Hothfield
Primary School
Post Office & Store
Hothfield is a rural Kent village 4 miles north west of Ashford off the A20. The villages of Pluckley and Westwell are also close by. There is an equi-distant choice of train stations – either Pluckley on the Tonbridge line or a wide choice at Ashford International in the town centre .
Why Live in Hothfield?
The village sits in rolling Kent countryside with the Greensand Way and the Stour Valley Walk as two long distance trails in this idyllic “Darling Buds of May “ countryside of the Great Stour valley.
Hothfield is famous today for Hothfield Common: one of very few areas of boggy heathland left in SE England – managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust with grazing highland cattle and konick ponies to keep it boggy and clear of trees – this is a special place for walking and observing rare species.
In times past Hothfield was famous for the mansion of Hothfield Manor – the home of The Tufton family since the 1600s who were Earls of Thanet and Barons of Hothfield. The family left when the mansion was requisitioned for WW2 military use and it was demolished in the 1950s . A new smaller manor house was built by the new owner, Lord Rootes. That house is now a brain injury rehabilitation hospital, one of a network of highly specialist centres across the country.
Hothfield Histories is just one of many active societies in the village. There are houses now in the gardens and former courtyard of the mansion and an active friends organisation for St Margaret’s church which dates from the 13th century and houses the Tufton tomb .
The village has a shop and post office and a large and busy village hall, as well as the footpaths and other local green spaces in addition to Hothfield Common. There is easy access by car or bus to all the, shops and schools in Ashford and to the garage, restaurants and hotels nearby at Ram Lane, Tutt Hill on the A20.