Kingsnorth

The Greensand Way, a long distance footpath stretching from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent, passes through the parish on the final stretch.

The village was proposed to be given its own station on the Marshlink Line but nothing has come of this.

The hamlet of Stubbs Cross is close to the villahe. The parish church of the village is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels.

A Roman settlement was discovered at the crossing of two important Roman roads on Westhawk Farm. The centre of the settlement has been preserved unexcavated as an open space, but before building began on the rest of the site, part of a Roman road was uncovered. There was evidence to show that there had been timber buildings at the side of the road, some of which were associated with ironworking. A shrine or temple was also found with a water-hole which contained 74, mostly 2nd-century coins probably left as offerings. Over 250 coins and many other artefacts were discovered on the site together with a Roman cemetery and an Iron Age burial.

A site at Park Farm, which is crossed by one of the Roman roads, also yielded Roman pottery fragments, some of which were associated with the regional distribution of salt, probably made on Romney Marsh.

A transcript of the Domesday Book of 1086 indicates that there was a settlement at Kingsnorth controlled by the Manor of Wye. One explanation of the name is that it derived from the Old English cyninges snad, detached land belonging to a royal estate. Another suggestion is that the settlement took its name from Jutish people 'Kyn', kin folk, who settled on a wooded hill or 'snode'. Other early variations of the name are Kyngsnode; Kynsnoth, Kyngesnothe and Kingessnode.

The RAF and USAAF occupied RAF Kingsnorth, an airfield close to the village, during World War II.

Kingsnorth is bisected by the A2070 Ashford to Hamstreet road. And briefly has a dual carriageway within it, as well as along its nearest border with Ashford, which serves as its main approach road. The road network is otherwise almost a wide grid with slight curves.

The village is served by regular buses to Ashford.

• Statistical civil parish overview - map

Media related to Kingsnorth at Wikimedia Commons