This year we will be returning to the Kent County Show! Come down and meet the Chart Stables team where we can answer your questions, and discuss your requirements with an expert. We’ll be at the Kent County Show from Friday 5th - Sunday 7th July in stand E17, so visit stand E17 for special show only offers!
The Kent County Show is the region’s showcase event for farming, agriculture and countryside life. For three days a year, animals, horses, vintage vehicles, retail stands and much more converge on the stunning surroundings of the Kent Showground for a celebration of the best in the county.
The Kent County Show is organised by the Kent County Agricultural Society, a registered charity whose mission is to support local farming practices and promote education about food farming and the countryside. Profits made from the Show help fund their charitable objectives, including their annual scholarship scheme, awards and grants.
This year marks 60 years of the Kent County Show at Detling. In the early days of the Kent County Show, the annual flagship event had no permanent home. Instead, the show moved locations each year. Following the success of the first event, which took place in Wombwell Hall Park in Gravesend, successive shows were hosted in Ashford, Maidstone, Margate, Sevenoaks, Folkestone and Canterbury.
By 1947, returning after a break during World War 2, the Show found a longer term site in Mote Park, Maidstone. Mote Park continued to host the Show each year, until a particularly wet July in 1960 led to the decision by the Kent County Agricultural Society’s Board of Directors to begin the search for a permanent home, to allow for infrastructure to be put in place for wetter weather.
After 3 years of searching, the Kent County Agricultural Society finally acquired the land at Murrain Place and Ten Acres in Detling, part of the former RAF Detling base, to form the Kent County Show’s new site. Work quickly began to get the site show ready and, sure enough, in 1964 Princess Alexandra declared the new Kent Showground open.
In the 60 years since the official opening of the Kent Showground, the site has undergone an incredible transformation. With the 1960 show still fresh in the minds of the Kent County Agricultural Society’s team at the time, paved roadways around the showground were one of the first features to be added to the new Showground, ensuring the site could cope with the challenges of British weather.
Permanent structures added to the site over the years, including the Alan Day House and Doubleday House allowed for the day to day running of the site, whilst the former Lord Cornwallis Building was opened in 1983 to house cattle during the annual Show.
In 1991, the Kent Event Centre was formed by the Society to lease the Showground for external events, providing funding for the running of the Kent County Show and the Society’s other charitable objectives.
With this fresh use of the Showground came the need to further develop the site, with 2004 seeing the opening of the Kent Pavilion (now the Maidstone Exhibition Hall) and 2011 seeing the Lord Cornwallis Building undergo a massive transformation into the Clive Emson Conference Centre.
To celebrate hitting the 60 years milestone, we're excited to invite you to come and see the Chart Stables team this year, where you can explore our latest offers and be a part of the local community. Come and see the Chart Stables team at the Kent County Show this year!
