Kent Ramblers Walk 3

Shoreham Station and Upper Austin Lodge

Distance:   4.7 Miles (2 hours)

OS Map:   Explorer 147 (Start at grid reference TQ526615)

Click map to enlarge and click again to enlarge further

Park in the vicinity of Shoreham station.  There is a lay-by immediately opposite the station or you can park in Station Road.

Proceed down Station Road away from station and take path on right opposite entrance to Shoreham Place.  Crosse bottom of field with wall then hedge on left.  When the hedge ends, turn right along hedge to railway, cross with care and continue to road.
Cross road and turn left, keeping as far onto narrow verge as you can.  Very shortly take path through gap in hedge on right leading into field.  Bear left across field making for gap in hedge opposite.  Follow track through wood and out at bottom of a garden.  Cross garden diagonally uphill, cross drive and take path into wood.

Climb steeply through wood.  At T-junction at top turn left.  At far end of wood, cross field ahead diagonally to lowest corner and go through gap into wood near corner.  Go down steep steps through wood and then between hedges.  When hedges end turn left across former golf course.  Cross access drive to former golf course (now Fairways) and continue to Upper Austin Lodge Road.

Turn right past several houses and farms.  Pass gate advising that there is no through access.  Carry straight on through former golf course.  [You can make a detour to the Pilcher Monument where signed.  The trip there and back adds an extra third of a mile to the walk.]  At “Private Land” signs take path on left enclosed between hedges going uphill.  Follow this to Lower Wood.  Bear right along lower edge of Lower Wood, then along tops of several fields.  Just past house on left at stile on left,  Turn sharp right, noting excellent tview including, on a clear day, the Shard, the Walkie-Talkie building and the Cheesegrater building in the City and Canary Wharf in Docklands.

Head downhill towards hedge that comes half way up the hill.  Continue downhill with the hedge on left and slightly uphill to cross stile onto green lane.  Go straight across and down field to valley bottom.  Take path between two hedges, climbing steeply up other side of valley and through wood.  On far side of the wood, bear left across two fields and join green lane, where you bear half right.  Follow the lane into Dunstall Farm.  In middle of farmyard, turn right then sharp left to skirt barn.  Past barn, go straight across field into wood.  Descend steep steps and follow track bringing you out almost opposite Shoreham station.

Points of Interest

Dunstall Priory

The English home of the playwright Lord Dunsany (1878-1957) who at one time had five plays running simultaneously on Broadway.   The family also had an estate at Dunsany in Ireland.

Pilcher Monument

Opened in 2006, the monument marks the site of pioneering experiments in manned flight undertaken by Percy Pilcher in 1896 and 1897, initially using gliders.  He later designed and built a powered triplane but was killed in a gliding accident in 1899 before he had the opportunity to test it.  Had he lived he might have beaten the Wright Brothers to the first successful powered flight.

Public Transport

The walk is ideal for travelling by train to Shoreham Station on the route from Victoria to Maidstone or St Pancras and City Thameslink to Sevenoaks.

Fox and Hounds

This pub at Romney Street which you may find marked on your Ordnance Survey map is no longer open.

In addition to the walking routes on our web site we have published three popular walking guides:

Guide to Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk and other walks in the area

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

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.