Hawkinge ( ) is a town 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 Folkestone and Hythe district 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. The original village of Hawkinge is actually just less than a mile (c. 1.3 km) due east of the present village centre; the village of Hawkinge was formed by the merging of Hawkinge and Uphill.

World War II

During World War II,

RAF Hawkinge Royal Air Force Hawkinge or more simply RAF Hawkinge is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Ashford, north of Folkestone, Kent and west of Dover, Kent, England. The airfield was used by both the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal ...

was the closest operational airfield to France and was used during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

. The construction of the houses was hampered by the discovery of several pipe bombs, put there in the event of a German invasion to render the airfield useless to enemy airplanes. There are several reminders of the war in and near the site of the original village; the Kent Battle of Britain Museum and various pillboxes are scattered amongst the farms. Hawkinge Cemetery is near the site of the aerodrome and most of the 95 Second World War casualties buried there were airmen. About a quarter were killed during the Battle of Britain. Most of the war graves are in a special plot east of the chapel, including 59 German graves, which are together in a group at the south-eastern corner.
CWGC Cemetery Report.

Governance

Hawkinge is in the Folkestone and Hythe (UK Parliament constituency), Folkestone and Hythe Westminster constituency. On Kent County Council, Hawkinge forms part of the

Elham Valley The Elham Valley is a chalk valley carved by the River Nailbourne situated in the North Downs in East Kent. The valley is named after the settlement of Elham. Other settlements in the valley include Etchinghill, Lyminge, Barham, Kingston, Bish ...

Division, represented by Cllr Susan Carey (Conservative). On the Folkestone and Hythe District Council, Hawkinge is covered by the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...

East ward, represented by Cllrs David Godfrey, Philip Martin, and Stuart Peall (all Conservative). Hawkinge Town Council consists of thirteen elected members; Eleven Conservatives, one UKIP and one Independents.

Transport

The A260 which runs from

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

to Barham, where it meets with the A2 to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

originally ran through the centre of the town, before it was replaced with a new bypass opened by Michael Howard on Monday 9 July 2007. The southern section, built in the early 2000s, leads from the A20 to a roundabout where it meets with the northern section. This new section carries traffic around the town centre onto the existing road. There is a bus service that connects the town to

and

. These are normally run by Stagecoach and have route numbers 19, 16 & 73 (Easy Access Bus).

Shops and services

There are two local churches. The

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church is St Luke's, the ancient parish church of St Michael's having been declared redundant in 1980; and the Baptist Church, having sold its small building, meets in a modern chapel on the first floor of Hawkinge Community Centre. There are two primary schools: Hawkinge Primary School in the old village, and The Churchill Primary School. The town publishes its own online newspaper, the ''Hawkinge Gazette''. The town also has its own local Scout group, 3rd Hawkinge.

Notable residents

Music connections

* DJ and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

Owen Thomas James (formerly ''Owdaug'') grew up at his family home in Hawkinge and attended the

Harvey Grammar School The Harvey Grammar School is located in Folkestone, Kent, England. It is a grammar school with academy status founded by the family of William Harvey in 1674. Admissions A selective school for boys only, the school has around 900 on its roll. ...

References

External links

{{authority control Towns in Kent Civil parishes in Kent Folkestone and Hythe District