Brabourne, Kent

Historical Description

Brabourne, two villages and a parish in Kent. The villages are East Brabourne and Brabourne-Lees. East Brabourne stands 3 miles NNE of Smeeth station on the S.E.R , and 6 E of Ashford, under which it has a post office, and was once a market-town. Brabourne-Lees is a mile to the west, and also has a post and money order office under Ashford; telegraph office, Smeeth. The parish comprises 3528 acres; population of the civil parish, 765; of the ecclesiastical, including Monks-Horton, 889. The manor belonged to Aymer de Valence, and passed to the Scotts and the Honeywoods. Much of the land is cold wet clay. Large barracks at one time stood near Brabourne-Lees. The living is a vicarage, united with the rectory of Monks-Horton, in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £194 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is Early English, contains monuments of the Scotts, and is in good condition. A yew stood in the churchyard in Evelyn's time, 59 feet in girth. There are two Baptist chapels.

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

The register dates from the year 1558.

Findmypast have the following online for Brabourne, Bethel Baptist Chapel: burials 1819-1837

Findmypast have the following online for Brabourne, St Mary the Virgin: baptisms 1558-1919, marriages 1558-1919, burials 1558-1992

Churches

Church of England

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Brabourne from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Brabourne 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.