Mersham, Kent
Historical Description
Mersham, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands 1½ mile NNW of Smeeth station on the S.E.R., and 3g- miles SE of Ashford. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Ashford. Acreage of parish, 2680; population, 704. Mersham Hatch is a seat of the Knatch-bulls, has belonged to that family since the time of Henry VIII., and is a red brick mansion, rebuilt in the 18th century. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury; gross value, £648 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is ancient but excellently restored, comprises naves, aisle, and chancel, and contains many memorials to, with the private chapel of, the Knatchbull family.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Kent | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Mersham St. John the Baptist | |
Hundred | Chart and Longbridge | |
Lathe | Shepway | |
Poor Law union | East Ashford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
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 Mersham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Mersham (St. John the Baptist))
Maps
Online maps of Mersham are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:
- Kent & Sussex Courier
- Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
- Dover Express
- Kentish Gazette
- Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
- Kentish Chronicle
- Maidstone Telegraph
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.