Edenbridge, Haxted Mill, Starborough Castle and Marsh Green

The first section of the walk takes you on a twisting route through a residential part of the town. At Crouch House Green, a building resembling a prefab turns out to be a chapel, and soon after, you can see a converted oast-house. Passing huge tree-girt ponds, a wind pump, and Skeynes, the route crosses Kent Brook from Kent into Surrey.

Beside the Mill Stream (the infant River Eden) stands the weather-boarded Haxted Mill, built around 1680 and now housing a watermill museum with working machinery and iron industry displays. For about a mile from Haxted Mill, you follow the Vanguard Way, crossing the River Eden before arriving at Starborough Castle.

The lake at Starborough Castle was once the castle moat, with the original keep built in Norman times and rebuilt around 1342 by the first Lord Cobham (named Sterburgh after local squire Richard Sterr). Returning to Kent, the walk passes Marsh Green with its old Church House, St John's Church, and beautiful parkland.

Edenbridge High Street features timber-framed buildings with red-tiled mansard roofs, including Mill Hill College, Wicken Cottage, Church House, and Doggett's Barn. Nearby is the 13th-century sandstone Church of St Peter and St Paul (housing a stained glass window designed by Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones). Historic local inns include Ye Olde Crown, former headquarters of a smuggling gang.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.