HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Chiddingstone 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 ...
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. The parish is located on the River Eden between
Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...
and Edenbridge. The villages of Chiddingstone Causeway and
Bough Beech Over Bough Beech Reservoir Bough Beech is a hamlet in the county of Kent, England, and is south of the Bough Beech Reservoir. It is located approximately east of Edenbridge (of which it is part) and south west of Sevenoaks. It is in the ci ...
and the hamlet Chiddingstone Hoath are also included in the parish. Chiddingstone is unique in that, apart from the church and
Chiddingstone Castle Chiddingstone Castle is situated in the village of Chiddingstone, near Edenbridge, Kent, England, south-southeast of London and in the upper valley of the River Medway. The castle was built by the Streatfeild family and served as their seat ...
, the entire village is owned by the
National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
, which describes it as "the best example of a Tudor village left in the country". It is an example of a Tudor one-street village.


History

Chiddingstone is mentioned 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
. It was given to
Bishop Odo 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 ...
in 1072 after the Norman invasion as part of his Earldom of Kent. The first house was owned by Roger Attwood, constructed in the typical Kent style. Several villagers including Atwood took part in
Jack Cade Jack Cade's Rebellion or Cade's Rebellion was a popular revolt in 1450 against the government of England, which took place in the south-east of the country between the months of April and July. It stemmed from local grievances regarding the ...
's rebellion of 1450, and were later pardoned. The Castle Inn is a 15th-century building, which became a hostelry in 1730. It was visited by artists
John Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest s ...
and
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macd ...
.
Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...
also visited Chiddingstone. The
Streatfeild family The Streatfeilds, Streatfields or Stretfields are an aristocratic English family of the landed gentry, from Chiddingstone, Kent. The family are traceable to the early 16th century and are a possible cadet branch of the List of noble houses, Nobl ...
were major landowners in the area, starting in 1584. In the early 1800s Henry Streatfeild changed the village significantly, diverting the road and demolishing some buildings. The National Trust bought the village in 1939.


Parish church

St. Mary the Virgin, Chiddingstone is a large parish church which enhances the look of the village, and is perhaps the fourth built on that site. In the churchyard is a stone
gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...
dating from 1736 built by Henry Streatfeild; leading down into the Streatfeild family vault beneath which has a through flow of air provided by vents in two false altar tombs, one adjacent to the gazebo and the other some 30 feet north. The church was almost destroyed by a lightning fire in 1624. In recent years it has had new heating, lighting and sound systems installed. In addition to this, a chapel, at the base of the tower, has been constructed in 1979 with adjoining lavatory added in 2007.


Origin of name

A popular theory is that the village takes its name from a large sandstone rock formation, situated on its outskirts, named the Chiding Stone. Chidingstone was a previous spelling used for the village.Parishes: Chidingstone
''The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3'' (1797), pp. 210-227, British History Online.
The National Trust consider it more likely the name is derived from the homestead of Cidda's family, "Chidding tun". It was recorded as "Cidingstane" in the 12th century. The stone may have been used as a place to remonstrate overbearing local wives, a
Druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
ical ritual site, or an
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
boundary marker A boundary marker, border marker, boundary stone, or border stone is a robust physical marker that identifies the start of a land Border, boundary or the change in a boundary, especially a change in direction of a boundary. There are several ...
.


The village today

The nearest train station,
Penshurst railway station Penshurst railway station is on the Redhill to Tonbridge Line and is located approximately two miles north of Penshurst in Kent, in the village of Chiddingstone Causeway in England. It is measured from via . History Penshurst station was op ...
, is located in the village of Chiddingstone Causeway. It is on the line between Tonbridge and Redhill. There is a primary school, Chiddingstone Church of England School. There are several nature reserves in the area including: * Sevenoaks Reserve and Jeffery Harrison Visitor Centre (Operated by
Kent Wildlife Trust Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a Conservation movement, conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve ou ...
) * Visitors Centre and Reserve (Operated by
Kent Wildlife Trust Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a Conservation movement, conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve ou ...
) *Chiddingstone Reserve (Operated by
Kent Wildlife Trust Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a Conservation movement, conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve ou ...
) There is a village shop and accompanying cafe called The Tulip Tree, popular with cyclists at the weekend.


Film location

The village was used as a setting in the 1985 Merchant Ivory film ''
A Room with a View ''A Room with a View'' is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the restrained culture of Edwardian-era England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a humorous critique of English society ...
'', in the scene where Lucy and Cecil take a walk after their engagement party. The High Street is seen from the end nearest to the Castle Inn.
Michael Winner Michael Robert Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was an English filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several c ...
used Chiddingstone in his production of ''The Wicked Lady''.
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones a ...
and the
Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...
team filmed here for '' Wind in the Willows - Mr Toad's Wild Ride''. ''
Elizabeth R ''Elizabeth R'' is a BBC television drama serial of six 90-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I of England. It was first broadcast on BBC2 from February to March 1971, through the ABC in Australia and broadcast in the Un ...
'', starring
Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (9 May 1936 – 15 June 2023) was an English actress and politician. Over the course of her distinguished career she received List of awards and nominations received by Glenda Jackson, numerous accolades including two Academy ...
was largely made here, as was
Gerald Scarfe Gerald Anthony Scarfe (born 1 June 1936) is an English satirical cartoonist and illustrator. He has worked as editorial cartoonist for ''The Sunday Times (UK), The Sunday Times'' and illustrator for ''The New Yorker''. Scarfe’s other work in ...
's ''Life of Hogarth''.


References


External links


Chiddingstone Parish CouncilHistory of ChiddingstoneVillage net article
{{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent National Trust properties in Kent Streatfeild family