Toys Hill

Toys Hill is more than 200 acres of woodland on the Lower Greensand Ridge above the Weald of Kent, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and the landscape that inspired Octavia Hill to help found the National Trust. Hill sank the nineteenth-century well for the village, and the woods hide other relics: the ruin of Weardale Manor, built in 1906 with 145 rooms and demolished in 1939, its water tower, converted into a bat hibernaculum after damage in the Great Storm of 1987, and the Victorian Pugden ram pump. Dogs can be off the lead in the woodland but go on a lead around livestock and near busy roads. Three Trust trails start from the car park, including a 2.5-mile circular walk to Emmetts Garden and the six-mile Octavia Hill Centenary Trail West, which continues to Chartwell. Reviewers praise the bluebells and the views over the Weald. Tips from visitors: there are no facilities beyond the free car park, so the cafe and toilets at Emmetts Garden make the natural break, and watch for traffic where paths cross country lanes.