Walnut Tree, ASHFORD, Kent

THE historic “Walnut Tree” pub in the village of Aldington was built during the reign of Richard II.

It started as no more than a timber-framed wattle-and-daub hut with a thatched roof, but in the mid-15th century a small bedroom was added at a higher level – it was reached by ladder.

But during the Napoleonic wars with France the village was the stronghold of the Aldington Gang – an infamous band of smugglers who roamed the marshes and shoreline.