Godmersham

Godmersham
Godmersham
 Godmersham shown within Kent
Area  15.7 km2 (6.1 sq mi)
Population 376 (Civil Parish 2011)[1]
   – density  24/km2 (62/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTR066506
Civil parishGodmersham
DistrictAshford
Shire countyKent
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town CANTERBURY
Postcode district CT4
Dialling code 01227
Police Kent
Fire Kent
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentAshford
List of places
UK
England
Kent

Coordinates: 51°13′05″N 0°57′26″E / 51.2180°N 0.9571°E / 51.2180; 0.9571

Godmersham is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village straddles the Great Stour river where it cuts through the North Downs and its land is approximately one third woodland, all in the far east and west on the escarpment of the North Downs. It is six miles north-east of Ashford on the A28 road midway between Ashford and Canterbury in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with the North Downs Way and Pilgrims' Way traversing the parish.

The village is divided in two by the floodplain of the Stour. The parish civil includes Godmersham village itself, and Bilting. It shares many of its activities with the neighbouring parish of Crundale, a smaller parish to the east.

History

The first known record of Godmersham was AD824 when Beornwulf, King of Mercia, gave it as a whole to Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury. The village also is recorded in the Domesday Book. Bilting is thought to be older.[2]

Although a significant number of residents work on the land, most of the community has adopted economically a status whereby its people work in Ashford, Canterbury and further afield. Many commute to London by train from Wye station. The village school in The Street closed in 1946 and the shop/post office in 1982. It is many years since there was a public house in the village, which describes a minority of civil parishes today.[2]

Saint Lawrence Church

The ancient parish church is dedicated to St Lawrence the Martyr, it is part Saxon, part 12th-century (Norman), and was restored in 1864, it contains a carving considered to be one of the earliest representations of Thomas Becket.[3]

Notable residents

Godmersham Park House was built in 1732, and eventually became the property of Edward Austen Knight, brother of Jane Austen who is known to have visited often. Her novel Mansfield Park depicts similar characters and scenes as those visible at the start of the 19th century, and in the case of architecture still present.[4][5] The house is currently the home of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians College.[6]

Samuel Pegge, Antiquarian, Vicar of Godmersham 1730-1750.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 10 May 2014
  2. 1 2 Parish Council website
  3. ↑ Kent Churches
  4. ↑ Kent Downs
  5. ↑ Pastscape - Godmersham Park House
  6. ↑ ABDO
  7. ↑ Samuel Pegge the Elder in Dictionary of National Biography accessed online 25 September 2007
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Godmersham.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.