insideKENT Magazine Issue 34 - January 2015 | Page 90

DAYSOUT

Knole Park Walk
It’s the New Year, so wrap up and get out into the fresh air to stretch your legs and blow
away those cobwebs. This four-mile walk around Kent’s last medieval deer park will soon
have you walking off the excesses of Christmas.

Walk from the leisure centre and through the
gate into Knole Park, and you’ll have your first
glimpse of the many deer to be seen along the
walk; in fact, the very ancestors of those that
Henry VIII once hunted. Deer hunting was a
popular pastime in the 16th century, and England
once boasted more than 700 deer parks.
A former stone ice house is visible on your
right as you head up the slope and bear right
past Knole’s grand façade, an impressive mansion
which boasts six centuries of aristocratic residents
and history.
W alongside the Kentish rag stone garden
alk
walls and you’ll pass wrought iron gates, which
reveal part of the 24 acres of formal gardens.

Archbishop Bourchier established a lavender
garden and a small orchard here more than 500
years ago.
Crossing the grass and heading into the
open woodland, you’ll discover elements of the
medieval landscape including the hawthorn, oak,
yew, hornbeam, silver birch, maple and ash trees
that would have dominated the Weald.
The scenery at Knole has changed very
little since the 17th century and walking along
the Broad Walk, you’ll see that it has survived
the landscaping that altered many similar parks.
Only the broad tree-lined avenues etched across
the park hint at any kind of change to the
surroundings.

Turn left down the Chestnut Walk with its
ancient avenues of trees. While the Greensand
Way turns off to the left, continue straight and
follow the path to head gently downhill through
the open woodland.
Crossing the manicured lawns of the golf
course, you’ll discover stretching views across
the valley to the chalk Downs beyond.
Finish your walk and enjoy a steaming mug
of something in the onsite tearooms, or explore
more of the numerous paths through this
peaceful landscape, before retracing your steps
to the car park.

Location: Sevenoaks
Distance: 4.3 miles (6.3 km)
Time: Allow 2 hours
OS Explorer Map: 147
Terrain: Mainly surfaced paths with
some grassed gentle slopes, plus one
steep slope with handrail
Parking: Available on site
Refreshments & Facilities:
National Trust tearooms
Public Transport: For local bus and
train services in Kent, contact Traveline
on 0870 6082608 or visit
www.traveline.org.uk.

To find out about other walks in Kent or for information on cycling, riding and country parks
in Kent, visit www.kent.gov.uk/explorekent. Follow @explorekent on Twitter.

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