Knockholt Pound - Cudham - Knockholt - Chevening - Knockholt Pound

Alison and Clive Gilbert

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This walk was originally compiled by Alan and Janet Love, sadly both are no longer with us. Alison Gilbert has kindly offered to take them over. Alison and Walkingworld would like all these excellent walks to remain as a continuing tribute to Alan and Janet.

The village of Knockholt / Knockholt Pound nestles on the North Downs Way and is the highest village in Kent at 725ft. Great swathes of the parish are in Green Belt land and much of the village is also an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. On reaching the village of Cudham we first see the Church of St Peter and St Paul; a short detour to the right off our route takes you to the church and into the village, which is 600ft above sea level.

The Blacksmith's Arms, a 17th Century inn, has a restaurant and was at one time home to the infamous Little Tich, who topped the bills at music halls all over the south of England, his career spanning forty years.

From Cudham we make our way across fields and meadows to St Katherine's Church at Knockholt and at one point, on looking back, Canary Wharf can be plainly seen in the background.

We walk down another lovely narrow country lane to reach the entrance to Park Wood and having walked through the wood, we emerge at the end to be greeted by fabulous, far-reaching, panoramic views. As we continue the walk, Chevening House, the official residence of the incumbent Foreign Secretary, comes into view in the valley below together with the church at Chevening, St Botolph's. The church dates from the 13th Century and had a battlemented tower added during the 16th Century. Inside are housed many interesting monuments, including tombs of the Lennard and Stanhope families (succesive owners of Chevening House).

Chevening House, built in the early 17th Century, was remodelled during the 18th Century. This Inigo Jones-style house used to be the home of the Lennard family and was later occupied by the Stanhope family. In 1959 the 7th Earl of Stanhope bequeathed his estate to the nation, the heavily endowed house to be managed by a body of trustees.

The final part of our walk takes us through a wood on a steeply rising path to cross the North Downs Way and walk a short stretch of lane back to Knockholt Pound, opposite the lane on which we started this most scenic of walks.

England - South England - Kent - Countryside

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Food Shop, Great Views, Pub, Public Transport, Restaurant, Wildlife, Woodland

3/14/2021 - Gill Cotzias

Enjoyed this walk which took us just over 4 hours to complete without really any breaks, so need to allow for more time if wanting to go at a leisurely pace. My german shepherd dog could not get under a couple of stiles which were very low to the ground, the first being at point 15 (we were able to go back onto lane and join bridle path about 50 yards or so away from stile). We unfortunately encountered the same problem at point 19 or 20 (apparently the stiles at 20-22 are just as low) but luckily the farmer was about and kindly cut some wire fencing back to let us through and diverted us to another route which eventually reached point 23 (the plantation of trees and St Katherine’s church). The views are awesome, even on a somewhat cloudy day, and when the bluebells come out in a few weeks time the woods will look spectacular.

8/25/2018 - Claire Edwards

Completed today, a sunny August day. A pleasant, easy and mostly flat, walk with clear directions. I was disappointed by the amount of road-walking - over a third is on country lanes. It was my fault for not checking the map beforehand and the positive reviews show that others have enjoyed the route. I cut my losses at waymark 21 and headed back to the start, which was 6 miles and took 1 hr 50. I wouldn't rate this as dog-friendly because of the amount of time on roads.

4/5/2017 - Martin Bellinger

Completed this walk on 2 April 2017. Some of the stiles referred to have been replaced by more robust swing type gates, but navigation is easy and the views stunning. Especially recommend the Blacksmiths Arms in Cudham for an excellent welcome and really first class food. The very steep uphill finish may catch you out, but overall a really lovely walk and among the nicest I have ever done.

7/31/2016 - Simon Dodson

Took this walk today, very enjoyable and stunning views across Kent and back towards London and Canary Wharf. Well worth doing.

6/14/2016 - Mavis White

Led a Ramblers group walk around this route on 30.04.2016. It's in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and certainly lived up to this description. Great views and the bluebells were stunning. Lots of requests for a repeat visit.

4/3/2016 - Sid Marks

We re-walked this today and again,thoroughly enjoyed the walk.Great views and excellent walk instructions.Popped into the Three Horse shoes pub at the finish.The food is superb,highly recommended.

4/10/2014 - Frank Lee

Thank-you very much for taking us on this fantastic walk. It has everything that it said on the packet. It was a lovely sunny day which added to our enjoyment and we both gave it 5 out of 5 for variety. Great views, varied terrain and good signage helped us make it to the end. Some of the instructions need fine tuning with the passing of time but it is still easy to navigate with the original notes.

8/12/2010 - Sid Marks

Done this walk today 10-08-10 and thoroughly enjoyed it. When entering the meadow at waymark 18, the path had virtually disappeared; just keep on same line when crossing the stile to reach stile in the corner of the wood. Also at waymark 17, entering Birches Croft, the 1st part of the path was overgrown with stinging nettles. At waymark 25, there is a sign saying "Beware bull in field". Never saw him tho. Finally the walk only took 210 mins at a steady pace.

5/6/2010 - Judy Brua

This is a walk we keep doing again and again, it is so nice. At the moment, both the gate and stile at waymark 25 have been removed. It may be that they are being replaced, and will re-appear some time in the future.

5/12/2009 - Deborah Barker

8 May 09 Deborah Barker This is such a beautiful walk, masses of bluebells, very varied, wonderful views. Beware meadow at point 21 though - it has been ploughed up and would be very muddy if wet - also the stile is at the top R.H. corner.

4/27/2009 - Stephanie McElroy

Stephanie McElroy - walked on 26/04/09 Have repeated this walk up to 4 times now. April particularly good time to go, fabulous bluebell woods and pastures teaming with wild flowers.

8/31/2008 - S Eran

Certainly Recommended!! Very good directions and spectacular views. Yes beware of the killer stretch at the end (uphill). Not many others on the route.

6/11/2006 - Ian Whyte

Walked on 10/6/06: the poppies after 6 were spectacular.