Tenterden

St Mildred's church

Another trip to Kent with Merv, this time to see Tenterden, the largest town in the Weald. We decided to follow the "perambulations" in the Pevsner guide for Kent: West and the Weald, starting from St Mildred's church.

The most notable feature of the church is its massive 15th century tower, seen above from the south. The inside has been heavily shaped by a 19th century restoration, but the roof and the splendid arch of the bell tower are much older.

Following Pevsner, we headed to the High St and turned east (left), passing the 15th century Woolpack Hotel to reach the Town Hall of 1790.

Opposite was a classic Wealden house dating back to at least the 16th century.

Continuing east and on the same side of the road was a nice juxtaposition of a small timber-framed house with an 18th century one covered with 18th century mathematical tiles.

 At the far end was the former 1930s Embassy cinema. It seemed pretty similar to one I used to go to in Esher when I was a lad.

Continuing into East Cross, we enjoyed this eccentric tower house, complete with seasonal visitor.

We retraced our steps and after a reasonable lunch at the White Hart headed west, first noticing the refurbished NatWest bank.

 On the opposite side of the road was the Zion church of 1835, rebuilt  in 1867.

Further along on the left was the former Workhouse.

The houses become increasingly wide apart as you continue along the High St, with the large grass area on the left. On the right hand side, a nice group of clapperboard houses. At the end was the gatehouse of Heronden Lodge (1846). It seems it is now the entrance to a camp site.

We retraced our steps and made a quick visit to the impressive restored railway station, one end of line that runs to Bodiam.

Finally we had a brief glance at the Tenterden Museum.

We had enjoyed our wander around Tenterden, but in truth there was no really impressive building or view and as we had a bit of time spare before braving the M25 we decided on a visit to Scotney Castle, which was more or less on the way home.

Conditions: cold.

Distance: perhaps 3 miles.

Rating: three stars.