
West Kent - Wrotham and Stansted circular.
A circular walk of approximately 8 miles starting in Wrotham then heading north taking in the villages of Stansted and Fairseat. The walk can be shortened if the ground conditions and weather on the day are unfavourable.
Wrotham is a village on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent at the foot of the North Downs. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Borough Green and approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of Sevenoaks. It is between the M20 and M26 motorways.
History
The name first occurs as Uurotaham in the year 788, meaning 'homestead of a man called Wrōta'. The offshoot village of Wrotham Heath is at the heart of the heath of the same name, once an area of wholly common land and is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the south-east.
Wrotham shows extensive signs of occupation by the Romans and it is posited that the Wrotham Pinot, a disease-resistant variety of the Pinot noir grape found in Wrotham churchyard, is descended from vines brought by the Romans.
The church of St George is Early English and nearby is the site of a palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury, maintained until the time of Archbishop Simon Islip.
Wrotham Hill to the north was a main measuring point for the 18th-century trigonometric survey linking the Greenwich Royal Observatory with the Paris Observatory. This Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790) was led by General William Roy.
Close by is the Wrotham transmitting station which was the first transmitter in the UK to broadcast on FM in 1955 and now carries the main national FM radio frequencies for most of London.
Full details are available to members only

Ready for another adventure?
GOC Shop
From hoodies and t-shirts to bags, bottles and bears - show your love for GOC with our gear from Spreadshirt.

