Biddenden, Kent
Historical Description
Biddenden, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands 4 miles S of Headcorn station on the S.E.R., and 5½ NE of Cranbrook; it has a fair on 8 November. The parish comprises 7191 acres; population, 1362. It has a post and money order office under Staplehurst; telegraph office, Smarden. The manor belonged in the time of Edward III. to Sir Walter Manney, and passed to the Hendens. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury; gross value, £150 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church has features from Early English to Late Perpendicular, and was restored in 1857. A curious charity furnishes a distribution of stamped cakes to all comers on Easter Sunday, as well as other charities. A Baptist chapel was erected in 1879.
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 | Biddenden All Saints | |
| Hundred | Barclay | |
| Lathe | Scray | |
| Poor Law union | Tenterden |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1538.
Findmypast have the following online for Biddenden, All Saints: baptisms 1538-1919, marriages 1538-1941, burials 1538-1899
Churches
Church of England
All Saints (parish church)
The church of All Saints is of stone in the Early English and later styles, and has a tower in the Perpendicular style, containing a clock and 8 bells; there are several tombs and monuments and numerous brasses of an early period, and marble tablets: the east and west windows and one smaller one are stained: the church was restored and reseated in 1857, and affords 600 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 Biddenden from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Biddenden (All Saints))
Maps
Online maps of Biddenden 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.