Charing, Kent
Historical Description
Charing, a village and a parish in Kent, on the L.C. & D.R., 53 miles from London. There is a post, money order, and telegraph office under Ashford. Acreage, 4681; population of the civil parish, 1314; of the ecclesiastical, 1019. The village stands on the ancient road called the Pilgrims' Way, near the source of the Len. It is an ancient place, known in Domesday as Cheringes. The manor belonged early to the see of Canterbury; was held some time by the Saxon kings; reverted to the archbishops; was given up by Cranmer to Henry VIII., and passed to the Whelers of Otterden. A palace of the archbishops stood here, was rebuilt in the 14th century, and gave entertainment to Henry VII. and Henry VIII. The edifice was in the Early Decorated style, and badly executed, and considerable ruins of it still exist. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £221 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's. The church was chiefly rebuilt after a destruction of it by fire in 1590, but retains portions in Early English and Perpendicular, and it contains monuments of the Brents, the Sayers, the Honeywoods, and Mrs Ludwell. It was restored, and a peal of six bells added in 1877-79. A charity, bequeathed by Mrs Ludwell, who died in 1765, has £88 a year from endowment, and two exhibitions at Oriel College. This charity is divided among ten poor householders and the national schools of Charing and Charing Heath, and the apprenticing of boys educated in these schools. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
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 | Charing St. Peter and St. Paul | |
| Hundred | Calehill | |
| Lathe | Shepway | |
| Poor Law union | West Ashford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1590.
Findmypast have the following online for Charing, SS Peter & Paul: baptisms 1584-1919, marriages 1590-1919, burials 1590-1922
Churches
Church of England
SS. Peter and Paul (parish church)
The church of SS. Peter and Paul is a cruciform building of flint and stone, dating from the 13th and 16th centuries, and has a tower of Perpendicular character, containing a clock, presented in 1910 to the memory of Lieut.-Col. Frederic Buckley Campbell, and 6 bells, hung in 1878: there are memorial tablets to the Sayer and Dering families, besides others: the church possesses some valuable Elizabethan plate: the churchyard was closed to interments in 1887: the church was restored in 1878, and affords 400 sittings.
Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel
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 Charing from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Charing (St. Peter and St. Paul))
Maps
Online maps of Charing 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.