"Shoreham and the Darenth Valley" a Shoreham Travel Page by Spincat

The lovely Darenth Valley is a short trip from my home in dusty Lewisham, South East London. The place is enriched for me by its association my favourite painter, Samuel Palmer, and you can sometimes see his vision of sheep, harvest moons, corn fields and steeples in the land roundabout. The village lies beneath the downs and is a bucolic place, though has a number of bling in-comers now, due to spiralling property prices - you'll see some orange-suntan women and Toni Soprano-looking men amongst more conventional looking locals, giving the place an edge.

The village has a regular train service from central London via Bromley and features in a lot of walking guides such as the 'Time Out Book of Walks'.

The aforementioned Samuel Palmer lived in Shoreham for about 9 years from 1826 on, and formed a group of artists (an early 'artistic community') called The Ancients, whose central thesis was basically that life was better in the past : an idea that persists to this day, despite evidence to the contrary. The fine house pictured is where Palmer was supposed to have lived - his father certainly rented it, though it is thought that the son actually inhabited a much more modest residence that has since been pulled down.

If you would like to know more about the painter before you visit, look at some of his lovely works on
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/palmer_samuel.html

The Shoreham historical society have a good website at
http://www.shorehamkenthistorical.org.uk/

I sometimes see questions on UK forum about visiting places which have first or second world war associations and that are near London. Shoreham would be a good place to start.
Prominent on the hillside above the village is a white memorial cross, dug in 1920 : a memorial to local men killed in action. Nearby is Shoreham Aircraft Museum which includes relics from crashed British and German aircrafts, alongside Battle of Britain memorabilia. An easy drive from Shoreham: Churchill's House at Chartwell with its beautiful grounds. For lunch, the White Hart pub at Brasted on the Darent (near Westerham), where Second World War pilots from Biggin Hill used to drink before their missions - for that reason it is sometimes known as the 'Pub of the Few'.

The picture shows one of the tangled riverbanks of the Darent. There are many other pretty villages along its course - Otford with its lovely village green is another good place to visit.

Two other particularly interesting places to visit in the area : Lulllingstone castle (see my tip) with its 'World Garden of Plants' and the Roman Villa at Eynsford.

See
http://bridalbeauty.freeuk.com/visitbytrain/kent/eynsford.htm
fo some useul information on the area.