Rolvenden 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 Ashford 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 village is centred on the A28 Ashford to Hastings road, south-west of

Tenterden Tenterden is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ashford in Kent, England. The 2021 census published the population of the parish to be 8,186. Geography Tenterden is connected to Kent's county town of Maidstone by the A262 road an ...

. The settlement of Rolvenden Layne, south of Rolvenden, is also part of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and shares in its shops and amenities.

History

The village of Rolvenden dates from

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 ...

times. The name 'Rolvenden' may originate from a chieftain ''Hroþwulf'' (Hrothwulf), and would refer to the "denn or pasture of Hroþwulf's people." Den is the jutish word for swine pastures coming to connote the same but with associated

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

or isolated farmsteads as well as in many instances cultivated land. Rolvenden is listed 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 ...

of 1086 as "Rovindene". In the reign of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

this was changed to Riolvinden, and then changed again to Rounden in the late 17th century. Rolvenden village originally had its sole population centre as a short

linear settlement A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized) settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical r ...

, the Street, along part of what is now the A28 Ashford to Hastings road. This was almost entirely burned down in 1665 during the Great Plague (except for the church and pub). This caused the villagers to abandon the Street and move a mile down the hill to the common land of the Layne during the 1660s. Already there was the Tudor house, where

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

later preached in the 18th century. The villagers later returned to rebuild the Street, resulting in the two small neighbourhoods: the Streyte and the younger, smaller and quieter Layne that can be seen today. The population declined between 1830 and 1850, when many people left during and after the

Swing Riots The Swing Riots were a widespread uprising in 1830 by agricultural workers in southern and eastern England in protest of agricultural mechanisation and harsh working conditions. The riots began with the destruction of threshing machines in the ...

. This was caused by the public

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

system of Rolvenden parish making the conscious decision to provide the poor with a single payment for assisted passages to the

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

, as opposed to large ongoing payments for parish relief. Rolvenden parish is now approximately ten square miles in area, consisting largely of farming and rural activities, with an increasing number of professional, craft and tourist services. Rolvenden is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Landmarks

The parish church was commissioned and supervised by monks from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in around 1220, has remained largely unchanged since 1480 and is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. The 14th-century

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

has the arms of the Culpeper family on it, before their later prominence in the early administration of

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

. The war memorial in the churchyard was designed by

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

. An oddity of the church is the Squire's pew, a room upstairs furnished with a table and Chippendale chairs, built for the Gibbons family from Hole Park for separately looking down on the main congregation.

The Reverend John Frankesh of Rolvenden became one of the Kent Marian Martyrs when he was burned at the stake in Canterbury on 12 July 1555 – he is named among the 41 martyrs inscribed on the Martyrs' Memorial, near Wincheap Street,

and in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (1886), ''A Little Princess'' (1905), a ...

rented

Great Maytham Hall Great Maytham Hall, near Rolvenden, Kent, England, is a Grade II* listed country house. The gardens are famous for providing the inspiration for ''The Secret Garden'' by Frances Hodgson Burnett. House The original name of the Manor here was G ...

, down from the higher land towards Rolvenden Layne, in 1898 and a blocked-up door in the old walled garden inspired her to write the well known children's novel ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

''. After her departure in 1907 the mansion was rebuilt in 1910 by

for the Rt Hon H.J. Tennant. The estate dates from Saxon times and at least four Norman lords had manors here. The

Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

hall has since been divided into privately owned apartments. The gardens are not open to the public.. The

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Rolvenden War Memorial, erected in 1922, was designed by Lutyens at Tennant's instigation. Hole Park on the Benenden Road opens its gardens to the public under the

National Gardens Scheme The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to th ...

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

lived there and wrote a bestseller, ''

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', sometimes shortened to ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. The six volumes cover, from 98 to 1590, the peak of the Ro ...

'', which was published between 1776 and 1788. Rolvenden Windmill is also on the Benenden Road. This restored post mill, first mentioned c.1580 and of a type now rare in Kent, is now probably the best surviving example in the county. Its restoration was carried out in 1956 as a memorial to John Nicholas Barham who, according to the inscription, "lived his short life within sight of it" and died in August 1955, just before his eighteenth birthday. The mill, which is privately owned and does not open to the public, stands on a little hill and was featured in the

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele recor ...

film '' Half a Sixpence''.

Economy, shops and amenities

Korker Sausages started as small butchers in October 1954, now produces over 15 tonnes of sausages a week.Korker Sausages Website The

Kent and East Sussex Railway The Kent and East Sussex Railway (K&ESR) refers to both a historical private railway company in Kent and East Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company. The railway runs b ...

has its workshops near Rolvenden station. A collection of historic vehicles is housed on Rolvenden High Street in an antiques outlet. It specializes in Morgan three-wheeler motor cars with other vintage cars, motorcycles, bicycles, displays of toy and model cars. There is a small shop situated in the heart of the village. There are two public houses, The Bull Inn which also serves as a restaurant and The Star. There is another public house in Rolvenden Layne called The Ewe and Lamb. Rolvenden has its own village hall which is available to hire.

Transport

The

is on the parish eastern border. The A28 between Margate and Hastings forms the main high street of Rolvenden. Other roads are either single track country lanes of small subsidiary roads. A bus service from Hastings to Ashford runs through the village.

Gallery

File:The High Weald Landscape Trail crosses Rolvenden High Street - geograph.org.uk - 1711066.jpg, Rolvenden Church File:Rolvenden Mill 3.JPG, Rolvenden Windmill File:Motor Museum, Rolvenden - geograph.org.uk - 2764.jpg, Historic motor vehicle collection File:Hole Park (geograph 4156820).jpg, Hole Park File:Great Maytham Hall - geograph.org.uk - 228926.jpg, Great Maytham Hall as rebuilt by Lutyens File:Barn at Lambsland Farm - geograph.org.uk - 85435.jpg, Barn at Lambsland Farm File:Forsham Farm near Rolvenden - geograph.org.uk - 85428.jpg, Forsham Farm near Rolvenden File:A steam roller at Rolvenden - geograph.org.uk - 85426.jpg, Steam roller at Rolvenden

References

External links

Rolvenden Parish Council

Rolvenden (Church of England) Church

Hole Park Garden

C.M.Booth Motor Museum

'Parishes: Rolvenden', ''The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 7'' (1798), pp. 183-200.
{{authority control Villages in Kent Villages in the Borough of Ashford Civil parishes in Ashford, Kent