Broomfield, Kent

(Bromfield)

Historical Description

Bromfield, a parish in Kent, on an affluent of the Medway, 2 miles from Harrietsham station on the L.C. & D.R. Post town, Maidstone; money order and telegraph office, Leeds. Acreage, 1449; population, 164. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the vicarage of Leeds, in the diocese of Canterbury; value, £300. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is good, and was well restored in 1881.

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

Church Records

The register dates from the year 1575.

Churches

Church of England

St. Margaret (parish church)

The church of St. Margaret is of stone, in the Early English and Perpendicular styles, and has a tower containing 3 bells: it was restored in 1881, and affords 100 sittings.

Civil Registration

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

Maps

Online maps of Broomfield 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:

Places of Interest

Leeds Castle, the seat of Mrs. Wykeham-Martin, is a magnificent stone structure, erected at various times and in different styles of architecture: it is believed that a considerable portion was built by Edward I. about 1280 and some other parts indicate a still earlier date: the upper story of the keep was added by Henry VIII. about 1535 and the building was partly reconstructed in 1822: it is situated in a beautiful park, surrounded by a large moat, supplied by a stream which rises at Lenham and empties itself into the Medway: the castle was visited by Richard II. and in the reign of Henry V. Joan of Navarre, the second Queen of Henry IV. being accused of conspiracy against the life of her stepson, was imprisoned here; in the reign of Henry VI. Archbishop Chichele presided at the trial of the Duchess of Gloucester, held within its walls in 1440.

Transcribed from Kelly's Directory of Kent, 1882.