View source for Hawkhurst

{{short description |Village in Kent, England}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| coordinates = {{coord|51.0471|0.5173|display=inline,title}}
| official_name = Hawkhurst
| static_image_name = The Chantry, The Close, Church House - Cottages at The Moor, Hawkhurst.JPG
| static_image_caption = Cottages at The Moor
| population = 3,683
| population_ref = <ref>Census,2021</ref>
| shire_district = [[Borough of Tunbridge Wells|Tunbridge Wells]]
| shire_county = [[Kent]]
| region = South East England
| constituency_westminster = [[Tunbridge Wells (UK Parliament constituency)|Tunbridge Wells]]
| post_town = CRANBROOK
| postcode_district = TN18
| postcode_area = TN
| dial_code = 01580
| os_grid_reference = TQ765305
}}
'''Hawkhurst''' is a village and [[civil parish]] in the [[borough of Tunbridge Wells]] in [[Kent]], England. The village is located close to the border with [[East Sussex]], around {{convert|12|mi|km|0}} south-east of [[Royal Tunbridge Wells]] and within the [[High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty]].

Hawkhurst is virtually two villages: The Moor, to the south, consists mainly of cottages clustered around a large triangular green, while Highgate, to the north, features a colonnade of independent shops, two country pubs, hotels, a digital cinema in a converted lecture hall, and [[Waitrose]] and [[Tesco]] supermarkets.

There are four designated conservation areas in Hawkhurst parish – one at Sawyers Green, two in Highgate (Highgate and All Saints' Church) and one at The Moor. There are also over 200 listed buildings across the parish.

Since boundary changes in the 2010 general election, Hawkhurst is part of the parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells, represented by Conservative [[Greg Clark]]. Prior to this it was in the [[Maidstone and The Weald (UK Parliament constituency)|Maidstone and The Weald]] constituency, formerly represented by [[Ann Widdecombe]].

== Toponymy ==

The name Hawkhurst is derived from [[Old English]] ''heafoc hyrst'', meaning a wooded hill frequented by hawks – 'Hawk Wood'. Hurst (Hyrst) in a place name refers to a wood or wooded area&nbsp;– there are several in West Kent and East Sussex. The 11th-century ''Domesday Monachorum'' refers to the village as ''Hawkashyrst'', belonging to [[Battle Abbey]]. In 1254, the name was recorded as ''Hauekehurst''; in 1278, it is often shown as ''Haukhurst''; by 1610, it had changed to ''Hawkherst'', which then evolved into the current spelling.<ref>''The Place Names of Kent'', Judith Glover {{ISBN|0-905270-61-4}}</ref><ref>''The Origin of English Place Names'', P.H.Reaney {{ISBN|0-7100-2010-4}}</ref>

== History ==

Hawkhurst has over 1,000 years of recorded history. The oldest known settlement was the Saxon manor of Congehurst, which was burnt by the Danes in 893 AD. There is still a lane of this name to the east of the village. At the time of the [[Domesday Book]] in 1086, the parish was mainly in the [[Lathe of Scray|Lathe of Wye]].

The ancient parish of Hawkhurst straddles the boundaries of four [[Hundred_(county_division)|hundred]]s, including three that by 1295 were parts of the south of the [[Lathe of Scray]] in [[List of hundreds of England|East Kent]]. The western portion of the parish of Hawkhurst was the entirety of the hundred of Great Barnfield (or East Barnfield). The eastern portion of the parish was partially in the hundred of [[List of hundreds of England|Cranbrook]] and the hundred of [[List of hundreds of England|Selbrittenden]]. Some acreage of the eastern portion was also in the hundred of [[List of hundreds of England|Henhurst]] in the [[Rape of Hastings]], [[Sussex|East Sussex]].

