Kennington brings together a landscape undergoing gradual change and a variety of historic building styles. These offer different interests to guide your choice of stay: the development of Conningbrook Lakes Country Park, sport and play, or the architecture of individual buildings. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Kennington, you could first consider which of these discoveries you would most like to shape your stay.

A Landscape Park in Transition

Conningbrook Lakes Country Park in Kennington is being gradually transformed into a landscape park on the site of a former quarry, around the existing lakes. Both the site’s former use and its existing lakes are therefore part of this landscape story. The ongoing transformation offers a distinct perspective for travellers interested in landscape development: the focus here is not only on a waterside landscape, but also on its evolution into a park.

Sport and Play as Other Interests

At Spearpoint Pavilion (The Ridge), there are five unlit grass football pitches available to hire. If you are considering this option, check the hire conditions in advance. Spearpoint Recreation Ground has a play area. The football pitches and play area are further specific considerations when planning a stay in Kennington, complementing the landscape and historic buildings with themes of their own.

Architecture from Rubble Stone to Timber Framing

The Church of St Mary is largely a 15th-century rubble-stone building. Kennington Lodge is a former stable building made of red brick with grey lintels; it probably dates from the 17th century. Kennington Hall is on a different scale: this large, square 18th-century manor house has three storeys and a red-brick façade. The church, former stable building and manor house thus represent different building types and periods.

Home Farmhouse and The Mill House can also be distinguished by their forms. Home Farmhouse is a house dating from the 18th century or earlier. Red-brick walls define the ground floor, while the upper floor is hung with tiles. The Mill House also dates from the 18th century or earlier; it is L-shaped, has two storeys and is built of red brick. The comparison reveals two different features: at the farmhouse, the change of materials between floors; at the Mill House, its L-shaped plan.

Two timber-framed buildings with different façades represent the 16th century. The Old House is a timber-framed building from this period that apparently once consisted of two cottages. Yeoman Cottages is also a 16th-century timber-framed house, but with a painted-brick façade and tile-hung side walls. Temple House offers a later contrast: this colour-rendered building dates from the mid-19th century and has a hipped slate roof.

Two useful points of comparison for building history are period and material. The timeline runs from the 15th-century Church of St Mary, through the 16th-century timber-framed buildings, to Temple House from the mid-19th century. Materials range from rubble stone and timber framing to red brick and slate; the buildings also differ in form and scale.

Discover more destinations: Ramsgate, Waltham, Rolvenden, Bilsington, Smarden, Horsmonden, Ash, Boughton Monchelsea.

For the broader travel overview: Kent.