Seal, Kent
Encyclopedia
Seal is a village
and civil parish in the Sevenoaks
District of Kent
, England
. The parish is located in the valley between the North Downs
and the Greensand
ridge to the north east of Sevenoaks
town.
The village, on the A25 road
, although ancient, is fast becoming part of the built-up area of Sevenoaks.
In early documents the name of the village is often given as 'Sele', 'Sale', 'Zela' or 'La Sela'. Until recently it was supposed to come from the French word 'salle' meaning a hall but there is no evidence to support this. The etymology of place names suggests that the name of the village could have come from the Anglo-Saxon word 'sole' or 'sol' meaning a 'muddy slough, wallowing place' or a 'muddy pond that overflows'. Seal still has a pond at the fork at the bottom of Park Lane which tends to overflow at the present day. Another possibility is Anglo-Saxon sēale = "group of sallow trees".
'Seal: The History of a Parish' by Jean Fox, David Williams and Peter Mountfield, published by Philimores in 2007, gives comprehensive coverage of the village's history.
Its church http://www.sealpeterandpaul.com, the oldest parts of which date from the 13th Century, is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul: the ecclesiastical parish only became separate from Kemsing in 1874, although there may well have been a Saxon
church on the site of the present building. Visitors to the church, which is normally open during the day, can pick up a free guide leaflet pointing out features of interest. There are more details on the church website http://www.sealpeterandpaul.com, and a page for family historians with some records of burials and baptisms at the church (not complete) and information about where to find others.
Seal was recorded in the Domesday Book
in 1086
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in the Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks (district)
Sevenoaks is a local government district covering the western most part of Kent in England. Its council is based in the town of Sevenoaks. It was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the Sevenoaks Urban District, Sevenoaks Rural District and part of Dartford...
District of Kent
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...
. The parish is located in the valley between the North Downs
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
and the Greensand
Greensand
Greensand or Green sand is either a sand or sandstone, which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment, that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called glauconies and consist of a mixture of mixed-layer clay...
ridge to the north east of Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a commuter town situated on the London fringe of west Kent, England, some 20 miles south-east of Charing Cross, on one of the principal commuter rail lines from the capital...
town.
The village, on the A25 road
A25 road
The A25 road is one of the three cross-country two-digit numbered roads in the southeast of England, the others being the A26 from Newhaven to Maidstone and the A27 along the south coast. It carries traffic from Guildford in Surrey through Dorking, and thence eastward along the southern edge of the...
, although ancient, is fast becoming part of the built-up area of Sevenoaks.
In early documents the name of the village is often given as 'Sele', 'Sale', 'Zela' or 'La Sela'. Until recently it was supposed to come from the French word 'salle' meaning a hall but there is no evidence to support this. The etymology of place names suggests that the name of the village could have come from the Anglo-Saxon word 'sole' or 'sol' meaning a 'muddy slough, wallowing place' or a 'muddy pond that overflows'. Seal still has a pond at the fork at the bottom of Park Lane which tends to overflow at the present day. Another possibility is Anglo-Saxon sēale = "group of sallow trees".
'Seal: The History of a Parish' by Jean Fox, David Williams and Peter Mountfield, published by Philimores in 2007, gives comprehensive coverage of the village's history.
Its church http://www.sealpeterandpaul.com, the oldest parts of which date from the 13th Century, is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul: the ecclesiastical parish only became separate from Kemsing in 1874, although there may well have been a Saxon
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
church on the site of the present building. Visitors to the church, which is normally open during the day, can pick up a free guide leaflet pointing out features of interest. There are more details on the church website http://www.sealpeterandpaul.com, and a page for family historians with some records of burials and baptisms at the church (not complete) and information about where to find others.
Seal was recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday 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...
in 1086