Willesborough, Kent

Historical Description

Willesborough, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands 1¾ mile E of Ashford station on the S.E.R., and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Ashford. The parish includes Aylesford hamlet and part of Ashford' Newtown called Alfred Town, and contains East Ashford workhouse. Acreage, 1478; population, 3234. There is a parish council consisting of thirteen members. The Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham is lord of the manor. An ancient house standing opposite the church belonged at one time to the family of William Harvey, M.D., the discoverer of the circulation of the blood. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £220 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. The church is a building of stone in various styles of architecture, and has been well restored. Christ Church is a Free church, and was erected in 1874.

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 Willesborough from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Willesborough 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.