Westbere

Westbere is a small village and civil parish in Kent, England, centred north-east of Canterbury city centre along the A28 road to the Isle of Thanet.

==Geography== This is a relatively small Parish. Most of the land use in this district is agricultural then residential as a subsidiary. It comprises a preservation area that overlooks Westbere lakes (created by gravel extraction) that teem with birds and wildlife. The village spreads along a steep wooded bank north of the Great Stour between the A28 and the Ashford to Ramsgate railway. With fewer than 130 properties, it is a peaceful rural village with a variety of dwellings including a minority of hall houses built in the 15th century; some historic cottages and barns; a few Georgian and similar period properties surviving for wealthy residents and some modern houses and bungalows. Because it was for so long a poor farming community, it was not targeted for development in Victorian times and the central part of Westbere, in particular, remains quaint and rural. Westbere lakes, created when a former quarry was flooded, now form an extensive wetland area with reed beds.