By the Kentish tributary of the River Darent, west of Sevenoaks, lies the town and civil parish of Westerham in Kent. Nestled in the fertile banks of the river, Westerham has been occupied by humans for over a thousand years! Maintaining its unique charm well into the 21st century, Westerham is known for its grand country houses, quaint Victorian town houses, and luxury modern dwellings!

Its thought that Westerham was the once home to the Celtic tribe Cantii. We know this because of the proliferation of decorated Celtic coinage found at Westerham in 1928, dated to around 200 BC! These coins highlight a significant Celtic settlement; attached also to a great fortification found dating as far back as 2000 BC - pre-dating even the Roman occupation of Britain by 2,000 years! Although the Roman’s were also at Westerham, highlighted with the nearby Roman road and several Roman villas excavated nearby. The Jutes invaded in 455 AD following the collapse of the Roman occupation, and formed what is now known as Westerham! It was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as ‘Oistreham’, a Norman interpretation of the original title recorded by a charter in the 9th century.

Westerham also has a unqiue tie to 19th century literature. It was the once residence of Alice Liddell, the purported main inspiration behind Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’! Carroll, a close family friend of the Liddell’s, recounted a story to young Alice that ended up becoming the draft of this famous book! Liddell lived at Westerham for a short while, towards the end of her life.

Westerham is part of the Sevenoaks District Council; who are currently in the process of preparing their local plan for up to the year 2040. Therefore, it is hard to say what proposed development will or will not take place in the Westerham locale. In the previous local plan period, however, Westerham was allocated provisions for the construction of new housing infrastructure - and in late 2023 a new gated community development, Westerham Heights - was completed!