Hollingbourne is a village and

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 authorit ...

in the borough of

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

in Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills ...

to the east of the county town,

. The parish population is around 900 and has three conservation areas: Upper Street in the village centre and the outlying hamlets of Broad Street and Eyhorne Street.

Geography

The village is four miles (6.4 km) from Maidstone. Its church is dedicated to All Saints. Hollingbourne railway station, on the Maidstone-Ashford line, serves the village. There is also a bus connecting Hollingbourne to Maidstone. The

North Downs Way The North Downs Way National Trail is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beaut ...

National Trail passes through the village, as does the

Pilgrims' Way The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of comparatively recent coinage ...

, an

ancient trackway Historic roads (historic trails in USA and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient trackways ...

historically associated with pilgrimage routes to Canterbury. The village has two large

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s. Hollingbourne Hill was a major measuring point in the trigonometric survey linking the

Royal Greenwich Observatory The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in ...

and the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histo ...

. The

Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790) The Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790) was the geodetic survey to measure the relative position of Greenwich Observatory and the Paris Observatory via triangulation. The English operations, executed by William Roy, consisted of the measurement ...

was led by General

William Roy Major-General William Roy (4 May 17261 July 1790) was a Scottish military engineer, surveyor, and antiquarian. He was an innovator who applied new scientific discoveries and newly emerging technologies to the accurate geodetic mapping of ...

. It was also the origin (meridian) of the 6-inch and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps of Kent. The parish hosts (adjacent to the historic village) part of the

M20 motorway The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is long. Although not signposted in Eng ...

and the

High Speed 1 High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe ...

rail link to the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover ...

, and residents in 2007 joined forces with the neighbouring village of Bearsted in voicing their objections to the proposed Kent International Gateway development. The plans after a planning inspectorate appeal were in 2011 rejected by the government. Maidstone services lie within the parish on the north side of the motorway.

History

Hollingbourne village centre

Hollingbourne appears in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as ''Hoilingeborde''. It was held partly by the Archbishop of Christ Church, Canterbury and partly by Bishop Odo of Bayeux. Its domesday assets were: 24

plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

s, of

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

, woodland/herbage worth 40 hogs, two mills and one church. It rendered £30.

All Saints Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania * All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia * All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook, Western Aus ...

is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, made of flint and stone, parts dated 14th, 15th and 17th centuries. Within the church are monuments and stone tombs to Francis Culpeper, d. 1591 and his wife Johanna Culpeper, d. 1597, Martin Barnham d. 1610, Baldwin Duppa d. 1737, Samuel Plummer, d. 1705, Dame Grace Gethin, d. 1697, Philippa Culpeper, d. 1630, Elizabeth Culpeper, d. 1638 (freestanding chest tomb with white

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

) John, Lord Culpeper, d. 1660, erected 1695, Cheney Colepeper, 4th Lord Culpeper, d. 1725, the latter were among the governing

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

Culpeper family and were major landowners in the village for many generations.

Eyhorne Street

This hamlet in the south west of Hollingbourne parish has the Grove Mill House downstream on the Hollingbourne and its own conservation area. It has no church and has always been part of the parish. There are 26 grade II listed buildings and one grade II* listed building is shown on maps as restored Godfrey House.; its listing describes it as 16th century, restored 1859,

timber framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

with plaster infilling, 10-light ovolo-moulded mullioned and transomed oriel window with moulded cornice and plastered

ogee An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinat ...

base immediately below each eaves dormer, and one of 6 lights to first floor of porch, 3 rectangular ground-floor bays with 10-light ovolo-moulded mullioned and transomed windows on stone bases. Totnams was an ancient farm in the Eyhorne district, and is now the site of grade II listed Cotuams Hall.

Colepeper / Culpeper Cloth

The church is best known for the centuries-old 'Culpeper cloth', sometimes described as an altar cloth although it is probably too large to have served that function; several books attribute it to the four daughters of Sir John Culpeper, Lord of Greenway Court. It may in fact have been a funeral

pall Pall may refer to: * Pall (funeral), a cloth used to cover a coffin * Pall (heraldry), a Y-shaped heraldic charge * Pall (liturgy), a piece of stiffened linen used to cover the chalice at the Eucharist * Pall Corporation, a global business * Pall. ...

. Hollingbourne Manor, a former home of members of the Culpeper family, is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

manor house, located at the foot of Hollingbourne Hill. Cotuams House in Eythorne Street was also owned by the family.

Governance

Hollingbourne in elections every four years elects one representative to

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...

, this is currently: Hollingbourne elects one representatives to Maidstone Borough Council, currently: The parish council has 8 elected councillors last wholly elected on 3 May 2012, with elections every four years.

References

External links

Village websiteA comprehensive article on the village
{{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent