Aylesford is a small village on the
River MedwayThe River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....
in
KentKent , originally Cantia, is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the River Thames estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent...
, 4 miles NW of
MaidstoneMaidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Originally a small riverside settlement, Aylesford has expanded rapidly over the past thirty years to gain a population of around 5,000.
History
There has been activity in the area since
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
times. There are a series of
chamber tombA chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interree than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one...
s north of the village, of which
Kit's Coty HouseKit's Coty House or Kit's Coty is the name of the remains of a Neolithic chambered long barrow on Blue Bell Hill near Aylesford in the English county of Kent. It is one of the Medway megaliths....
, 1.5 miles to the north is the most famous; all have been damaged by farming. Kit's Coty is the remains of the burial chamber at one end of a
long barrowA long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the early Neolithic period. They are rectangular or trapezoidal earth mounds traditionally interpreted as collective tombs...
. A similar structure, just south of this,
Little Kits Coty HouseThe Countless Stones, also known as Little Kit's Coty House, is the name of the remains of a Neolithic chambered long barrow on Blue Bell Hill near Aylesford in the English county of Kent. The site is one of the Medway megaliths....
- also known as the
Countless Stones is lower down the same hillside.
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
swords have been discovered near here and an Iron Age settlement and Roman villa stood at
EcclesEccles is a village in the English county of Kent, part of the parish of Aylesford and in the valley of the River Medway.-Archaeology:It is the site of a Roman villa estate and pottery kiln, excavated between 1962 and 1976. It replaced an Iron Age settlement , and was occupied until the end of...
. The village has been suggested as the site of the
Battle of the MedwayThe Battle of the Medway took place in 43 on the River Medway in the lands of the Iron Age tribe of the Cantiaci, now the English county of Kent...
during the Roman invasion of Britain although there is no direct evidence of this.
The
Anglo-Saxon ChronicleThe Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The annals were initially created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great. Multiple manuscript copies were made and distributed to monasteries...
records the
Battle of AylesfordThe Battle of Aylesford or Epsford or Aegelesthrep was, according to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, fought in 455 AD between Saxon invaders and the native Romano-Britons near Aylesford in the English county of Kent....
taking place nearby 455, where
HengestHengist and Horsa are figures of British legend, which records them as the two Germanic brothers who led the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish armies that conquered the first territories of England in the 5th century AD...
fought
VortigernVortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Britain as mercenaries, only to see...
, although his brother Horsa is said to have fallen in this battle;
Alfred the GreatAlfred the Great , was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English king to be given the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to...
defeated the Danes in 893; as did Edmund II Ironside in 1016.
The
manorManorialism or Seigneurialism or Feudal Society was the organizing principle of rural economy and society widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe...
of Aylesford was first owned by William the Conqueror : the church of St Peter and St Paul is of
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
origin. Here there is a memorial to the
CulpeperCulpeper, Colepeper, or Culpepper are varying forms of the last name of several people:*John Culpeper , knight in the court of Henry V*Thomas Culpeper , courtier of Henry VIII...
family, who owned the nearby Preston Hall.
Aylesford Priory (Also known as 'The Friars')
In 1240, Ralph Frisburn, on his return from the
Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
, founded a Carmelite monastery under the patronage of Richard, Lord Grey of Codnor: the first of the order to be founded in Europe. He was followed later by
Simon StockSaint Simon Stock, an Englishman who lived in the 13th century, was an early prior general of the Carmelite religious order. Little is known about his life with any historical certainty. The Blessed Virgin Mary is traditionally said to have appeared to him and given him the Carmelite habit, the...
; who, in 1254, was elected Superior-general of the now mendicant Carmelites. The relics (remains of his head) of St Simon Stock are retained at the friary, having been preserved in
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
for centuries before being returned to Aylesford in July 1951.
Following the
Dissolution of the MonasteriesThe Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, denotes the administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, nunneries and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their income, disposed...
by
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
in 1536, ownership of the site was transferred to
Sir Thomas WyattSir Thomas Wyatt was a 16th-century English lyrical poet. He was born at Allington Castle, near Maidstone in Kent - though his family was originally from Yorkshire. His father, Henry Wyatt, had been one of Henry VII's Privy Councillors, and remained a trusted advisor when Henry VIII came to the...
of nearby
Allington CastleAllington Castle is a stone-built moated castle in Allington, just north of Maidstone, Kent. It is a Grade I listed building. Much of the stonework was laid in an intricate herringbone pattern which is still visible today...
. Following the
rebellionWyatt's Rebellion was a popular uprising in England in 1554, named after Thomas Wyatt the younger, one of its leaders. The rebellion was intended to overthrow the newly crowned Queen Mary I.-Motives:...
against
Queen MaryMary I , was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. She was the oldest daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived...
by Sir Thomas's son,
Thomas Wyatt the youngerSir Thomas Wyatt the younger was a rebel leader during the reign of Queen Mary I of England; his rising is traditionally called "Wyatt's rebellion".-Birth and career:...
, the porperty was forfeited back to the crown. It was later granted into the possession of
Sir John SedleyThere have been three Baronetcies created for members of the Sedley family of Kent, all in the Baronetage of England. All three creations are extinct....
by Mary's half-sister
Queen ElizabethElizabeth I was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
. Although the Sedley family made some changes to the priory, it was the next owner Sir John Banks that was responsible for the rebuilding of the Friary during the 1670s.
The main part of the house was destroyed by fire in the 1930s. The Carmelites took it over in 1949 and have successfully restored it to its former glory: it is now a place of retreat and a conference centre. The friary has some notable artwork such as the ceramics created by
Adam KossowskiAdam Kossowski was a Polish artist, notable for his works for the Catholic church. He was a refugee who arrived in Britain from the Russian labour camps in 1942, and was soon invited to join the Guild of Catholic Artists and Craftsmen....
. The remains of the manor house present at the foundation of the Priory are believed to lie under the Great Courtyard. This could date from as early as 1085.
River Medway
The village has long had river connections. Aylesford takes its name from an Old English personal name, and literally denotes ‘Ægel’s ford’. Its first recorded use is from the tenth century, as Æglesforda.
It was also the place where one of the earliest bridges was built, believed to be in the 14th century (although the wide central span is later). Upstream from
Rochester BridgeRochester Bridge was for centuries the lowest fixed crossing of the River Medway in Kent, southern England. There have been several generations of bridge at this spot, and the current "bridge" is in fact four separate bridges: two carrying the A2 road, one carrying the railway and one carrying all...
it became the next bridging point. The river was navigable as far as
MaidstoneMaidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
until 1740, when barges of forty tons could reach as far as
TonbridgeTonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately four miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 25 miles south east of London...
. As a result wharfs were built, one being at Aylesford: corn, fodder and fruit; and stone and timber were the principal cargoes.
Due to the amount of traffic in recent years, the ancient bridge has now been superseded by a modern structure nearby, but it remains for pedestrians.
The village
The oldest parts of the village lie north and immediately south of the river. Many of the buildings are of great antiquity: the Chequers Inn and the George House (formerly a
coaching innA stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled closed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach...
) and the almshouses among them.
Major construction took place during the
Victorian eraThe Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements...
, when houses were constructed to serve the nearby quarry. The brick and tile industries have been replaced by a large area of commercial buildings; and what was once the huge Aylesford paper mills site has now been regenerated by a leading newsprint plant surrounded by newly developed private estates featuring high value accommodation.
Recent expansion has been to the southern side of the river, where a substantial suburban housing estate has grown up, partly because the village is served by the railway, with connections for Maidstone and London. Many of these homes were originally owned by employees of the paper mills, which are now closed and which have been replaced by a number of smaller industrial estates with a variety of specialist businesses that include engineering, manufacturers wholesale and others.
In spite of the above the village has not lost its original integrity and it is a popular place for visitors.
