## Kent Ramblers: Walk 126 — Cranbrook and Benenden

![](https://www.kentramblers.org.uk/KentWalks/public/images/banner_126.jpg)

## Points of Interest

### Cranbrook

![](https://www.kentramblers.org.uk/KentWalks/public/images/P126a.jpg)

The smallest 'town' in Kent achieved prosperity in 
						the 14th to 16th centuries through the cloth trade.  
						Often called the 'capital of the Weald' it retains great 
						charm and is dominated by a fine smock windmill built in 
						1814 for Henry Dobell.

### Great Swifts

There has been a house on this site at least since 
						the 15th century when a dwelling was sold by a Stephen 
						Swift.  This presumably accounts for the many earlier 
						names of the house and the estate incorporating the name 
						'Swift' or 'Swifts'.  From 1770 to 1820 the house was 
						owned by the Austen family, relatives of Jane Austen.  
						The present house was built in 1937 by Major Victor 
						Cazalet, MP for Chippenham.  He died in an air crash in 
						1943 after which the house was first let and then sold 
						to the exiled Queen Maria of Yugoslavia and her sons.  
						The house was renamed 'Oak Hill Manor' in around 1995 
						and may recently have reverted to the former name of 
						'Great Swifts'.

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