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Chilham, Kent

Historical Description

Chilham, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands near the river Stour, 6¼ miles SW by S of Canterbury; is the Cilleham of the Saxons; was once a market-town; has a station on the S.E.R., 64 miles from London; and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Canterbury. The parish comprises 4398 acres; population, 1377. The manor belonged to the Saxon kings of Kent; was given by the Conqueror to Fulbert, who assumed the name of De Dover; passed to the Badlesmeres and others; went in the time of Edward VI. to Sir Thomas Cheney; went again at the beginning of the 17th century to Sir Dudley Digges; passed to the Colebrooks, the Herons, and the Wildmans; and was bought in 1862 by the Hardy family. A Roman castrum was here, and is said to have been the residence of Lucius the Brito-Roman king; a castle of the Saxon kings succeeded the castrum, was renovated after the Conquest, and underwent demolition by Sir Thomas Cheney; and a mansion in lien of this was built by Sir W. Digges, is still standing, and forms a fine specimen of Jacobean architecture. The castle was surrounded by a deep fosse enclosing about 8 acres, and the remains of it include a Late Norman octagonal three-storey keep. Many Roman relics of various kinds have been found here, and a great barrow or artificial mound, popularly called Julaber's Grave, the subject of much dispute among antiquaries, is immediately above the railway station. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; value, £800 with residence. The church is Decorated English with a Later clerestory; was rebuilt, in the E part, in 1863; belonged anciently to Throwleigh priory, afterwards to Sion monastery; and contains monuments of the Diggeses, the Colebrooks, and the Wildmans. There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels.

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 parishChilham St. Mary 
HundredFelborough 
LatheShepway 
Poor Law unionEast Ashford 

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


Church Records

The register dates from the year 1558.

Findmypast have the following online for Chilham, St Mary: baptisms 1558-1912, marriages 1558-1928, burials 1558-1958


Churches

Church of England

St. Mary (parish church)

The church of St. Mary is mostly of flint, in the Perpendicular style, with some earlier portions, and has a tower containing a clock and 8 bells: there are two monuments and traces of brasses: the church affords 800 sittings.

Methodist

Shottenden Methodist Chapel

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Chilham from the following:


Maps

Online maps of Chilham 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.

DistrictAshford
CountyKent
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Postal districtCT4
Post TownCanterbury

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