Hamstreet comes from the Old English ‘hamm’ meaning ‘land hemmed in by water or marsh’;
therefore ‘hemmed-in land’. The suffix ‘street’ comes from the railway station.
The original settlement existed a mile up the road at Orlestone, although most of
the population moved due to the discovery of fresh water at Hamstreet.
The parish church is a Grade: II listed building, dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin
and situated at Orlestone.
Hamstreet railway station opened on the South Eastern Railway’s Ashford to Hastings
line, on 13 February 1851…. More