=== Iron industry ===

The village is located towards the Eastern end of the Weald, where iron has been produced from Roman times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/historicalgeogra00delarich/historicalgeogra00delarich_djvu.txt|title=Internet Archive|last=Delany|first=M.C.|author2=Mary Cecilia Delany|year=1921|work=The historical geography of the Wealden iron industry|publisher=Benn Brothers Ltd, London|pages=25|access-date=21 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openplaques.org/places/gb/areas/hawkhurst|title=Open Plaques|work=Hawkhurst|pages=Note #1470|access-date=21 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725195211/http://www.openplaques.org/places/gb/areas/hawkhurst|archive-date=25 July 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Weald produced over a third of all iron in Britain, and over 180 sites have been found across the Weald. [[Ironstone]] was taken from clay beds, then heated with charcoal from the abundant woods in the area. The iron was used to make everything from Roman ships to medieval cannon, and many of the Roman roads in the area were built to transport the iron. [[William Penn]], founder of the state of [[Pennsylvania]], is erroneously claimed to have owned ironworks at Hawkhurst.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Pennsylvania_Forges_and_Furnaces.html|title=Living Places|last=The Gombach Group|date=1997–2007|work=Pennsylvania Forges and Furnaces|publisher=Julia Gombach|access-date=21 August 2009}}</ref> The industry eventually declined during the industrial revolution of the 18th Century, when coal became the preferred method of heating, and could not be found nearby.

=== Hop growing ===
In the 14th century, [[Edward III]], wanting to break the Flemish (Dutch) monopoly on [[weaving]], encouraged Flemish weavers to come to England. Many chose to settle in the Weald, because it had all the elements needed for weaving&nbsp;– oak to make mills, streams to drive them, and [[fuller's earth]] to treat the cloth.

The Kentish domination of the hop industry was stimulated by that same influx of Flemish weavers, who brought with them a taste for beer, and beer making skills. Several wealthy Kentish farmers invested in this new opportunity and approach. Although not the centre of the industry, Hawkhurst Brewery and Malthouse was built in 1850, on the edge of [[Hawkhurst Moor]] (now a house).

Hop growing also gave the area its distinctive skyline of hop gardens and [[oast house]]s, which were used to dry the hops. Nowadays, most hops are imported. However, at its peak {{convert|35000|acre|km2}} of hop gardens existed in England, almost all of them in Kent, including much around Hawkhurst. Eventually mechanisation and cheap imports ended the industry, but the oast houses remain.

=== The Hawkhurst Gang ===

A witness before a 1745 Committee of Enquiry estimated there were 20,000 [[smuggling|smugglers]] operating in Britain at that time.<ref>Policing and War in Europe, Louis Knafla. Greenwood Publishing Group, p.179,{{cite web |url=http://www.kentresources.co.uk/gandh.htm |title=KENT RESOURCES: Smuggling - the Groombridge and Hawkhurst Gangs |access-date=31 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304114627/http://www.kentresources.co.uk/gandh.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016  }}</ref> An infamous group, the "Holkhourst Genge", terrorised the surrounding area between 1735 and 1749.  They were the most notorious of the Kent gangs, and were feared all along the south coast of England. At Poole in Dorset, where they had launched an armed attack on the customs house (to take back a consignment of tea that had been confiscated), several were hanged including [[Thomas Kingsmill (Hawkhurst Gang)|Thomas Kingsmill]], one of the gang's leaders.

A number of inns and local houses in Hawkhurst claim associations with the gang: high taxation on luxury goods in the early 18th century had led to an upsurge in smuggling, and the gang brought in brandy, silk and tobacco up from Rye and Hastings to be stowed away in hidden cellars and passages, before being sold off to the local gentry. It was reputed that when needed for a smuggling run, 500 mounted and armed men could be assembled within the hour. The [[St. Mary's Church, Goudhurst#The Battle of Goudhurst|Battle of Goudhurst]] eventually brought their career to an end.<ref>http://www.kent-life.co.uk/people/battle_of_goudhurst_1_2006855, {{cite web |url=http://www.kentresources.co.uk/goudhst1.htm |title=KENT RESOURCES: Goudhurst, Kent |access-date=31 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304141016/http://www.kentresources.co.uk/goudhst1.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016  }}</ref>

== Transport ==

=== Roads ===
Hawkhurst lies at the intersection of the [[A229 road|A229]] and [[A268 road|A268]] roads.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Hawkhurst (Tunbridge Wells) parish map - SWC |url=https://maps.walkingclub.org.uk/admin/kent/tunbridge-wells/hawkhurst-parish.html |access-date=2025-09-25 |website=Saturday Walkers Club |language=en}}</ref> 

=== Railway ===
{{Main|Hawkhurst Branch Line}}
A railway station was built in Hawkhurst in 1892, to the west side of the Cranbrook Road, on the northern edge of the village. It was rarely busy except during hop picking time, when up to 26 special trains per day, each carrying up to 350 Cockneys from London, would arrive at Hawkhurst&nbsp;– up to 10,000 people per day. As this declined, the station became uneconomic, and it was closed in 1961.

