East Peckham
Encyclopedia
East Peckham is a village in Kent
, England
, made up of nine hamlets and situated about 5 miles (8 km) east of Tonbridge
on the River Medway
. It was the centre for the hop
growing industry in Kent and is still home to the Hop Farm
which has the world's largest collection of Oast Houses.
reads:-
Part of the manor of East Farleigh
lay within what is now East Peckham.
There is a persistent myth that the village was originally sited a few miles away towards Mereworth
although there is no evidence of this. St Michael's
church stands on high ground two miles to the north of the village, and is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust
and open daily. In the mid-nineteenth century the new parish church of the Holy Trinity was built in the village. The architects were Whichcord and Walker
of Maidstone, and the foundation stone was laid on 24 October 1840.
The River Bourne flows through the parish, and formerly powered a watermill
(Little Mill) before joining the River Medway. There was another watermill on the River Medway
at Branbridges
.In the past, East Peckham has been flooded many times. The East Peckham Flood Relief partnership was formed in 2003. A dam has been built on the Coult Stream at Bullens Farm. It is 160 metres (175 yd) long and 4 metres (13.1 ft) high and has the capacity to hold 80000 cubic metres (17,597,539.9 imp gal) of floodwater. The scheme cost just over £1 million.
Kent
Kent 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 Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England 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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, made up of nine hamlets and situated about 5 miles (8 km) east of Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge 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 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
on the River Medway
River Medway
The 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....
. It was the centre for the hop
Hop (plant)
Humulus, Hop, is a small genus of flowering plants native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The female flowers of H. lupulus are known as hops, and are used as a culinary flavoring and stabilizer, especially in the brewing of beer...
growing industry in Kent and is still home to the Hop Farm
The Hop Farm Country Park
The Hop Farm Family Park is a Country Park in Beltring, near East Peckham in Kent, England, is over 450 years old, and has the largest collection of oast houses in the world.-History:...
which has the world's largest collection of Oast Houses.
History
The Domesday entry for East and West PeckhamWest Peckham
West Peckham is a village in the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The River Bourne flows through the extreme west of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill and corn mill . The Wateringbury Stream rises in the parish...
reads:-
- The Archbishop himselfLanfrancLanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by birth.-Early life:Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate...
holds Pecheham, In the time of King Edward the ConfessorEdward the ConfessorEdward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
it was taxed at six sulungs, and now six sulungs and one yoke. The arable land is ten carucates. In demesneDemesneIn the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
there are two, and sixteen villeins, with fourteen borderers, having four carucates and a half. There is a church, and ten servants, and one millWatermillA watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
, and six acres of meadow. Wood for the pannagePannagePannage is the practice of turning out domestic pigs in a wood or forest, in order that they may feed on fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted to local people on common land or in royal forests...
of six hogsDomestic pigThe domestic pig is a domesticated animal that traces its ancestry to the wild boar, and is considered a subspecies of the wild boar or a distinct species in its own right. It is likely the wild boar was domesticated as early as 13,000 BC in the Tigris River basin...
. - Of the land of this manor, one of the archbishop's tenants holds half a sulung, and was taxed with these six sulungs in the time of King Edward the Confessor, although it could not belong to the manor, except in the scotting, because it was free land.
- Richard de TonebridgeTonbridgeTonbridge 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 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
holds of the same favour two sulungs and one yoke, and has there twenty-seven villeins, having seven carucates, and wood for the pannage of ten hogs. The whole value being four poundsPound sterlingThe pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
. In the time of King Edward the Confessor, the manor was worth twelve pounds, when the Archbishop received it eight pounds, and now what he has is worth eight pounds.
Part of the manor of East Farleigh
East Farleigh
East Farleigh is a village and civil parish in the local government district of Maidstone, Kent, England. The village is located on the south side of the River Medway about two miles upstream of the town of Maidstone...
lay within what is now East Peckham.
- Ralph Fitz Turold holds of the bishop (of BaieuxBayeuxBayeux is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France.Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England.-Administration:Bayeux is a sub-prefecture of Calvados...
) half a sulung in Estockingeberge. In the time of King Edward the Confessor, two Freemen held it, and then like now, and it is valued at twenty shillings£sd£sd was the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies used in the Kingdom of England, later the United Kingdom, and ultimately in much of the British Empire...
.
There is a persistent myth that the village was originally sited a few miles away towards Mereworth
Mereworth
Mereworth is a village near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. The Wateringbury Stream flows through the village and powered a watermill, the site of which now lies within the grounds of Mereworth Castle.-History:...
although there is no evidence of this. St Michael's
St Michael's Church, East Peckham
St Michael's is a redundant Anglican church in East Peckham, Kent, England. The Grade II* listed church is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust and open to the public.-History:...
church stands on high ground two miles to the north of the village, and is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
and open daily. In the mid-nineteenth century the new parish church of the Holy Trinity was built in the village. The architects were Whichcord and Walker
John Whichcord Snr
John Whichcord Snr was a British architect who worked in Maidstone, Kent and designed many public and institutional buildings in the town.-Life:Whichcord, the son of a surveyor, was born in Devizes, Wiltshire...
of Maidstone, and the foundation stone was laid on 24 October 1840.
The River Bourne flows through the parish, and formerly powered a watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
(Little Mill) before joining the River Medway. There was another watermill on the River Medway
Medway watermills
The River Medway, its tributaries and sub-tributaries have been used as a source of power for over 1,150 years. There are over two hundred sites where the use of water power is known...
at Branbridges
Branbridges
Branbridges is a village in Kent, England, on the River Medway. It is near East Peckham and the nearest railway station is Beltring....
.In the past, East Peckham has been flooded many times. The East Peckham Flood Relief partnership was formed in 2003. A dam has been built on the Coult Stream at Bullens Farm. It is 160 metres (175 yd) long and 4 metres (13.1 ft) high and has the capacity to hold 80000 cubic metres (17,597,539.9 imp gal) of floodwater. The scheme cost just over £1 million.
Notable persons
- On January 28, 1896 Walter Arnold, of East Peckham, was fined for speeding at 8 mph (12.9 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limitSpeed limitRoad speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...
for towns of 2 mph (3.2 km/h). He was fined 1 shilling plus costs, the first speeding fine in England. He was the first person to be convicted of speeding in the UK. Arnold had been caught by a policeman who had given chase on a bicycle.