Westwell, Kent

Historical Description

Westwell, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands 1 mile from Charing station on the L.C. & D.R., was once a market-town, and has a post office under Ashford; money order and telegraph office, Charing. The parish includes two hamlets, contains West Ashford Workhouse, and comprises 5223 acres; population, 958. The manor belonged at one time to Christchurch, Canterbury, and now belongs to Lord Hothfield. Ripley Court was the seat of the Tuftons, but is now a farmhouse. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £255 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is partly Early English, has a tower and spire, and was well restored in 1884, There are Baptist and Wesleyan 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.

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 Westwell from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Westwell 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.