The station site is now an industrial area just off the Cranbrook Road, but some original buildings are still standing and in a good state of preservation. The nearest open station is now [[Etchingham railway station|Etchingham]].

=== Buses ===
Hawkhurst is served by the [[Stagecoach South East]] bus routes 254, 304 and 349 and provide connections to [[Royal Tunbridge Wells|Tunbridge Wells]], [[Wadhurst]], [[Robertsbridge]], [[Battle, East Sussex|Battle]], [[Bodiam]] and [[Hastings]].<ref> {{cite web|url= https://www.stagecoachbus.com/routes/south-east/254/hurst-green-tunbridge-wells/xfao254.o|title= Routes 254: Tunbridge Wells to Hawkhurst|work= Stagecoach South East, August 2020}} </ref><ref> {{cite web|url= https://www.stagecoachbus.com/routes/south-east/304/hastings-hawkhurst/xfao304.o|title= Route 304: Hawkhurst to Hastings via Battle|work= Stagecoach South East, August 2020}} </ref><ref> {{cite web|url= https://www.stagecoachbus.com/routes/south-east/349/hawkhurst-hastings/xfao349.i|title= Route 349: Hawkhurst to Hastings via Bodiam|work= Stagecoach South East, August 2020}} </ref> [[Arriva Southern Counties|Arriva Kent and Surrey]] route 5 connects the village to [[Cranbrook, Kent|Cranbrook]], [[Sissinghurst]], [[Staplehurst]] and [[Maidstone]].<ref> {{cite web |title=Arriva Kent map |url=https://arriva.widen.net/s/zwptvhmnzl/arriva_kent_map-web |access-date=26 September 2025 |work=Arriva Kent and Surrey}} </ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-24 |title=5 - Maidstone - Hawkhurst |url=https://bustimes.org/services/5-maidstone-hawkhurst |access-date=2025-09-25 |website=bustimes.org |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== Notable buildings==
{{see also|Listed buildings in Hawkhurst}}
In 1886, the largest [[Barnardo's]] home for orphans under six years old was built in Hawkhurst, caring for hundreds of babies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Higginbotham |first1=Peter |title=Babies' Castle, Hawkhurst, Kent |url=http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/HawkhurstDB/ |website=childrenshomes.org.uk |access-date=11 September 2022}}</ref> It was known as Babies' Castle, and followed nine inspiring principles, known as "The Nine Nos":

:# No destitute child refused
:# No Race Barrier
:# No Creed Clause
:# No Physical Disability
:# No Age Limit
:# No Money Promise
:# No Voting
:# No Waiting
:# No Red Tape

Unfortunately, the building stood neglected for many years and was eventually redeveloped into a care home for the elderly, Hawkhurst House, in 2017.

In 1903 Gunther and his wife Leonie bought the Tongswood Estate. When he died in 1935, the house, dating from the 1860s, was sold and became [[St Ronan's School]]. Earlier owners of Tongswood were the Dunks family, who lived there from about 1500–1750. Sir Thomas Dunk, a wealthy clothier, who died in 1718, bequeathed enough money to build [[almshouses]] for six 'decayed housekeepers' (three men and three women) and a village school, plus enough money to buy lands to generate a steady income.

In 1875, the Victoria Lecture Hall was built by Henry Maynard "for the good of the village". It now houses Kino, a digital cinema.

===Churches===
The parish church of St Laurence stands at the south end of the village known as [[Hawkhurst Moor|The Moor]], which is the older part of Hawkhurst. It falls within the [[Diocese of Canterbury]], and has as patron the Dean and Chapter of [[Christ Church, Oxford]]. It is likely that a church has stood on this site since 1100, or even earlier. After the [[Battle of Hastings]] [[William the Conqueror|William I]] gave the Manor of Wye, with rights over a large part of the parish, to the [[Abbot of Battle]]. The first mention of the church is in the charter of 1285, and its first rector was Richard de Clyne in 1291. The Chancel and North Chapel are the oldest parts of the church. The Great East Window was built about 1350 and has been described as one of the finest pieces of architecture in the country. Most of the rest of the church dates from around 1450, when the nave was lengthened and raised, the aisles, porches and tower added, and it took on its present appearance. The room over the North porch was used by [[Battle Abbey]] officials for rent collecting, and used to be called "The Treasury". In 1574, [[Eucharist|communion]] rails were introduced at a cost of 53 shillings, to keep communicants from the altar, the first parish church in England to have done so.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

In 1944 a German [[flying bomb]] fell in the churchyard, causing considerable damage, and the church was put out of action until 1957. Part of the flying bomb can be seen on the south side at the back of the church.

