Charing & Charing Heath
Village Shops and Store
Doctors & Pharmacy
Many Countryside Walks
Charing village nestles in a fold of the west facing Kent Downs escarpment and has wonderful views out over the Weald of Kent. Ashford is 6 miles east along the A20 or by train ; Maidstone is 13miles west along these routes.
The medieval part of the village is on the ancient Pilgrims Way. As traffic moved downhill to the newer turnpike that became the A20the village spread southwards developing around the Charing railway station from the mid 1800’s. Charing Heath is a winding rural area that has had a mix of properties, pubs and churches for hundreds of years on this sandy heathland which is also an area in which building sand is still quarried.
Why Live in Charing & Charing Heath?
Charing is famous for the Archbishop’s palace: once a luxury residence for travelling royalty, it is one of the earliest surviving stone buildings, dating from the late 700’s. It was used by Henry VII and Henry VIII and was once owned by Archbishop Cranmer. It is now a story of expert restoration and stabilisation led by the current owners, the Spitalfield Trust working with Historic England and the community. Below it is the market place and village green that slopes down to the stream and the area of housing known as The Moat. There are many other interesting properties either side of Charing’s pretty high street. Some are still shops : there is a thriving butcher, convenience stores and a gift shop . Nearby there is also has a busy school and doctors surgery, There is a gardening club, cubs and scouts, history society and several community venues for all this to take place, as well as a much loved Church and Church barn, and another church in Charing Heath . The recent housing at Charing helps support all this and several restaurants and pubs in the countryside around the village.