Womenswold: Church, Monuments and the North Downs Way

If you are considering Womenswold as a destination for a hotel stay, you can choose the location based on its architectural and cultural features or on walking the North Downs Way. St Margaret Church serves several parishes; Rubury Butts and the buildings on The Street offer specific historical points of interest. Section 12 of the North Downs Way passes through Womenswold. These different aspects can help you assess the place according to what matters most for your trip.

Church and parish connections

The small country church of St Margaret serves Womenswold, Woolage Village and Woolage Green. Its parish connections therefore extend beyond Womenswold to two other villages. Unlike individual architectural and archaeological monuments, the focus here is on the church serving several places. This is a distinct aspect of the area’s history and a different way of exploring it from the archaeological or architectural features found at other named sites.

Rubury Butts and its location on the walking route

Rubury Butts is protected as a Scheduled Monument and comprises three bowl barrows. Its protected status and the number of barrows give its archaeological significance a specific focus. The monument is in a lightly wooded grove beside the North Downs Way. Rubury Butts thus brings together its formal designation, the monument’s specific composition and its location on the route. This distinguishes it from the historic buildings on The Street and The Cottage, where the focus is on architectural form, dating and a particular architectural detail.

Timber framing and a datestone

The Cottage is a timber-framed building dating from the 17th century or earlier. Its west gable features brick nogging. Here, a period designation and a specific construction feature complement one another. The timber framing and brick nogging describe different aspects of the same building: its construction style and a detail of the gable.

1 and 2 The Street are Grade II listed buildings. A datestone bearing the year 1752 is located at 1 and 2 The Street. These buildings are notable for their listed status and datestone; at The Cottage, by contrast, the defining details are its timber framing, period and brick nogging. If you are interested in architectural history, this makes it possible to distinguish between different types of historic features rather than looking only for a date.

Section 12 of the North Downs Way

Section 12 of the North Downs Way passes through Womenswold and is 17 kilometres long. The length refers to the walking section as a whole; the location describes its route through Womenswold, not a 17-kilometre stretch within the village. This distinguishes the length of the section from its connection to the destination. This is a specific difference to bear in mind when planning your trip: the stated length applies to the section, while its connection to Womenswold comes from its route.

The North Downs Way is also known here as Long Lane. The route is believed to be of Roman or even earlier origin. The name adds another local designation to the route description; its origin is explicitly presented as an assumption. The route therefore has a historical connection as well as a stated length and course. Together, these offer different points of interest to guide your choice: the walking route and its stated section length, the church and its parish connections, or the area’s archaeological and architectural features.

Discover more destinations: Wateringbury, Minster, Farningham, Horsmonden, Langley, Sutton Valence, Sandhurst, Greenhithe

For the full travel overview: Kent.