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On the North Downs Way at Chartham Hatch
On the North Downs Way at Chartham Hatch
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Our view
"Take to the trails through woods and orchards near an ancient battleground."
Walk directions
From the bus shelter on Howfield Lane, walk right down Bigbury Road, signed ‘Pilgrims Way’, towards Harbledown. In about 100yds (91m) bear left between houses on a path marked ‘North Downs Way’. Head right past a recreation field, and take a path beside a conifer hedge and a chainlink fence.
Follow the path downhill through woodland, soon entering No Man’s Orchard. Walk up its left-hand edge, bearing left at the end through a kissing gate onto a sandy path. Follow the well-made trail through the woods for about a mile (1.6km), past ferns and coppiced chestnut. To your right, signs indicate Bigbury Camp. Continue through the woodland on the North Downs Way.
At the edge of the woods, you will see (and hear) traffic on the nearby A2. Turn right and carry on until you reach a lane. Cross over and take the path across a stile to your left. Keeping a hedge on your left, walk through fields over a stile. When you reach the metalled road at a junction in about 200yds (183m), take the left-hand fork and walk downhill past orchards. To your left you will see Canterbury in the distance.
At a sharp left-hand bend, leave the lane and take the footpath ahead, past the security gates of Kenlicote House. After about 50 paces, at the end of the orchard on your left, take the unmarked path to your left into an orchard. Keep left, down to the railway line. Turn right and keep the railway on your left until you reach a tunnel on the left, leading under the line.
Go through the tunnel and walk up to a metalled byway. Turn right here (Stour Valley Walk), passing old gravel working lakes below you. Keep going past Newmafruit, a fruit-growing business.
Follow the path left past storage sheds, bearing right briefly onto Howfield Lane. Cross and turn left at a footpath sign between houses. Cross a field and continue through orchards. When you pass a green building marked ‘Garden Centre’, visible to your left on the nearby road (A28), turn right on the waymarked track through the orchard (a steep climb) into a patch of woodland. Exit the wood and keep right along the field edge to the railway line.
Cross the line via steps and stiles (take great care), then go right up the edge of the wood, heading towards a radio mast. Keeping the trees to your right and the mast on your left, continue through more orchards to a stile and a road.
Turn right past the Chapter Arms pub, emerging via New Town Street onto Howfield Lane. Turn left to the start.
Terrain
- Mostly easy to follow along well-established trails (one tricky section through orchards); steepish gradients; several stiles
Landscape
- Woodland, fields and orchards
Dog friendliness
- Keep under control in orchards, near stock and on roads
Parking
- Limited street parking on Howfield Lane
Toilets en route
- Station Road, Chartham village
About the walk
Several long distance trails run through Chartham and its neighbour Chartham Hatch. This walk covers a section of the North Downs Way (towards the final stage of the old pilgrim route to Canterbury), and the Stour Valley Walk, following the river past flooded gravel pits. On the way you pass lots... of orchards both ancient and modern, and the site of the momentous Battle of Bigbury – Julius Caesar’s first serious attack on Britain after the conquest of Gaul. No Man’s Orchard This walk takes you through a traditional apple orchard. Many of Kent’s old fruit trees have long since been replaced with other crops, but this 10-acre (4ha) site is a rare survival of an orchard planted soon after World War II. It is now designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest, and managed by local authorities with public access. Display boards explain the background and history of this recently restored community orchard, which got its name because the parish boundary runs across the middle, splitting the land between its former owners, so it didn’t belong to any single person. These huge, gnarled apple trees belong to many old-fashioned varieties, and are still productive, despite their great age. More than 150 trees are Bramleys, but other varieties act as pollinators (James Grieve, Worcester, Howgate Wonder). No toxic sprays are used on the trees, so the fruit is completely organic, and the site supports lots of wildlife. No Man’s Orchard is predictably popular when the fruit ripens, but also lovely in late spring when the blossom is out. The Battle of Bigbury Deep in the woods of Bigbury lie the remains of an Iron Age camp, believed to be the site where Julius Caesar fought the Celtic Cantium tribe soon after invading Britain in AD 54. There isn’t much to see there now, though the surrounding woods are steadily being cleared to give a better view of the camp from the North Downs Way. But it was certainly a significant battle. If the ancient Britons had managed to repel the Romans at this point, our history might have been altogether different.
"Take to the trails through woods and orchards near an ancient battleground."
