Sevenoaks, United Kingdom

The town is situated at the junction of two main routes from the north before traffic climbs over the Greensand Ridge which crosses Kent from west to east; that situation is similar to Maidstone and Ashford. This road was one of the earliest in the county to be turnpiked in 1709, because of the clay soils.

The valley to the north is that of the River Darent; that river turns to the north to cut through the North Downs. Several lakes are located along the course of the river here, the result of the extraction of sand and gravel in the past.

The built-up area of the town has developed primarily along the main roads. The settlement of Riverhead to the north-west is the largest; other parts of the town (in clockwise order from the north) include Greatness; Wildernesse; St John's; Hollybush; Sevenoaks Common; and Kippington.

Sevenoaks, like much of West Kent, is characterised by high levels of economic activity and a skilled resident workforce. A large proportion of that workforce commutes elsewhere to their places of employment, mostly to central London. Those factors have led to high house prices and pressure on the local area to build more houses. Many of those houses attract high prices, making it difficult for people to buy property. A wide range of middle-class occupations are in short supply locally. Industries such as finance and business services tend to predominate. Transport links are generally very busy and town centre congestion is common at peak times.

The main industrial area is located north of the town, alongside the A225. Sevenoaks Quarry is on Bat and Ball Road, also to the north.

The shopping area in High Street includes the new Bligh's development. It is a typical small town centre, with one M&S department store having opened in 2014.

Bligh's shopping development opened in phases in 2002. The site was originally a meadow, before becoming a bus station and car park. Access can be gained from several directions including the High Street and London Road. Much of the architecture is based on slightly earlier periods but with a contemporary edge.

The Stag Theatre, cinema and the Plaza music and conference complex is located at the top of London Road (TN13 1ZZ). It was reopened as a community arts centre by Sevenoaks Town Council on 2 January 2009 and is supported by a strong network of volunteers. It became a not-for-profit charity in 2010. The multiplex cinema is open daily showing films. Around £550,000 has invested in equipment, infrastructure and the building since it re-opened.

The demonym for a person from Sevenoaks is Sennockian. The demonym Old Sennockian is used by alumni of Sevenoaks School.

There is one mixed state secondary school, the Knole Academy, which was created in 2009 from an amalgamation of Wildernesse School (for boys) and Bradbourne School (for girls) and four state primary schools, one of which is Church of England and another of which is Catholic.

Lady Boswell's C of E Primary School on Plymouth Drive dates back to 1675 and is one of the oldest state primary schools in England. Lady Margaret Boswell left a bequest to educate 12 poor scholars of the town. The first school building was erected on London Road in 1818: it is a Grade II Listed building with a neo-Classical frontage, now called Lady Boswell House. The school moved to its current site in 1972. The school have an association with St Nicholas's Church and the Rector of St Nicholas is a Foundation Governor.

A Christian Free School called Trinity School, opened in the 2010s on the Seal Hollow Road on the north-eastern edge of town, and Seal Hollow Road is also the site of the controversial first new UK Grammar school, an annex of Weald of Kent Grammar School for girls in Tonbridge, in over 50 years. A further annex grammar school, of Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, opened in September 2021.