Hawkhurst is a small village located in about 80km to southeast from London, in Kent of "the garden of England" with rich greenery. John Herschel returned to UK from his observation journey of the southern skies in Capetown and moved to Collingwood House in Hawkhurst in early 1840s with his wife and seven children, from the residence in Slough which had been small for his large family. Here five more children were born and his family had lived until 1888 even after John and his wife died. Today the appearance of the house remains same as that time, and it is served for the domitory of a private school.

There are the tombs of John and his wife, and of the family of his eldest son William James in St Laurence Church, which is located just beyond a street from Collingwood House.

St Laurence Church before demolition by German attack during the World War II