Chateaus and Chagalls - A Topnotch Tour around Tonbridge

"C'est magnifique! Je les ferai tous!" ("It's magnificent! I will do them all!") said artist Marc Chagall at the dedication of his window in the small church of Tudeley. And he gradually did just that, making Tudeley the only church in the world with all its windows designed by him. This is just one attraction on a walk that starts and ends in the historic town of Tonbridge and takes in oast houses and estate houses (Jacobean Somerhill House, Tonbridge Castle), and public houses and God's houses (more stained glass, this time by William Morris). The natural attractions abound too, including the banks of the River Medway and the splendid views across the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 

The sights:

Tonbridge: A market town on the River Medway, dominated by the C13 castle gatehouse. The core of the town still contains many buildings dating from the C15: the oldest is The Portreeve's House. Tonbridge rose against Queen Mary's marriage to the King of Spain in 1554 and as a result saw the burning of a number of Protestants. During the Civil War, the town was garrisoned by the Parliamentarians who refortified the castle. Royalists failed to retake the town. From 1740 the Medway Navigation Company allowed coal and lime to be transported to the town, and gunpowder, hops and timber to be carried downriver to Maidstone and the Thames. Some of the original warehouses and the wharves remain today.

All Saints, Tudeley: Mostly C13 and C14, restored in the C18. In 1963, Sarah, the daughter of Sir Henry and Lady D'Avigdor-Goldsmid of Somerhill House, drowned off Rye, East Sussex. The couple commissioned Russian-French Cubist-Fauvist artist Marc Chagall to design a memorial stained glass window. When Chagall came for the dedication of the window in 1967 and saw the church for the first time, he exclaimed "It's magnificent! I will do them all!". He designed the remaining eleven windows over 10 years. The last windows were installed in 1985 after Chagall's death.

Southborough: A large village in a formerly heavily wooded setting on the edge of Tunbridge Wells. The Common is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI). St Peter's Church was designed by Decimus Burton, architect of Marble Arch, some of Regent's Park and Kew's Temperate House. Southborough Common will be our lunch stop and the Hand and Sceptre pub is adjacent.

Bidborough: A village on Bidborough Ridge overlooking the Medway Valley and northern High Weald. St Lawrence is a small Norman sandstone church, elevated above the village. A north aisle was added in the C13, and Ewan Christian built one to the south in 1876. Grade II* listed. Most windows made by William Morris and Company, some designed by Edward Burne-Jones.

Haysden Country Park: 64 hectares of countryside with two lakes and a stretch of the River Medway. The park is home to a variety of wildlife including waterfowl, wild flowers, and insect life. A Site of Nature Conservation Interest, and Local Nature Reserve.

Tonbridge Castle: In 1067 William I charged Richard Fitz Gilbert with guarding the Medway. He erected a motte-and-bailey castle on the site. In 1088, the de Clare family (descendants of Fitz Gilbert) rebelled against William II. His army besieged the castle, which fell, and as punishment the king had both the castle and the town burnt to the ground. Before 1100, the de Clares replaced the wooden castle with a stone shell keep. This was reinforced during the C13, and in 1295 a stone wall was built around the town. The twin-towered gatehouse of was built by Richard de Clare, completed in 1260. The castle was not lived in between 1521 and the late C18. The mansion was added in 1793. Both castle and mansion are Grade I listed buildings. The motte can be climbed up and the bailey is now a park.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is suitable for them. It is of moderate length, but there will be fields with livestock and a number of stiles and roads to negotiate and lanes to walk along. A dog must be obedient if it is off the lead. 

The route: 

We'll set off north from the station as far as the bridge in the centre of the town. We'll then pick up the Wealdway east as far as Postern Lane and The Postern and take that. heading east, as far as Tudeley Hale, before heading south to Tudeley proper. We'll then south along Five Oak Green Road and follow the Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk (TWCW) south to Dislingbury Road where we'll go under the A21 and follow a footpath under the railway line. We'll then rejoin the TWCW to Southborough. After lunch and crossing Southborough Common, we'll follow the Eden Valley Walk to Bidborough. This will lead us along the B2176, then north to Haysden, under the A21 and through Haysden Country Park over and along the Medway back to Tonbridge where we'll have a quick look around the sights before heading back to the station.

(Please click the link in red to be taken to the route at the Ordnance Survey website. This will also show you the elevations and climbing.)

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(Image credits: View over the Medway Valley: Photo © Des Blenkinsopp (cc-by-sa/2.0); Gatehouse, Tonbridge Castle: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Postern Heath, Postern Lane, Tonbridge, Kent: Photo © Oast House Archive (cc-by-sa/2.0); Half-timbered house at Tudeley Hale: Photo © Marathon (cc-by-sa/2.0); Church of All Saints', Tudeley: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Tudeley, All Saints Church: Marc Chagall north nave window: Photo © Michael Garlick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Tudeley, All Saints Church Marc Chagall east window 3 (detail): Photo © Michael Garlick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Tudeley, All Saints Church: The nave from the chancel: Photo © Michael Garlick (cc-by-sa/2.0); View towards Nightingale Farm from Vauxhall Lane: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Church of St Peter: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); View to Bidborough: Photo © Des Blenkinsopp (cc-by-sa/2.0); Baker's Cottage, Bidborough: Photo © Marathon (cc-by-sa/2.0); The Wealdway: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Haysden House: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Manor Farm Cottage: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Manor Farm Oast: Photo © Oast House Archive (cc-by-sa/2.0); River Medway and Haysden Lake: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Tonbridge Castle: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Tyger's Head House: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0). All photos are copyrighted but are above credited to their copyright holders and are licensed for further reuse under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).)