Schools
Henry Arthur Brassey (1840-1891) was a great benefactor of Aylesford, and as well as financing major repairs to the church, also provided the village with a school. This was replaced in the 1960s with a new building to the south east of the village, next to the site of the local secondary school (now
Aylesford School - Sports CollegeAylesford School - Sports College is a secondary school in Kent, England, housed in recently completed modern buildings, situated in Teapot Lane, and serving an area to the west of Maidstone....
) which was housed in buildings largely built in the 1940s by
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
prisoners of WarA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a combatant who is held in continuing custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. The old school buildings were totally rebuilt on the same site, in 2008. The original village school - now known as the Brassey Centre - is used as a church office and community hall.
Railway
Aylesford railway stationAylesford railway station first opened on 18 June 1856. It is on the Medway Valley Line in Kent, and serves Aylesford. Train services are provided by Southeastern.The station is unstaffed.-History:...
, opened on 18 June 1856, is on the
Medway Valley Line|}The Medway Valley Line is the name given to the railway line linking Strood and the Medway Towns with Maidstone West and onward to Paddock Wood. The section from Maidstone West to Paddock Wood passes through some of Kent's most picturesque countryside along the narrower sections of the River...
connecting
StroodStrood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. It lies on the north west bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point, and is part of the Rochester post town....
with
Maidstone (West)Maidstone West railway station is one of three railway stations which serve Maidstone in Kent. It is approximately halfway along the Medway Valley Line from Paddock Wood; from Strood) and train services are provided by Southeastern.- History :...
. The station buildings are gabled and highly decorated, built in
Kentish ragstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow,...
with
Caen stoneCaen stone or Pierre de Caen, is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in northwestern France near the city of Caen.It was used in the construction of the late eleventh century austere Norman Romanesque Church of Saint-Étienne, at the Abbaye-aux-Hommes , that was founded by William the...
dressings. Windows replicate those at Aylesford Priory.
British Legion village
The British Legion Village is located to the south.
Demography
| Aylesford compared |
| 2001 UK Census |
Aylesford ward |
Tonbridge and Malling borough |
England |
| Population |
4,548 |
107,561 |
49,138,831 |
| Foreign born |
3.8% |
4.6% |
9.2% |
| White |
98.2% |
98.3% |
90.9% |
| Asian |
0.9% |
0.7% |
4.6% |
| Black |
0.1% |
0.1% |
2.3% |
| Christian |
77.4% |
76.1% |
71.7% |
| Muslim |
0.2% |
0.3% |
3.1% |
| Hindu |
0.5% |
0.2% |
1.1% |
| No religion |
12.8% |
15% |
14.6% |
| Unemployed |
1.9% |
1.9% |
3.3% |
| Retired |
15.3% |
14.2% |
13.5% |
As of the 2001 UK census, the Aylesford electoral ward had a population of 4,548. The ethnicity was 98.2% white, 0.8% mixed race, 0.9% Asian, 0.1% black and 0% other. The place of birth of residents was 96.2% United Kingdom, 0.5% Republic of Ireland, 1% other Western European countries, and 2.3% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 77.4% Christian, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.5% Hindu, 0.1% Sikh, 0% Jewish, and 0.2% Muslim. 12.8% were recorded as having no religion, 0.1% had an alternative religion and 8.8% did not state their religion.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 41.1% in full-time employment, 14.5% in part-time employment, 9.3% self-employed, 1.9% unemployed, 2.2% students with jobs, 2.5% students without jobs, 15.3% retired, 6.7% looking after home or family, 4.4% permanently sick or disabled and 2.2% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 19.6% retail, 13.6% manufacturing, 9.2% construction, 13.2% real estate, 9.7% health and social work, 6.1% education, 8% transport and communications, 4.8% public administration, 3.6% hotels and restaurants, 4.7% finance, 1.1% agriculture and 6.4% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in construction, and a relatively low proportion in agriculture, education, hotels and restaurants. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 14.3% had a
higher educationHigher education refers to a level of education that is provided by universities, vocational universities, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, institutes of technology and other collegiate level institutions, such as vocational schools, trade schools and career colleges, that award academic...
qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.
External links