The parish of Brabourne lies at the foot of the North Downs and covers an area of about 3,750 acres or 8 square miles (1,500 ha). It is situated about 6 miles (10 km) south east of Ashford and 13 miles (20 km) from the coast. The parish is mainly on Gault Clay but part is on the sandy Folkestone Beds and part on Lower Chalk.

The parish is mainly agricultural land with some areas of woodland. Most of the fields are used for cereals and other arable crops, but the smaller fields are grazed by sheep and a few herds of cattle. Farm houses and cottages are scattered throughout the parish, but half of the houses are situated in the built up area of Brabourne Lees and the much smaller hamlet of East Brabourne.

Brabourne was once an agricultural parish with its inhabitants working predominantly on the land and others in village crafts and services such as blacksmith, cobbler, grocer, butcher, wheelwright, carpenter and the like.

Now the village is mainly a dormitory area for people who work away from the village in London, Ashford, Folkestone, Canterbury and beyond. There are, however, still a number who work in the parish in local businesses, shops, pubs, etc, or who work from home.

History
The name of Brabourne is derived from "Bradde Burne", or broad stream, although the hamlet was mentioned in a Charter as early as 846AD as "Bredeburna". In early days Brabourne was within the Barony of Bircholt, which was in the tenure of the Constable of Dover. The Manor of Brabourne also appears in the Doomsday Book (1085) where it is said to contain 31 villiens, 4 Freemen, 10 cottages, a church and 2 mills.

All that remained of the Barony of Bircholt was the small parish of Bircholt comprising about 300 acres (120 ha), originally with its own church, farms, cottages and mission room. It was situated between Court Lodge and the existing village hall. The parish of Bircholt survived until the last century when the parish was amalgamated with Brabourne.

The parish can be broadly divided into East Brabourne, West Brabourne and Brabourne Lees. The original hamlet was centred around the church, now known as East Brabourne. The church was built in Norman times and stands on the site of an earlier Saxon church. It was built about 1140AD and has an original Norman window thought to be the only one of its kind in England. It also has a rare oak ladder in the tower. The church originally had 4 bells but now has 8. The Five Bells public house was originally the parish poorhouse and on the green opposite stood the village stocks.

West Brabourne is a rural area scattered with farm houses and cottages. However, there is an area known as "Bulltown", in the north west corner of the parish, where allegedly a family called Bull lived for over 300 years.

The built-up area of the parish is now Brabourne Lees. This immediately adjoins the built-up area of the adjoining parish of Smeeth, with no discernible boundary. However, Brabournians are fiercely defensive of their parish! The word "Lees" is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning pasture. The area now occupied by most of the dwellings in Brabourne Lees was once common grazing land.

During the Napolianic Wars (1804 - 1815) part of the Lees was owned and occupied by the military and an infantry barracks, military hospital, three "Black Holes" (prisons) and a "Dead House" (mortuary) built. In 1816, after the Napolianic threat had passed, the barracks were demolished and the land sold. Older Brabournians still know the fields between Lees Road and Canterbury Road as "Hospital Fields".

The remainder of the Lees was enclosed under the Enclosure Act of 1822 and the land distributed in 1824. At the time the barracks were occupied other properties were built, including shops, pubs and houses, in what is now Brabourne Lees, which led to the main area of the village shifting from East Brabourne. Growth was spasmodic until the 1960's and 1970's when three estates were built, namely Prospect Way, Knatchbull Way and Mountbatten Way.