Wormshill - Landmarks

Landmarks

Until the end of the 20th century, the village had a post office and general stores along with a public house, The Blacksmiths Arms, a Grade II listed building, in part of 17th century origin.

The original post office opened in 1847 and was run by church warden Tom Clements from a building next to the rectory. The building, which now forms part of a Grade II* listed private dwelling, is thought to be the second-oldest surviving post office building in England with a service dating from 1847. The post office briefly moved to another location in The Street under the stewardship of local schoolmistress Fanny Harris (who operated the service from 1926); however, it returned to the original site in 1946 under the new sub-postmistress Irene Bugden and was run as a small general stores until it closed in 1976. Fanny Harris (then 92 years old and the village's oldest inhabitant) and Robin Leigh-Pemberton were passengers on the first postbus service on 4 March 1974. A new post office and stores operated at a different property in the village for a further 20 years until it was closed in the 1990s. Today, the village retains only the Blacksmiths Arms and a traditional red post box.

In the 19th century, an additional public house existed at the northern edge of the village near Norwood Farm and was known as The Woodman's Arms (and possibly also as The Norwood Arms). The pub was recorded on Ordnance Survey maps of the village between 1870 and 1946, but as of May 2012, the building is a Grade II listed private dwelling. Other listed buildings in the village include the timber-framed houses Norwood Manor and Blacksmiths Cottage. A large country house now known as Wormshill Court and bordered to the north and east by a brick wall includes the outbuildings of Manor Farm. The property is part of a large estate which has for several generations belonged to the Nightingale family. The house and farm is also shown on a map of 1636 and at that time appears to represent the only building in the village other than the church and the rectory. In 1858 a further map of the manor named the property Court Lodge Farm and included an inset plan showing the exchange of land between the governors of Christ's Hospital and a Mr. Henry Hudson.

Wormshill retained its own telephone exchange until the 1990s, when it became part of the Maidstone exchange. A red telephone box remains in the village after residents insisted that it not be replaced with a modern design however the telephony was disconnected (and the box sealed) in November 2009 as a result of lack of use. An informal village noticeboard is on the side of an old flint and wood barn that was part of the former Home Farm. The post box and telephone box are at the same location.

The Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway attracts tourists and railway enthusiasts throughout the summer season. The railway is a narrow gauge light railway run between two small stations on about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) of track built in woodland between Bredgar and Wormshill.