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 name is derived from the charcoal kilns and the ridge(down) it lies on, and supplied charcoal for the iron furnace at nearby Bedgebury Estate. 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 hamlet 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.

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.

Views

Kilndown has a number of very pretty views, as the area around is very rural. Take the Goudhurst road, and the views across the valley to the village on the hill is beautiful. This can also be seen from the cricket pitch which holds regular boot sales. The road towards Bedgebury is very narrow, but very attractive and you can imagine Kentish roads from the past, as you drive up and down the hills.