There is a Roman Catholic church in the High Street, dedicated to St Barnabas, but, apart from Sunday, services are now held at the sister church in [[Goudhurst]]. An active Baptist Church is in Cranbrook Road, built partly on the site of the original [[Rootes Group|Rootes]] cycle factory.  A Methodist church on Highgate Hill is now being converted to a domestic dwelling: the congregation now holds services in Dunk's Almshouses. 

All Saints' Church, Rye Road was a former chapel of ease for St Laurence's at Highgate.  Built in 1861 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the Church sits on the Highgate ridge with its spire visible from some distance.  Grade II listed, the property is a local landmark that sat derelict for over two decades, but has now been sympathetically restored and converted into a number of private apartments.

===Hospital===
Hawkhurst Community Hospital (formerly the Cottage Hospital) provides 22 beds for patients who do not need to be in an acute hospital.<ref>https://www.nhs.uk/Services/hospitals/Overview/DefaultView.aspx?id=46263 "NHS Hawkhurst Hospital"</ref>

== Education ==

Hawkhurst is home to three schools, one local authority primary and two independent [[Preparatory School (UK)|preparatory schools]].
* Hawkhurst Church of England Primary School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hawkhurst Church of England Primary School |url=https://www.hawkhurst.kent.sch.uk/ |access-date=2025-09-25 |website=Hawkhurst |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* [[Marlborough House School]]
* [[St. Ronan's School]]

== Notable residents ==
{{Further|List of people from Hawkhurst}}
The 19th-century [[astronomer]] Sir [[John Herschel]] (1792–1871) lived in Hawkhurst for thirty years. It was he who named the four [[moons of Uranus]], the planet which had been discovered by his father, [[Sir William Herschel]]. He was also a mentor and inspiration to the young [[Charles Darwin]]. Herschel lived at Collingwood House in Hawkhurst.

[[Richard Kilburne]], born in London to a Kentish family, was a lawyer and historian. He died at Hawkhurst on 16 November 1678, at age 74. Kilburne is buried in the chancel of the church at Hawkhurst under a flat stone inscribed with Latin declaring him "an ornament and an honour to his country."

Hawkhurst was the birthplace of the [[Rootes Group|Rootes]] car empire.<ref>{{openplaque|1475}}</ref>

Another leading local businessman was Charles Eugene Gunther, head of the Liebig Meat Extract Company, later known as [[Oxo (food)|Oxo]]. He was also [[Lord Lieutenant of Kent]] in 1926.

[[Philip Langridge]], the 20th-century operatic tenor, was born in Hawkhurst.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 March 2010 |title=Philip Langridge: operatic tenor |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7053062.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524095456/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7053062.ece |archive-date=24 May 2010 |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=thetimes.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Civil parish ==
Hawkhurst parish lies within the undulating [[High Weald National Landscape]] and is characterised by sandstone ridges, and steep-sided valleys, typically wooded and cut by [[Gill (stream)|gill streams]]. In addition to Hawkhurst village the parish includes small villages and hamlets linked by rural lanes and there are patches of [[ancient woodland]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hankinson Duckett Associates |title=Tunbridge Wells - Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment of Proposed Allocation Sites within the High Weald AONB   6.7: Hawkhurst |url=https://tunbridgewells.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/385382/Landscape-and-Visual-Impact-Assessment_Section-6.7-Hawkhurst-sites.pdf}}</ref> Streams in the north of the parish feed into the Hexden Channel, while those in the southern part drain to the Kent Ditch Water Body, both of which are tributaries of the [[River Rother, East Sussex|River Rother]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kent Ditch {{!}} Catchment Data Explorer {{!}} Catchment Data Explorer |url=https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB107040013600 |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=environment.data.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hexden Channel {{!}} Catchment Data Explorer {{!}} Catchment Data Explorer |url=https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB107040019670 |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=environment.data.gov.uk}}</ref> The geology of the area is [[Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation|Tunbridge Wells Sand]] overlying belts of [[Wadhurst Clay Formation|Wadhurst Clay]]. A report for Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has mapped the borough into local Landscape Character Areas with Hawkhurst parish designated as either Wooded Farmland or Forested Plateau.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Land Use Consultants Ltd |title=Tunbridge Wells Borough Landscape Character Assessment |url=https://tunbridgewells.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/343524/758340C0D0E81457E0531401A8C041D3_Tunbridge_Wells_Borough_Landscape_Character_Assessment_Dec_2017.pdf |access-date=26 September 2025 |website=tunbridgewells.gov.uk |page=16 |publication-date=2017}}</ref> The report describes Hawkhurst Wooded Farmland area as having a "peaceful, rural ambience"; sheep graze the steeper slopes, while arable farming takes place on the gentler slopes. The night sky is dark away from the village of Hawkhurst.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LCA 11 - Hawkhurst Wooded Farmland |url=https://tunbridgewells.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/343535/758340C0D0F31457E0531401A8C041D3_Character_Area_11_Hawkhurst_Wooded_Farmland_pages_110-116.pdf}}</ref> The [[Bedgebury Forest|Bedgebury Forested]] Plateau is an upland landscape area, the eastern half of which falls within the parish. A medley of [[Assarting|assart fields]] and woodland cover the lower slopes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LCA 15 - Bedgebury Forested Plateau |url=https://tunbridgewells.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/343539/758340C0D0F71457E0531401A8C041D3_Character_Area_15_Bedgebury_Forested_Plateau_pages_138-144.pdf |access-date=26 September 2025}}</ref>

