Kent Ramblers: Walk 109

Points of Interest

Cudham Workhouse

This was one of the first workhouses to be purpose-built in response to Sir Edward Knatchbull's Act of 1722-23 which sought to act as a deterrent by making the workhouse the only relief available to the poor.
Poor people not desperate enough to accept the harsh regime were to be 'put out of the Parish Books' and not entitled to relief in that or any other parish.
According to a Parliamentary survey in 1776-88, Cudham workhouse could accommodate 35 people.

The Wilberforce Oak

Beneath an old oak in the grounds of Holwood, the home of William Pitt, William Wilberforce decided to seek the abolition of slavery. The original oak died around the turn of the century (the sorry remains can be seen below the path) and a replacement has been planted closer to the path.

Keston Common �

' is the scene of an ecological disaster in H G Wells' book The Food of the Gods. A local doctor
experiments secretly in a nearby cottage with an alkaloid that promotes exceptional growth. Some of the alkaloid escapes into the ponds where it is eaten by tadpoles and works its way up the food chain. Soon the Common is overrun with giant plants and animals.
The tale is apparently an unconvincing allegory for the contrast between large and small units in local government ' Wells preferring the large.

Public Transport

The following buses pass the roundabout at the junction of Westerham Road and Heathfield Road passed near the beginning of the walk (from where you follow Westerham Road southwards'):

Bus 146 from Bromley North and Bromley South on its way to Downe. The service is hourly every day.

Bus 246 from Bromley North and Bromley South to Biggin Hill and Westerham. The service is half-hourly from Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sunday.

Bus R2 from Orpington High Street or station (half-hourly, not Sundays).

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