Rodmersham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swale in the north of the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

of Kent. It is just under south of Bapchild on the A2 road and south-east of the town of Sittingbourne. Rodmersham Green, which forms the bulk of the modern village, is to the south-west of the village church towards the Highsted Valley and Tunstall.

History

In 1798, Edward Hasted records that the parish was made up of of land, of which were woodland. It was under the control of the Manor of

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

, who controlled most of Kent. In King Richard II's reign, it was owned by John de Podach (from Devonshire). His descendants renamed themselves 'Pordage'. In the reign of King James I, it was owned by Sir William Pordage. In 1615, he renamed the manor house, 'New House', now (

Grade II listed 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 Irel ...

) and called Rodmersham House. In Queen Anne's reign it passed to the Lushington family. Which included Mr Thomas Lushington, a noted scholar, born in Sandwich in 1589, and afterwards educated at Oxford. The manor house stayed in the private hands of the family. The village church, (the Grade I listed) Church of St Nicholas, is in the diocese of Canterbury, and deanery of Sittingborne. The church contains an example of a timber sedilia thought to be 15th century. The altar and reredos are by Buckeridge and Floyce, described as representing "the best order of ecclesiastical art, viz., the 15th Century German, whilst the character of the ornament is founded on the old Norfolk work".

Rodmersham Green

Hasted notes that Rodmersham Green also had a nearby hamlet of Upper Rodmersham, which is to the south of the village in an area traditionally used for orchards. There was a windmill at the north end of Rodmersham Green, built in 1835 and demolished in September 1969. The village has six listed buildings: Baker Cottages, Pardoners Cottage, Holly Tree Lodge, Victoria House, Orsett House, and Vine Cottages. It also has a primary school, the ''Fruiterers Arms'' public house, Rodmersham Coffee Shop and two sporting venues, Rodmersham Cricket Club and Rodmersham Squash Club. The artist

Edward Ardizzone Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, (16 October 1900 – 8 November 1979), who sometimes signed his work "DIZ", was an English painter, print-maker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For ''Tim All ...

had a second home at 5 Vine Cottages, Rodermersham Green from the 1950s and took up full-time residence in 1972, dying in the village in 1979.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent