Discover Ide Hill

Ide Hill brings together a garden, a historic village character and walking trails with different destinations. Emmetts Garden is an Edwardian hillside garden; the designated conservation area includes listed buildings. If you are looking for a hotel in Ide Hill, you can focus your stay on gardens and architecture or on a specific walk. Route, destination and individual viewpoints help distinguish the trails.

Garden and village character

Emmetts Garden is an Edwardian hillside garden in Ide Hill. The two terms describe different aspects: “Edwardian” places the garden in its historical context, while “hillside garden” describes its location. If you plan your trip around particular themes, this gives you a specific focus on gardens alongside the village character and walking trails.

The area of Ide Hill designated as a Conservation Area covers 6.8 hectares and contains seven listed buildings, including the K6 telephone kiosk. For architecture enthusiasts, the kiosk provides a specific point of interest within the protected area.

The Cock Inn is an 18th-century building with weatherboarding and two storeys. It is located in Ide Hill, in the parish of Sundridge with Ide Hill. Its age, number of storeys and exterior cladding describe different aspects: its historical period, vertical structure and visible design. The conservation area is defined by its size and the number of buildings, while The Cock Inn is described through features of a single building—two different scales for viewing architecture.

Walking trails and landscape

The Toys Hill and Emmetts Garden circular walk follows a public footpath through Emmetts Garden and on to the village of Ide Hill. Dogs are welcome on this circular walk; they must be kept on a lead within Emmetts Garden.

After leaving the village green, the Ide Hill Walk joins the Greensand Way. The two trails can be distinguished by their destinations: the Toys Hill and Emmetts Garden circular walk leads to the village, while the Ide Hill Walk meets the Greensand Way. Your preferred endpoint can help you choose a walk.

The woodland at Ide Hill offers views across the Kent Weald. There are also circular walks on the site with views of Bough Beech Reservoir. You can compare the views of the Kent Weald with those of the reservoir along the circular walks.

At Toys Hill, near Ide Hill, several surfaced, signposted trails lead from the car park around the site. One of them is suitable for wheelchairs. If you need a wheelchair-accessible route, follow the trail specifically identified as suitable. This distinguishes the characteristics of the trails overall from the suitability of a particular one.

The footpath from the Toy’s Hill car park to The Cock Inn in Ide Hill takes approximately 50 minutes.

Discover more destinations: Bethersden, Yalding, Whitfield, Eythorne, Sutton Valence, Woodnesborough, Wickhambreaux, Whitstable

For the broader travel overview: Kent.