Day trips from London: Tonbridge Castle and Hadlow Tower

Not too far outside London is the ancient town of Tonbridge, which has the remains of a very large castle, and a short bus ride from it is one of the UK’s tallest follies.

The castle is always open, and the folly occasionally – so if you time it right, you can easily visit both in a single day.

Tonbridge Castle

Sitting in the centre of town are the impressive ruins of a castle that owes its origins to the Norman Conquest when Richard Fitz Gilbert was granted land in Kent to guard the crossing of the River Medway. His early wooden castle was destroyed in 1100 when family descendants defied the King and lost. The current castle mostly dates from the 13th century, and a large gatehouse was added in 1260.

Between 1521 and the late 18th century, the castle was not lived in, except for a short period during the Civil War. In 1900, the local council bought the castle and grounds and opened them to the public.

The castle, with its high stone walls is very obvious from the town centre, and around the entrance looks very impressive with the massive gatehouse dominating the view.

What is not obvious from their website is that most of the castle is free to visit.

Admittedly, that’s mainly the large central lawn and the walkway around the edges where there was once a high stone wall. If you didn’t know it was a castle, you would be forgiven for thinking it’s just a local council park. You can climb up the motte that stands to one side and gives some pretty decent views of the area.

However, what you pay for is to go into the gatehouse, and that’s what makes the visit worthwhile.

Collect an audioguide or printed handout from the cafe inside the castle grounds, and use the electric fob to unlock the door into the gatehouse, and inside is a decent mix of atmosphere and history.

Staircases can take you up or down, and there is a sort of route to follow, but you can wander around. Go down into the dark cellar, and maybe jump a bit when you realise there are waxwork people down here amongst the barrels of food and weapons stored there.

The stairs are a bit of a struggle to get up, but worth it, as above the ground floor is a huge stone room that oozes all the atmosphere you expect from a medieval castle.

Keep climbing, though, and hang on. Is that a dead end at the top? No, the very heavy chainmail can be parted to reveal the roof, and up you go to get some fantastic views of the town. I suspect the heavy chainmail doorway is a clever way of stopping children rushing through while their parents make their way up the stairs.

They say it takes about an hour to visit if you use the audioguide, which seems fair to me. I used the printed guide, which was quicker, but it’s a fun place to visit for soaking up a bit of atmosphere.

Tonbridge town centre is a curious mix of some old surviving buildings, but a lot of its is modern, so you can find a few things to see, but not that much in the town itself.

However, turn up on the right day and a short bus ride will take you to something amazing.

Hadlow Tower

Visible for miles around, especially if you’re at the front of the top deck of a double-decker bus, is a tall gothic tower that was built in 1838 as an addition to a gothic castle that itself was built in the 1780s. Most of the castle was demolished in 1951, leaving just some outbuildings and the tower. The tower, one of the tallest of its type in the UK, was badly damaged by the storm of 1987 and the top was removed in 1996.

In 2011, the council purchased the tower and handed it to a heritage charity which secured funds to restore the tower as a holiday home and exhibition space. However, the charity that owned it closed in 2015 and the tower sold. It’s been in private ownership ever since.

However, the current owner occasionally opens it to the public.

So, on the right day, catch the bus from Tonbridge to the small village of Hadlow, which looks just as you expect a small village to look, except for the huge stone gate on the main road. Head down here and past the signs warning that the houses here are all private, and suddenly, the tower looms over you again.

The owner greets you at the surprisingly small door for such a grand building. Wisely, they have a lift to get upstairs. You can walk, but nah.

A visit isn’t to see the private rooms, but the space above, so you’ll be left on the 3rd floor by the stairs that now take you up into the lantern space above.

And oh my.

There are some notices about the history of the castle and the tower and its restoration, and on a table is a local history book with lovely pictures of the castle before it was demolished. What you really want to do is climb.

My tip as always is avoid looking out through the windows or around, as you can admire it all the better when coming back down — just get up to the top for the views.

The walkway is very narrow, but also behind a thick stone wall, so not at all scary — and you get to admire the views by peering through the quatrefoil windows.

And oh my.

The views range from peering down into the village to over the rolling empty countryside. You tend to bend down a bit at times as the walkway is not entirely flat, which oddly adds to the fun. The walkway behind a high stone wall does mean you don’t get the grandeur of standing here looking around at the landscape, but the windows delightfully frame the views instead.

The high stone wall also means it feels comfortable even for people who are particularly wary of heights.

The tower was built as a folly to admire from the outside, and the top never expected to be used, so it’s a functional walkway than a space to relax with a glass of wine on a summer’s evening. The owner has pretty good views from their rooms lower down.

You’re not spending long up here. I walked around twice because I could, and then I headed back down, and with thanks to the owner, off you go. Undeniably a twinge of envy that they get to live in such an amazing building, and as they say, one with a heck of a lot of kerb appeal.

My visit lasted about 45 minutes, which is perfectly timed to catch the half-hourly bus back to Tonbridge.

The tower is occasionally open, and the owner announces the next dates on their website – do NOT email asking for details until the date is published there.

Getting to Tonbridge and Hadlow

Tonbridge is about 40 minutes from London Bridge by train via Sevenoaks and Orpington.

Hadlow is about a 12 minute bus ride from Tonbridge on Route 7 with buses roughly every 30 minutes. The fare is (at time of writing) £2 for a single ticket, and you can pay with contactless on the bus.

As the castle opened at 9am, I was able to fit that in first then go to the Tower later, so I was back in London by mid-afternoon.