Church Square, Lenham (geograph 4751438)

Lenham is a market village and

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 ...

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 ...

situated on the southern edge 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 ...

, east of

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, 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 c ...

. The picturesque square in the village has two

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 (one of which is a hotel), a couple of restaurants, and a tea-room. Lenham has a population of 3,370 according to the 2011 Census. Lenham railway station is on the

Maidstone East Line The Maidstone line is a railway line between Swanley, Maidstone and Ashford in Kent, England. The line diverges from the Chatham Main Line at Swanley Junction and proceeds down the Darenth valley to Otford junction Retrieved 2012-01-12 (where th ...

. The village is at the main source of the Great Stour and the Stour Valley Walk starts here, heading to Ashford and on to

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 ...

and the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

near

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

. It is also the source of the River Len, which flows in a westerly direction to join the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a total distance ...

at Maidstone.

History

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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, Lenham market dates back to 1088, when the village was an important crossroad settlement. The manor of Lenham belonged to

St Augustine's Abbey St Augustine's Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Canterbury, Kent, England. The abbey was founded in 598 and functioned as a monastery until its dissolution in 1538 during the English Reformation. After the abbey's dissolution, it underwent ...

, Canterbury, until the dissolution of the monasteries when it reverted to the Crown. Queen Elizabeth I awarded the manor to her chief courtier, William Cecil, Lord Burleigh. It then passed through ownership of the Wilford, Montagu, Hamilton and Best families. Technically the fact that Lenham is ''allowed'' a market, makes it a town but the community have always desired to maintain its village status. The High Street has a number of listed buildings.

Mary Honywood Mary Honywood or Mary Waters (1527 – 1620) was a British co-heiress who visited the Marian martyrs. She lived to have 114 grandchildren and, in total, 367 descendants in her lifetime. Life Honywood was born in Lenham in Kent in 1527. She was ...

was born in Lenham. When she died in Essex at the age of 93, she had 367 living descendants. 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 ...

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 Be ...

passes along the

downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...

ridge to the north of Lenham. Between this ridge and the village lies a

chalk cross Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

carved into the scarp slope. First constructed in 1922, to remember those who fell in the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and fully restored in 1994, the Lenham Cross now commemorates the dead of both world wars. To avoid its use as a navigation aid by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

, the cross was filled in between 1939 and May 1945. On 27 August 1950, Lenham, along with the village of Harvel, was one of the signal receiving points (between

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. The p ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) of the first-ever live television pictures from the continent. In 2020, Co-op staff member, Jo Bate, won Sales Assistant of the Year for her excellent service during the COVID-19 pandemic

Amenities

The parish church of

St Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

was rebuilt in the 14th century after fire had destroyed its predecessor. It and the nearby

Tithe Barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

are 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 ...

s. From 1876 to his death in 1903, the vicar of the church was Charles Nepean, who played for Oxford University A.F.C. in the 1874 FA Cup Final. Nepean also played cricket for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

. There is a primary school, Lenham Primary and a secondary school,

The Lenham School The Lenham School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Lenham, Kent, England. It opened in 1952, as Swadelands School, and provides a secondary education for 788 boys and girls aged 11 to 18 years. Ofsted published a r ...

, at Lenham. A pair of cottages in Lenham had to be demolished to make way for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link ( Maidstone Line). They were dismantled and re-erected at the Museum of Kent Life, Sandling. A local kit car firm GKD Sports Cars has its workshop based in Lenham and its main base in Boughton Monchelsea. Also in Lenham is a pharmacy, famous as the discovery site of a sixth century Saxon warrior body and weapons. The village has a website dedicated to recording the village's cultural heritage. Lenham Meadows Trust works to protect open spaces in the area. The church is supported by the Friends’ of St Mary's. The village also has a film club.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Kent Market towns in Kent Hill figures in England Civil parishes in Kent