Plaxtol: Village History and Walking Routes

Plaxtol combines its setting in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with a village through which the River Bourne flows. Historic buildings, a walking route and archaeological traces give the place several different facets. When planning your trip, you can therefore distinguish between the landscape, village history and specific buildings.

Landscape and walking routes in Plaxtol

The Greensand Way passes through the village. The route described reaches Plaxtol via Plaxtol Lane and passes the church. If you are interested in the walking route, check the route conditions before setting out; these may change. The Plaxtol Heritage Walk is a short, self-guided circular walk that focuses on the village’s heritage. Both have a connection to the area, but their focus differs: the Greensand Way is a route through Plaxtol, while the Heritage Walk is specifically about exploring the village’s heritage.

Church and historic architecture

Plaxtol Church was built in 1649 and is a Grade II* listed building. Among its distinctive historic features is a 17th-century pulpit decorated with inset figurative reliefs. The fact that the Greensand Way passes the church connects the building’s history with the route described, without treating the two topics as one and the same.

The houses also reveal different construction methods and historical layers. Church Row is home to early 18th-century cottages with facades of Kentish ragstone and elm weatherboarding. Ashenden is a 15th-century timber-framed hall house behind a facade built around 1800. Nut Tree Hall is a late 15th-century timber-framed hall house. At The Grange, the present building was constructed around an Elizabethan house in 1702.

At Ducks Farm, a house dating from around 1400 lies behind a Victorian stone facade. Spoute House is an open hall house dating from around 1500 that was later used as a shop. Old Graingers combines an older timber frame, probably dating from the 16th century, with an 18th-century facade; the building is Grade II listed. These examples illustrate how older building cores and later facades can be considered side by side in Plaxtol’s architectural history.

Other buildings illustrate the different uses of buildings: Dux Barn is a barn built around 1600, with aisles, which was used for processing grain. Visible remains of a 16th-century timber-framed house survive at Shode House. Yew Tree House, also known as The Forge, was built as a smithy in the mid-17th century and remained in operation until 1953.

Archaeological traces and walking distances

Roman settlement is also part of the area’s history. Sedgebrook Roman Villa is a house of the corridor type with side corridors, measuring 25 metres by 11.5 metres. The villa was inhabited until at least the early 4th century. Its design, dimensions and date give this archaeological subject a different character from the visible buildings and village architecture.

Two other walking connections have different approximate distances: Ightham Mote is only a short walk from the village of Plaxtol; Old Soar Manor is about a ten-minute walk from the village centre. Walking times are approximate, and conditions on each route may vary.

Discover more destinations: Lenham, Littlestone-On-Sea, Woodchurch, Sandhurst, Doddington, Lympne, Southborough, Bilsington.

For the wider travel overview: Kent.