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Kilndown
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(Charcoal for the Furnace)
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General Details
Kilndown lies a comfortable one mile from the A21 London to
Hastings road, about 3 miles from Goudhurst to the north, and
about 4 miles from Lamberhurst to the west.
The village is tied into the the Bedgebury estate which is one of
the oldest in Kent dating from 815AD, lying between Hawkhurst to
the east, Flimwell to the south, Kilndown to the west and
Goudhurst to the north. William the Conqueror gave the manor to the
de Bedgebury family who owned it until 1450 , when the Culpepper
family acquired the land. Queen Elizabeth I knighted Alexander
Culpepper in 1573 when she stayed at the estate. The estate was
famous for its iron workings and furnace.
Kilndown was originally a village producing charcoal and workers
to the estate, then in 1836 Bedgebury was purchased by Field
Marshal Viscount Beresford, one of the field commanders of
Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars. The church was built in 1841,
to provide nearby religious services for the estate workers, prior
to this they had to make their way up the hill to Goudhurst .
During the Second World War bombs landed in the village just south
of the church and destroyed the south facing windows.
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Services
 Kilndown has a local public house and church, the Quarry Centre
provides a shop and Post office on a Wednesday from 9am till 12 noon
and also an Organic Shop on Saturdays from 10am till 12 noon.
The nearest main shopping centre is Royal Tunbridge Wells which
has many shops and supermarkets .
The nearest main line trains run from Marden about 8 miles away
to the north, and provide regular services from Ashford to London .
An infrequent bus service runs to Tunbridge Wells twice weekly
and also to Maidstone on a Tuesday and Rye on Thursday.
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