A perfect weekend in the Darent valley, Kent: a ‘demi-paradise’ of art, lavender fields and great pubs

Just an hour from London, this idyllic area, beloved by painters and poets, is brimming with history, beautiful walks and fab places to eat and drink In the 1820s, a young painter left London to live in Shoreham in the west of Kent.

In his waterside cottage, Samuel Palmer – remembered now as a key figure of British Romanticism – depicted moonlit cornfields, apple trees bowed under fruit and hills swollen with light. He dubbed the area his Valley of Vision. Two centuries on, Palmer’s own vision of Shoreham – and the surrounding Darent Valley – as a demi-paradise isn’t too far from the canvas. I’ve lived in the area for five years and can’t quite believe how few people come to Shoreham. It feels like a secret…