Ridley is a place and former

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

, now in the parish of

Ash-cum-Ridley Ash-cum-Ridley is a civil parish in the Sevenoaks (district), Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 7,070, reducing to 6,641 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes four main settlement ...

, 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 Lon ...

district, in the county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. It lies between

and

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

and Ridley were formerly separate parishes. Both were part of

Dartford Rural District Dartford Rural District was a rural district with an area of in the county of Kent, England. In 1971 it had a population of 64,561 and an electorate of 43,911. At dissolution it was the most populous rural district council in Kent, but had on ...

and

Axstane Hundred Axstane was a hundred in the county of Kent, England. The Hundred of Axstane lay south-east of Dartford and Wilmington Hundred. It is called Achestan in Domesday Book, but by the reign of Edward I it was called Axstane. Its name has been interpr ...

. Ridley is situated upon chalk hills, much like that of neighbouring Hartley. The soil is chalky, light and much covered with flints. There is no village and the church stands in the southern part of Ridley, having the parsonage and a lodge nearby.History and Topgraphical Survey of the County of Kent, by Edward Hasted, pub. Canterbury, 1797; Vol 2, pp. 458-462 Ridley is 3½ miles SSW of Meopham (railway station) and 7 miles SSW of Gravesend. It has an area of 814 acres, within the bounds of the formerly separate parish.

History

Ridley is mentioned in the Domesday Book as ''Redlege'' and is also recorded elsewhere as '' Redlegh''. The parish consisted of a single manor and a court leet and court baron were held for this manor, the court lodge (Ridley Court) being near the church. In the 19th century the population of Ridley rose from 47 in 1801 to maximum of 101 in 1861, but then declined to 73 by 1921. In 1951 it had a population of 70. Between 1849 and 1880 there was a Church School at Ridley.Official web site of Ash-cum-Ridley parish council http://www.ash-cum-ridleypc.kentparishes.gov.uk/ retrieved July 2014 Even after parish councils were established in 1894 under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, Ridley continued to be governed by its

Parish Meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

. The parish was united with Ash on 1 April 1955, as part of a general revision of boundaries for parishes within Dartford Rural District.

Local government

Hodsoll Street,

New Ash Green New Ash Green is a village in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 8 miles south west of Gravesend. History Building of the village began in 1967, with Span as the developer and Eric Lyons as the designer. The architectural des ...

and Ridley are the four wards of Ash-cum-Ridley parish council. Hodsoll Street was previously part of Ash parish See maps at Official web site of Ash-cum-Ridley parish council http://www.ash-cum-ridleypc.kentparishes.gov.uk/ retrieved July 2014

Church

Ridley is within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the

Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal signa ...

. The church, which stands in the southern part of the parish, is dedicated to St. Peter. It is very small (seating appx 48 in pews additionally there are two choir pews in the chancel), having only one aisle and a chancel, but without either tower or steeple. As can be seen in the picture it has a Belfry which houses a single calling bell. In the chancel before the altar, is a memorial for John Lambe, dec. 24 April 1740, above a chevron between three holy lambs, with stave and banners.

Notable people

Thomas Hennell Thomas Hennell (16 April 1903 – 1945) was a British artist and writer who specialised in illustrations and essays on the subject of the British countryside. He was an official war artist during the Second World War and was killed while ser ...

, artist and writer, was born in Ridley.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Kent Populated places disestablished in 1955 1955 disestablishments in England Former civil parishes in Kent