Working for Wye - past, present and future

Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council

Working for Wye - past, present and future

Welcome to Wye.

Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council works to support and encourage community life, and conserve the historic character of Wye, and the rich natural environment and landscape of the Kent Downs.

The Kentish parish of Wye with Hinxhill covers 5,955 acres (2,410 ha), almost all of which is in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Most of the 2,560 parish residents live in the historic village of Wye, whereas the shops and facilities in the village serve at least 8,800 people.

Wye village entrance sign 'Wye in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty'

Wye in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

More about Wye

The parish includes the outlying hamlets in Hinxhill, Naccolt, Withersdane and Pickersdane. Several manors, farmsteads and ancient woodlands dot the downland landscape on either side of the fertile valley of the Kentish Stour. From Wye this river becomes a rare natural chalk stream, which flows through a gap in the scarp slope of the North Downs. The Stour flows through Chilham, Chartham, Canterbury, the medieval Cinque Ports of Fordwich and Sandwich, and then into the sea at Pegwell Bay.

The Wye National Nature Reserve (NNR) is a mile east of the village, on the scarp slope of the North Downs. The reserve is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and has Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), designated primarily to protect 345 acres of rare species-rich chalk downland and its peri-glacial geology. The NNR is a key part of the extensive network of Ancient Woodlands and chalk meadows across the North Downs.

These slides show how Wye's landscape changes through the seasons.

The North Downs Way National Trail between the Wye Crown and the Devil's Kneading Trough on Broad Downs offers one of the best circular walks and most panoramic views across Kent. This section of the National Trail leads to the White Cliffs of Dover. National Cycle Route 18 links Canterbury and Royal Tunbridge Wells, and this scenic route also passes through Wye. The village has a railway station, a choice of pubs, places to eat and stay, and a Farmers' Market. All of which attracts walkers and cyclists, and makes Wye an ideal base from which to explore the Kent Downs AONB and National Trail (video). The range of shops, schools, community facilities, services and events in this Kentish village attracts many visitors, and residents of the neighbouring parishes. Wye church tower has a peal of ten bells in a full-circle ring.

  • Summer solstice in Bridge Street, Wye in evening sunshine
  • Wye National Nature Reserve, the view over the Devil's Kneading Trough from Broad Downs
  • Wye Crown at harvest time with a combine at Silks Farm
  • WYE3 sunset view of the Great Stour valley from Sidelands

    WYE3 (44 acres owned by Telereal Trillium) and sunset view of the Great Stour valley from Sidelands

Wye Weather