The village is located close to the border with East Sussex, around 12 miles (19 km) south-east of Royal Tunbridge Wells and within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Hawkhurst is virtually two villages: The Moor, to the south, consists mainly of cottages clustered around a large triangular green, while Highgate, to the north, features a colonnade of independent shops, two country pubs, hotels, a digital cinema in a converted lecture hall, and Waitrose and Tesco supermarkets.

Since boundary changes in the 2010 general election, Hawkhurst is part of the parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells, represented by Conservative Greg Clark.

The station site is now an industrial area just off the Cranbrook Road, but some original buildings are still standing and in a good state of preservation.

The ancient parish of Hawkhurst straddles the boundaries of four hundreds, including three that by 1295 were parts of the south of the Lathe of Scray in East Kent.

Many chose to settle in the Weald, because it had all the elements needed for weaving – oak to make mills, streams to drive them, and fuller's earth to treat the cloth.

At Poole in Dorset, where they had launched an armed attack on the customs house (to take back a consignment of tea that had been confiscated), several were hanged including Thomas Kingsmill, one of the gang's leaders.

A number of inns and local houses in Hawkhurst claim associations with the gang: high taxation on luxury goods in the early 18th century had led to an upsurge in smuggling, and the gang brought in brandy, silk and tobacco up from Rye and Hastings to be stowed away in hidden cellars and passages, before being sold off to the local gentry.

[13] It was known as Babies' Castle, and followed nine inspiring principles, known as "The Nine Nos": Unfortunately, the building stood neglected for many years and was eventually redeveloped into a care home for the elderly, Hawkhurst House, in 2017.

The parish church of St Laurence stands at the south end of the village known as The Moor, which is the older part of Hawkhurst.

Most of the rest of the church dates from around 1450, when the nave was lengthened and raised, the aisles, porches and tower added, and it took on its present appearance.

[citation needed] In 1944 a German flying bomb fell in the churchyard, causing considerable damage, and the church was put out of action until 1957.

An active Baptist Church is in Cranbrook Road, built partly on the site of the original Rootes cycle factory.

A Methodist church on Highgate Hill is now being converted to a domestic dwelling: the congregation now holds services in Dunk's Almshouses.

Built in 1861 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the Church sits on the Highgate ridge with its spire visible from some distance.

Grade II listed, the property is a local landmark that sat derelict for over two decades, but has now been sympathetically restored and converted into a number of private apartments.

Kilburne is buried in the chancel of the church at Hawkhurst under a flat stone inscribed with Latin declaring him "an ornament and an honor to his country."

[15] Another leading local businessman was Charles Eugene Gunther, head of the Liebig Meat Extract Company, later known as Oxo.