Hernhill: A Village Guide Near Faversham

Tucked between Faversham and Canterbury, about three miles northeast of Faversham, Hernhill is a village and civil parish on the edge of the North Kent Marshes. It is a scattered place, taking in a string of hamlets — Crockham, Dargate, The Fostall, Lamberhurst, Oakwell, Staple Street, Thread, Waterham and Wey Street — and sheltered from the harsh east winds by the commanding ridge of The Blean. To the north it stretches almost to a shell-strewn beach; to the south and west it is a landscape of hill and dale, orchard and hop-garden. It can be hard to find, but it rewards the effort: quiet, green and a genuine delight.

Hernhill's story runs deep. A wooden church stood here during the Anglo-Saxon Christian period, replaced in 1120 by one of wood and stone dedicated to St Stephen, and again around 1450 by the stone and flint building we see today, dedicated to St Michael and incorporating some of the earlier 12th-century masonry. The village also carries a dramatic chapter of English history. In 1838, Sir William Courtenay persuaded 44 people from Hernhill and Dunkirk to rise up in what became known as the Last Rising of the Agricultural Labourers. A policeman was killed and six rebels, Courtenay among them, were shot in nearby woods. The churchyard holds a monument to those killed at the Battle of Bossenden Wood, said to be the last armed uprising on British soil.

St Michael's Church, Grade I listed and perpendicular in style, has a square tower and a ring of eight bells, with a 15th-century main door, a 16th-century rood screen and a Lady Chapel added in 1928. On the village green stands the Red Lion, a 14th-century Hall House with exposed beams, flagstone floors, a crown-post ceiling and a welcoming log fire, while the hamlet of Staple Street has a second pub, The Three Horseshoes. Nearby is Mount Ephraim, the village's 'big house', home to the Dawes family since 1696; its present building dates from 1878 and its gardens, landscaped in the early 20th century, are often open to the public in summer and provide a lush backdrop for the popular open-air Shakespeare productions staged each year around the lake.

Nature is never far away. The surrounding Blean woodland complex is part of The Blean, the largest ancient broadleaved woodland in southern Britain, with Blean Woods National Nature Reserve holding national importance. It is home to woodpeckers and nightingales, hazel dormice and the extremely rare Heath Fritillary butterfly — reason enough for a walk from the village on a fine day. For those coming further afield, the nearest station is Faversham, on the mainline from London Victoria and London St Pancras, roughly an hour from the capital.

For all its rural quiet, Hernhill is served by a small number of local businesses that keep the parish ticking over. Bessborough Farm and S & A Produce Hernhill Nursery reflect the village's long-standing links to the land, with fresh produce and growing very much part of the picture here. Alongside them, Bowman Pest Control & Bird Proofing offers a practical trade service for homes and businesses across the area, and Miriam Layton Architectural Design provides professional support for those planning building or renovation projects in this characterful corner of ME13.

Whether you are visiting for the church, the gardens, a pub lunch or a woodland walk, or you live locally and want to find the services closest to home, this page is a starting point for getting to know Hernhill and the people and businesses within it.