Editing Hawkhurst (section)

== History ==

Hawkhurst has over 1,000 years of recorded history. The oldest known settlement was the Saxon manor of Congehurst, which was burnt by the Danes in 893 AD. There is still a lane of this name to the east of the village. At the time of the [[Domesday Book]] in 1086, the parish was mainly in the [[Lathe of Scray|Lathe of Wye]].

The ancient parish of Hawkhurst straddles the boundaries of four [[Hundred_(county_division)|hundred]]s, including three that by 1295 were parts of the south of the [[Lathe of Scray]] in [[List of hundreds of England|East Kent]]. The western portion of the parish of Hawkhurst was the entirety of the hundred of Great Barnfield (or East Barnfield). The eastern portion of the parish was partially in the hundred of [[List of hundreds of England|Cranbrook]] and the hundred of [[List of hundreds of England|Selbrittenden]]. Some acreage of the eastern portion was also in the hundred of [[List of hundreds of England|Henhurst]] in the [[Rape of Hastings]], [[Sussex|East Sussex]].

=== Etymology ===

The name Hawkhurst is derived from [[Old English]] ''heafoc hyrst'', meaning a wooded hill frequented by hawks – 'Hawk Wood'. Hurst (Hyrst) in a place name refers to a wood or wooded area&nbsp;– there are several in West Kent and East Sussex. The 11th-century ''Domesday Monachorum'' refers to the village as ''Hawkashyrst'', belonging to [[Battle Abbey]]. In 1254, the name was recorded as ''Hauekehurst''; in 1278, it is often shown as ''Haukhurst''; by 1610, it had changed to ''Hawkherst'', which then evolved into the current spelling.<ref>''The Place Names of Kent'', Judith Glover {{ISBN|0-905270-61-4}}</ref><ref>''The Origin of English Place Names'', P.H.Reaney {{ISBN|0-7100-2010-4}}</ref>

=== Iron industry ===

The village is located towards the Eastern end of the Weald, where iron has been produced from Roman times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/historicalgeogra00delarich/historicalgeogra00delarich_djvu.txt|title=Internet Archive|last=Delany|first=M.C.|author2=Mary Cecilia Delany|year=1921|work=The historical geography of the Wealden iron industry|publisher=Benn Brothers Ltd, London|pages=25|access-date=21 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openplaques.org/places/gb/areas/hawkhurst|title=Open Plaques|work=Hawkhurst|pages=Note #1470|access-date=21 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725195211/http://www.openplaques.org/places/gb/areas/hawkhurst|archive-date=25 July 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Weald produced over a third of all iron in Britain, and over 180 sites have been found across the Weald. [[Ironstone]] was taken from clay beds, then heated with charcoal from the abundant woods in the area. The iron was used to make everything from Roman ships to medieval cannon, and many of the Roman roads in the area were built to transport the iron. [[William Penn]], founder of the state of [[Pennsylvania]], is erroneously claimed to have owned ironworks at Hawkhurst.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Pennsylvania_Forges_and_Furnaces.html|title=Living Places|last=The Gombach Group|date=1997–2007|work=Pennsylvania Forges and Furnaces|publisher=Julia Gombach|access-date=21 August 2009}}</ref> The industry eventually declined during the industrial revolution of the 18th Century, when coal became the preferred method of heating, and could not be found nearby.

=== Hop growing ===
In the 14th century, [[Edward III]], wanting to break the Flemish (Dutch) monopoly on [[weaving]], encouraged Flemish weavers to come to England. Many chose to settle in the Weald, because it had all the elements needed for weaving&nbsp;– oak to make mills, streams to drive them, and [[fuller's earth]] to treat the cloth.

The Kentish domination of the hop industry was stimulated by that same influx of Flemish weavers, who brought with them a taste for beer, and beer making skills. Several wealthy Kentish farmers invested in this new opportunity and approach. Although not the centre of the industry, Hawkhurst Brewery and Malthouse was built in 1850, on the edge of [[Hawkhurst Moor]] (now a house).

Hop growing also gave the area its distinctive skyline of hop gardens and [[oast house]]s, which were used to dry the hops. Nowadays, most hops are imported. However, at its peak {{convert|35000|acre|km2}} of hop gardens existed in England, almost all of them in Kent, including much around Hawkhurst. Eventually mechanisation and cheap imports ended the industry, but the oast houses remain.

=== The Hawkhurst Gang ===

A witness before a 1745 Committee of Enquiry estimated there were 20,000 [[smuggling|smugglers]] operating in Britain at that time.<ref>Policing and War in Europe, Louis Knafla. Greenwood Publishing Group, p.179,{{cite web |url=http://www.kentresources.co.uk/gandh.htm |title=KENT RESOURCES: Smuggling - the Groombridge and Hawkhurst Gangs |access-date=31 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304114627/http://www.kentresources.co.uk/gandh.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016  }}</ref> An infamous group, the "Holkhourst Genge", terrorised the surrounding area between 1735 and 1749.  They were the most notorious of the Kent gangs, and were feared all along the south coast of England. At Poole in Dorset, where they had launched an armed attack on the customs house (to take back a consignment of tea that had been confiscated), several were hanged including [[Thomas Kingsmill (Hawkhurst Gang)|Thomas Kingsmill]], one of the gang's leaders.

A number of inns and local houses in Hawkhurst claim associations with the gang: high taxation on luxury goods in the early 18th century had led to an upsurge in smuggling, and the gang brought in brandy, silk and tobacco up from Rye and Hastings to be stowed away in hidden cellars and passages, before being sold off to the local gentry. It was reputed that when needed for a smuggling run, 500 mounted and armed men could be assembled within the hour. The [[St. Mary's Church, Goudhurst#The Battle of Goudhurst|Battle of Goudhurst]] eventually brought their career to an end.<ref>http://www.kent-life.co.uk/people/battle_of_goudhurst_1_2006855, {{cite web |url=http://www.kentresources.co.uk/goudhst1.htm |title=KENT RESOURCES: Goudhurst, Kent |access-date=31 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304141016/http://www.kentresources.co.uk/goudhst1.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016  }}</ref>