Great Chart is a village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

Great Chart with Singleton Great Chart with Singleton is a civil parish in the Ashford district of Kent, England. The parish population is mostly concentrated in the ancient village of Great Chart and the modern Singleton housing development, both located in the eastern ...

in the Ashford Borough 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. The parish is split between the ancient village of Great Chart and the modern Singleton neighbourhood on the western outskirts of

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom * Ashford, Kent, a town ** ...

. The village centre of Great Chart is from the town centre. In 1961 the parish had a population of 969.

History

Great Chart is first mentioned in 762 as Seleberhtes Cert, a Jutish name. It is also known that at this year, the village was operating a mechanical

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the productio ...

, the first water mill to be recorded in Britain. A charter first mentions Seleberhtes Cert when recording that King Ethelberht II (of Kent) exchanged half the use of the successfully operating mill for some pasture in the Weald. In 776 Great Chart's manor, the village, its lands and much of its produce were sold by King Egbert (Ethelberht's successor) to Archbishop Jænberht of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

to raise finances for a Kentish army - to rebel against King Offa of Mercia. In that year there was a great battle between Mercians and Kentish men at Otford as, apparently, a red cross appeared in the sky. For nine years after this battle Egbert held Kent, but ultimately Offa took control and retrieved Great Chart and its lands from Canterbury dividing them up among his followers. After Offa died in 796 his successor Coenwulf of Mercia decided to reinstate properties, including Great Chart, back to the ownership of Canterbury. This ownership continued for hundreds of years through the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

- 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 ...

entry for Certh (Great Chart) makes clear that it was still in the possession of the Archbishop of Canterbury and had two mills, a salt-pit, feeding ground for a hundred hogs, and a population of fifty-two - up to the advent of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

when between 1536 and 1539 he dissolved all monasteries. He confiscated Great Chart and its lands from the priory but soon reinstated them to his new Protestant Dean and Chapter in whose administration they remained until Victorian times (though in a map of the area from 1621 the lands are still attributed to 'Christ Churche', referring to Christ Church in Canterbury). On a map made of the Chart and Longbridge Hundred in 1559, the village was named Charte Magna. The civil parish of "Great Chard" was abolished on 1 April 1987 and became part of the parishes "Great Chart with Singleton", Hothfield, and Kingsnorth and the unparished area of Ashford. On 10 March 2021 police found human remains in a wood near the village. On 12 March 2021 they were confirmed to be those of Sarah Everard.

Description

Great Chart is a largely agricultural village with the farms in the area producing cereals and grass for cattle and sheep. The north-east quarter contains most of the housing in alike construction 20th and 21st century neighbourhoods. A cluster of

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 ...

s is in the old centre of Great Chart, along the main road in the village (the Street). The area drains via many streams and underwater drainage to the West Stour along the northern boundary before its merger into the Great Stour in Ashford.OS Map with Listed Buildings and Parks marked
The Street, Great Chart - geograph

Amenities

Great Chart has two pubs: A food led pub, ''The Swan and Dog'' and ''The Hoodener's Horse'' which serves a great pint. A football clu
Pilgrims Football Club
with age groups from U7s to seniors are resident at the playing field. A cricket club with competing elevens (XIs), including colts sides have a ground and pavilion in the village. The medieval parish church is of an

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

on the same boundaries and is dedicated to St Mary; its community in Singleton is larger than that in the church at meetings in the village hall. Cross-village sports clubs, gardening clubs and social circles cover the area.

Former residents

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

recipient Major

William Leet William Knox-Leet VC CB (3 November 1833 in Dalkey, County Dublin – 29 June 1898), was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British ...

died in Great Chart.

Transport

The village is located near the A28 road, which connects it to junction 9 of the M20 motorway in Ashford. The bus route 2 operated by

Stagecoach in East Kent Stagecoach South East is the trading name of East Kent Road Car Company Limited, a bus operator based in Canterbury providing services in Kent and East Sussex in the south east of England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group. History Stagec ...

connects the village with Ashford town centre and Ashford International railway station.

External links

Parish Council notes
Ashford Borough Council.
St Mary's, Great Chart

Village history academic blog from 762 AD

Great Chart Cricket Club

Geograph accepted photographs

Statistical overview of civil parish - map

References

{{authority control Villages in the Borough of Ashford Former civil parishes in Kent