Charing railway station

Charing is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, in south-east England. It includes the settlements of Charing Heath and Westwell Leacon. It is located at the foot of the North Downs and reaches up to the escarpment. The Pilgrims' Way, the M20 motorway and Charing railway station (between London Victoria and Ashford International via Maidstone) serve the parish.

Archbishop's Palace, Charing, is an important heritage site dating back to the eighth century, and one of the earliest to be owned by the see of Canterbury. The current palace dates back to the late thirteenth century with later additions and rebuilding, notably under Archbishop John Morton in the late fifteenth century who 'made great building at Charing'. There was almost certainly an earlier hall on the site as the palace was said to be a favourite place for visits by Archbishop Dunstan (959-88) and Archbishop Thomas Becket (1162–70).Charing was one of 17 medieval palaces in the possession of the archbishopric of Canterbury and the first in a string serving the archbishops' travels between Canterbury and London. Charing was visited by a number of royal guests, prominent among them being Henry VII and Henry VIII, both of whom paid several visits.Notably Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon stayed at the palace, together with their vast entourage numbering over 5,000, on their way to the Field of the Cloth of Gold in France in 1520.The property was acquired by the Crown after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1545 and was subsequently leased to and owned by local farming gentry, notably the Honywoods and the Whelers. The present owner's family acquired the complex in the 1950s. In 1952, the palace was designated a scheduled monument and four of its buildings listed Grade I.The Archbishop's Palace now features prominently, graded Priority Category A, on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register.In 2004, the Archbishop's Palace was a finalist in the BBC/Endemol TV series Restoration, presented by Griff Rhys Jones, Ptolemy Dean and Marianne Suhr, produced and directed by Paul Coueslant.Efforts to preserve the Archbishop's Palace have recently been revived with the creation of the Charing Palace Trust, which is urgently seeking to raise the funds needed to acquire the endangered Great Hall, Archbishop's chambers, other associated buildings and the gardens. Its aim is to restore them and to make the site accessible to all as a community centre with new educational, public and leisure facilities.

Charing Windmill is a Grade II listed smock windmill, now converted to a house, on Charing Hill in Kent in southeast England. It is sometimes known as Field Mill, but that name was also used by a watermill in Charing.

Westwell Leacon is a hamlet in the civil parish of Charing near Ashford in Kent, England. Its most famous resident is international Cyclocross star Ian Field.

Little Chart is a village and civil parish, situated 4 miles (6.4 km) north-west of Ashford in Kent, South East England. The parish lies south of the M20 motorway.

Hothfield Common is a 56.5-hectare (140-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Ashford in Kent. It is also a Local Nature Reserve, and is part of the 86-hectare (210-acre) Hothfield Heathlands nature reserve owned by Ashford Borough Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust.

Charing Beech Hangers is a 52.6-hectare (130-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Ashford in Kent.This steeply sloping site has mature beech and oak, and the ground flora is varied with some uncommon species. Invertebrates include the rare slug limax tenellus and several scarce moths.The North Downs Way runs along the south side of the site.

Faversham and Mid Kent is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2015, the seat has been held by Helen Whately of the Conservative Party.

Pluckley is a village and civil parish in the Ashford district of Kent, England. The civil parish includes the adjacent hamlet of Pluckley Thorne.

Smarden is a civil parish and village, west of Ashford in Kent, South East England. The village has the Anglican parish church of St Michael the Archangel which, because of its high scissor beam roof, is sometimes known as "The Barn of Kent".

Hothfield is a village and civil parish in the Ashford Borough of Kent, England and is 3 miles north-west of Ashford on the A20. It is completely split in two by Hothfield Common.

Lenham Heath is a hamlet in Kent situated on the southern edge of the North Downs, halfway between Maidstone and Ashford. grid reference TQ910500. The road through Lenham Heath runs parallel, and close to High Speed 1 and the M20 motorway. The Stour Valley Walk passes through the community.