Sissinghurst, Kent

Historical Description

Sissinghurst, an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1839, comprising about a quarter of the civil parish of Cranbrook, 3½ miles from Cranbrook station, and 4¾ S of Staplehurst station, both on the S.E.R. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. Population, 1075. It sends four members to the Cranbrook parish council. The manor belonged to the Saxenhursts, and passed to the Barhams and the Bakers. Sissinghurst Castle was built in the time of Edward VI. by Sir John Baker, privy councillor to Henry VIII. and Queen. Mary. The entrance gate, flanked by two towers and some outbuildings, remains; it is the property of the Cornwallis family, who are the principal landowners of the parish. Sissinghurst Grange, a beautifully restored Tudor residence, is the seat and property of the Noble family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £300 with residence. The church was built in 1839, and thoroughly renovated in 1893. There is a small Wesleyan chapel.

Maps

Online maps of Sissinghurst 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.