Staplehurst is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone, in Kent, England. It sits in a patchwork of farmland and woodland in the Kent Weald, with the meandering River Beult and its wet meadows nearby, giving the area a strong rural character and interest for wildlife and walking.
Today it combines a village centre of shops, pubs and community groups with a commuter role thanks to a local railway station and regular trains into London. Staplehurst also has a long history visible in its medieval parish church and older buildings, and it is known for the 1865 rail crash that famously involved Charles Dickens - an event that has left a mark on local memory.