Appledore, Kent
Historical Description
Appledore, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands on the Military Canal, on a branch of the river Rother, on the W border of Romney Marsh, 1½ mile W of a station of its own name on the S.E.R., 64 miles from London. It formerly had a weekly market, and still has a fair on the fourth Monday in June. It was once a seaport, on the quondam estuary of the Rother, and was assailed by the Danes in the time of King Alfred, and by the French in 1380. The parish comprises 3007 acres; population of the civil parish, 595; of the ecclesiastical, with Ebony, 769. Much of the land is rich meadowy pasture. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; value, £260. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Ebony is a distinct parish and living, but joined to Appledore. The church has a singular projection from the N side of the nave, and is a strange mixture of Norman, Early English, and Decorated. It was restored in 1890. There is a Wesleyan chapel, and a post, money order, and telegraph office.
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 | Appledore St. Peter and St. Paul | |
| Hundred | Blackbourne | |
| Lathe | Scray | |
| Poor Law union | Tenterden |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The existing parish register dates only from the year 1700.
Findmypast have the following online for Appledore, SS Peter & Paul: baptisms 1560-1919, marriages 1700-1919, burials 1700-1922
Churches
Church of England
SS. Peter and Paul (parish church)
The church of SS. Peter and Paul is of stone in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, with some traces of Early Norman work, and has a tower containing a clock and 8 bells, two new bells being added in 1900, and the belfry floors renewed at a total cost of £400: a memorial window to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria was unveiled at Christmas, 1901, and another to the late Rev. W. W. Kirby B.A. In 1907: the restoration of the chancel with its aisles was completed in May, 1890: there are 250 sittings.
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 Appledore from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Appledore (St. Peter and St. Paul))
Maps
Online maps of Appledore 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.