Walk details
2hrs
Difficulty:
Medium
Gradient:
Moderate
Distance:
4 miles (6.4kms)
Ascent:
295ft (90m)
Walk directions
From the bus shelter on Howfield Lane, walk right down Bigbury Road, signed ‘Pilgrims Way’, towards Harbledown. In about 100yds (91m) bear left between houses on a path marked ‘North Downs Way’. Head right past a recreation field, and take a path beside a conifer hedge and a chainlink fence.
1 of 8
Follow the path downhill through woodland, soon entering No Man’s Orchard. Walk up its left-hand edge, bearing left at the end through a kissing gate onto a sandy path. Follow the well-made trail through the woods for about a mile (1.6km), past ferns and coppiced chestnut. To your right, signs indicate Bigbury Camp. Continue through the woodland on the North Downs Way.
2 of 8
At the edge of the woods, you will see (and hear) traffic on the nearby A2. Turn right and carry on until you reach a lane. Cross over and take the path across a stile to your left. Keeping a hedge on your left, walk through fields over a stile. When you reach the metalled road at a junction in about 200yds (183m), take the left-hand fork and walk downhill past orchards. To your left you will see Canterbury in the distance.
3 of 8
At a sharp left-hand bend, leave the lane and take the footpath ahead, past the security gates of Kenlicote House. After about 50 paces, at the end of the orchard on your left, take the unmarked path to your left into an orchard. Keep left, down to the railway line. Turn right and keep the railway on your left until you reach a tunnel on the left, leading under the line.
4 of 8
Go through the tunnel and walk up to a metalled byway. Turn right here (Stour Valley Walk), passing old gravel working lakes below you. Keep going past Newmafruit, a fruit-growing business.
5 of 8
Follow the path left past storage sheds, bearing right briefly onto Howfield Lane. Cross and turn left at a footpath sign between houses. Cross a field and continue through orchards. When you pass a green building marked ‘Garden Centre’, visible to your left on the nearby road (A28), turn right on the waymarked track through the orchard (a steep climb) into a patch of woodland. Exit the wood and keep right along the field edge to the railway line.
6 of 8
Cross the line via steps and stiles (take great care), then go right up the edge of the wood, heading towards a radio mast. Keeping the trees to your right and the mast on your left, continue through more orchards to a stile and a road.
7 of 8
Turn right past the Chapter Arms pub, emerging via New Town Street onto Howfield Lane. Turn left to the start.
Terrain
- Mostly easy to follow along well-established trails (one tricky section through orchards); steepish gradients; several stiles
Landscape
- Woodland, fields and orchards
Dog friendliness
- Keep under control in orchards, near stock and on roads
Parking
- Limited street parking on Howfield Lane
Toilets en route
- Station Road, Chartham village
About the walk
Several long distance trails run through Chartham and its neighbour Chartham Hatch. This walk covers a section of the North Downs Way (towards the final stage of the old pilgrim route to Canterbury), and the Stour Valley Walk, following the river past flooded gravel pits. On the way you pass lots... of orchards both ancient and modern, and the site of the momentous Battle of Bigbury – Julius Caesar’s first serious attack on Britain after the conquest of Gaul. No Man’s Orchard This walk takes you through a traditional apple orchard. Many of Kent’s old fruit trees have long since been replaced with other crops, but this 10-acre (4ha) site is a rare survival of an orchard planted soon after World War II. It is now designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest, and managed by local authorities with public access. Display boards explain the background and history of this recently restored community orchard, which got its name because the parish boundary runs across the middle, splitting the land between its former owners, so it didn’t belong to any single person. These huge, gnarled apple trees belong to many old-fashioned varieties, and are still productive, despite their great age. More than 150 trees are Bramleys, but other varieties act as pollinators (James Grieve, Worcester, Howgate Wonder). No toxic sprays are used on the trees, so the fruit is completely organic, and the site supports lots of wildlife. No Man’s Orchard is predictably popular when the fruit ripens, but also lovely in late spring when the blossom is out. The Battle of Bigbury Deep in the woods of Bigbury lie the remains of an Iron Age camp, believed to be the site where Julius Caesar fought the Celtic Cantium tribe soon after invading Britain in AD 54. There isn’t much to see there now, though the surrounding woods are steadily being cleared to give a better view of the camp from the North Downs Way. But it was certainly a significant battle. If the ancient Britons had managed to repel the Romans at this point, our history might have been altogether different.
