London and the Channel Ports. The Snodland by-pass takes heavy commercial traffic away from the town centre. The railway station was opened on 18 June 1856, on an extension of the North Kent Line from Strood to Maidstone (SER) along the Medway Valley Line. There are peak-time services via HS1 direct to St Pancras; otherwise, passengers for London need to change at Strood or Maidstone Barracks/Maidstone East. Education The Holmesdale School is a Foundation school formerly known as Holmesdale Technology College. It still specialises in technology and is linked to The Malling School in The Malling Holmesdale Federation Trust. Religious sites All Saints Church dates from the 12th century, and is a Grade I listed building. Christ Church, in the south of the town, was built after the population growth in the 19th century led to the requirement for a new church. It was designed by Percy Monkton in Early English Gothic Revival style. St Benedict's Church, Paddlesworth is a Norman church on the Pilgrim's Way about a mile west of the town. It dates from the early 12th century but has spent much of its life as a farm building and is currently in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. There is a Kingdom Hall on Church Field, used by local Jehovah's Witnesses. In the late 1940s, the defunct Grand Picture Palace cinema on Holborough Road was converted into the Catholic Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury, but it was closed in 2007 and redeveloped. A Primitive Methodist Chapel on Chapel Road closed in 1976 and is now a car showroom. The Swedenborgian Church of the New Jerusalem on the High St was used until the 1980s but is now a private house, and is called Church House. The United Church on the High Street closed in 2011 after becoming structurally unsound. The cemetery was opened in 1896, with the house and chapel being designed by Hubert Bensted of Maidstone. Sport The Snodland Sports Association was set up in 2008. The 2012–13 season saw the merger of all the senior and junior football clubs in the town. Snodland Town F.C. competes in the Southern Counties East Football League, Division One. The other 13 teams include Snodland Town Reserves FC, Snodland Town Sunday FC and Snodland Town Nomads FC. Snodland Community Cricket Club play at Rectory Meadow, just off Rocfort Road car park. The Snodland Chess Club, established in