In ancient times, the area that was to become Sevenoaks and Wildernesse lay in the Wealden forest which covered much of what is now Kent and Sussex. Over the centuries, the forest was cleared to make way for market towns and estates.

An estate at Seal, covering at least part of the present Wildernesse Estate, was recorded in 1327 in Hasted's History of Kent. It was named as Stidulfe’s Place after the owner Robert de Stidulfe. The spelling of his family named later evolved to Stidulph. In 1433, William Stidulph sold the estate to William Quintin. The house was on the site of the present Wildernesse House and must have been substantial as, in the 1664 Hearth Tax returns, it had a total of 18 hearths. The estate consisted of the house and a farm, Stidulph's Hoath Farm, which is on the site of what is now the Trinity School. The area around the farm and across what has become Seal Road was known as Stidulph's Heath. The farm became the home farm for the Wildernesse Estate. However, the use of the Stidulph name has gradually vanished as the heath was built on or became part of other farms.

In 1558, the Quintin family sold the estate to Richard Tybold (or Theobald). In 1669, it was bought by Sir Charles Bickerstaffe who built the first Wildernesse mansion and in 1680 established an enclosed deer park. When first enclosed it was 364 acres and covered an area between Seal, Stone Street, Godden Green and Seal Hollow Road, bisected by Park Lane.

In 1705, the estate was bought by John Pratt, a future Lord Chief Justice and later Lord Camden, who extended the estate as far as what is now Sevenoaks Hospital and also to the north of Seal Road, making it more than 500 acres. The Camden family, who owned the estate for more than 150 years, also gradually enlarged the house. Wildernesse Avenue was made the principal drive for Wildernesse House. It extended down what is now Hillingdon Avenue to a lodge which still stands. In 1795, the first Marquis Camden had been Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, had been his ADC. In 1815, just before the Battle of Waterloo, Wellington visited Camden at the estate. A great avenue of limes, known as the Waterloo Limes, was planted along Wildernesse Avenue to commemorate the occasion. Wellington visited again 1832. The avenue of limes still exists.

The 2nd Marquis of Camden inherited the estate in 1840. He agreed with the then owner of the Knole estate, Lord Plymouth, to divide between them the land at Blackhall Farm, which lay between their estates and had existed since the 12th century. The present Blackhall Lane marks the line of division.

In 1866, the 2nd Marquis Camden died and his son decided to move to Bayham near Tunbridge Wells where he had another estate. Charles Mills, later Lord Hillingdon, leased the estate and bought it in 1884. Lord Hillingdon was a banker and partner in Glyn Mills, Currie and Co, which was eventually absorbed in the 20th century into the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Hillingdon was a great local benefactor, providing the land for Sevenoaks hospital and many buildings for Seal village. Many of these can be identified by the trefoils on their barge boards. The lodge at the Seal Drive entrance to Wildernesse House was funded as a convalescent home for sick or deprived girls. Many of them went on to be domestic servants in various Hillingdon properties. This lodge and the Wildernesse Avenue lodge are now private houses.

Hillingdon laid out a cricket ground and a nine-hole golf course on land around the mansion house as diversions for his house guests. In 1890 a more formal nine-hole course was laid out around Chance Wood, to the east of Park Lane, and extended to a full 18 holes in 1892.

During the First World War, hospital wards for wounded servicemen were set up in stables of the estate and the main house. A small army camp was also set up on the estate.

Several members of the Hillingdon family were killed in the First World War, and in 1921 the estate passed to a cousin who had little interest in it. The estate was therefore broken into parcels and sold. Some parts were sold to private developers and one part to Sevenoaks Urban Council which built social housing in what was named the Hillingdon Estate. The mansion and golf course was bought by a syndicate and turned into an impressive country club.

Another large parcel was bought in 1924 by Percy Harvey, a developer. He sold many of the buildings and plots on the existing roads in Seal village but retained a core acreage around Wildernesse House bounded by Seal Road, Park Lane, Blackhall Lane and Seal Hollow Road. He divided the area, except for the mansion house and the home farm, into approximately 160 building plots of half to six acres and established two new roads, Parkfield and Woodland Rise. This area is now the Wildernesse Estate.

Harvey carefully developed the area, ensuring that roads were laid along existing drives or tracks, trees were retained and that building and landscaping achieved high-quality houses in spacious gardens with planted boundaries. He sought the services of major contemporary architects and required minimum costs of construction, typically between £500 and £1,450 per house. He imposed restricted covenants to ensure the rural, high-quality character of the Estate would be maintained.

Different builders were involved in construction. Many of the houses built between 1925 and the Second World War were in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ style. The Architecture page gives more detail.

Wildernesse Avenue ran through the Waterloo Limes down the route to Wildernesse House from Seal Hollow Road.

Woodland Rise was laid out along an old avenue of Spanish chestnuts leading to the forerunner of Wildernesse House which were planted in the early 16th century at the Seal end. It goes past some yew trees said to be mentioned in the Domesday Book and finishes at a group of 18th century barns on the junction with Blackhall Lane.

Parkfield was established on the line of an ancient footpath which crossed the estate from Knole Park towards Bitchet Green. One, originally called High Winds, was acquired after the Second World War by the chairman of the Reed Paper Group who had strong connections with the Norwegian royal family, no doubt through the paper business. A cottage was built in the grounds for King Haakon VII for his use on visits to the UK which was luxuriously appointed and had a direct telephone line to Harrods department store. The garden vaunted two flags poles where the Norwegian and British flags were flown in tandem when the King was in residence.

During the Second World War, Wildernesse House was taken over by Guy’s Hospital and used as a convalescent home for servicemen recovering from their wounds. Many of the nursing staff were billeted in houses on the Estate.

After the war, the country club centred on Wildernesse House floundered. In 1954, the House was sold to the Royal London Society for Blind People (RLSB), which renamed it Dorton House and used it as a school. They developed the site with a college for older pupils and a nursery. The school has since closed and the House has been sold to a company which has returned its name to Wildernesse House. The company has converted the house into luxury apartments and built mews houses intended for older people. The complex includes a restaurant and health centre.

After the mansion house was sold in 1954, a group of the golf club members formed The Wildernesse Golf Club and raised finance to build the present clubhouse on Park Lane. Since then golf has flourished and the clubhouse and course have been modernised.

This history is partly based on entries in Sevenoaks: An Historical Directory (Phillimores 2012) compiled and edited by David Killingray and Elizabeth Purves, with their permission, and from the book Seal: the History of a Parish (Phillimores 2007) by Jean Fox, David Williams and Peter Mountfield, again with their permission.