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Wormshill is a small village and civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. The parish is situated at a high point on the North Downs between Sittingbourne and Maidstone some ten miles south of The Swale. The village exists in the Hundred of Eyhorne and predominantly in the Church Parish of Wormshill the central focus of which is the Norman church of Saint Giles. The population is around 200.

To the East lies the village of Frinsted, to the West the hamlet of Bedmonton, to the South and South West are the villages of Hollingbourne and Hucking.

Contents 1 Environment, climate and development 2 Amenities 3 The church 4 Etymology 5 Tourism 6 External links 7 References

Wormshill stretches primarily along a single carriageway road known as "The Street". The location is rural and building in the village has been scant since the 1960s and 1970s. This lack of development is attributable to its position within the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest which impacts on local planning laws and the ability to construct new housing. The last major development was that of the residential cul-de-sac 'Draysfield'.

Wormshill's elevated and exposed position on the North Downs means it occasionally experiences extreme weather conditions such as the heavy snowfalls between 11 and 14 January 1987. More recently in March 2005 the village experienced significant snowfall when lower-level towns and villages had little or none.

Much of the local woodland was devastated by the Great Storm of 1987 which swept hurricane force winds across the South East of England in October of that year. A significant part of the exposed woodland to the North of "The Street" was felled and, following a replanting programme, has only recently shown signs of maturing. Similarly an ancient yew tree which had stood for several hundred years in the grounds of the house at Norwood Farm was destroyed along with a number of long-standing trees in the area. However, some 20 years later, the village displays few obvious signs of the damage.

To the West of the village there lies an ancient woodland which has been known to contain flint tools but this has recently been put under considerable threat by the extensive use of off-road vehicles on a byway that runs through it.

Until the end of the 20th Century the village had a Post Office and general stores along with a public house, The Blacksmiths Arms. However, the decline in rural Post Offices in the late 1990s led to its demise and the village retains only the Blacksmith's Arms and a traditional red post box. A small school was built in the village in 1872 and did not last 100 years though the building remains as a private dwelling.

In the 19th Century an additional public house existed at the Northern edge of the village near Norwood Farm and was known as The Woodmans Arms.

Until the 1990s Wormshill retained its own telephone exchange^[1] before becoming part of the Maidstone exchange. A red telephone box remains in the village following an insistence from villagers that it was not replaced with a modern design.

The church is dedicated to Saint Giles and forms part of the united benefice of Bredgar, Milstead, Bicknor and Frinsted. In 1995 received a new ring of six bells after a concerted campaign by villagers begun in 1944 by the late Michael Nightingale OBE. The last major renovations of the church were in 1789 and early in the 20th Century. Of note within the church are a Norman font and Tudor pulpit. The former rectory is now a private dwelling.

In January 2007 the church and the nearby Ringlestone Inn were used as a location in the filming of an EastEnders spin-off programme to be broadcast in the United Kingdom over the Easter 2007 holiday season.

The origin of the name Wormshill is attributed to Wodensell - after the Norse God Woden. A corruption, Wormsell is mentioned as a birthplace of a Cistercian Abbot resident at the nearby Boxley Abbey in 1474^[2]. The Manor of Wormsell was apparently in the ownership of Robert de Gratton during the reign of Henry III.

The Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway attracts tourists and railway enthusiasts throughout the summer season and Leeds Castle is approximately five miles from the village.

• Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway
• Leeds Castle

view • talk • edit  The town of Maidstone in Kent, South East England with the surrounding suburbs, villages, towns and parishes:
Allington • Barming • Bearsted • Bedmonton • Bicknor • Boughton Malherbe • Boughton Monchelsea • Boxley • Bredhurst • Broomfield • Caring • Chart Sutton • Chegworth • Collier Street • Coxheath • Detling • Downswood • East Barming • East Farleigh • East Sutton • Fairbourne • Frinsted • Grove Green • Harrietsham • Headcorn • Hollingbourne • Hucking • Hunton • Kingswood • Kit's Coty • Ladingford • Langley • Leeds • Lenham • Linton • Loose • Lordswood • Marden • Marley • Nettlestead • Nettlestead Green • Otham • Park Wood • Pollhill • Sandling • Shepway • Sutton Valence • Staplehurst • Stockbury • Teston • Thurnham • Tovil • Ulcombe • Weavering • West Farleigh • Wormshill • Yalding
The borough of Maidstone List of places in Kent

1. ^ Photograph of telephone exchange on Geograph
2. ^ 'Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Boxley'

Coordinates: 51°17′N, 0°41′E