The following settlements are within the civil parish of Hawkhurst:

* Beal's Green, hamlet<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: Beal's Green, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/place/Beal's_Green,_Kent_2887 |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref> {{coord|51.057|0.511|display=inline}}
* Four Throws, village<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: Four Throws, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/results?type=em&place=Four%20Throws&loc=set |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref>
* Four Wents, hamlet<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: Four Wents, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/results?type=em&place=Four%20Wents&loc=set |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref>
* Gill's Green, village<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: Gill's Green, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/results?type=em&place=Gill%27s%20Green&loc=set |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref>
* Gun Green, hamlet<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: Gun Green, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/results?type=em&place=Gun%20Green&loc=set |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref>
* High Street, village<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: High Street, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/results?type=em&place=High%20Street&loc=set |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref>
* Little Conghurst, hamlet<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: Little Conghurst, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/results?type=em&place=Little%20Conghurst&loc=set |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref>
* Pipsden, village<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: Pipsden, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/results?type=em&place=Pipsden&loc=set |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref>
* Tubslake, hamlet<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: Tubslake, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/results?type=em&place=Tubslake&loc=set |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref>
* Woodsden, hamlet<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer of British Place Names: Woodsden, Kent |url=https://gazetteer.org.uk/results?type=em&place=Woodsden&loc=set |access-date=2025-09-23 |website=gazetteer.org.uk}}</ref>



<gallery>
File:Hawkhurst Church.jpg|Hawkhurst Church
File:Former All Saints Church, Hawkhurst (Geograph Image 2217907 5fd9bdf6).jpg|All Saints’ Church
File:Mouse Hall and Toad Hall, Highgate - geograph.org.uk - 160709.jpg|Mouse Hall and Toad Hall, Highgate
File:Oast2.jpg|Oast

</gallery>

== References ==

<references/>

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081220042638/http://www.heyerlist.org/tua/smuggling.html Includes list of Hawkurst Gang members]
* [http://www.hawkhurstfishfarm.co.uk/ Hawkhurst Fish Farm]
* [http://www.wealdeniron.org.uk/ Wealden Iron]
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Hawkhurst}}

{{Geographic location
|Centre    = Hawkhurst (Highgate)
|North     = [[Hartley, Cranbrook|Hartley]]
|Northeast = [[Benenden]]
|East      = [[Sandhurst, Kent|Sandhurst]]
|Southeast = [[Bodiam]]
|South     = [[The Moor, Hawkhurst|The Moor]]<br>[[Bodiam|Udiam]]
|Southwest = [[Hurst Green, East Sussex|Hurst Green]]
|West      = [[Flimwell]]
|Northwest = [[Bedgebury Cross]]
}}
{{Hawkhurst}}

{{Tunbridge Wells}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Hawkhurst| ]]
[[Category:Villages in Kent]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Kent]]