"A breezy climb across the North Downs following the routes of ancient trackways."
Walk directions
With your back to Marley Road, take the signed footpath from the Pilgrim's Way up steps and over a stile, then head half right across a sloping field. When you reach the hedged corner of the next field, turn left towards the ridge of the North Downs, heading beneath the power lines for a gap between two buildings on the skyline.
Climb the stile at the field-edge and take the steep grassy track beyond towards the farm at the brow of the hill. Turn left at the stock fence and walk along to a pair of gates. Turn right at the waymark and up the fenced path, leaving the farm buildings on your right. Bear left at a shed and follow a line of oak trees to the next stile.
Continue on the track over the fields beyond, bearing diagonally half right (aim for the far corner of Stedehill Wood, to your right). Cross a stile into a lane. Cross over and carry on past a fallen tree trunk to a stile. Make for the buildings of Hogbarn down the slope, where there are holiday chalets.
Cross three more stiles, then cross Hogbarn Lane and follow the path past the farm over more stiles, bearing half left through a scrubby field containing caravans. Go downhill through the field, following footpath signs right through a hawthorn copse and field, keeping a wire fence to your right. Cross a stile and head uphill across the next field, making for a gap in the hedge. Cross more stiles until you reach the lane in Ringlestone. The Ringlestone Inn lies immediately to your left.
On your return journey, take the stile back into the field from which you emerged earlier but this time turn half right, following a different footpath. Follow the waymarkers along the edges of two fields to the corner of a wood on your right, then diagonally across the next, bearing right along the margin of another wood. Cross stiles over a lane and keep straight along more field-edges, following the signs.
Continue past a copse (a path adjoins from your right), bearing left then half right to the far corner of the field, making for the left of a line of conifers. Take a stile to your left into the lane (Dean’s Hill) and cross, taking the path opposite beside a ‘Private Road’ sign, near Lower Deans Farm.
Continue diagonally half right past a white cottage to your right. Watch for signs at the end of a hedgeline on your left, then bear half right and take a stile at the far hedge. Turn half left across arable fields, descending sharply.
Cross a stile at the far left corner of the field. Turn left and walk through trees, crossing Stede Hill. Continue on the wooded Pilgrim's Way, returning to the start near Marley Road.
Terrain
- Field paths, lanes and woodland margins, sticky after rain; strenuous gradients; many stiles
Landscape
- Open countryside
Dog friendliness
- May run free except near stock and on roads
Parking
- Limited roadside/layby parking along the Pilgrim's Way, close to the Pilgrim Bench by Grotto Wood; avoid obstructing entrances to the Marley Works (in constant use by HGVs)
Toilets en route
- None on route; nearest on Maidstone Road, off the High Street in Lenham
This energetic walk takes you high over the North Downs ridge, rewarding the effort with arresting views over open countryside, and the attractions of a decent pub conveniently located halfway round. The whole of the Kentish Downs is classified as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. You’ll need... good boots after rain, and be warned: there are plenty of stiles to climb. Thanks to Geoffrey Chaucer, most people have heard of the Pilgrim’s Way, the medieval route from London to Thomas à Becket’s shrine in Canterbury. In fact, two ancient routes follow the natural causeway along the North Downs, though they don’t match exactly. The pilgrims tended to walk along the southerly slopes of the ridge, avoiding too much climbing, but above the beds of sticky clay coating the feet of the Downs (and their own feet, too). In wet weather you’ll notice how much easier it is to walk on the chalky, flinty upper slopes, rather than the treacly stuff that turns your boots into lead weights. Running alongside the Pilgrims Way, and sometimes converging with it, is a much older route known as the Trackway, which dates from prehistoric times. This age-old artery made use of the North Downs as a vantage point and defensive rampart. It formed part of a much larger trading route linking the Straits of Dover with the valuable mineral deposits of the West Country, and the mysterious monuments at Avebury and Stonehenge. Today, these ancient thoroughfares are partly traversed, partly combined in the scenic long distance trail known as the North Downs Way.
Kent is home to the White Cliffs of Dover, an English icon that marks the point where the Kent Downs AONB stretches from the Surrey Hills down to the sea. Visitors can explore historic parklands, including Knole Park and Sir Winston Churchill’s former home at Chartwell, or beautiful nature reserves, such as the coppiced woodlands of Denge Wood and Earley Wood and the ancient fine chalk woodland of Yockletts Bank.
"A breezy climb across the North Downs following the routes of ancient trackways."
