Kentish Cob Nuts are grown commercially for national consumption and the farm is set in an attractive area of the county and surrounded by fruit orchards.

The rich farming soil, the ready supply of water from the Bourne river and the sheltered valley undoubtedly attracted the Romans to this area – and indeed subsequent farmers and millers. The valley consists mainly of pasture, arable land, orchards and hops (though hop growing ceased in 1989). Not surprisingly, a succession of farmers, butchers and tanners over many centuries became wealthy and this is reflected in Plaxtol's numerous fine and old houses - many of great architectural interest. This has been a village based on agriculture with most of the inhabitants involved in working on the land, or associated with it. One major exception was the papermaking at Roughway Mill, which began in 1807 with fine water-marked paper being made for £5 bank notes and for postage stamps.

Centuries later, in the 1790s, a rural economist wrote of John Golding of Plaxtol that he “observed in his grounds, a hop of extraordinary quality and productivenes, propagated from it and furnished his neighbours with cuttings from its produce”. This was the now famous Golding Hop, which is still grown extensively in Kent and which became the parent of more than half those grown in the USA.