Otterden is a
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 village on the
Kent Downs
The Kent Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Kent, England. They are the eastern half of the North Downs and stretch from the London/Surrey borders to the White Cliffs of Dover, including a small section of the London Boroug ...
in the
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
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 east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
in
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.
History
Otterden 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 ...
under Kent in the lands belonging to
Adam FitzHubert. The book which was written in 1086 said:
Otterden has an important place in the history of science:
Stephen Gray and
Granville Wheler carried out their seminal experiments showing that electricity can be conducted over long distances at Wheler's estate there in 1729.
From 1933 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1948, Otterden was the home of the
Bunce Court School, founded by
Anna Essinger when she closed her German boarding school after the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
seized power and moved her school to England.
[Michael Luick-Thram]
"Anna Essinger and the New Herrlingen School"
Parish of Otterden website. Dissertation excerpt, ''Creating 'New Americans': WWII-era European Refugees': Formation of American Identities''. Retrieved September 28, 2011
References
External links
Villages in Kent
Civil parishes in Kent
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