path on right leading
into woods. Follow this path downhill, avoiding
side paths that lead uphill, eventually emerging through
gate into open land. Turn sharp right, climbing
steeply until there are fine views ahead of North Downs.
At junction of paths and waymark post, take path
slightly right of straight ahead, soon descending to
fence. Go through gate, continue downhill and at
bottom bear right to bridge over Darent. Head
along Mill Street to A25 then left back to Green or
right to large Darent car park.
In addition to the walking routes on our web site we
have published four popular walking guides:
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Points of Interest
Hill Fort
The iron age hill fort is now
heavily wooded and difficult to inspect.
Briefly in 1961 parts were cleared of trees and
an archaeological investigation undertaken.
This revealed clearly the construction of the
ditches around the site but very few artifacts were
found, suggesting that the fort was little used.
It may be coincidence that in 1927
a hoard of iron age coins was found on Hosey Common but
equally they could be contemporaneous with the fort.
The fourteen coins, made of gold, silver and
copper, were contained within a naturally hollowed out
sphere of flint.
The find was dated to around 100 BC.
Chartwell
For many years the home of Winston
Churchill, Chartwell offers not just the opportunity to
tour the house with its displays of Churchillian
memorabilia but also an exhibition of his paintings, a
large garden with black swans on the lake, a woodland
walk with fine bluebells in spring, an adventure trail
for the children and of course the tea-room/restaurant
and shop.
Belongs to the National Trust.
Quebec House
...was the childhood home of
General James Wolfe who died in the Battle of Quebec
while commanding the forces that seized the town from
the French in 1775.
The house belongs to the National Trust and its
opening times depend on the season.
Westerham
Green
The statue of Sir Winston Churchill
was sculpted by Oscar Nemon and stands on a plinth given
by Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia in 1969.
Public Transport
Westerham is quite well served by
buses, for example from Sevenoaks.
Please report any problems with this walk to
info@kentramblers.org.uk.
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.
Map contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright
and database rights 2023. Some paths on map are based
on data provided by Kent County Council but do not
constitute legal evidence of the line of a right of way.
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