The civil parish also contains the villages of Chillenden and Knowlton, and the hamlets of Rowling and Tickenhurst.

Goodnestone's Grade I listed parish church of the Holy Cross is in the Diocese and Archdeaconry of Canterbury and the Deanery of East Bridge.

[2] The church is set adjacent to Goodnestone Park, and dates from the 12th century, with additions and alterations to the 19th.

Within the church chancel is a 1752 monument by Peter Scheemakers to Brook Bridges (died 1717), of Goodnestone Park.

Austen visited her brother and Elizabeth at the estate regularly during their early married life.