Saltwood, Kent

Historical Description

Saltwood, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands three-quarters of a mile N of Hythe, and 1 ESE of Sandling station on the S.E.R., commands a fine view, and has a post office under Hythe; money order and telegraph office, Hythe. The parish contains also the hamlets of Saltwood Green and Pedlinge, and comprises 2387 acres; population of the civil parish, 557; of the ecclesiastical, 717. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The manor was given to the see of Canterbury in 1036 by the Danish Karl Halfden. Saltwood Castle, situated close to the village, is said to have been first erected in 488 by Escus or Oisc, king of Kent, was restored or rebuilt in 1080 by Hugo de Montfort, was held for some time by various knights under the archbishops, was the rendezvous of the four knights who planned the murder of A'Becket, passed afterwards to the Crown, but was restored by King John to the archbishops, underwent enlargement and embellishment at great cost by Archbishop Courtenay in the time of Richard II., was thence a residence of the archbishops till the time of Henry VIII., went then to the Crown in exchange for other property, was given by Henry VIII. to the Clintons, passed afterwards through various hands and sank into decay; it continued in a ruinous condition until 1882, when it was completely restored at great labour and expense. The fine double gate-house was included in the restoration and a new block of buildings erected behind it, the whole now constituting a handsome country residence, and presenting an almost singular instance of a castle upwards of 500 years old having been successfully adapted for this purpose. It is the residence and property of the Deedes family. Brockhill House has been the seat of the Tournay family since 1498. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £260 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is chiefly of the time of Edward III., and has been restored. There is a mission church in connection with the parish church.

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.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Saltwood from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Saltwood (St. Peter and St. Paul))

Maps

Online maps of Saltwood 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.