OTFORD-WROTHAM EYNSFORD DETOUR

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11.1 mi

449 ft

03h34

Medium

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Route information

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Last verified: 4 September 2024

Description by the author

OTFORD-WROTHAM EYNSFORD DETOUR

OTFORD-WROTHAM OPTION B

Detour from north downs way- public transport required

Length: 17.92km Ascent: 137m diﬃculty level: 7/10

START: 64 Hitchen Hatch Ln, Sevenoaks TN13 3AY, UK

FINISH: Royal Oak, Wrotham Heath, Sevenoaks TN15 7RX, UK

ATTRACTIONS

Battle of Otford (Event) - Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve (Reserve) - Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation (Nature park) - Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve (Animal support) - Eynsford Castle (Castle) - Lullingstone Country Park (Park) - Lullingstone Roman Villa (Historical place) - Otford Palace (Palace) - Preston Hill Country Park (Park) - Shoreham Aircraft Museum (Museum)

Shoreham Aircraft Museum

The Shoreham Aircraft Museum is located in the village of Shoreham near Sevenoaks in Kent, England, on the south-east edge of Greater London. It was founded by volunteers in 1978 and is dedicated to the airmen who fought in the skies over southern England during the Second World War.

Preston Hill Country Park

Preston Hill Country Park is in Eynsford, in Kent, England. A former military firing range and woodland.

Lullingstone Country Park

Lullingstone Country Park

Lullingstone Roman Villa

Lullingstone Roman Villa is a villa built during the Roman occupation of Britain, situated near the village of Eynsford in Kent, south eastern England. Constructed in the 1st century, perhaps around A. D. 80-90, the house was repeatedly expanded and occupied until it was destroyed by fire in the 5th century. The occupants were wealthy Romans or native Britons who had adopted Roman customs.

Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation

Eagle Heights is now home to one of the UK’s largest Bird of Prey Centres, currently we have a collection of approximately 100 raptors. This includes over 50 species, many of which are now breeding at the centre or can be seen flying in our daily demonstrations.

Eynsford Castle

Eynsford Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in Eynsford, Kent. Built on the site of an earlier Anglo-Saxon stone burh, the castle was constructed by William de Enysford, probably between 1085 and 1087, to protect the lands of Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, from Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux. It comprised an inner and an outer bailey, the former protected by a stone curtain wall. In 1130 the defences were improved, and a large stone hall built in the inner bailey. The de Enysford family held the castle until their male line died out in 1261, when it was divided equally between the Heringaud and de Criol families. A royal judge, William Inge, purchased half of the castle in 1307, and arguments ensued between him and his co-owner, Nicholas de Criol, who ransacked Eynsford in 1312. The castle was never reoccupied and fell into ruins, and in the 18th century it was used to hold hunting kennels and stables. The ruins began to be restored after 1897, work intensifying after 1948 when the Ministry of Works took over the running of the castle. In the 21st century, Eynsford Castle is managed by English Heritage and is open to visitors.

Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve

Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve is the operating name of Sevenoaks Gravel Pits, a Site of Special Scientific Interest between the M26 motorway and the town of Sevenoaks in southeast England. It is a former gravel-pit of around 71 hectares , split roughly evenly between water and land, and attracts a huge variety of species thanks to its diverse array of habitats.The site was converted from gravel-pit to nature reserve by the Harrison family - particularly Jeffery Harrison, after whom the visitor centre is named. As such, the site is almost totally man-made - nearly all trees on the site were manually planted, and the lakes and ponds were created by excavating and flooding former gravel workings with water from the River Darent. As such, the site represented the first such conversion of a gravel-pit anywhere in the United Kingdom.

Battle of Otford

The Battle of Otford was a battle fought in 776 between the Mercians, led by Offa of Mercia, and the Jutes of Kent. The battle took place at Otford, in the modern English county of Kent.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the Mercians and the people of Kent fought at Otford, without giving the outcome, although it is considered significant that Kent was re-established as an independent kingdom after the battle. The kings of Kent continued to issue charters after 776, without any reference to Offa, so historians have deduced that Otford was a Kentish victory. The charters S 35 , S 36 and S 37 are in the name of Egbert, while S 38 is in the name of King Ealhmund. The changeover between Ecgberht and Ealhmund cannot be dated more precisely than 779–784.

Otford Palace

Otford Palace, also known as the Archbishop's Palace, is in Otford, an English village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent. The village is located on the River Darent, flowing north down its valley from its source on the North Downs.The King of Mercia, Offa, fought the Kentish Saxons in 776 at the Battle of Otford. From those times until 1537, the palace was one of the chain of houses belonging to the archbishops of Canterbury. It was rebuilt around 1515 by Archbishop Warham to rival that of Cardinal Wolsey at Hampton Court. Henry VIII forced Archbishop Thomas Cranmer to surrender the palace in 1537.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Getting from Eyensford-Wrotham

Take the train from Eyensford to Otford to Borough Green

then the bus from borough green to London rd

TRAIN

Eyensford - Otford every 30 minutes ($6 - $9)

Otford - Borough Green & Wrotham every 30 minutes ($9 - $14)

BUS

Borough Green- London Rd Wrotham

Bus Nu-Venture or Bus Go-Coachhire