Hawkhurst, Kent

Description
Hawkhurst, a village and a parish in Kent, but part of the parish is also in Sussex. The village stands near the river Rother, and has a station on the S.E.R., and a post, money order, and telegraph office. It is 4 miles NE of Etchingham, and 4 SSW of Cranbrook, occupies a rising-ground with fine views over the Weald, was once a market-town, and was noted in the 18th century as a resort of smugglers. The parish comprises 6521 acres; population of the civil parish, 3274; of the ecclesiastical, 3102. The manor belonged to Battle Abbey. Lillesden, Collingwood House, Seacox Heath, and Fowler's Park are handsome seats; Elfords is an ancient Tudor mansion, and Eisden House, Oakfield Lodge, and others are pleasant residences. Babies' Castle, a nursery home for infants in connection with Dr Barnardo's Homes, Stepney, London, was opened in 1886. There is a Conservative Club, a small village hospital, a lecture-hall, and a reading-room. There were formerly iron furnaces belonging to William Penn the courtier Quaker. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; gross value, £250 with residence. Patron, Christ Church, Oxford. The parochial church is Decorated and Perpendicular English, consists of lofty nave, aisles, chancel, and side chapels, with square embattled tower, and was restored in 1863 and previous years at a cost of nearly £3000. All Saints' Church stands at Highgate, was erected in 1861, is in the French Gothic style, consists of nave, chancel, and aisles, with a spire, and has an endowment of £100 yearly and a convenient house. There are Wesleyan and Calvinistic chapels, an endowed school, almshouses, and other charities. Dr Lardner, author of " The Credibility of the Gospel History," was a native. A weekly newspaper is published.