Wild At Heart

Known for its wild countryside and farmland, the wonderful Weald of Kent is interspersed with some of our county’s prettiest historic villages and towns

- Caroline Read

From the old English word ‘wald’, meaning forest, the term Weald was used to describe the ancient wilderness of grassland, scrubland, and forests that stretched across the southeast of England from the Kent marshes to the New Forest in Hampshire.

The Kentish part of this landscape was known as the Forest of Anderida to the Romans during their occupation. The Domesday Book of 1086 showed the Weald to be the largest remaining area of woodland and heath in the whole of England at the time.

For generations, the Weald of Kent was comprised of a scattering of small settlements, with cattle and pigs grazing loose in the woods. But by 1200 much of the Weald as we know it had already formed, with most of the villages, towns, and farmland we would recognise today.

It was during the Middle Ages that the Weald became one of the wealthiest areas in the country, thanks to the trees in it its forests and the iron ore in its ground.

During the Tudor and early-Stuart eras, the Weald was the main iron-producing region in Britain. Local iron ore had been used since the Iron Age but by the mid1500s there were more than 100 furnaces and forges, employing huge numbers of the local population. The furnaces were kept blazing with wood from the surrounding forests, changing the very landscape.

The craftsmen’s work was highly sought after and many made their fortunes. Larger homes were built, including the iconic ‘Wealden hall’ design, many of which survive today. It was only the Industrial Revolution that led to the industry fading, with the last major furnace closing in 1813.

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Quintessentially Kentish countryside and farmland, scattered with pretty villages and country towns, this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is popular with walkers, cyclists and nature lovers.