The Royal Oak
Brookland, Kent

Make a confirmed on-line reservation for our Restaurant or Bed & Breakfast

Print This Page Print This Page

Home

The Royal Oak in Brookland on Romney Marsh is a typical old country inn. Steeped in history, for well over 270 years The Royal Oak has afforded shelter and sustenance to locals and travellers and still today it continues to offer as warm a welcome to visitors as ever in its long history. The location of The Royal Oak is such as to be attractive to those who seek a quiet spot, away from the hustle and rush of modern life.

The inn, although ancient, has recently been sympathetically renovated and re-furnished. It lies adjacent to the 13th century St Augustine’s Church, which is one of only four churches in England to have its bell tower standing apart from the church.

Here in a corner of Kent is a peaceful old village, enveloped in quietude and restfulness, tucked away in the middle of the beautiful and mysterious Romney Marsh, one of the few remaining unspoilt areas of south east England.

Romney Marsh, once called by Rudyard Kipling in Puck of Pook’s Hill as the “Sixth Continent” due to the wide expanse of levels with their special privileges and customs, did indeed for centuries regard itself as quite distinct from the rest of the world. The territory of infamous smuggling gangs and numerous sheep farmers, dotted with ancient medieval church towers, tending to sag at strange angles into the marshland, Romney Marsh still manages today to retain its withdrawn, haunting beauty.

Surrounding the village is open farmland offering an atmosphere of rare tranquility. Rich meadowland dotted with flocks of sheep, for which Romney Marsh is synonymous, is interspersed with remote lying arable farms.

Brookland is an ideal village in which to stay on Romney Marsh, being located nearby to:

  • Dungeness
  • Rye
  • Steam Trains – Romney, Hythe, & Dymchurch miniature railway, plus the Kent & Sussex railway at Tenterden
  • RSPB Reserves at Rye Harbour & Dungeness
  • Camber Sands
  • National Trust historic properties – Sissinghurst Castle, Bodiam Castle
  • English Heritage sites – Dover Castle
  • Folkestone Race Course
  • Easy Rail travel to London and Europe from Ashford International 
  • Canterbury

Whatever your interests, whether they be from bird watching, cycling, walking, water sports, fine dining, to visiting historic towns, or ancient churches and castles, Romney Marsh and the surrounding area has something for everyone.  

 

 The Royal Oak 1 of only 7 pubs in Kent awarded

the Good Pub Guide “Knife/Fork” accolade for “…outstanding food” & from over 1,700 pubs in Kent, The Royal Oak is

1 of only 35 Good Pub Guide – “Main Entries” in the whole county

 ****************************

In 1736 the first licensee of The Royal Oak – Jacob Ferriss, was granted a licence …

“that he may suffer ale to be tippled in his house,  
but may not suffer ale to be tippled during divine service,
that he may not suffer ale to be tippled from pots of illegal measure,
that he may not suffer ale to be tippled
from pots not bearing the district stamp,
that he may not suffer ale to be tippled that is impured by adulteration,
and that he may not suffer ale from a disorderly house”.