Linton, Kent

Historical Description

Linton, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands on the S declivity of a hill, 4 miles S of Maidstone, and 3 from East Farleigh station on the S E.R., and commands delightful views over a picturesque and richly-wooded country. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Maidstone. Acreage of the civil parish, 1961; population, 990; of the ecclesiastical, 938. The parish contains also Maidstone Workhouse. Linton Park, with much of the land, belonged to the Manns, and passed by marriage to Earl Comwallis. The mansion was described by Horace Walpole as " standing like the citadel of Kent;" commands magnificent and very extensive views over the Weald, is a splendid white stuccoed edifice, with tetrastyle Corinthian portico; has a well-wooded park of about 500 acres, and is now the seat of the Cornwallis family. The parish is noted for prime fruit and hops. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, —£170 with residence. The church was originally Korman, had a S aisle and a private chapel added to it in the time of Edward III., underwent restoration and considerable enlargement in 1859-60, exhibits in the new portions chiefly the Later English style; comprises nave, aisles, chancel, and N and S chapels, with a tower of Kentish rag, surmounted by a spire of Bath stone; contains a carved oak pulpit and reading-desk, and a rich carved oak screen, and was the burial-place of Sir Horace Mann, whose body was brought to it for interment from Florence. The N chapel has been so entirely restored as to harmonize with the rest of the church, and it contains monuments to the Mayne, the Mann, and the Comwallis families, including a very fine one in white marble, by Bayley, to Viscount Brome. There are almshouses for eight aged persons.

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.

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 Linton from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Linton 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.