Hawkhurst Heritage Trail
Hawkhurst, West Kent
Photo of Hawkhurst: Patrick Roper, CC BY-SA 2.0Photo of Hawkhurst: Patrick Roper, CC BY-SA 2.0
Twenty heritage plaques around Hawkhurst tell the stories of local people and buildings, from a Barnardo's home for babies to a Victorian woman bank agent. An illustrated map, with panels at The Moor and Highgate, links them into a walk round the village.
Highlights
- Sixteen original plaques from 2009 plus four added in 2025
- Illustrated trail map by local artist Imogen Partridge
- Stories of Babies Castle, Lillesden House and Fanny Hopkins
- Interpretation panels at The Moor and Highgate
Good to know
- Most of the trail is walkable, but a few plaques are easier to reach by bike or car
- The online map has longer descriptions of each plaque
- Kino Hawkhurst at Highgate is handy for a coffee stop
Getting there
Hawkhurst Heritage Trail, Interpretation panels at The Moor and Highgate, HawkhurstParking: Map point is The Moor, where one of the two trail panels stands. Free parking at Fowler's Park car park on Rye Road, near Highgate.
Get directionsChecked on 30 October 2026 against visittunbridgewells.com, visittunbridgewells.com, kinodigital.co.uk. Details change, so please confirm with the venue before you travel. How we check
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More things to do in Hawkhurst
Nearby
Photo of Hawkhurst: Patrick Roper, CC BY-SA 2.0Kino Hawkhurst
Kino Hawkhurst is a small independent cinema in Victoria Hall, a Victorian lecture hall in the middle of the village, with a café bar, a heated oak-framed veranda and a hidden garden. It shows new releases alongside live opera, ballet and theatre screenings, and you can take a drink into the film.
Photo of Hawkhurst: Patrick Roper, CC BY-SA 2.0Hawkhurst Fish Farm
Hawkhurst Fish Farm is a coarse and carp fishery on the Hastings Road outside Hawkhurst, with several lakes ranging from small, well-stocked junior ponds to a big-fish water holding carp and catfish. Beginners can turn up at the Junior Lakes without booking and hire a rod and bait on the spot, and the lakeside cafe makes it an easy stop for families.
Photo of Hawkhurst: Patrick Roper, CC BY-SA 2.0Slap n Dash
Slap n Dash is a paint-your-own pottery and craft studio inside the Hawkhurst Fish Farm complex. You choose a ceramic piece, decorate it with the studio's paints and leave it to be glazed and fired, and there are also decopatch, make-a-bear and keepsake sessions.