Boughton under Blean, Kent

Boughton under Blean is a village and civil parish nestled between Faversham and Canterbury in Kent. The name refers specifically to the hamlet atop Boughton Hill, while the larger settlement at the hill’s base is known as Boughton Street. Together, they are commonly called Boughton under Blean or simply Boughton. The village lies adjacent to the Forest of Blean, an ancient woodland spanning over 11 square miles.

Historically, Boughton under Blean was part of the main route from London to Canterbury before the A2 bypass opened in 1976. From the village, travellers first glimpse the towers of Canterbury Cathedral after climbing Boughton Hill, a detail noted in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. This connection to Chaucer also appears in Frank Herbert’s novel Children of Dune.

The village has ties to Sir Thomas Hawkins, a poet and translator baptised here in 1575. His family home, Nash Court, suffered damage during the 1715 Jacobean uprising. A monument to Hawkins by sculptor Epiphanius Evesham stands in the church of St Peter and St Paul.

Notable individuals from the village include William Shilling, a New Zealand mariner and pilot born in 1848.