Groombridge, Kent

Historical Description

Groombridge, a village and a chapelry in Speldhurst parish, Kent. There is a station on the L.B. & S.C.R,, 34 miles from London, and a post, money order, and telegraph office. There are fairs on 17 May and 25 Sept. The manor belonged anciently to the Cobhams, descended from them to the Wallers, and has since passed through various hands. The ancient castle was for twenty-five years the prison of the Duke of Orleans, who was captured by Sir Richard Waller at the battle of Agincourt in 1415. It was pulled down by John Packer, and the present manor house built by him on the site. Groombridge Place, the ancient manor house, is encompassed by a wide, deep moat, and contains some fine carved oak paneling, with the arms of Sir E. Waller. Burr's Wood is the seat of the Stirling family. The living is a curacy, annexed to the rectory of Speldhurst, in the diocese of Canterbury; joint value, £90 with residence. The church, erected in 1625, is a small brick building in the Perpendicular style, built by John Packer as a votive offering on the return of Prince Charles from Spain.

Administration

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

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

Church Records

Findmypast have the following online for Groombridge, St John the Evangelist: baptisms 1848-1919, marriages 1897-1919, burials 1849-1922

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Groombridge from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Groombridge)

Maps

Online maps of Groombridge 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.