Paddock Wood is a town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

borough of Tunbridge Wells The Borough of Tunbridge Wells is a local government district and borough in Kent, England. It takes its name from its main town, Royal Tunbridge Wells. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the municipal borough of Royal T ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England, about southwest of

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 8,263, falling marginally to 8,253 at the 2011 Census. Paddock Wood is a centre for hop growing.

History

Paddock Wood developed as a settlement during the second half of the 19th century as a result of the local hops industry. By 1900 it was a local transport hub with three railway lines at the railway station.

Government

Paddock Wood has three tiers of local government: parish, borough and county.

Borough council

Since 1974 Paddock Wood has formed part of the

Borough of Tunbridge Wells The Borough of Tunbridge Wells is a local government district and borough in Kent, England. It takes its name from its main town, Royal Tunbridge Wells. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the municipal borough of Royal T ...

. The borough is governed by a 48-member council. The town elects 4 borough councillors, with 2 each for the Paddock Wood East and Paddock Wood West wards. As of July 2022, one is a member of the Labour Party, one is a member of local action group Tunbridge Wells Alliance, and two are Independent.

County council

The upper tier of local government is provided by Kent County Council. The county council has 84 members, with each representing an electoral district. Paddock Wood forms part of the electoral district of Tunbridge Wells Rural.

Geography

The commercial areas of Paddock Wood are separated by the railway line. To the South of the railway lies ''Commercial Road'' which runs north east to south west through the town, and is the main shopping street. At the north east end of the street is the entrance to the Railway Station. ''Commercial Road'' is home to the branches of several banks, a variety of take-aways, a restaurant and a number of small shops. To the east of ''Commercial Road'', runs ''Maidstone Road''. This road runs north to

Beltring Beltring is a village in the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is in the civil parish of East Peckham. Beltring is known for the annual War and peace show which takes place at The Hop Farm Country Park. Unti ...

and

East Peckham East Peckham is a village and civil parish in Kent, England on the River Medway. The parish covers the main village as well as Hale Street and Beltring. History The Domesday entry for East and West Peckham reads:- :'' The Archbishop himself h ...

, and south to Matfield, and is the main route into and out of the town. To the north of the railway line lie the industrial areas. ''Eldon Way Industrial Estate'' can be found to the east and is home to British Car Auctions, among others. To the west is the larger ''Transfesa Road'' and ''Paddock Wood Distribution Centre''. This is the home to a number of companies including Gabriel Chemie UK Ltd, Norman Collett, CoolChain, Mack Multiples, Warburtons and a

Whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

warehouse, which was destroyed in a large fire in early July 2005.

Culture and community

Mascalls Gallery, was a public art gallery opened in 2006. It closed in 2016, due to a lack of funds. Although technically in

, in the

, the nearby

Hop Farm The Hop Farm Family Park is a Country Park in Beltring, near East Peckham in Kent, England, is over 450 years old, and has the largest collection of oast houses in the world. History Until 1997 the hop farm was known as ''The Whitbread Hop Farm ...

hosts many events such as the circus, monster truck racing and music festivals. St Andrew's Church is a joint Anglican and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

church located on Maidstone Road. Paddock Wood church

Transport

Paddock Wood is on the B2160 and B2161 roads and not too far from the A228, A264, A21 and

A26 road The A26 road is a primary route in the southeast of England, going from Maidstone to Newhaven through the counties of Kent and East Sussex. The road is almost entirely single carriageway with one lane on each side, although some of the road is ...

s. The A21 in the area suffers from congestion and traffic problems. It is served by

Paddock Wood railway station Paddock Wood railway station is on the South Eastern Main Line and Medway Valley Line in south-east England, serving the town of Paddock Wood, Kent. The station also serves the villages of Matfield, Brenchley and Horsmonden, which have do not ...

Education

The town has two schools, Paddock Wood Primary School which was built in 1909, and which has approximately 600 pupils and

Mascalls Academy Mascalls Academy (formerly Mascalls School) is a co-educational secondary school and a sixth form with academy status located in Paddock Wood, Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater ...

(formerly Mascalls School), a comprehensive secondary school which opened in 1956, has around 1400 pupils, and takes its pupils from Brenchley, Matfield, Capel,

Five Oak Green Five Oak Green is a village near Tonbridge, Kent in the Civil Parish of Capel. The village was a centre for hop growing. In the 19th century, The Rose and Crown public house was converted to a hospital to treat the many hop pickers who resided ...

, Horsmonden,

Lamberhurst Lamberhurst ( is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The parish contains the hamlets of The Down and Hook Green. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,491, increasing to 1,706 at the 2011 Census. ...

and

Yalding Yalding is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The village is situated south west of Maidstone at a point where the Rivers Teise and Beult join the River Medway. At the 2001 census, the parish, which incl ...

, as well as Paddock Wood itself.

Literary references

Some Dickens scholars believe that Paddock Wood is the rural railway station described in ''Dombey and Son''. Some believe that one of Charles Dickens's children was buried in the graveyard as it says on the sign at the entrance.

Paddock Wood Railway station Paddock Wood railway station is on the South Eastern Main Line and Medway Valley Line in south-east England, serving the town of Paddock Wood, Kent. The station also serves the villages of Matfield, Brenchley and Horsmonden, which have do not ...

appears in the novel

Dombey and Son ''Dombey and Son'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens. It follows the fortunes of a shipping firm owner, who is frustrated at the lack of a son to follow him in his footsteps; he initially rejects his daughter's love before eventual ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

where, in chapter 55, the character of Mr Carker accidentally falls under a train at the station and is killed.Railways and Culture in Britain: The Epitome of Modernity
; y Ian Carter

Notable people

* Philip Martin Brown (b 1956), actor, lives in Paddock Wood. * John Brunt VC (1922–1944),

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

, lived in Paddock Wood. * Frederick E. Morgan (1894–1967), British Army officer, born in Paddock Wood. * Sammy Rimington (b 1942), jazz musician, born in Paddock Wood.

References

External links

Official Town Guide
{{Commons category-inline Towns in Kent Civil parishes in Kent