Teston Bridge Country Park, Bow Bridge and West Farleigh

Through Water Meadows in the Peaceful Medway Valley and Along Country Lanes

The walk begins in the Teston Bridge Country Park, beside the River Medway, where it is crossed by a ragstone medieval bridge of five arches. Anglers fish here for roach, perch, and pike, and flowers bedeck the banks in spring and summer. Dragonflies hover over tansy and water figwort, and you may see the blue flash of a kingfisher. Upstream is the weir and lock, part of the Medway Navigation scheme of 1741, built to ease navigation and to control flooding.

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Start Point

Teston Bridge

Grid Ref: TQ 70778 53326

Total Distance

4.8 miles (7.8 km)

Total Climbing

114 metres

Estimated Time

2–3 hours

Difficulty Grade

Easy

Trail Navigation Files:

💾 Download GPX Route Google Earth (KMZ) 📖 About Teston

Ordnance Survey Explorer Map (1:25,000)

Essential paper map for exploring Maidstone and the Medway Towns:

148 Maidstone and the Medway Towns →

The Walk Report

The big cream and white Georgian house on the hill beyond the railway line is Barham Court (where legend has it one of the four knights who murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170 lived). From the bridge, the route winds through an oak-and-ash-lined country lane to sheep pastures and Bow Bridge near Wateringbury.

Passing Tutsham Hall and its 18th-century ragstone barn (featuring traditional galleting stonemork), the path descends to the pretty village of West Farleigh, home to early Georgian West Farleigh Hall and a complete Norman church dating from c. 1100.

River Medway flowing under Teston Bridge

River Medway at Teston Bridge Country Park

After enjoying local refreshments at The Tickled Trout or The Good Intent, it is a short stroll via Teston Lock back to the start.

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

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Teston Bridge Country Park, Bow Bridge and West Farleigh

Ordnance Survey Explorer Map (1:25,000)

The Walk Report

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