Lullingstone is a rural hamlet in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Eynsford, in the

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

district of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, located south east of

Swanley Swanley is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2021 ce ...

. It is best known for its

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

and its public golf course. Lullingstone was a civil parish until 1955. The parish was in Axstane Hundred and its successor Dartford Rural District.

History

Pre-Roman

It is believed that an Iron Age hill fort is sited on the hill above the castle, although this is unconfirmed.

Roman Occupation

Lullingstone Roman villa Lullingstone Roman Villa is a Roman villa, villa built during the Roman Britain, Roman occupation of Britain, situated in Lullingstone near the village of Eynsford in Kent, south-eastern England. The villa is located in the River Darent, Darent ...

was discovered in 1939, and is believed to have been built around 100 AD. It contains some of the finest excavated remains of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

in Britain, including a Romano-Christian chapel, displaying some of the earliest evidence of Christianity in Britain.

20th century

Nearby is the site of a decoy airfield for the nearby Biggin Hill airfield. Known as a Q-site, this was intended to entice bombers to misinterpret it as Biggin Hill. In 1937 a plan was announced to create an airport the size of Heathrow in Lullingstone. The area of land had been reserved and construction of Lullingstone railway station to serve the site began. The proposal was abandoned at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Lullingstone Country Park Lullingstone Country Park is near Eynsford, in Kent, England. A former deer park of a large estate, it was later sold to become an open-space and woodland park. The park and Lullingstone Castle are a Scheduled Monument, and an area of is a bi ...

was established in the 20th century. In 1951 the parish had a population of 127. On 1 April 1955 the parish was abolished and merged with Eynsford.

Transport

Railway

The nearest

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

station is Eynsford. A station to be named Lullingstone was built between Swanley and Eynsford in 1939, but never opened due to the outbreak of WWII. It appeared without a train service in Bradshaw's Guide by December 1944, through to September 1953, but had disappeared from Bradshaw by June 1954.

References

External links

kentattractions.co.uk

lullingstonecastle.co.uk

{{authority control Hamlets in Kent Former civil parishes in Kent Sevenoaks District