Cycle to Castle and Sissinghurst Castle, Cranbrook, back , TN17 2AB This route has been created to TRAIL get you from station Cycling to Sissinghurst Castle and back, using the back lanes and keeping GRADE you away from the traffic on the Easy busy A229. The route takes in leafy lanes, country cottages, DISTANCE farms, oast houses, orchards and 6.5 miles (10.5km) the sleepy village of . You'll approach the castle across TIME National Trust farmland. 45 minutes OS MAP Terrain Explorer 136 (High )/Explorer 137 An easy-going route starting at Staplehurst station and taking you to Sissinghurst Castle, where (Ashford) you can explore the gardens and estate before returning by the same route. The route is on country lanes, although the section from the station to the crossroads is on the A229 (30mph limit). There is a Contact pavement. The section across the fields to Sissinghurst is a farm track. Estate paths are tarmac. 01580 710700 Things to see [email protected] Facilities At Sissinghurst gardens: Gift and plant shop Toilets Restaurant and coffee shop using local produce Frittenden to Dig Dog Into the iconic gardens Our farmland Baby facilities Lane These gardens were created In the 1950s, Vita Sackville- by Harold Nicolson and Vita West and Harold Nicolson hired Walks Often referred to as the 'garden of ', this part of Kent was Sackville-West. It's a series Captain Oswald Beale as their National Trust car (free for famous for growing hops. After of garden rooms created by farm manager. Since 2009 the members) harvesting they were dried in hedges and walls that replicate farmland at Sissinghurst has been Toilets at Staplehurst station oast houses before going to the the missing rooms of the ruined managed by our tenant farmer Station newsagent on the A229 brewery as part of the brewing Elizabethan hunting lodge. John Hickman. The 450 acres (not NT) process. You'll pass a couple of Cultivated by us since 1967, our of farmland are still farmed in gardeners have made it colourful the same way. It's grazed by Railway tavern on the A229 oast houses now converted into throughout the year. Romney Marsh sheep and John's (not NT) large houses. Now the main crops are apples and cherries. prize herd of Sussex cattle. You Acorn Stores in Frittenden (not may spot some saddleback pigs NT) enjoying a muddy corner of a Bell and Jorrocks pub in field. Some arable crops are Frittenden (not NT) grown for feed. Accommodation available at Sissinghurst Castle Farmhouse (not NT) http://nationaltrust.org.uk/cycling Sissinghurst Castle, Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 2AB

Start/end

Start: Staplehurst station, grid ref: TQ784444 End: Sissinghurst Castle, grid ref: TQ810380 How to get there By foot: from Sissinghurst village past church to footpath on left signposted Sissinghurst 1. From Staplehurst station cycle to the main road and turn right onto the A229. Continue Castle (can get muddy) through Staplehurst to the next crossroads/traffic lights, turn left onto Road, signposted Hawkenbury/Headcorn. Continue on this road and you'll pass the Jubilee playing fields on your left. By bus: Arriva 5 Shortly after, you need to take the next right onto Cradducks Lane, signposted Frittenden. Continue to (passing on this lane until you reach the T-junction. Staplehurst train station), alight Sissinghurst, 1¼ miles (2km) 2. Turn left, signposted Frittenden. At the next T-junction turn right, signposted Frittenden/ By train: Staplehurst station Sissinghurst. Ride through the village of Frittenden. Look out for a turning on the left, signposted 5 miles (8km). Then bus 5 to . Take this left onto Dig Dog Lane (you won't see the street sign until you've turned into the Sissinghurst village. For more lane). Continue on this lane, over the bridge and up a small hill. At the top of the hill turn right onto the info see the Southeastern bridleway/farm track (can get muddy) to Sissinghurst Castle. website

By car: 2 miles (3.2km) north- 3. Continue down the track and across the field. You'll soon see the white weather-boarded gazebo, east of Cranbrook, 1 mile the orchard and moat. Keep the moat on your left, further on you'll see the back of the National (1.6km) east of Sissinghurst Trust shop. Keep the garden on your left and the shop on your right. Head up the path, passing the village on Biddenden Road, off restaurant and oast houses on your right and the green on your left (perfect for a picnic). Call in at the A262 Parking: 315 yards. visitor reception and they’ll show you where to secure your bike and give you any help you need.

4. Once you've finished your visit, retrace the route from Sissinghurst Castle to Staplehurst station. Leave the castle grounds on the track that leads down the side of the National Trust shop, keeping the garden and moat on your right until you reach the gazebo. Head onto the track, leaving the moat and garden behind.

5. Continue on the track until you reach the lane and then turn left. Continue until you reach the T- junction and turn right, signposted Frittenden. Cycle through the village of Frittenden. Turn left into http://nationaltrust.org.uk/cycling Staplehurst Road, signposted Iden Croft Herbs. Continue on this lane until you reach Cradducks Lane on your right, signposted Pay and Play Golfing Park. Continue on this lane until you reach the T-junction and turn left. When you reach the crossroads and traffic lights, turn right; you may wish to take to the pavement for this bit. Turn left into Station Road for Staplehurst station.