Hollingbourne, Kent

Hollingbourne is a village and civil parish situated on the southward slope of the North Downs, just four miles east of Maidstone in Kent. The parish includes three conservation areas: Upper Street in the village centre, and the hamlets of Broad Street and Eyhorne Street. The North Downs Way National Trail and the historic Pilgrims’ Way both pass through the village, highlighting its connection to ancient pilgrimage routes to Canterbury.

The village is notable for All Saints’ Church, a Grade I listed building constructed from flint and stone, with elements dating from the 14th to 17th centuries. Inside, it houses numerous monuments and tombs to members of the Culpeper family, prominent landowners linked to the village for generations. The church is also known for the centuries-old Culpeper cloth, possibly a funeral pall, associated with the family’s history.

Eyhorne Street, a hamlet within the parish, features a conservation area with 26 Grade II listed buildings, including the restored 16th-century Godfrey House and Cotuams Hall, formerly Totnams farm. Hollingbourne Manor, an Elizabethan Grade I listed manor house at the foot of Hollingbourne Hill, was once a home of the Culpeper family.

Hollingbourne Hill played a significant role in the Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790), serving as a major measuring point linking the Royal Greenwich Observatory and the Paris Observatory. This site was also the origin meridian for detailed Ordnance Survey maps of Kent.