Tonbridge and Penshurst Place

The Gatehouse of Tonbridge Castle

Full disclosure at the start: the original plan was for Merv and I to have a walk around Tonbridge and then to walk to Penshurst and get a cab back. We soon realised that this was a great plan it was also totally unrealistic so we ended up just driving over to Penshurst.

We parked on the south side of the town near the station and found our way to this lovely bridge across the Medway.

  
Reaching the bridge we turned into the High St and found ourselves opposite the original wall of the castle.

To my great surprise and delight I spotted a Clouded Yellow butterfly, my first of the year. They are not easy to see as they are all emigrants from France and numbers vary wildly from year to year.

On the other side of the bridge we saw the first of several painted horses, apparently a fundraising initiative by a local hospice.

We headed round to the impressive main entrance, with an anachronistic civil war cannon in front. The castle was Norman in origin, consisting of the classic motte and bailey. The motte is remarkably well preserved. The great gatehouse dates from the 13th century.  Here is the internal view of the Gatehouse, looking back across the large area enclosed by the bailey.

One of the most interesting discoveries was that the motte remained in use as a last line of defence. It was linked by the outside wall and if the gatehouse fell the defenders would fall back on the motte. It appears that they were never reduced to this.

We rejoined the High St higher up and passed the extravagant 18th century Rose and Crown pub ...

... on our way to see the exterior of Tonbridge School. The school as was founded in 1553 but the current buildings date mostly from the mid 19th century.

We doubled back to the church of St Peter and Paul. It is of Norman origin, but little of this period survives. The tower is early 14th century.

At right angles to it, in Church Lane, there were a couple of nice houses.

And in Church St a set of Almshouses. These were originally founded in 1648 and were rebuilt in a Gothic style in 1847

After this we enjoyed lunch in the medieval Chequers pub in the High St.

We now headed back to the car and drove off to Penshurst Place, for 500 years the home of the Sidney family. Pevsner says that "there is no finer or more complete C14 manor house than Penshurst Place". It was built by Sir John Pulteney almost complete when he diedf of the Black Death in 1340. Here is the main front (from a postcard), which you don't actually get to see when you visit. A stone outer wall was added in 1492. In 1552 the estate was granted to Sir Philip Sidney and has remained in the Sidney family ever since. Extensions and alterations were made in the 1570s and in the 19th century.

We headed round to visit the interior. The route starts with the astonishing Baron's Hall with its incredible 60ft high roof.

The formal garden was very attractive, viewed from the rear of the house

And the house was spectacular viewed from the back of the formal garden.

There were two remaining treats in the village. The first was the Penshurst Almshouses (of 1833, altered 1897) located off the splendidly named Rogues Hill.

A little further on up the hill on the right was Swaylands, a large house built in 1844-5 and extended in the 1870s. Pevsner says that it was converted into 28 apartments in 2006-7.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: maybe three miles around Tonbridge.

Rating: four and a half stars.