Headcorn

Just eight miles south east of the major Kentish town Maidstone lies the village and civil parish of Headcorn. The village is home to a relatively small number of people, with the population registering at just 3,241 according to the most recent local statistics survey of 2007. The modern day residents of Headcorn enjoy both the relics of traditional village life as well as the presence of a few more "forward thinking" attributes of the village, including the local airfield and the presence of Kent's only skydiving club close by. Good connections to the larger and more cosmopolitan regions also enhance the appeal of Headcorn- for example Maidstone, to which it is connected via the A247 Tenterden road as well as Ashford and London, which can be accessed thanks to the railway links operated by South Eastern Main Line rail services.

Headcorn has a varied and extensive history, which can be traced fairly distant and accurately into Kent's regional history. The first allusions to Headcorn's story are the various Roman coin finds that have been uncovered in the region over a number of years, with over thirty finds located at just one site. Historians have tended to cite that Headcorn was most likely a "homestead" site from as early as 2500BC to the later Roman period. As far as written history is concerned, there are actually no exact references to the village in the Domesday Book of 1086. However experts believe that the references to a church at Hedekaruna is in fact at the site of present day Headcorn.

From the mid 1200s onwards the development of Headcorn is very much shaped by the church and religious history, with the very first of the dozen houses of the religious movement "The Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives" being established at Moatenden Priory in Headcorn in 1244. In fact the famous "Headcorn Oak" which stands at the south door of the village parish was and remains a centre piece to the village landscape and history. Legend has it that the tree is actually close to 1200 years old, although it was damaged quite extensively in a fire in 1989.

Before the introduction of the now extensive rail network, the coach services were the principle means of travel and communication for the region, with the George Inn as a coach station particularly significant for the Headcorn area and continues to be a major focus of village life, since its transformation into the village pub. The journey for a stage wagon between London and Headcorn would take around two days in the mid 1700s, whereas today a rail journey takes just over an hour in each direction. The rail station was first opened in 1842 and gradually extended in stages to create the current network between Headcorn, Ashford, Tonbridge and London.

In fact the railway station at Headcorn features significantly in the more recent history of the area, since this was where the majority of service personnel and soldiers received their first meal on British soil following the evacuation of Dunkirk during the Second World War. The Aerodrome was also of considerable importance during World War Two, since it was used as a landing ground for both Canadian and American aircraft. The significance of the airfield has continued to the present day; it is the home of the local skydiving and parachute club and also the site of the Air Warfare Museum or Lashenden Air Museum. The Museum houses a number of genuine WWII aircraft relics and is a major attraction for both local residents and tourists alike.