Hollingbourne Trails in This Booklet – Two New Circular Walks Fr Om the North Downs Way
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LostLost Laandndsscacapes pes HERITAGEL TRAILS Lost watermills, the ghost of Catherine How a r d and the mys t e r y of a manor that di s ap p e a re d . These are just some of the highlights on the Lost Landscapes Heritage Hollingbourne Trails in this booklet – two new circular walks fr om the North Downs Way. The main trail takes you through Eyhorne Stre e t ,w h e re you will learn about its industrial past, then up onto the dow n s ,t h rough ancient woo d l a n d s , and returning via the main village.The secondary trail takes you west of the village, past the ancient manor of Ripple and back along the Pilgrim’s Way. The main text of the booklet consists of detailed directions and in f ormation on points of interest for the main trail.The secondary trail has no detailed directions but the route is shown on a map and there ar e notes to help you and information on points of interes t . The back pages of the booklet cover other local heritage themes. The Lost Landscapes proj e c t With grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund (through the Local Heritage Initiative) and the Rail Link Countryside Initiative, the Lost Landscapes project,organised by the North Downs Way National Trail,has been taking place in six communities along the North Downs. People in these communities have been looking into the heritage and history of their area and discovering what it is that makes their parishes special.Their contributions are the backbone of this series of trail booklets. The Hollingbourne Heritage Trails have been carefully designed to take in the best heritage features of the area.As you walk you will find that the history has been brought to life by the contributions of local people. En j o y your journey back in time! About the trails... KEY TO MAP Main route Steep climb Secondary route Bench A Point of interest in text - main route Steps a Point of interest in text - secondary route Viewpoint CAUTION at this point The map to the left shows the trail rou t e s , and the booklet contains detailed written directions in num b e r ed steps,bu t you may find it useful to take with you an Ordnance Survey map for this area – Explorer no.148 or Landranger 188. Getting to Hollingbourne By train – Hollingbourne station is on the As h fo r d-Maidstone-London line,be t w een Harrietsham and Bearsted.Fort r a i n times telephone 08457 484950. By car – Leave the M20 at junction 8 and fol l o w signs for the A2 0 . Come to a roundabout and turn left towa r ds Lenham and Leeds Castle.Come to another roundabout and turn left,signposted Hollingbourne.Cr oss the M20 and Channel Tunnel Rail Link and come into Eyhorne Stree t .D r i v e th r ough the village,passing a sharp left hand bend.Once out of the vi l l a g e ,turn left,signposted Hollingbourne Station.Dr i v e to the end and park by the station building. By bus – The number 13 from Maidstone passes through the village.Get off at the school,walk under the railwa y,an d turn right for the railwa y station (start point for both trails). Be safe,be prep a re d Please take care when walking on roads (use pavement if available or keep to the right) and crossing roa d s . Points where caution should be exer cised are highlighted on the map and in the text.Alw a ys wear suitable clothing and foo t we a r .Al l o w plenty of time for your walk – about an hour for ever y 2 miles (more for elderly or inexperienced walker s ) .A lw a ys kee p to the countryside code (see back of booklet). MAIN TRAIL POINT A – EYHORNE GREEN This trail is shown in purple on the map op p o s i t e . An ancient meeting place Be l o w are detailed written direc t i o n s , and infor m a t i o n on the main points of interest which correspond to Local tradition has it that the small green to your right ca pital letters on the map. is part of the once much larger Eyhorne Green – the outdoor meeting place of the Hundred of Eyhorne. St a r t this trail in the car park at Hollingbourne railwa y But what exactly was a ‘h u n d re d ’ ? st a t i o n . “K ent was divided for administrative,judicial and From start to point A taxation purposes into seven large divisions called lathes … and these in turn wer e sub-divided into 1. Facing the station building,walk to the left of it and up a smaller areas called hundreds …” footpath that climbs a bank to a stile.Cr oss the stile and turn right along a track . At the end of the track ,e m e r g e into A History of Ken t by F.W .Jes s u p a fie l d . So a ‘h u n d r ed’ was an area of land with its own local 2. Bear left and walk across the field towar ds a gateway as s e m b l y,made up of rep re s e n t a t i v es from and stile.Cr oss the stile then walk along the edge of the co m mu n i t i e s .H e r e on the gree n , it is said, th e fie l d , with a hedge on your left.Th e path then takes you as s e m b l y would have met to elect a constable or hold between two hedges .(T h e local name for this trac k is co u r t proc e e d i n g s . Th r ead Lane.) The hundred of Eyhorne was the largest in Ken t , 3.R e a c h a field gate and cross a stile made from a trac t o r co vering an area from what is now the edge of ty r e.Continue between two hedges until you emerge onto a Gillingham in the north to Headcorn in the south and road (Athelstan Gree n ) . Tur n right and walk a short distance Lenham in the east.But where does the name to a Tjunction with Musket Lane.Turn left. hu n d r ed come from? F.W . Jessup explains: 4. Fol l o w the lane,en t e r ing the hamlet of Eyhorne Stree t . Come to a small green on your right with a wooden sign “H u n d r eds may have been so called because each was be a r ing the hamlet’s name. reg a r ded originally as containing nominally one hu n d r ed sulungs.” 3 The term sulung ref ers to the amount of land that You are here 4 pairs of oxen could cultivate,equivalent to 240 ac re s . In theory a ‘h u n d r ed’ would have been an area of 24,000 acres , although in practice they varied a Pond gr eat deal in size. To have been part of this system,this settlement mus t date back at least to the Anglo-Saxon period,and a coin from this time,found in the garden of nearby Eyhorne House,is evidence of this.Ho wever ,th e di s c o ver y of a Roman pot not far from here,in 1929, indicates even earlier settlement.The wor d ‘s t r eet’ in the place name Eyhorne Street suggests the pres e n c e of a Roman roa d . Manager’s house - Barn still used as a dwelling From point A to point B 5.C a r r y on to a T junction with the main road through the vi l l a g e.Turn left and walk through the village until you rea c h the Windmill pub. Eyhorne Mill 6. Fol l o w the Public Footpath sign down the side of the pub, aw ay from the main roa d . Walk past the village hall. 7. Come to a large,modern barn,bear left and walk down Reservoir still visible the side of the barn.Behind the barn you will see a metal as shallow depression field gate – go through and stop with a pond to your left (does not hold water) and a stream to your rig h t . POINT B – GROVE MILL A hamlet built from paper Plan of Grove Mill from sale documents dated 1892. You may find it hard to believe,but quaint little Features still existing are marked as dotted lines. Present Eyhorne Street has an industrial past.At the heart of day features are superimposed as solid lines. this industry wer e the watermills along the Bourne st re a m . Hollingbourne resident Alan Williams has was a paper mill.Pap e r making was the driving forc e Alan has found this wonderful description of the mill’s traced the fascinating story of these mills: behind the early industrialisation of Eyhorne Stree t . large chimney being pulled down : “T h r oughout their histories,these mills have adapt e d The changing economic for tunes that Alan describes “11th Jul y 1894 … At 4.30 pm great crowds of their function to suit the economic and technological meant that Grove Mill was milling corn by 1865, spectators assembled … about 5 o’clock the last changes … Fol l o wing the for tunes of these mills has be fo r e going back to paper making and finally closing su p p o r ting bricks wer e rem o ved … then it began to been complicated by the fact that not only did they do wn and being demolished in the late 19th century.