The eight Kentish parishes of Aldington, Bilsington, Bonnington, Brabourne, Brook, Hastingleigh, Ruckinge and Smeeth together make up the Ashford electoral ward known as the Saxon Shore.

The ward was created in 2002 following an independent review of electoral boundaries. The last time that these eight parishes were united under a common banner was in the early 19th Century when, for almost 100 years, they formed part of the now long disbanded East Ashford Poor Law Union, which had its Workhouse at Willesborough on the outskirts of Ashford.

The ward name alludes to the Saxon Shore Way, an ancient footpath that followed the coastline from Gravesend to Rye and beyond. The footpath connected a series of Roman forts (e.g. Richborough, Lympne) built to keep out Saxon marauders. In Roman times, when Romney Marsh was still partially under water, this coastal footpath ran through four of the eight parishes in the modern-day ward. In 1980 the Saxon Shore Way was recreated by Kent County Council as a 163-mile public footpath.

The purpose of this Saxonshore website is to enable each of the seven parish councils that represent the eight Saxon Shore parishes to: