Editing Hawkhurst (section)

=== 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>