Walk: Westerham to Chipstead (6.2 miles)

Start in Darent car park just off A25 on eastern outskirts of Westerham. Leave at corner diagonally opposite entrance, cross footbridge over Darent and turn right along edge of field.

This walk is the new extension to the Darent Valley Path opened in June 2025. Owners of our 2018 guide to Three River Valley Walks which included the DVP may care to keep these pages as an insert.

Points of Interest

Westerham

A pleasant town marred only by the busy A25 running through it. The triangular green is dominated by Oscar Nemon's bronze statue of Sir Winston Churchill who lived nearby at Chartwell. Further up the green is a statue of General James Wolfe who died in the successful battle to seize Quebec from the French in 1759 and was born in the vicarage, a large white-washed building on the right as one descends Vicarage Hill towards Brasted.

Quebec House where the Wolfe family lived until James was 11 years old belongs to the National Trust and has been restored to look much as it did in Wolfe's day.

St Mary's church stands at the top of the hill on which Westerham is built, the churchyard offering fine views of the surrounding countryside — the North Downs to the north, the Greensand Ridge to the south and the Darent Valley below.

Brasted

Another village whose charm is diminished only by the busy road running through it. The long High Street is lined with many buildings of architectural charm. Out of sight is Brasted Place, one of only two houses in Kent designed by Robert Adam, famous for occupation by the future Emperor Napoleon III while plotting his first attempt to seize power in France.

St Martin's church is a short way north of the High Street on a mound beside the Stanhope Arms. The walk to the church, which was rebuilt in 1880 except for the tower, crosses the Darent and offers a rare view of the river on this section of the walk.

Dryhill Country Park

A quarry until it closed in 1958, Dryhill is both a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Regionally Important Geological Site. The quarrying has exposed alternating beds of "rag" and "hassock", part of the Hythe beds which in turn are part of the Lower Greensand formation laid down around 110 million years ago when what is now Kent was beneath the sea. The ragstone is a hard sandy limestone while the hassock is a soft sandstone. Both Knole house and Dover castle are built of ragstone.

Chipstead

There are some very fine houses along the High Street but otherwise Chipstead's main point of interest is nearby Chevening, a fine mansion designed by Inigo Jones and built in the early 17th century. It was given to the nation in 1959 to become the official country residence of a Government Minister selected by the Prime Minister, usually the Foreign Secretary.

The fourth Earl Stanhope was a mathematician who studied maze design and introduced the "island maze" in order to defeat people who navigate mazes by keeping one hand on the wall. He built a maze at Chevening in 1820.

Public Transport

A short walk to Bessels Green enables you to pick up bus number 1 for the 13 minute ride back to Westerham. This bus also serves Sevenoaks station so could be used for outward and return journeys from there although it runs more frequently in the morning than the afternoon. There is no service on Sundays. Westerham is also served by bus 246 from Bromley.