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Hollingbourne Tourist Guide

Area Guides: Hollingbourne


Details: Hollingbourne, situated near a permanent spring, is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone. The parish population is almost 1000 persons. The village has a cluster of period properties, public houses, post office and newsagent.

The village is four miles from Maidstone. Hollingbourne railway station, on the Maidstone-Ashford line, serves the village. Hollingbourne railway station serves Hollingbourne in Kent. It was opened in 1884. The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by Southeastern. The typical off-peak service from the station is one train per hour to Canterbury West and one train per hour to London Victoria via Maidstone East.

In this area are the North Downs Way and Pilgrim's Way which pass east-west along the Downs. Its status is confirmed by its designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The North Downs Way National Trail runs for 153 miles through the Surrey Hills and Kent Downs Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). It begins at Farnham on the Surrey-Hampshire border and ends at Dover. Much of the Trail follows the Pilgrims Way, the celebrated route that was believed to be used by pilgrims on their way from Winchester to Canterbury to pray at the shrine of St Thomas Becket (murdered in 1170). Before this pilgrims would have walked the other way to pray for St Swithen, who was buried at Winchester Cathedral!

A number of archaeological finds have been uncovered in Hollingbourne over the years. Flint instruments of the New Stone Age or Bronze Age have been found near the River Len, a Late Bronze Age excavation where Anglo Saxons later buried the cremated remains of their dead, Early Iron Age and Anglo Saxon pottery remains, and coins from both the Anglo Saxon and Roman era.
Hollingbourne's name is believed to originate from the name of an Anglo Saxon/ Jute leader, Hola, who is considered would have owned the area around the bourne (or stream), hence a derivation from 'Hola's bourne'. Nearby Eyhorne Street is derived from an old English word, ‘haegthorn’, meaning hawthorn.

Hollingbourne's future was determined when the son of King Ethelred the Unready gave the land here to Canterbury's Christ Church, for monk's use, around AD980-1015. The village is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 - Hollingbourne Manor was already established, as were the other manors of Greenway Court, Ripple, Murston, Penn Court and Hollingbourne Hill, and two mills. The area was therefore already quite prosperous. The record of vicars in Hollingbourne begins in AD1270. There is evidence that the church began back in Roman, Saxon and Norman times but it was almost certainly totally rebuilt during the 14th Century. Some parts were reconstructed before the Black Death in 1349 and others after the great earthquake in 1382 which severely affected Hollingbourne.

With the Dissoution of the Monasteries in 1539, Hollingbourne church, All Saints, was given to King Henry VIII, who granted it to the newly-appointed Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, who in turn leased an assortment of parts of the manor, including part to the Culpeper family who owned it for several generations. After the church, the present Manor House of Hollingbourne (built around 1570) is probably the oldest property in the village which remains more or less as it was built. Down the centuries the church's parish register has recorded the births and marriages and its six bells have tolled the passing of many thousands of ordinary village folk, while the fabric of the church has been extended and embellished by the wealthy and powerful local families of the past - Culpepers, Duppas and Thomases.

Hollingbourne's economic prosperity was based on agriculture, which benefited from the usable power provided by the flowing stream. The village had four mills until the 19th century, 3 corn mills and 1 that led the way in the development of paper-making. Hollingbourne’s economy weakened with the coming of the industrial revolution when new types of energy made water-mills less viable and the village also did not have a navigable river. However, the setting up of the railway station in 1883 provided the momentum for the development of a brick and tile works in Eyhorne Street which used the local seam of gault clay.

A Parliamentary report of 1777 recorded parish workhouses in operation at Hollingbourne (with accommodation for up to 40 inmates), Built in 1836, the Hollingbourne Union Workhouse stood on the Maidstone to Ashford Road. The Poor Law Commissioners authorized an expenditure of £5,000 on the building which was to accommodate up to 300 inmates. It had an H-shaped layout with an access block facing to the south which would in all probability have contained the board-room, porter's room and master's quarters at the centre. Inmates' accommodation was located to each side and in the ranges to the rear. After 1930, the workhouse became a private dwelling known as White Heath. With the exception of the mortuary which dates from 1895, the workhouse buildings no longer exist.

A tall Tudor manor house, Hollingbourne Manor was acquired by Francis Culpeper in 1590. Francis was the second son of a direct ancestor of the modern-day Culpeppers: William Culpeper, Esquire of Lossenham and Wigsell. Francis was succeeded to this manor by his son, Sir Thomas Culpepper. Hollingbourne Manor is a Grade 1 listed house.

Greenway Court, from which the sixth Lord Fairfax derived the name of his wilderness lodge in Virginia, still stands, close at the foot of the North Downs, on the boundary line of Harrietsham and Hollingbourne. Some of the old masonry dates from the fourteenth century, but the house has been rebuilt several times. Hasted says (ii, 466) that it ‘was formerly esteemed a manor, the mansion of which was a seat of good account’. According to the owner in September 2000, the house, as it is today, was built in 1786 on the old foundations. The previous house burnt down in 1782. Formerly held by a family called Greenway, the estate came into the possession of the Crown and was settled by Henry VIII upon the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. It was later held by the St. Legers, and was bought in 1572 by Francis Culpeper (the second son of direct ancestors of the modern-day Culpeppers: William Culpeper of Wigsell and his wife, Cecily Barrett). Upon the death of Francis in 1591, Greenway Court passed to his nephew, Alexander Culpeper. It continued to be held by the Culpepers until in 1719 it passed from Catherine Culpeper to her son Thomas, the Sixth Lord Fairfax. In 1758, Robert, seventh Lord Fairfax, alienated the leasehold to the banker, Sir Francis Child.

Pubs and Restaurants
The Windmill, Eyhorne Street Tel: 01622 880280. The Windmill can be found at the lower end of the village of Hollingbourne near to the post office and village hall. This 16th-century, former coaching inn has the authentic feel of an old country pub housed within a handsome old building of a traditional style, decked out with colourful hanging baskets.
The Sugar Loaves, 56 Eyhorne Street Tel: 01622 880220. The Sugar Loaves is a friendly traditional pub, situated in the heart of the village, and conveniently situated for both the M20 and the popular visitor attraction of Leeds Castle. The pub has a history going back to the 18th century and today it retains a great deal of its charm.
The Dirty Habit, Upper Street Tel: 01622 880880. The Dirty Habit is a traditional English pub with a history that can be traced as far back as William the Conqueror. For many hundreds of years, this junction of Upper Street would have lain on the ancient track commonly known as the Pilgrims Way. The pub's name was adopted in 1992 to reflect these historic roots and is in keeping with the humour and character so well portrayed in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It is a Grade 2 listed building.

Taxis
ACM Cars: +44 (0)1622 751 516
A2B Taxi's of Maidstone: +44 (0)1622 690 999
Ace Taxi's Ltd: +44 (0)1622 753 100
Ash Cars Any Distance: +44 (0)622 792 500
Cavalier Taxi's Ltd: +44 (0)1622 754 000

For doctors, dentists and the such like, please refer to the Maidstone Tourist Guide below.

Click here to view accommodation in Hollingbourne

Click here to view accommodation in Maidstone

Click here to view the Maidstone Tourist Guide

Disclaimer: The information in this Tourist Guide has been researched from a variety of sources including books, articles and online information. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information the reader should check any specific facts for themselves before making any decisions based upon the said information.



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Another Kent Tourist Guide listing created by Let's Stay Kent.
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