Walk details
2hr 30mins
Difficulty:
Hard
Gradient:
Challenging
Distance:
4 miles (6.4kms)
Ascent:
262ft (80m)
Walk directions
With your back to Marley Road, take the signed footpath from the Pilgrim's Way up steps and over a stile, then head half right across a sloping field. When you reach the hedged corner of the next field, turn left towards the ridge of the North Downs, heading beneath the power lines for a gap between two buildings on the skyline.
1 of 8
Climb the stile at the field-edge and take the steep grassy track beyond towards the farm at the brow of the hill. Turn left at the stock fence and walk along to a pair of gates. Turn right at the waymark and up the fenced path, leaving the farm buildings on your right. Bear left at a shed and follow a line of oak trees to the next stile.
2 of 8
Continue on the track over the fields beyond, bearing diagonally half right (aim for the far corner of Stedehill Wood, to your right). Cross a stile into a lane. Cross over and carry on past a fallen tree trunk to a stile. Make for the buildings of Hogbarn down the slope, where there are holiday chalets.
3 of 8
Cross three more stiles, then cross Hogbarn Lane and follow the path past the farm over more stiles, bearing half left through a scrubby field containing caravans. Go downhill through the field, following footpath signs right through a hawthorn copse and field, keeping a wire fence to your right. Cross a stile and head uphill across the next field, making for a gap in the hedge. Cross more stiles until you reach the lane in Ringlestone. The Ringlestone Inn lies immediately to your left.
4 of 8
On your return journey, take the stile back into the field from which you emerged earlier but this time turn half right, following a different footpath. Follow the waymarkers along the edges of two fields to the corner of a wood on your right, then diagonally across the next, bearing right along the margin of another wood. Cross stiles over a lane and keep straight along more field-edges, following the signs.
5 of 8
Continue past a copse (a path adjoins from your right), bearing left then half right to the far corner of the field, making for the left of a line of conifers. Take a stile to your left into the lane (Dean’s Hill) and cross, taking the path opposite beside a ‘Private Road’ sign, near Lower Deans Farm.
6 of 8
Continue diagonally half right past a white cottage to your right. Watch for signs at the end of a hedgeline on your left, then bear half right and take a stile at the far hedge. Turn half left across arable fields, descending sharply.
7 of 8
Cross a stile at the far left corner of the field. Turn left and walk through trees, crossing Stede Hill. Continue on the wooded Pilgrim's Way, returning to the start near Marley Road.
Terrain
- Field paths, lanes and woodland margins, sticky after rain; strenuous gradients; many stiles
Landscape
- Open countryside
Dog friendliness
- May run free except near stock and on roads
Parking
- Limited roadside/layby parking along the Pilgrim's Way, close to the Pilgrim Bench by Grotto Wood; avoid obstructing entrances to the Marley Works (in constant use by HGVs)
Toilets en route
- None on route; nearest on Maidstone Road, off the High Street in Lenham
This energetic walk takes you high over the North Downs ridge, rewarding the effort with arresting views over open countryside, and the attractions of a decent pub conveniently located halfway round. The whole of the Kentish Downs is classified as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. You’ll need... good boots after rain, and be warned: there are plenty of stiles to climb. Thanks to Geoffrey Chaucer, most people have heard of the Pilgrim’s Way, the medieval route from London to Thomas à Becket’s shrine in Canterbury. In fact, two ancient routes follow the natural causeway along the North Downs, though they don’t match exactly. The pilgrims tended to walk along the southerly slopes of the ridge, avoiding too much climbing, but above the beds of sticky clay coating the feet of the Downs (and their own feet, too). In wet weather you’ll notice how much easier it is to walk on the chalky, flinty upper slopes, rather than the treacly stuff that turns your boots into lead weights. Running alongside the Pilgrims Way, and sometimes converging with it, is a much older route known as the Trackway, which dates from prehistoric times. This age-old artery made use of the North Downs as a vantage point and defensive rampart. It formed part of a much larger trading route linking the Straits of Dover with the valuable mineral deposits of the West Country, and the mysterious monuments at Avebury and Stonehenge. Today, these ancient thoroughfares are partly traversed, partly combined in the scenic long distance trail known as the North Downs Way.
Kent is home to the White Cliffs of Dover, an English icon that marks the point where the Kent Downs AONB stretches from the Surrey Hills down to the sea. Visitors can explore historic parklands, including Knole Park and Sir Winston Churchill’s former home at Chartwell, or beautiful nature reserves, such as the coppiced woodlands of Denge Wood and Earley Wood and the ancient fine chalk woodland of Yockletts Bank.
