Shoreham (St. Peter and St. Paul)

SHOREHAM (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Seven-Oaks, hundred of Codsheath, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of Kent, 4½ miles (N.) from Seven-Oaks; containing 1021 inhabitants. The parish comprises 5506 acres, of which 1199 are in wood. The soil is chalk, interspersed with small portions of clay; the surface on the east and west sides is hilly, and between them is a pleasing valley, through which flows the river Darent in its course to the Thames at Dartford. A very elegant Palladian villa was commenced about the beginning of the last century, but being left unfinished, became infected with the dry-rot, which induced the present Lord Asbburton to take it down and replace it by a mansion in the Elizabethan style. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14. 6. 8.; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The rectory of Shoreham, with the curacy of Otford, is valued in the king's books at £34. 9. 9½., and is an appropriation belonging to the Dean and Chapter, who allow a certain stipend to the curate of Otford. The great tithes of the parish have been commuted for £800, and the small for £450; the Dean and Chapter's glebe consists of 60 acres, and the vicar's of ten acres. The church is an ancient structure, containing several elegant monuments. Castle farmhouse was built with the remains, and upon the site, of Shoreham Castle.