UK Genealogy Archives logo
DISCLOSURE: This page may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we may receive a commission.

Benenden, Kent

Historical Description

Benenden, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands 3 miles SE of Cranbrook, and 8 S of Staplehurst station on the S.E.R., and has a post office under Staplehurst. It is a place of great antiquity, contains several good old houses, and presents a pleasant appearance. It once was noted for cloth manufacture, and it has a fair on 15 May. The parish comprises 6693 acres; population, 1596. Ponds and springs abound. A beacon stood near the village during the civil wars, forming part of a line of communication between Tenterden and London. The St George's Club was erected in 1881 by Viscount Cranbrook, and contains reading rooms and library. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £207 with residence. Patron, Viscount Cranbrook. The church was restored in 1862 at a cost of £6000. There are a school-church, a Baptist chapel, and some charities. Hemsted Park, the seat of Viscount Cranbrook, is in the vicinity.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyKent 
Ecclesiastical parishBenenden St. George 
HundredRolvenden 
LatheScray 
Poor Law unionCranbrooke 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

The register dates from the year 1653.

Findmypast have the following online for Benenden, St George: baptisms 1558-1919, marriages 1558-1919, burials 1558-1922


Churches

Church of England

St. George (parish church)

The church of St. George is of stone, in the Gothic style, and has a tower containing a clock with chimes and 8 bells: there are a number of memorial and other stained windows, and several monuments to the Hodges and Norris families, an ancient brass to Edmond Gybbon esq. founder of the Free school, and a memorial brass to the Rev. Canon Samuel Joy M.A. vicar of this parish 1887-96: there are also three brass memorials to the 1st and 2nd Earls of Cranbrook (d. 1906 and 1911) and Countess (1897) of Cranbrook: the church was restored in 1861-2, and affords 600 sittings.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Benenden from the following:


Maps

Online maps of Benenden are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:


Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.

DistrictTunbridge Wells
CountyKent
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Postal districtTN17
Post TownCranbrook

Advertisement

Advertisement