Situated near to Tunbridge Wells, Five Star Hononton Cottage is the ideal place to unwind in the Kentish Weald.
The building is a Sixteenth Century Grade II Listed farmhouse typical of the Kentish Weald with a cruck frame, local clay peg tiles and a wealth of exposed beams throughout, inglenook fireplaces and some original wattle and daub walls, and mullioned windows.
Situated about a mile from the village of Brenchley, near Tunbridge Wells, with its picturesque old timbered houses and All Saints Church built in 1233 with its 400 year old yew trees.
The cottage is at the end of a quiet lane, surrounded by apple orchards and has outstanding views looking towards the Furnace Pond, Horsmonden and Goudhurst.
The Furnace Pond was constructed in the reign of James I and an iron foundry was established from about 1614 when John Browne was granted the monopoly of making brass and iron cannon for the Army and Navy utilising local iron ore and charcoal to fire the furnaces. During the English Civil War he made guns for both sides in the conflict.
The water held by the man made dam was used to drive the trip hammers and by 1619, 200 men were employed at the foundry, somewhat hard to imagine now with the Ponds' tranquil atmosphere where wildlife abound and fish rise in the evening.
Hops are believed to have been grown in Kent since 1520 but today you are hard pressed to find a working hop garden but the number of oasts (white cowls) scattered throughout the countryside indicates the huge acreage once under cultivation.
Horsmonden is claimed to be the first place that the famous Fuggles hop was grown. Richard Fuggle of Fowle Hall in Brenchley developed the strain in 1875.
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