Café at the StationBat & Ball

Good coffee, fresh pastries, and a station the town brought back to life.

A community café inside the restored Victorian Bat & Ball Station in Sevenoaks. Pull up a stool, stay a while.

Pre-order & collect Find us at the station
Inside Café at the Station: sage-green shelves of handwoven baskets above the Bat and Ball heritage timeline, framed vintage railway posters on the wall
Fresh pastries daily A station since 1862 Local artists & makers On the Darent Valley Rail Trails
The makers' corner

Local artists and makers sell here

A shelf for the people who make things by hand. Linocut cards from local artists, handwoven baskets and bags, and small things worth taking home. Buy a coffee, take home a piece of someone's craft.

Hand-printed linocut art cards on a sage-green shelf: puffins, cyclists, blue deckchairs, a woodland badger and houses under a red sun
Linocut cards by local artistsPuffins, cyclists, deckchairs and Kentish woodland, each one hand printed.
A handwoven giraffe figure and colourful woven animals beside fresh flowers, with linocut cards and vintage railway posters behind
Handwoven, by handA woven giraffe and bright little animal figures.
Handwoven baskets in yellow, blue, red and natural straw lined along sage-green shelves
Baskets & bagsWoven in yellow, blue, red and natural straw.
More linocut prints on green cubby shelves with brass scales and a ceramic cottage teapot
Prints, scales & teapotsBrass scales and ceramic cottage teapots among the art.
The makers' shelf with woven crafts, fresh flowers and coffee syrups
A warm little cornerCrafts, flowers and the coffee syrups, all in one spot.
The Bat and Ball Station heritage timeline mural, showing the line's history from 1859 with illustrations of the station and royal visitors
A station since 1862

A Victorian station, and the café Lilia brought back to it

Bat & Ball opened in 1862 as the first railway station in Sevenoaks. Royalty passed through these platforms. The building was boarded up in 1992 and left to fade, until Sevenoaks Town Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund restored it and reopened the station in 2019.

The café itself is newer. Lilia took it on and reopened it last year, and it is hers, a small community café run with care inside a building full of history. Fresh coffee, pastries baked each morning, a shelf for local makers, and a warm place to sit. The heritage is the setting. The welcome is the point.

  • 1862Bat & Ball opens, the first station in Sevenoaks.
  • 1866The Prince and Princess of Wales, later Edward VII, arrive on a royal visit to Knole.
  • 1867Queen Victoria arrives at the station, on her way to Knole.
  • 1869The station is named after the local Bat and Ball Inn.
  • 1992The station building is boarded up.
  • 2019Restored by Sevenoaks Town Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and reopened.
  • RecentlyLilia takes on the café and reopens it for the community.
Station restored with the Heritage Lottery Fund & Sevenoaks Town Council
On the rail trail

A stop on the Darent Valley Rail Trails

If you are walking the valley or following the old railway, this is a good place to stop. Warm up, refill, and have a proper sit down before the next stretch.

  • › Walkers and dog walkers welcome
  • › Rail enthusiasts, the heritage mural is right here to read
  • › Step-free access with automatic doors
  • › Accessible toilets and disabled parking nearby
Sage-green shelves of handwoven baskets above the station's heritage timeline, a warm spot to rest
Pre-order & collect

Order ahead, skip the wait

Build your order, then collect it at the counter. Handy on the way to the platform.

Your order Collect at counter
Total£0.00

Nothing added yet. Pick a few things above.

How it works

A simple way to order ahead so it is ready when you walk in.

  • 1
    Pick your itemsTap to build your order and see the total.
  • 2
    Send it to usYour order opens as a WhatsApp message to the café.
  • 3
    Pay & collectPay at the counter when you pick it up. Quick and easy.

Note for Lilia: this is a working preview. For now the button opens a WhatsApp order to the café. Once you are ready, we can connect it to your till so paid pre-orders land at the counter automatically. No payment is taken on this page.

Come and find us

Visit the café

Inside the restored Bat & Ball Station building. Step-free, with automatic doors.

Where

Bat & Ball Station
Bat and Ball Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 5AP

Opening hours

Monday to Friday7:30am to 4:00pm
Saturday10:00am to 3:30pm
Sundayto confirm

Garden seating

Outdoor garden seating is on the way this summer. More to follow.

Pre-order