#hawkhurst

Lillesden Estate in Hawkhurst, Kent, England

Owned?: No, library Page count: 174 My summary: In the 1740s, smuggling gangs roamed the English coast, terrorising the local customs agents who tried to stop them getting their goods into the country. One of the most notorious of them was the Hawkhurst gang, smugglers from Kent who escalated their deeds to murder. This is their story - and the story of how they were stopped. My rating: 3/5 My commentary:

Another research book - I wanted to know more about smugglers of the 1700s, and so I turned to the only book I could find on the subject, this one about the Hawkhurst gang. I'd never heard of them before, but apparently they were quite notorious back in their day, basically running the part of Kent that they were from in a manner similar to contemporary crime families. They were eventually taken down when the laws around smuggling were tightened up and, fearful of them, some of their fellow smugglers turned King's evidence to save their neck, as well as the customs men being able to hunt them down and find them. It was an interesting enough book, but I find myself without that much to say about it, so this is gonna be a short one.

One thing the book did that really annoyed me was that it kept making these modern pop-culture references, as though the reader isn't smart enough to uncover what they mean for themselves. A horse needing to be reshod is described as 'an eighteenth century flat tyre', and many references are made to cartels and Breaking Bad in order to explain why and how the gang was terrorising the locals. Did we really need this? I get that not everyone knows about history, but this seemed to treat the readers like morons. Other than that, though, it was a fine book and a good representation of its subject matter, if a little short. It told the story, even if by the end the story got a little repetitive with its 'and then that one guy confessed and was hanged' being repeated over and over. Still, it was interesting enough, and gave me some ideas for my writing, which is why I read it in the first place.

The Hawkhurst Gang

Kingsmill Leading the Raid at the King’s Customs House. Source: Wikipedia

The Hawkhurst Gang were an eighteenth century group of smugglers, based at Hawkhurst in Kent, and who branched out into fully-fledged banditry. The gang terrorised the south of England from the Isle of Sheppey to Poole in Dorset, unleashing a campaign of extortion, robbery and murder. They seemed immune from the authorities and behaved like an unholy cross between the organised crime of the Mafia and the lawless psychopathy of the American Wild West, extending their murderous activities into piratical raids on towns. The gang infamously broke into the Royal Customs House in Poole in 1747 and relieved it of all the produce and goods they could find there. The gang was led by an unpleasant individual known as Richard Kingsmill, one of three brothers who were the leading lights of the criminal enterprise.

‘…a pair of eyes had seemed to be watching them…’; in ‘Room 22’...

The Royal Oak, Hawkhurst

Free tomorrow, Thursday April 23rd, Ghosts of Kent (1985)

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Kent Advent Calendar - day 11 - Hawkhurst Now

Our last post on Hawkhurst took a peek at its history. Today we take a look at the village as it is now. Hawkhurst is really two villages joined together: Highgate with its famed 19th Century Grade 11 listed Colonnade and, less than a mile south, the Moor where you’ll find the 13th Century St Laurence Church, its spire visible across farmland from our family holiday rental.

The white weather-boarded buildings in the picturesque Colonnade house an array of independent family-run shops, the oldest being Hawkhurst Pharmacy which according to Historic England was founded in 1830, around the time the Colonnade was built. There’s also a butcher (Park Farm Butchers), a bakers (Rye Bakery)…but no candlestick maker (though you can probably buy some across the road at vintage Charlie’s Orange). More recent (20th and 21st Century) arrivals to the Colonnade include Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winners Lindsay Barrow Designer Florist, clothing boutique Cordelia James, Two Chicks gift shop, and the Green Shop which raises money for the Hawkhurst Community as the League of Friends. Beyond the Colonnade is Ooh How Lovely, known for its eclectic gift selection and homewares. Other independent shops and services include hairdressers, beauticians, a barber, gym and craft shop. It's wonderful to have so many independent shops in the village; the only high street names are Waitrose and Tesco supermarkets.

Opposite the Colonnade and housed in the 1875 Victoria Hall is the Kino, the UK’s first ever digital cinema – a fantastic resource for the village, showing a range of blockbusters, documentaries, and arthouse movies.

Fancy eating in but not cooking? Order in a kebab, fish & chips or Chinese take-aways. The Prince of Kent is a popular Indian restaurant in the village, and pubs include the Royal Oak at the crossroads (known for its Friday steak night), the Oak & Ivy (on the Hawkhurst Smugglers trail), the Eight Bells on the Moor (with excellent set and a la carte menus and weekly steak, burger and fish-n-fizz nights), and the Great House in Gills Green, which offers with its elegant Orangery and dining area.

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Where To Buy Organic Food in Kent

Our #KentAdventCalendar would be incomplete without a ‘window’ devoted to Hawkhurst. Its name comes from heafoc hyrst, an Old English phrase meaning a wooded hill frequented by hawks. (Other ‘hursts’ in Kent –include Goudhurst, Lamberhurst, Sissinghurst).

A rich history

This charming Wealden village has an interesting history traced back over 1,000 years; “Hawkashyrst’ is mentioned in the 11th Century Domesday  Morachorum. The large pond bordering farmland at the bottom of Barnfield House’s garden is a reminder of the village’s involvement in the Wealden iron industry in the Middle Ages – it is one of a string of ponds on a south-facing ridge running to the west of the village that were once open iron works. The Weald was the centre for armaments during the reign of Henry VIII, producing cannon right up to the end of the Seven Years’ War. That was the era of the infamous Hawkhurst Gang – the Holkhourst Genge – the most notorious group of smugglers in England who ‘ruled the Weald’ in the middle of the 18th Century, controlling the movement of contraband such as brandy, rum, coffee and tea smuggled across the channel from France.

Today you can follow in the footsteps of this infamous gang,  visiting landmarks on their route from Goudhurst and Hawkhurst to the coast at Rye and Hastings, identified on a map produced for visithawkhurst.org.uk.