Westerham

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Westerham is 10 miles west of Sevenoaks on the western edge of the Kent Downs an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Oistreham, derived from Old English for ‘West’ and ‘Ham’ for a village or homestead. So Westerham means a westerly village.

 

The River Darent flows through the town and was used historically to power three watermills for the milling of grain.

 

By 1227 Henry III granted Westerham a market charter and this made the village an important centre for trading cattle in Kent, a business that survived until 1961 when the last cattle market was held.

 

The church of St Mary the Virgin stands on the village green and is thought to date from the 13th century. General James Wolfe was born in the Old Vicarage in 1727 to a military father who had recently arrived in the village.

 

They soon moved to a home nearby that is now known as Quebec House after Wolfe’s famous victory. Now a National Trust property, this Grade I listed building with 16th century origins, has features of significant architectural and historical interest and is well worth visiting.

 

Another famous local landmark is Squerryes Court a manor house built in 1680 that has been home to the Warde family since 1731. The house is open to visitors and contains a collection of Old Master paintings from the Italian, 17th century Dutch and 18th century English schools. It is surrounded by 20 acres of attractive and historic gardens that include a lake, restored parterres and an 18th century dovecote.

 

Two miles south of Westerham you will find Chartwell Manor, another National Trust property and home to Sir Winston Churchill from 1922. Churchill loved the house and modernised the original gloomy Victorian mansion, by adding a garden wing consisting of three large and attractive rooms. When out of office he relaxed there and painted in the garden or in his studio and built a number of walls built with his bare hands.

 

Churchill may even have relaxed in the evenings with a glass of ale from the Black Eagle Brewery. Unfortunately this closed in 1965 but a new brewery, The Westerham Brewery Company uses the yeast from the old brewery that had been preserved at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures.

 

One of the places the new brewery supplies is The Grasshopper on the Green, a 700-hundred year old pub standing in the centre of Westerham overlooking the green where you can find statues of Churchill and Wolfe.

 

The nearest town is Sevenoaks from where there is a train service to London with a journey time of around an hour as well as trains to Croydon and Gatwick Airport - approximately 40 minutes away.

 

Schools

The local school is Churchill C of E Primary School

 

Follow this link to find a complete list of Nursery Schools, Middle Schools and Sixth Form Colleges in Kent

 

Need to know more about Westerham and the latest property availability there? Use the Search facility on this page or CONTACT US now and we’ll help you. If there is nothing available that suits your needs, take a moment to Register Your Requirements and we will contact you as soon as a suitable property becomes available.

 

You can find further information about the area by following these links: Golf, Hunting, Fishing & Shooting, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

 

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