Thames Tributary Darent - Shoreham

Thames Tributary Darent
The Darent continues to flow on a winding route in a generally northern direction occasionally veering North West

Post to the north Shoreham
Post to the west Shoreham
Post to the south Shoreham


Church Street
Shoreham House. Divided into flats. The house was demolished in the 1950s.
Riverside House late 18th Faces onto the street immediately east of the bridge where the river runs next to the road. Tiled roof
Waterfall Cottages in red brick with blue headers, and 6/6 sash windows under gauged flat brick arches. Slate roof.
Rising Sun, painted brickwork under a tiled roof
Bridge Cottage painted render under a slate roof.
Record Stores, now a private house, known as Record, has retained its 19th shop front.
Ivy Cottage 16th faced with mathematical tiles, a rare feature in this area.
Lychgate, a substantial timber-framed structure between flint rubble walls.
Avenue of columnar yew trees stretching away from it through the churchyard,
War memorial. At the river's edge – showing a loss of three in one family, and two losses in three others, and urging us to look at the great cross carved into the chalk hill above the village.
St.Peter and St.Paul’s Church. This is the site of a minster or ‘mother’ church. Between Otford and Shoreham is a low spur in the chalk and Shoreham is built up against this with the church looking down to the north – towards the Roman centre at Lullingstone. Remains of a simple Norman church have been found here, As a minister Shoreham had authority over many other churches and was deanery overseeing 34 churches through the Middle Ages. Today the brick and flint west tower, with ivy covering it, is comparatively modem - 18th with corner pinnacles faced in random flint work within red brick. 1730. Timber porch made from one oak tree. Inside is a mediaeval rood screen running the width of the church with carvings of grapes and a vine – includes a pomegranate for Catherine of Aragon. Floor paving with flags salvaged from Shoreham Place. Pulpit and organ case from Westminster Abbey and presented for George II’s coronation. Window by Morris of Joy, Creation and Love., Plaque to John Wesley who preached here annually for forty years visiting his friend, Vincent Perronet, Shoreham's vicar for fifty-seven years. Painting inside the church for Lieutenant Verney Cameron, son of a vicar, who led the first European expedition across Central Africa from coast to coast to find Dr Livingstone, lost again after Stanley had found him. Burne Jones window commemorates Sir Joseph Prestwich field scientist. Organ case from Westminster Abbey.
Churchyard. Grave of Harold Copping, local resident distinguished for biblical illustrations.
Old Vicarage south of the lychgate 16th behind a high, curving, boundary wall. Yellow stock bricks under a tiled roof. Both John and Charles Wesley encountered fierce opposition when they first preached in Sevenoaks in 1746. The rioters followed him all the way to Shoreham vicarage, 'raging, threatening, and throwing stones'
1-5 Church Cottages red brick elevation tiled roof with small casement windows. 6-8 Church Cottages front elevations of random flint walling with brick dressings
Old George Inn 16th painted, peg tile roofed building with blackened exposed timber framing to the first floor north elevation and some vertical tile hanging to the western gable end. Windows are a mixture of sashes and casements, all painted black. The building was not originally a pub. Around 1900 the Rat and Sparrow Club used to keep records of member catches here; an annual prize was given in April for the best catch.
Herons modern house
Pentangle, modern house
Eyot House modern house with uncharacteristic eyebrow windows to its upper storey.

Darenth Way,
Runs north alongside the river from the east end of the bridge
Bridge Cottage
Houses terraced either modern or substantially altered,
Chapel Alley
Cottages red brick elevations and tiled roof former hall house
Flint Cottage with flint panels contained in brickwork in a picturesque style together with corbelled brick eaves under a tiled roof. It faces onto a small green beside the river
Water House, the former residence of Samuel Palmer. Stuccoed, classical elevation with a parapet and cornice to its slate-covered roof added in the 19th to an earlier house. White painted and square. Artist Samuel Palmer lived there, moving in the year Blake died. He was one of Blake’s followers called the Ancients. Blake visited.

Dunstall Farm
Deneholes in a field

Dunstall Priory
Worth a visit. Originally called Gold Hill. New building in 1806. Very early Italianate villa. Home of the Plunkett family -notably Lord Dunsany, Victorian writer.
Two Grecian urns in the hedge

Fackenden Lane
White Hill. Forge and farrier.

Filston Road
The Bothy

Station Road
Shoreham Station. 1862. between Otford and Eynsford on South Eastern Trains. Set-up of the Countryside Centre in the railway station by the Shoreham Society.
Shoreham Countryside Centre
Darenth Valley Golf Club House.
Flint Cottage exception to the local majority of buildings constructed of brick and tile. The size of some of the flints is exceptional and you will also see some dark, knobbly material towards the top of the facade that is surely slag left after iron has been smelted. Rounded niche made of clinker. Colossal warty flints.

Shoreham Road
Copt Hall
White Hill Cottages
Shoreham
The Mount. A large detached classical building set in extensive grounds. The building and grounds are of architectural and historic interest and the mature trees provide part of the setting to the core of the village. Vineyard
Shoreham Place
Shoreham Place. The residence of the Mildmay family from 1836 to 1950 when the peerage became extinct. Demolished and a housing on site "one house for every room in the mansion".

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