Bespoke Property Search Agents in Cranbrook
Best local features: Today it is a small cluster of charming white weather boarded houses which spiral out from the 19th century water mill and is the closest match to the perfect quintessential English village. As the town is now bypassed only local traffic encumbers the narrow winding medieval streets and you do get a sense of having stepped back in time.
Best place to grab a drink or a bite to eat: Apicius, one of the very few Michelin-starred restaurants in Kent where fine dining doesn’t get much better even in the most shi shi of London’s restaurants. For more predictable fayre there is the George Hotel in the High Street.
Best shops in the area: The High Street and Stone Street offer a mix of interesting and eclectic shops typical of any country town serving its surrounding rural area and ranging from interior design/fabric shops, to electrical suppliers, clothes shops etc.
Educational facilities: Cranbrook School is a co-educational grammar boarding and day school founded in 1518 and forming a magnet for those seeking a cost-free first class education for their childre (being located within its catchment area can add as much as 20% to the value of a house). Sutton Valence is within daily reach and of course there is a wide variety of pre-prep and prep schools in the surrounding area.
Golf courses: Probably the nearest 18 hole course is Chart Hills near Biddenden.
Top tip when visiting the area: The world renowned garden at Sissinghurst Castle is not far from the town. Owned by the National Trust this is where Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson laid out the archetypal garden arranged as a series of rooms each with a different character of colour and theme. Bedgebury Pinetum is home to England’s national collection of conifers and offers something for all the family including a Go-Ape climbing centre (try out the zip wire if you dare), miles of cycle paths for all abilities and a decent cafe and shop.
The worst fact about the area: As a country town Cranbrook is some distance from major shopping facilities the nearest being Tunbridge Wells.
Getting to London: Direct trains to London Charing Cross, London Bridge and Cannon Street run from nearby Staplehurst, Marden or Headcorn twice hourly and the journey time takes about an hour. The spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells is about a twenty minute drive away.
The celebrity you would most likely find in the area: Ian Hislop and his authoress wife Victoria.
What is the typical property like: Cranbrook is surrounded by the prosperous fruit and hop farms of the surrounding area gave rise in the 15th and 16th century to a surprising number of classic farmhouses with their tile hung or weather-boarded elevations and steeply pitched roofs.
Interesting fact: Cranbrook Union Mill is a Grade 1 listed smock mill, the tallest in the United Kingdom being 7 stories high, it is also described as “the finest windmill in the land”.
Colin Mackenzie Property Search are bespoke property search agents covering the South East of England. Our knowledge of Cranbrook, Kent, and the surrounding area is extensive and we will work hard to find you your dream home in whichever area you are wanting to look.
