Visiting Mayfield Lavender – a day trip from London

In those weeks when a never-ending heatwave settled over most of Europe, my husband and I were busy moving flat. Not our choice – the landlord decided to sell the flat we previously lived in – , but it meant we were in desperate need of some sunshine. When we finally finished the bulk of the work, we were – understandably – delighted. We immediately planned on doing a leisurely day trip to get some countryside air and – finally – sunshine. At the height of the lavender season, I wanted to visit one of the English lavender fields. There are many more of these than one would think, dotted around the South of England. We opted for visiting Mayfield Lavender, which makes an easy day trip from London.

Years ago, we’d visited Cotswolds Lavender and we both really enjoyed it. This time we decided on visiting Mayfield Lavender Farm in the Surrey Downs. This is one of few lavender fields with good connections to London by public transport. It takes around an hour by train from London Victoria to Banstead. Then a pretty walk of about 4 km will take you to the lavender field.

Another lavender field close to London is Hitchin Lavender North of the city. It takes about an hour from King’s Cross to get to Hitchin. Another option is Castle Lavender Farm in Kent. You can get there in under an hour from Blackfriars station.

The London Loop

We woke up to the sight of pouring rain, but the weather forecast predicted a long dry spell from noon until the late afternoon. Therefore we decided to stick with our plan. Packed with rucksacks and lunch, we took the train to Banstead. Mayfield Lavender conveniently sits on the London Loop, a 150m walk that takes you through the countryside around the capital. It can be broken down in station-to-station sections to your liking. Way markers and downloadable GPX tracks make it easy for walkers to follow the trail. That said, we still managed to get lost on Banstead Downs Golf Course at the start of our section, adding a couple of kilometres to the distance!

Unlike the predictions on the weather forecast, the rain kept falling down. We walked most of the way in an annoying drizzle, carrying our umbrellas. As the rain became heavier (and we got wetter), we were getting slightly worried that we’d end up not seeing any lavender at all that day. So when we reached the entrance to Oaks Park and I spotted a lavender bed, I got extremely excited.

When we walked further around Oaks Park, I suddenly smelled it – “the lavender”, I shrieked. And indeed, the field was just across the road.

Mayfield Lavender Farm

In a way, we were lucky to visit on a rainy day. As a result of its closeness to the capital, Mayfield has got the reputation of getting incredibly busy. We had to share the field with barely a handful of family groups. Since we were wet and cold, we first headed to the shop and tearoom. Don’t expect a lot of comfort – they are merely tents put up for the summer season -, but the lavender scones and are delicious and there are lots of other lavender based products to taste and buy.

Mayfield Lavender is clearly geared up for tourists – the field has got photo booths (fancy a snap with Harry and Meghan on their wedding day?) and a couple of shelters which can be booked for private parties.

We strolled around the lavender field until we were really soaked and then pursued our London Loop walk. In our soggy shoes, we followed public bridleways and quiet roads to Coulsdon South station for the train back to London.