Holly Hill and Coldrum Longbarrow: A Short Challenging Hike in Kent Woodland and Farmland

This circular walk in Kent, taking in Holly Hill and the Coldrum Longbarrow, was short at 6 miles/8 KM but it was challenging. It was a brilliant little trek in quiet woods and fields with the added bonus of Coldrum Longbarrow (a Neolithic tomb). Not only were there some good hills but the terrain was also quite rough in places. This was partly due to the heavy rain of the night before. I was very glad of my new boots! It was inspired by the good walker and hiker resource site Walking Britain but we found some of the directions and trails used in their walk description to be confusing. We just down right gave up trying to find the footpath from the top of Holly Hill down to Whitehorse Road. We eventually got ourselves on the right track though and it was fairly easy to navigate once past the first little bit.

Have you ever given up on a trail and taken and easier and more obvious route? Why? Bad directions? Poor map? Missing trial?

The following is an adaptation of that Walking Britain walk. I have found that directions and descriptions done by other people are generally woefully inadequate. Probably because they have been doing this longer than Dave and I. And where the configuration of track/footpath/road could confuse a beginner there isn’t enough information given as to landmarks or geography. What looks straight on a map may actually be a turn left or right. Even though we had a meticulously plotted OS map from the Magic website we just could not get our bearings at the start. There were plenty of landmarks (including a ma-hoosive beech tree) but none were provided in the description to let us know we were on the right track. We preferred to take a more obvious route than waste any more time with it.

This is a ma-hoosive beech tree. If you see this tree you are probably going the wrong way. Or the right way. Either way it would have been nice to know which way.

Parking/Start Point

The walk starts at the Holly Hill public space parking lot. It is free to park there and pretty much deserted on a Saturday morning. The Walking Britain site gives grid references but if you want to find it with SatNav the postal code is DA13 0UB. BTW if you need to convert a grid reference or longitude/latitude Streetmap has a pretty accurate conversion tool though I imagine there are all sorts of phone apps that can do it now as well.

Directions/Description

This map was generated using the MAGIC website. Click here for all sizes on flickr including the big print version

At the parking lot entrance/exit turn right and walk along the paved road until you come to the T junction with White Horse Road.

At the T junction there are all sorts of footpath signs and a kissing gate. Ignore all these and turn right to walk west along White Horse Road. After a while, on your right, you will pass a wood fence, a paddock with some goats, and a house with a brick wall right on the road.

Keep on along White Horse Road. There will be fields on your right and woods on your left. After about 600 metres you are looking for the first Restricted Byway sign on your left.

When you come to the restricted byway take it to your left. It is fairly obvious with lots of 4x4 tracks. It will be quite muddy if there has been rain. You should start going down hill quite steeply fairly soon. It is more a rutted gully than a path in some parts. I found a walking stick to be a very handy accoutrement at this stage. Dave thought it was funny. Then I reminded him that I was, in fact, holding a large pointed stick. He thought that was even funnier.

There are lots of other tracks coming off the restricted byway on the way down the hill but just ignore these. Follow the track all the way down to the bottom where it ends at a T junction of paths. There will be an old sort of brick pump house on the left and lots of little arrow signs but they don’t really relate to this particular walk. The sign you are interested in is the big stone marker that says North Downs Way.

At this T junction turn right and follow North Downs Way along a sort of ridge heading west again. On your right the ground will slope away up the hill into woods and on your left, through over hanging branches, will be wonderful views across the rolling farmland of Kent and the Medway. The skies here are huge and go all the way to the sea in the east.

Big skies in Kent

You will pass several path junctions on this way but keep heading west along North Downs Way (which turns into Pilgrims Way) until you come to a paved road.

At the egress on to the road turn left and a few steps ahead will be the path to Coldrum Longbarrow. It is well sign posted. Go over the tall stile (after I insisted that that my stick could save me Dave had to give me a hand down!) and along the field edge. This turns into a paved path called (but not signposted that we could see) Pinesfield Lane.

Going along this paved path you will come to the barrow on your right. There are signs and stuff. I would have taken a picture of the whole sign with all the info on it but sadly it had been vandalized.(don’t understand. What is wrong with people?)

The bit of the sign that was not spray painted.

I would ask, as a favour to other hikers and future generations to please have some respect for this ancient monument. There is a fence around it for a reason. Do not go climbing over it or taking bits of rock for souvenirs. This is a grave site. Perhaps consider how you would like your own final resting place treated and act accordingly.

The sarsens marking the entrance still stand at the top of the barrow

There were a few people there coming and going. A mountain biker had stopped to have his sammiches seated on one of the great felled sarsens. I found that the place had a beautiful and atmospheric stillness in the dusky November light. It was preternaturally quiet. People have tied wishing/prayer ribbons to a couple of the trees, and while a charming custom that makes for good photos, it is not particularly appropriate. This isn’t a druid temple. It is just a burial chamber and not imbued or sanctified with any particular magic. Then again, perhaps death is its own kind of magic and to see a monument of death out last millennia of civilization is an affirmation of life and the determination of humans to conquer their final enemy in any way possible.

Inappropriate pagan offerings and blessings

Ribbons tied to branches over hanging the ancient grave. Wishes and prayers.

Dave and I spent about ten minutes there before moving on.

View from the top of the barrow over looking the weald of Kent

The barrow entrance from the bottom of the hill

Pinesfield Lane curves around to the right. Do not follow this. Instead take the first muddy over grown path on your left and then left again when this meets up with another track. We are talking 30 yards at most. And the bear rightish. Ahead will be a kissing gate (you have to kiss at the kissing gate otherwise it won’t work) which you go through and into a field. At the opposite end of the field is another kissing gate to go through. And once you are the path it will take you through Ryarsh Woods to Park Farm Road. There are several other footpaths that come off left and right on the trail through the woods but keep going east. Park Farm Road is paved and sign posted and there is a little group of houses there.

Wild cyclamen on Park Farm Road

At the egress on to Park Farm Road turn left and follow the road up to the end where it ends at Park Farm (on the left). Here there will be three very obvious tracks. The middle one is most obvious of all and this is the one you need to take. It takes you gently back up hill.

The first cross roads you come to will be with North Downs Way (marked with a stone). Turn left here and after a very short while you will come to the first North Downs Way junction you met coming down the hill at the beginning. The old brick pump house is now on the right side of the track. Turn right up the hill going back the way you came all the way to White Horse Road.

Turn right onto White Horse Road and follow it to the road you came down from the parking lot which is Holly Hill.

Turn left on to Holly Hill and walk up the road back to the parking lot.

Recommendations

Though it was short the variable terrain (and a bad head cold) made this hike a good challenge. Don’t go in your trainers. You will ruin them! The walk back up the hill was a great workout and I was glad I had my stick to push me along.

There are not toilets or pubs or any other kind of pit stop on this route so make sure you fill up with water before you go. You will be glad of it when you get to the top of the hill out of Whitehorse Wood.

David and I both agreed that this was one of our best walks to date. There was no where near the amount of litter we usually see. The trails were almost pristine and the views were fantastic. We hardly met a soul.

Even though we didn't take the route through the woods on Holly Hill it is worth walking up to the top of the hill for view out over Kent and Essex all the way to London. Just take the steps at the back of the parking lot at Holly Hill and follow the trail up to the picnic table.