Detling is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

Borough of Maidstone The Borough of Maidstone is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Its administrative centre is Maidstone, the county town of Kent. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mai ...

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 parish is located on the slope of 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 ...

, north east of

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

, and on the

Pilgrims' Way The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of comparatively recent coinage ...

History and features

The ''Cock Horse Inn'' was used to stable additional horses when required to take heavily laden coaches and wagons on the steep route up Detling Hill. The village is now bypassed by the A249 road, which opened in 1962. Jade's Crossing, a footbridge to the west of the village, opened in 2002 after a local resident, Jade Hobbs, was killed trying to cross the road. The

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

village church is dedicated to

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as th ...

. The former airfield at the top of the hill was a Royal Navy Air Station during World War One, and an

RAF station The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's Air force, air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal ...

during World War Two. It was bombed by the Luftwaffe several times, with considerable loss of life. Its original area has been divided with some of the original hardstandings being used in a light industrial units area, part of the airfield is now farm land, and a significant part used by the Kent Showground – which hosts a number of annual events, such as the Kent County Show and the Detling Summer Conference, an event for

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exp ...

Christians. A memorial in Detling Village commemorates the service personnel from the airfield. See

RAF Detling Royal Air Force Detling or more simply RAF Detling is a former Royal Air Force station situated above sea level, located near Detling, a village about miles north-east of Maidstone, Kent. It was a station of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS ...

for more details. The village is also home to a Tudor gateway that has stood since the time of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

. Detling Cricket Club have a ground on the Pilgrims' Way. They play on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer and hold practice sessions on Tuesday evenings. The team plays in the Kent Village League. St Martin of Tours Church, The Street, Detling, Kent - geograph

St Martin of Tours Church, The Street, Detling, Kent - geograph

References

External links

Detling Parish CouncilDetling Village Hall
Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent {{Kent-geo-stub