Things to See Round London page 3

IV. - the south-east

For his first excursion into the country that lies about the south-east of London the man with a car and some idle hours cannot do better than take the Old Kent Road, and, turning into Route 21, make his way as far as its junction with route 233. just to the north of Bromley common. About two miles farther on he will take an unclassified road to the left and eventually reach the village of Downe, where for forty years Charles Darwin lived. The house is now a school. Darwin went to live there in 1842. "Its chief merit is its extreme rurality," he noted.

Not far away is High Elms on the lane to Farnborough, where Lord Avebury, better known as Sir John Lubbock, the originator of Bank Holidays and the distinguished naturalist, once lived. There was inevitably much exchange of visits between High Elms and Downe. Darwin himself is buried in Westminster Abbey, but in the ancient flint church of Downe lie his elder brother and his wife.

Going southwards from Downe, and then turning to the left, we reach the little lost village of Cudham, close to which is the scene of the famous murder known as the Penge mystery. Disentangling himself from these by-ways by turning in a south-easterly direction, the wanderer will reach 233 again and run into Westerham. The town is famous as the birthplace of General Wolfe, and in the pleasant church there is a cenotaph to his memory. Hoadley, bishop of Bangor and the friend of Steele, Richardson and Prior, was also born here.

Taking Route 2026 through Edenbridge and turning right at Dencross, he can eventually pick up Route 22, and so find himself in East Grinstead. There are some remarkable rock gardens in Brockhurst Mansion, hard by. The explorer can now turn homewards again by Route 22.

His next excursion will have a Napoleonic flavour. In 1846 Louis Napoleon escaped from the fortress of Ham, where he had been interned after his disastrous attempt at Boulogne, and returned to England Twenty-four years later Louis Napoleon, having occupied the Imperial throne of France for eight-teen years, came back from his imprisonment in Germany to begin his few years of exile in England, and the house where he went to live with his empress and his son, the Prince Imperial, was Camden Place, Chislehurst, where once he had courted, and nearly married, Miss Emily Rowles. Here he died and the Napoleonic legend died with him. A mortuary chapel attached to the Roman Catholic church was built to receive his body. The empress lived on at Camden Place, which she turned into a hospital for Artillery officers during the Great War. She now lies buried with her husband. Across has been erected on the golf links to the memory of the Prince Imperial. To make this Napoleonic pilgrimage our explorer should leave London by Route 20. S. Nicholas is the oldest church at Chislehurst.

Turning southwards from Chislehurst via Orpington, Routes 208, 223 and 21 will carry him to Sevenoaks. Stately Knole Park is near the town. One of the most interesting buildings is the grammar school, which, together with the almshouses, was founded by Sir William de Sevenoak, who began his life as a foundling, and was given the name of the town. The date of these buildings is 1452. The market house and the fine Perpendicular church are both worth visiting.

To Tonbridge is a run of six or seven miles. In the time of the Conqueror a castle was built on this spot on the banks of the Medway by Richard Fitz-Gilbert, afterwards Earl of Clare, and the town rose under the shadow of the castle. There are also the ruins of a priory which was founded by Richard de Clare, first Earl of Hertford, in the time of Henry I.

Tunbridge Wells, which lies five or six miles south, owes its existence to Dudley, Lord North, who in the reign of James I derived much benefit from its springs. One of the half dozen or so churches in the country dedicated to Charles the Martyr - officially n o longer a martyr since 1859 - was erected here. This is as far afield as our motoring rambler may go, and he had best take Route 263 and B 2015 eastwards to Maidstone. This stands on the right bank of the Medway, and until the lock was built the tide used to come up to its walls. From olden times it was the property of the see of Canterbury, and in the reign of Richard II Archbishop Courteney founded a college here which was suppressed by Edward VI. Among the persons associated with the college was William Grocyn, the friend of Erasmus. Grocyn was buried at Maidstone. The archbishop's palace in the town was rebuilt in the middle of the fourteenth century. The churches of S. Peter's and All Saints are worth visiting. Maidstone was the scene of a famous battle during the Great Rebellion of the seventeenth century, when in 1648 the Parliamentarians, under Fairfax, won a complete victory here. Taking Route 20, our wanderer can cross the Pilgrims' Way near Wrotham, and so back to London.

His next journey afield will take the tourist through the Dickens country, and he will disengage himself from London by Route 2, which is the ancient Watling Street. The road takes him through Black-heath, where Mr. Creakle kept his school, past Shooter's Hill, where the opening scene of "A Tale of Two Cities" is set, and so on to Rochester, within five miles of which Dickens himself passed so much of his life. The castle was probably rebuilt in the reign of Henry I. It was captured by Louis of France from King John in 1216. Rochester was probably pre-Roman, and many remains of the rule of the Caesars have been found in the neighourhood. The cathedral, begun by Bishop Gundulf, is still a noble building, in spite of the hand of the restorer. In the quaint High Street is the Watts Charity, founded in 1579 for the benefit of poor travellers who were not "rogues or proctors."

Taking Route 228 out of Rochester - it runs along the banks of the Medway - he should turn right at Cuxton and so run into Cobham. It was to Cobham on June 7, 1870, that Dickens took his last walk. It was the day before he was seized with his fatal illness. It is claimed for Cobham church that it contains the most magnificent set of brasses in the whole world. Cobham House, which stands in a 70o-acre park, is a magnificent specimen of Elizabethan architecture and is the property of the Earl of Darnley.

Getting back into Watling Street by Route 2009, the traveller should go a little way in the direction of Rochester, and then turn to the left. This will bring him to Gad's Hill, where Dickens had his home. The Sir John Falstaff hotel, where he bought his beer, is close at hand.

Having come so far, our rambler should take the byway to Higham and, crossing the railway, pay a visit to Cliffe and Cooling Beyond are the mile of marshes immortalised in "Great Expectations." Cooling Castle was once the property of Sir John Oldcastle, whom the playgoers of the Elizabethan times tried to identify with Sir John Falstaff.

Leaving this country about the broad mouth of the Thames, it is best to take Route 2000 from Cliffe. It will enable us to visit Kingsbury church, an interesting Norman building, and Wainscot.

Route 226 will take the traveller to Gravesend - a hundred years ago a great resort for visitors, but now almost neglected by the holiday maker. Will a like fate, one wonders, overtake such a place as Southend, which has sprung up during the period of Gravesend's decay? The town was the scene of a curious historical incident.

In the time of Richard II it was burned and most of its inhabitants carried into captivity by a squadron of French galleys. Henry VIII erected the first fortifications here, completing them with a block house at Tilbury on the opposite bank of the river. Waiting just long enough to take in the atmosphere of Gravesend, the pilgrim should continue on Road 226. It will bring him to Dartford. There are the ruins of a nunnery here founded by Edward III, and afterwards used as a Royal residence by Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth. The old almshouse at Dartford was formerly a hospital for lepers. Route 2 will carry our explorer back to his home, enabling him, if he wishes, to pay a visit to Greenwich and its Observatory on the way.