Kent Ramblers: Walk 36

Points of Interest

St Paul's Church

Built in the 1880s and designed by Edwin Thomas Hall (who designed Liberty's in Regent Street), St Paul's may be the oldest concrete church in England. The fine interior contains work by William Lethaby and others in the Arts and Crafts movement.

Furnace House

This Grade II listed timber framed house was built in the late 16th or early 17th century and the roof later remodelled to create a greater overhang. The name suggests that the house was built by the owner or manager of a furnace during the heyday of the Wealden iron industry and is indeed very close to two furnaces believed to have been operating around 1589, probably by Thomas Browne whose family was very prominent in the industry.

Marlpit Wood

There are many references to marl pits on maps of Kent.
Marl is a rock layer consisting of a mixture of clay and chalk. It has been excavated since Roman times as a fertiliser ' the name is derived from a Latin word for fertiliser. A marl layer is often found in association with ironstone ' hence Furnace House Farm not far from the wood.

Bough Beech

For many years the area you pass through alongside the reservoir was managed as a nature reserve by Kent Wildlife Trust with a visitor centre at the oast house.

Sadly the visitor centre was closed at the end of 2017 and at the time of writing the Trust appears to have withdrawn completely from the site which is owned by Sutton and East Surrey Water. There is parking on the lane where it divides the reservoir and it is rare not to see birdwatchers here with their binoculars and zoom lenses. The reservoir itself is filled in winter by pumping water from the River Eden for purification and use by SES Water during the drier summer months.

White "Stiles"

You will see a series of white structures that look a little like stiles but no path goes over them. These follow the route of a pipeline and are presumably to enable the route to be followed from the air.

Public Transport

Unfortunately there are no bus or rail services convenient for this walk.

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