Headcorn

Headcorn sits in the Weald of Kent, a gently folded landscape of orchards, hop gardens and oak woodland roughly midway between Maidstone and Ashford. It's a proper Wealden village rather than a tourist honeypot: a cluster of weatherboarded and tile-hung cottages, a fifteenth-century church, and a high street that still does its own shopping rather than performing for visitors. The name is thought to derive from Old English for a wooded clearing, and the surrounding countryside still has that feel — small fields, sunken lanes and shaws of ancient woodland threaded between the farms.

What sets Headcorn apart from its Wealden neighbours is the drone of aircraft overhead. Headcorn Aerodrome, on the village's northern edge, is one of the last grass-runway airfields left in the county and has been in continuous use since the First World War. That mix of quiet farmland and busy little airfield gives the village an odd, appealing character — pull-up onions and orchard rows on one side of the lane, parachutists drifting down over the hedgerows on the other. It's also a genuinely central base for exploring the Weald, with Sissinghurst and Leeds Castle both a short drive away and the coast at Rye and Tenterden not much further.

Top things to do in Headcorn

Headcorn punches well above its size for things to see and do, mostly thanks to its aerodrome and its ring of grand houses and gardens.

• Headcorn Aerodrome — Built as RAF Lashenden in 1943 as an Advanced Landing Ground for Spitfires and Mustangs ahead of D-Day, it's now Kent's busiest private airfield and home to Skydive Headcorn, one of the UK's longest-running parachute centres. Visitors can watch the jumps, take a tandem skydive themselves, or book a scenic flight or a spin in a vintage biplane.
• Sissinghurst Castle Garden — Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson's celebrated garden, built around the ruins of an Elizabethan manor, is around nine miles south-east and one of the National Trust's most visited properties, famous for its White Garden and Elizabethan tower.
• Leeds Castle — Often called "the loveliest castle in the world," Leeds Castle rises from its own lake a short drive north of Headcorn, with parkland, a maze and falconry displays that make it an easy half-day out.
• Weald of Kent Golf Course — An 18-hole course and clubhouse on the edge of the village, with lakes and parkland views and a bar and restaurant open to non-members.
• St Peter and St Paul's Church — Headcorn's substantial medieval parish church, with a fine timber south porch and a peal of bells, sits at the heart of the village alongside a scatter of well-preserved timber-framed houses.
• Hop gardens and orchards — The lanes around Headcorn are still lined with the low poled hop gardens and apple and cherry orchards that once fuelled Kent's brewing and fruit-growing industries, particularly rewarding for a summer or autumn walk or cycle.
• Egerton and the Greensand Way — The long-distance Greensand Way footpath passes close to the village, giving walkers a route up onto the ridge for views back across the Weald.

Getting to Headcorn

Headcorn railway station, on the Maidstone East line, has direct services to London Charing Cross and Victoria in around an hour, as well as connections south to Ashford International for High Speed 1 and Eurostar links. By road, the village sits just off the A274, with the M20 motorway a few miles to the north giving quick access to Maidstone, Ashford and the M25. There's no shortage of parking in the village itself, and its position roughly halfway between Maidstone and Ashford makes it a convenient base for touring the wider Weald without needing to drive far each day.

Best time to visit Headcorn

Late spring and summer suit Headcorn best, when the orchards are in blossom or fruiting, Sissinghurst's gardens are at their peak, and the aerodrome is at its busiest with skydiving and flying displays. Early autumn brings the hop and apple harvest and golden light across the Weald, while a crisp winter weekend still has plenty to offer for a walk followed by a fireside pub lunch, with the crowds at nearby attractions much thinner.

Where to stay in Headcorn

Accommodation around Headcorn tends towards farmhouse bed and breakfasts, converted oast houses and small country hotels rather than big chains, in keeping with the surrounding countryside. The Weald of Kent Golf Course and Hotel, on the village's edge, offers rooms alongside its course and clubhouse, while the wider area has a good spread of characterful B&Bs in traditional Kentish buildings, several with views out over orchards or hop gardens. For a longer stay or a family trip, self-catering cottages in and around the village put Sissinghurst, Leeds Castle and the coast all within easy day-trip range.

Food and drink in Headcorn

The village has a good clutch of pubs for a place its size. The George and Dragon on the high street is a traditional country pub serving locally sourced food and also doubles as a small bed and breakfast, while the White Horse offers Kentish and Sussex ales alongside classic pub grub in a building with open fires. For something more polished, the Waterside Restaurant and Bar at the Weald of Kent Golf Course overlooks the course's lakes and is open to non-golfers for lunch and dinner. Further afield, the wider Weald is well known for its vineyards and farm shops, making it easy to pick up local wine, cheese and fruit to take home.