Plaxtol

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox UK place

|country= England

|type= Village and civil parish

|official_name= Plaxtol

|coordinates = {{coord|51.259220|0.294850|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

|population= 1,117

|population_ref= (2011){{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11127602&c=Plaxtol&d=16&e=62&g=6439403&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1474652166982&enc=1 |title=Civil Parish population 2011 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics |accessdate=23 September 2016}}

|static_image_name= Plaxtol Church, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 321994.jpg

|static_image_width= 250px

|static_image_caption= Plaxtol Parish Church

|civil_parish= Plaxtol

|shire_district= Tonbridge and Malling

|shire_county= Kent

|region= South East England

|constituency_westminster= Tonbridge{{cite web|title= Location of Tonbridge |url= https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4364/location |website=parliament.uk|date=July 2024 |access-date=4 March 2025 }}

|post_town= SEVENOAKS

|postcode_district= TN15

|postcode_area= TN

|dial_code= 01732

|os_grid_reference= TQ603535

}}

Plaxtol is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The village is located around {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} north of Tonbridge and the same distance east of Sevenoaks. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,117.

The name Plaxtol is believed to be derived from Old English words meaning "play area";{{cite book|last=Mills |first=A. D. |date=2011 |title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1996-0908-6}} there used to be a large green in the middle of the village where children would play after attending church on a Sunday.

The current parish church building dates from 1648, in the Commonwealth period.{{cite web |first=M. Lewis |last=J. Semple |title= The Origins of Plaxtol Church|url= https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/magazine/19/01-the-origins-of-plaxtol-club |website=Kent Archaeological Society Newsletter, Issue 19|date=Summer 1991 |location=Maidstone |access-date=4 March 2025 }} The River Bourne flows through the parish, and formerly powered three watermills in Plaxtol – Winfield Mill (corn), Longmill (corn) and Roughway Paper Mill. The village has a primary school, a village shop, a pottery school and a pub; it also once had a bakery and a butcher.

The 1,000-acre Fairlawne Estate adjoining the village of Shipbourne was owned by Sir Henry Vane the Elder, in the 17th century, and was owned by the Cazalet family in the 19th century. Major Peter Cazalet was a trainer of horses owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother who was an occasional guest. The estate was then owned by the Saudi Arabian horse-breeder Prince Khalid ibn Abdullah until his death in 2021.[https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1990/09/10/73983/ "The billionaires"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117171801/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1990/09/10/73983/ |date=2013-01-17 }}, Fortune magazine, 10 September 1990. Retrieved 11 October 2012.Britten, Nick. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8916967/Little-village-bumpkins-defeat-Saudi-prince-in-fight-for-Shipbourne-footpath-rights.html "'Little village bumpkins’ defeat Saudi prince in fight for Shipbourne footpath rights"], The Daily Telegraph, 26 November 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2012.