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Ringlestone is a hamlet between
WormshillWormshill , historically called Wormsell, is a small village and civil parish within the Borough of Maidstone, Kent, England. The parish is approximately south of The Swale and north of Maidstone. The villages of Frinsted and Bicknor are equidistant to the east and west, respectively; while...
and
HarrietshamHarrietsham is a rural village and civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, it has a population of around 1,504. The parish is located on the slope of the North Downs, east of Maidstone...
in the Maidstone district of
KentKent 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...
,
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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, falling within the
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
of Wormshill, it is not to be confused with the
RinglestoneRinglestone is a suburb and housing estate in the town of Maidstone, Kent. It is on the Eastern side of the River Medway, near Allington....
suburbThe word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
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...
.
Ringlestone or
Rongostone (meaning "ring of stones") dates back to before the
Norman conquest of EnglandThe Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
in 1066 and is mentioned in the
Domesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086.
At the time of the Domesday Survey, the hamlet was smaller than it is today and yet was still deemed worthy of recording as noted by
Edward HastedEdward Hasted was the author of a major county history, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent .-Life:...
in his 18th century survey of Kent:
On the summit of the hill, at the south-east boundaries of this parish, next to Harrietsham, is a small hamlet, consisting of only three houses, belonging to farms of but small rents, which, however insignificant it may seem now, seems antiently to have been of some account, having been thought of sufficient consequence to be entered in the survey of Domesday, under the title of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, as follows:
Richard holds of the bishop Rongostone, it was taxed at one suling. The arable land is . . . . . There are two villeins, having one carucateThe carucate or ploughland was a unit of assessment for tax used in most Danelaw counties of England, and is found for example in Domesday Book. The carucate was based on the area a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season...
, and it paid six shillings in the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, and now it is worth [f]orty shillings. Ulviet held it of king Edward.
Today the hamlet is a collection of cottages and a
public houseA public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
surrounding a former farm, now converted to the Ringlestone Farmhouse Hotel. The
Ringlestone InnThe Ringlestone Inn is an historic public house and restaurant, located in the Ringlestone hamlet near the village of Wormshill in Kent, England. Dating back to the reign of Henry VIII the current Grade II listed building was constructed in 1533 and retains its original brick and flint walls and...
, a central feature of the hamlet, is an historic 16th century ale-house.