Hothfield is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the Ashford Borough of

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 ...

, England and is 3 miles north-west of Ashford on the A20. It is completely split in two by Hothfield Common.

Geography

In the north west is Hothfield Common, 58

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s (143

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s) of

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

land and

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of ...

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

bogs: a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

managed by Kent Wildlife Trust, To the immediate south is the private parkland of the former Hothfield House. This area is crossed by 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 al ...

passing the church en route to Godinton House. A small part of the neighbourhood of Ram Lane is in the far northern point of the civil parish. Small tributaries of the West Stour rise in the parish.

Amenities

The village has a shop and post office with internal ATM service (closed Tuesday PM and Sunday PM). Hothfield Common has a children's playground and a multi-use all-weather games pitch adjacent to the south east and a car park to the north just off the A20. A large village community centre (hothfield village hall) is located on the edge of the village views over rolling fields The former school is now a children's centre, run by sure start. It is called the bluebells children centre and runs many parent and child groups and midwife and health visitors drop in services

History

The

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

is dedicated to Saint Margaret; it was rebuilt in 1598 after a fire. ''Hothfield'' in Edward Hasted's Topography of Kent (1798) has a substantial amount of information about the history and the then layout of land and settlement.

Transport

The village is, for approximately one mile, immediately to the south-east of the

A20 road This is a list of roads designated A20. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * ''A20 road (Australia)'' may refer to: ** Sturt Highway, a road in South Australia & New South Wales ** Gawler Bypass, a road in South Austral ...

, and is south of the M20 which has a very small border to the far north. It is served by the 10X bus service operated by

Stagecoach South East Stagecoach South East is the trading name of East Kent Road Car Company Limited, a bus operator based in Canterbury providing services in Kent and East Sussex in the south east of England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group. History Stag ...

, stopping on the junction of Cades Road and Station Road, as well as the 123 bus service stopping on School Road. It was served by

Hothfield railway station Hothfield railway station (later Hothfield Halt) was a railway station on the Maidstone Line at Hothfield, Kent. It was situated between Ashford and stations. The station opened in 1884; it closed to passengers in 1959 and general freight in ...

on the

Maidstone Line The Maidstone line is a railway line between Swanley, Maidstone and Ashford in Kent, England. The line diverges from the Chatham Main Line at Swanley Junction and proceeds down the Darenth valley to Otford junction Retrieved 2012-01-12 (where th ...

from 1884 until 1959. The nearest railway stations are

Ashford International station Ashford International railway station is a National Rail station in Ashford, Kent, England. It connects several railway lines, including High Speed 1 and the South Eastern Main Line. Services are operated by Southeastern and Southern. The stat ...

and Charing station.

References

External links

Statistical civil parish overview - map

External links

Official website of Hothfield Parish Council
Villages in Kent Villages in the Borough of Ashford Civil parishes in Ashford, Kent {{Kent-geo-stub