Hollingbourne

HOLLINGBOURNE is one of the prettier villages in this part of Kent, though it lies in the path of the Channel Tunnel rail-link, which has been buried underground in order to minimise disturbance. The High Street is lined with half-timbered houses. A three-bedroom Georgian terraced town house will cost £205,000; a substantial four-bedroom detached period house from £775,000. The upper village clusters around the Elizabethan manor house, with the shops kept in their place at the lower end. There is also a popular primary school, a football team and several active clubs and societies. Hollingbourne’s historic church contains the 300-year-old embroidered Culpeper cloth. This is also the station for Leeds Castle. The castle was built in 1119 in the middle of a lake formed by the River Len, and given by Edward I to his wife Eleanor of Castile. It was presented to the nation in 1974 and is now a venue for conferences, open-air concerts, balloon events and so on. Prices in Leeds are similar to those in Hollingbourne. It merges into the neighbouring village of Langley, where there is a shooting ground and a golf course, and where you can spot deer in the woodland. A three-bedroom semi will cost around £250,000.