Dismantled Railway. In 1882, South Eastern Railways obtained powers for a branch line from Paddocks Wood to Hawkhurst, but it was not until 1892 that the line was opened to Hope Mill (Goudhurst), and the whole 11.5 miles to Hawkhurst was not completed until 1893. Its dead-end nature robbed it of much of its utility, and in 1961 it was closed, the track being dismantled.

Most of the route is still visible in the landscape. "The length of line from Paddock Wood to Horsmonden is reasonably well preserved except for the portion within the Paddock Wood Solar Farm area. The remainder of the route alignment survives as tree or hedge lined boundaries which demark the line and bridges and tunnels survive in good condition. Parts which traverse across fields appear to have been lost although the LiDAR data suggests that a slight embankment may survive. The cutting at Horsmonden has been completely backfilled though." (1 and 2)

<1> AOC Archaeology, 2016, Paddock Wood to Hawkhurst Branch Line, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Historic Environmental Desk-Based Assessment, with particular ref to Hop growing and picking Volume 1 (Unpublished document). SKE32563.

<2> AOC Archaeology, 2016, Paddock Wood to Hawkhurst Branch Line, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Historic Environmental Desk-Based Assessment, with particular ref to Hop growing and picking Volume 2 (Unpublished document). SKE32564.