Chilham and Sole Street

The Stour Valley and Crundale Downs

Map = Explorer 137 Start = Chilham village car park  Terrain = Open field and Downs Distance = 8.5 mls Walking Time = 4.5 hrs Suitable for = All Nearest town = Canterbury Refreshments = Pubs in Chilham and Sole Street Last Walked = 6th February 2000

Place names and their Grid references

Chilham car park	066536	Chilham Station	077536
East Stour Farm	075520	Chilham Mill	077533
Eggarton Manor	078504	Winchcombe Farm	084493
Sole Street	097493	Crundale church	085485
Crundale House	082486	Trimworth Manor	062504
Godmersham Church	062504	Godmersham House	061510

Village Information

Chilham`s position on a hilltop overlooking the stour Valley and near the main route from Canterbury to London, made it an ideal defensive encampment for the invading Roman army.  The area was used as an army camp during the second invasion by Julius Caesar.  Later the village became a Saxon community named the settlement of Cille (Chilham). It is a good example of a Saxon settlement, a cluster of houses around a square, at the top of a hill, with roads leading away from each corner, on one side a fortification and on the other a church. Although Chilham does not retain much of its Roman or Saxon history it certainly has some very good examples of Tudor and Jacobean buildings in the square and the roads leading away from it. Chilham is no exception when it comes to legends. There is the ghost of the hooded monk and the skeletal horse who vanish through a door in the churchyard wall. The Woolpack Inn has it's own Grey lady standing by the fireplace in one of the bedrooms. Still I don't expect you will meet any of these on this walk, unless of course you chose to do it in the dead of night!.

Chilham to Sole Street	Map Overlay	Sole Street to Chilham