Hextable Village

Hextable Village nestles in Green Belt between Dartford and Swanley

In just over 100 years Hextable has grown from a small hamlet to a semi-rural village of some 4,400 people. It is  situated in north west Kent between the towns of Dartford and Swanley. The village is surrounded by green belt land - much of it used by nurseries, garden centres and small farms. Despite being only 16 miles from central London and within the M25, Hextable still retains much of its rural character having its own post office, chemist, grocery stores and bakery. The centre is marked by an attractive tree-lined village green with a children's play area. Every Christmas we have 'Carols on the Green' with mulled wine, and in recent years offering 100's of mince pies kindly donated by Waitrose ! A founder member of the Temperance Movement once lived in Hextable and to this day, historic covenants still mean the village has no public houses!   Centre of the village on a summer's day

The village has three parks : Hextable Park, which offers a panoramic view of the village, is the main park with three football pitches and tennis courts. During the week it is frequented by dog walkers and young children, and at weekends by local youth football teams.

Hextable Gardens is a formal and informal park.The latter has a small pond and numerous birdboxes attracting much wildlife. Located in the Gardens is the Hextable Heritage Centre, and 'The Gallery' which provides art and craft workshops for local artists. The local Air Cadets have a building in the Gardens and they meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 19:00. Finally there is the Scout Headquarters which is used by venture scouts and local clubs.   There is also a playing field in Lower Road which is a football pitch in Winter and a cricket pitch in Summer.

Schools   The village has a Secondary School with the adjoining Hextable Dance centre and draws on pupils from a wide area. In September 2007, Hextable Infants and Hextable Junior schools were amalgamated to form Hextable Primary School. The Infants department is on St David's Road and the Junior department is on the same campus but accessed from Rowhill Road. The previous Junior School performed well above county and national averages at Key Stage 2. Many pupils went on to the Dartford (state funded) grammar schools which perform exceptionally well in the national league tables. Finally there is Furness School which caters for young people with behavioural difficulties. It has recently had  a £multi-million extension which is now completed. Churches   There is the Hextable Methodist Church which has both a Boys and a Girls Brigade with a membership of around 70 young people in each. At the centre of the village is St Peter's Anglican Church which is evangelical in character. Its congregation of about 300 draws on people from within and outside the village.

DVD of the Village  The Heritage Society have produced an interesting DVD of Hextable. This is available from Audrey Rainer 82 Plantation Road, Hextable,BR8 7SA The cost is £12.50 postage and packing £1.00. The sleeve of the DVD is reproduced below.