The village centre is on the northern edge of the Romney Marsh, 12 miles (19 km) south-west of Ashford town.

Famously, the greater part of the Danish army (280 ships - 5000 men) wintered at Appledore in 892–93, before moving into Wessex and suffering defeat at the hands of the Saxons led by King Alfred's son Edward the Elder at Farnham in Surrey.

The importance of Appledore as a port diminished suddenly in the 13th-century when two great storms - the first on 4 February 1287 and again sometime the following December - caused the river Rother to change its course; the village street now leads down to the Royal Military Canal.

In 1804, when there was threat of invasion by Napoleon the Royal Military Canal was built: Appledore stands on its northern bank.

The fictional village of Plummergen, in the "Miss Seeton" series of crime novels by Heron Carvic, is based on Appledore.

Including oak thinnings being used in Shorne Woods Country Park's new visitor centre, as the window and roof joinery.