Woodland walk from Titsey to Tatsfield

From historic parkland nestling under the North Downs to a beautiful Surrey village.

NEAREST LOCATION

Titsey

RECOMMENDED BY
DISTANCE

3.5 miles (5.7kms)

ASCENT
531ft (162m)
TIME
1hr 30min
GRADIENT
DIFFICULTY
Medium
STARTING POINT
TQ398555

About the walk

Notice boards in the car park provide information about Titsey Place, which lies in the valley below. It is an estate with a rich history, and it has been well maintained to make it a fascinating place to visit. Its origins go back to the 16th century, when it was bought by Sir John Gresham, a Lord Mayor of London and a prominent merchant who initiated trade with Russia that led to an agreement signed by Queen Elizabeth I and Ivan the Terrible.

Manor of Titsey

Gresham became very wealthy, and bought the Manor of Titsey from the Crown. He built a large house, only a small portion of which survives today. Although he did not live at the house, Sir John’s nephew, Thomas, would become one of the most influential people in Elizabethan England. He was Chancellor to the Queen and he built the Royal Exchange in London.

The family (and the house) suffered during the Civil War and the house became completely dilapidated during the 18th century. The family built a smaller house on the site, which was enlarged to its present size during the 19th century. The Greshams married well and acquired great wealth and political power, and the estate was improved and expanded with the building of St James’s Church in Titsey, the modifications in the house and the development of the gardens. This wealthy family filled the house with a multitude of treasures from furniture and porcelain to masterpieces, including four by Canaletto and portraits by Reynolds, Romney and Lely.

The gardens are equally spectacular: the lake at the heart of the gardens carries the stream that encouraged the early residents of Titsey to stay there. It is only a small stream at this point, but it goes on to flow into the River Medway. The cascade, the fountain and the lakes bring a romantic atmosphere, and support a wide variety of wildlife. The rest of the gardens are a delight. The Kitchen Garden was restored to recreate the style of a Victorian garden, with glasshouses, hedging and paths, and fruit of all kinds. The Rose Garden was redesigned and replanted in 2002. One of the latest additions to the estate is the Tea Room, which is housed in the refurbished dairy buildings of Home Farm. On the hill above the house are two blocks of woodland with well marked trails that provide superb views across the estate. Some of the paths are very steep, but they make for good exercise.

Walk directions

From the car park, walk to the road and turn right along Titsey Hill to a road crossing in 35yds (32m). Turn left across the road to a fingerpost and follow the North Downs Way (NDW). After 750yds (686m), at a waymarker, turn left up steps and, at the next waymarker at the top of the slope, bear right on the NDW and continue to White Lane. Turn right down the road, then immediately left along the NDW through woodland. At the edge of the wood, go up five wooden steps to a kissing gate and across the field. Head towards woodland to pass through a kissing gate and follow the path, which eventually meets a road (Clarks Lane). Cross with care to a fingerpost diagonally right.

Go over a stile beside a gate into the field and walk half right across the field, in part alongside a barbed wire fence. Cross a stile and follow the public footpath across part of Park Wood Golf Course. Continue across the course on the waymarked grassy public footpath as it bears half left, heading for the furthest row of conifers. Go through a gap in the trees and turn left. This path follows the side of a field and eventually descends down steps to a track. Cross the track, go through two gates and head uphill to another gate. Continue ahead to pass Tatsfield Primary School to reach a kissing gate. Go through this to the road, and turn left and continue to Tatsfield village.

Pass the Ye Old Ship pub, then cross the road and walk across the middle of Westmore Green on the path, turn left on Lusted Hall Lane and pass The White House, continue into Approach Road and walk along the grassy verge on the left side of it. Continue for 475yds (434m) and, just past the Scout Hut on the left, reach Furze Corner with a playing field sign. Cross the road and turn left, then, just before the car park, turn right along the public footpath indicated by the waymarker. The narrow path emerges into a field. Continue across the field and descend to a kissing gate hidden in the hedge.

Turn left along Beddlestead Road and continue to Clarks Lane. Jink left then cross the road and go down the public footpath at the fingerpost to reach the NDW. Bear right and descend steeply to a flight of steps, then turn right at the bottom and continue to Titsey Hill road. Cross with care, turn right and return to the car park.

Additional information

Woodland on the North Downs Way, then across farmland to Tatsfield village, some roads, 2 stiles

High on the North Downs with good views

Good, but some road sections and lead required across farmland

OS Explorers 146 Dorking, Box Hill & Reigate and 147 Sevenoaks & Tonbridge

Titsey Foundation car park, directly off roundabout on A269

None on route

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WALKING IN SAFETY

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

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About the area

Discover Surrey

Surrey may be better known for its suburbia than its scenery, but the image is unjust. Over a quarter of the county’s landscapes are official Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and along the downs and the greensand ridge you can gaze to distant horizons with hardly a building in sight. This is one of England’s most wooded counties, and has more village greens than any other shire. You’ll find sandy tracks and cottage gardens, folded hillsides and welcoming village inns. There’s variety, too, as the fields and meadows of the east give way to the wooded downs and valleys west of the River Mole.

Of course there are also large built-up areas, mainly within and around the M25; but even here you can still find appealing visits and days out. On the fringe of Greater London you can picnic in Chaldon’s hay meadows, explore the wide open downs at Epsom, or drift idly beside the broad reaches of the stately River Thames. Deep in the Surrey countryside you’ll discover the Romans at Farley Heath, and mingle with the monks at England’s first Cistercian monastery. You’ll see buildings by great architects like Edwin Lutyens and Sir George Gilbert Scott, and meet authors too, from John Donne to Agatha Christie. 

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