The earliest part of this Historic Building of Kent was begun in 1107. It was the child-hood home of Bishop Hamo of Rochester (born in 1275) who founded a Hospital/Almshouse in 1336. Hythe was a main landing point from the Continent during the Middle Ages. Church Hill, past St. Leonard's Church, was the main road to Canterbury and the Shrine of St. Thomas à Becket. His callous assassins passed this spot one winter's night in 1170 to plot his murder at Saltwood Castle.
