Chalk, Kent
Historical Description
Chalk, a parish in Kent, on the river Thames and the North Kent railway, 2½ miles SE by E of Gravesend, under which it has a post office. Acreage, 1846; population, 428. The surface is variously marshy and chalky. Gun flints of prime quality were at one time manufactured, and much fruit is sent to the London market. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester; value, £150. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is of flint, very ancient, and has been restored. It has two grotesque figures on the porch, and contains curious monuments and sedilia.
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 | Chalk St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Shamwell | |
| Lathe | Aylesford | |
| Poor Law union | North Aylesford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1661.
Findmypast have the following online for Chalk, St Mary the Virgin: baptisms 1768-1915, marriages 1659-1935, burials 1768-1940
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary, standing on a rising gronnd, 1 mile east of the village, a short distance from the road, is in the Early English and later styles, and has a western tower containing 3 bells: a stained glass window was erected by the present vicar in memory of his mother: there are sittings for 180 persons.
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 Chalk from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chalk (St. Mary))
Maps
Online maps of Chalk 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.