Fordwich: Britain's tiniest town with an award winning pub and a church you can spend the night in
Canterbury
Lyndsey Young (Image: Wikimedia Creative Commons) (Image: KentLive) (Image: Ian Scammell) www.kentlive.news lyndsey-young
For the tiny town it has plenty of character
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Kent Live
Located in the stunning Kent countryside is the market town of Fordwich. It lies on the River Stour, just northeast of Canterbury and known for being the tiniest town in the UK, and there is even a sign to say so.

Though it is a town it has all the charms of a village, and there are plenty of interesting things to make a trip here worthwhile. It is home to two pubs, The George and Dragon and the award winning Fordwich Arms, that has welcomed praise from renowned food writers such as Grace Dent and Tom Parker-Bowles.

Across from the much-loved Fordwich Arms pub is the ancient and disused church of St Mary the Virgin. But unlike almost any other church you will have visited before, this one is available to hire as a place to stay.

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For £49 per night per person, you can get access to the entire church and enjoy a night 'Champing', otherwise known as Church Camping. You will sleep among the church pews on camp beds and cushions and have the freedom to arrange everything as you want, but you will need to bring your own bedding.

The church has been closed for 25 years, last in use in 1995, though the original structure dates back beyond the 12th century, making it around 900 years old. It can house up to ten people, making it a perfect and really unique getaway for families or groups of friends that want to try something really out of the ordinary.

The town itself had grown in the Middle Ages as a port for boats on their way upriver to Canterbury. The stone used to rebuild the cathedral in the 12 and 13 centuries was landed in Fordwich, and it later became one of the Cinque Ports.

But it lost its status as a town in 1880 when it no longer had a mayor and corporation. However, following a reorganisation in 1972, Fordwich was again made a town because of its former importance in early Britain.

The town has some wonderful historic buildings, many of them are timber framed and includes the pretty town hall, which unsurprisingly also thought to be the smallest one in England. The signposted Stour Valley walk leads along the Stour from Canterbury to Fordwich, it is a lovely walk of around two miles, great if you want to work up an appetite before lunch in the town.

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