Willesborough is a residential suburb on the eastern side of Ashford, Kent

Ashford, Kent

Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...

, England.

The area

The South Willesborough Dykes

Willesborough Dykes

-The Area:Willesborough is a suburb of Ashford, Kent, UK. The area has schools, post offices, shops and other local resources, it is mainly residential but as Ashford expands there is more and more commercial activity around Willesborough...

 area, on the west bank of the East Stour river, is an area of sheep fields drained by dykes. The area is designated as the South Willesborough Dykes Site of Nature Conservation Interest

Site of Nature Conservation Interest

Site of Nature Conservation Interest is a designation used in many parts of the United Kingdom to protect areas of importance for wildlife and geology at a county scale...

 (SNCI). The dykes continue on the east side of the East Stour river and among the residential areas, and a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 stream (Aylesford Stream

Aylesford Stream

Aylesford Stream is a 5.4 kilometre long tributary of the Great Stour, joining at Pledge’s Mill at the bottom of East Hill in Ashford, Kent, England...

) runs between Newtown and South Willesborough and into the East Stour. The smallest ditches dry up completely in summer.

The South Willesborough Dykes are important in terms of the geology of the area, being in the river floodplain

Floodplain

A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...

 and in supporting neutral, wet grassland species, along with Willesborough's Aylesford Green and Boys Hall forming part of the Ashford Green Corridor

Ashford Green Corridor

Ashford Green Corridor is a green space that runs through the town of Ashford in Kent, England. The Green Corridor is made up of parks, recreation grounds and other green spaces alongside the rivers that flow through Ashford....

,. although public access is otherwise limited..

Ashford Borough Council

Ashford (borough)

Ashford is a local government district and borough in Kent, England. Its council is based in the town of Ashford.The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Tenterden with Ashford urban district, and the East Ashford, West Ashford and Tenterden Rural Districts...

 has a project to create the Willesborough Dykes

Willesborough Dykes

-The Area:Willesborough is a suburb of Ashford, Kent, UK. The area has schools, post offices, shops and other local resources, it is mainly residential but as Ashford expands there is more and more commercial activity around Willesborough...

 Country Park.

There are a number of schools in and around the Willesborough area.

History

The town is known for its 1869 windmill

Willesborough Windmill

New Mill is a Grade II* listed smock mill in Hythe Road, Willesborough, Ashford, Kent. It stands just west of junction 10 of the M20 motorway. It was built in 1869 and is now a museum open to the public.-History:...

 near Hythe Road, and St Mary's Church on Church Road, which has one of the oldest ringing bells in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

.

Former English

English cricket team

The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...

 international cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

ers Mark Ealham

Mark Ealham

Mark Alan Ealham is a retired English cricketer, who played domestic cricket for Kent C.C.C. and Nottinghamshire C.C.C.. He is an all-rounder and is a former England international at both Test and one-day cricket....

 and Richard Ellison were born in Willesborough.

William Harvey Hospital

The William Harvey Hospital

William Harvey Hospital

The William Harvey Hospital, located in Willesborough, Ashford, Kent, England, is one of the three main hospitals in the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust area...

, a major hospital providing services for east Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, is in Willesborough, and is named after the discoverer of the blood circulatory system. There is a statue of William Harvey

William Harvey

William Harvey was an English physician who was the first person to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart...

 at the hospital, and an older, damaged, statue of him, formerly the hospital, in the garden at the William Harvey Public House on Church Road in Willesborough.

Industry

Norman Cycles

Norman Cycles

Norman Cycles was a British bicycle, autocycle, moped, and motorcycle manufacturer based in Ashford, Kent, England.The company and its products are remembered today by the Norman Cycles Club which is based at Willesborough Windmill, in Willesborough, Ashford...

 was a bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

, autocycle, moped

Moped

Mopeds are a type of low-powered motorcycle designed to provide economical and relatively safe transport with minimal licensing requirements.Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals , but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their...

, and motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

 manufacturer based in Ashford, Kent

Ashford, Kent

Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...

. The Norman Cycles Club is based at Willesborough Windmill

Willesborough Windmill

New Mill is a Grade II* listed smock mill in Hythe Road, Willesborough, Ashford, Kent. It stands just west of junction 10 of the M20 motorway. It was built in 1869 and is now a museum open to the public.-History:...

and The Norman Museum is located in the windmill's barn, where mopeds and bicycles are on display.