Hamstreet is a village in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, in

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...

. The village is located 6 miles (10 km) south of Ashford on the A2070, the main road between Ashford and

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

. The majority of the village is in the parish of

Orlestone Orlestone is a mid-sized civil parish in Ashford District, Kent, England, with a population of 1,407. The centre of the parish is Hamstreet village which falls almost entirely within it but has a small fraction in the parish of Warehorne. The c ...

, named after a much older hamlet located 1 mile north of Hamstreet on the ridge of hills; however, part of the village falls within the parish of

Warehorne Warehorne is a village and civil parish in the south of the Ashford Borough of Kent, England. It is a scattered community centred on the Hamstreet to Tenterden road (B2067) around seven miles SSW of Ashford. The Royal Military Canal passes t ...

, giving a total population of 1,988 and a former claim to having three pubs (the Duke's Head is located at the village centre and there were two rural pubs within Warehorne parish). One of the pubs in

parish (the Woolpack Inn) has been renovated by the owners of the Globe Inn in Ry

The parish church, dedicated to the Good Shepher

is now a shared Church of England, Anglican/

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

building, and the parish churches of

Snave Snave is a very small hamlet on Romney Marsh in Kent, England centred close to the A2070 road south of Ashford. Its buildings are a few houses, barns and store sheds and the church of St Augustine which holds one service per year at harvest fest ...

(now a redundant church), Ruckinge,

and

Kenardington Kenardington is a small clustered village and the centre of a relatively small rural civil parish of the same name, in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is centred southwest of Ashford on the B2067 Hamstreet to Tenterden road. ...

are all within the traditional benefice which was expanded to form the new Saxon Shore benefice along with Bilsington, Bonnington and Aldington.

History

Parts of the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Orlestone date back to the 11th century. Until the coming of the railway in 1851, Hamstreet was just a hamlet known as 'Ham' based around the village centre which contains many buildings in the traditional Kentish weatherboard style. The village expanded rapidly during the 20th century and had its moment of fame in 1991, when maps of Hamstreet at various stages in history were used on a series of

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

to mark 200 years of the

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

– this chance arose because the Hamstreet area was the first to be mapped in this way. An episode of BBC TV's ''

Countryfile ''Countryfile'' is a British television programme which airs weekly on BBC One and reports on rural, agricultural, and environmental issues in the United Kingdom. The programme is currently presented by John Craven, Adam Henson, Matt Baker ...

'' was also devoted to the occasion. The village also featured in a mountaineering spoof in Blue Peter to raise money for charity. Although from the 1970s onwards there has been a loss of some traditional village outlets, there are still a number of shops and places to eat and drink in the village, as well as a school, doctor's surgery, dental clinic and sports facilities. The village is twinned with the village of

Thérouanne Thérouanne (; vls, Terenburg; Dutch ''Terwaan'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. It is located west of Aire-sur-la-Lys and south of Saint-Omer, on the D 157 and D 341 road junction. Loca ...

in northern France.

Countryside

Two large areas of public woodland surround the village, namely Ham Street Woods and Orlestone Forest,

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSIs). Both are remnants of the ancient forest that once covered the whole of the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

. The

Royal Military Canal The Royal Military Canal is a canal running for between Seabrook near Folkestone and Cliff End near Hastings, following the old cliff line bordering Romney Marsh, which was constructed as a defence against the Napoleon's planned invasion of t ...

, the UK's third longest defensive structure, passes by ½ mile to the south. Three long distance footpaths also run through the parish: *The

Saxon Shore Way The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, in total. This means that around Romney Marsh the ...

Greensand Way The Greensand Way is a long-distance path of in southeast England, from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent. It follows the Greensand Ridge along the Surrey Hills and Chart Hills. The route is mostly rural, passing through woods, and a ...

(which begins at the main crossroads and runs for to Haslemere,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

) *The Royal Military Canal Path The area is also popular with cyclists, as

Romney Marsh Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until th ...

to the south is completely flat.

Transport

Ham Street railway station Ham Street railway station is a Grade II listed stop on the Marshlink line in the village of Hamstreet, Kent, between and . Services are provided by Southern. Location The station is on a dual-track section of the unelectrified Marshlink Line ...

opened in 1851. It was designed by William Trees and is in an Italianate style built in red brick.

References

External links

Orlestone Parish Website
which covers Hamstreet.
Warehorne Parish Website
which covers Warehorne.

is a private site which provides further historical info and related links {{authority control Villages in Kent Villages in the Borough of Ashford