Chestfield 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and with

Swalecliffe Swalecliffe is a part of the ribbon development of the north Kent coast between Whitstable and Herne Bay in Southeast England. It forms Swalecliffe ward of City of Canterbury Council. History The Doomsday book provides an early record of Swa ...

a district council ward) in the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

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. The parish is centred from the sea on the north coast of Kent, between the towns of

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent, England, at the convergence of the The Swale, Swale and the Greater Thames Estuary, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay, Kent, Herne Bay. The town, formerly known as Whitstable-on-Se ...

and

Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne, Kent, Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury loca ...

. It is approximately five miles (8 km) north of

. Over a third of the parish, all of which is the south of its ambit, is woodland. The north-west consists of a business park and superstore.

Geography

Chestfield & Swalecliffe railway station is on the Chatham Main Line a straight two-track line which marks the northern boundary of the parish. A footpath and a road each lead to Radfall which is a woodland locality of a few houses on two streets in the wooded hills to the south - more than one third of the parish is woodland, and almost all of it was woodland in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, when it contributed greatly to the Forest of

Blean Blean is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The developed village within the parish is scattered along the road between C ...

. The north-east of the parish is non-residential, having a superstore spanning two buildings and the John Wilson business park.

History

The Chestfield Barn originated as part of the Chestfield Manor in the 14th century, it was held as tenant-in-chief by the half-brother of William the Conqueror,

Odo, Bishop of Bayeux Odo of Bayeux (died 1097) was a Norman nobleman who was a bishop of Bayeux in Normandy and was made Earl of Kent in England following the Norman Conquest. He was the maternal half-brother of duke, and later king, William the Conqueror, and w ...

. It is believed that the Manor dates back to as early as 1084, although not directly mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. In the early part of the 20th century the barn was converted into a golf house by George Reeves,to service the golf course constructed in 1924 by George Reeves and designed by Abe Mitchell and James Braid.

Governance

Chestfield forms part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

called Chestfield and Swalecliffe. This ward had a population of 8,398 at the 2011 Census.

Transport

Thanet Way provides a goods and long-distance commuter alternative to the railway station. However, much of the rest of the parish is better served by footpaths and country lanes suitable for cycling.

References

External links