Adisham (formerly Adesham) is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the English county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It is twinned with

Campagne-lès-Hesdin Campagne-lès-Hesdin (, literally ''Campagne near Hesdin'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography On the D138, between the towns of Hesdin and Montreuil and the valleys of the rivers Canche and Authie, the t ...

in France.

Geography

The village centre, six miles south-east of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

is on the B2046 road between Wingham and Barham. It was known as ''Edesham'' in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

. A clustered village, the cluster is within from the central cluster of

Aylesham Aylesham is a village and civil parish in the Dover district of Kent, England. The village is located around 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southeast of the cathedral city of Canterbury, and around 8.5 miles (13.7 km) northwest of the town an ...

. The village lies on one of the routes that formed part of the

Pilgrims' Way The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester, Hampshire, Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of compa ...

immortalised by

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

in his book ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...

''. In 2010, this was the subject of a villagers' protest when local landowner and former banker to

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

, Timothy Steel, tried to ban walkers from part of the route. After a public enquiry, public

rights of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by Easement#Easement by prescription, prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' ...

were Council-designated on paths on his land including the path of the former Pilgrims Way.

Amenities

Adisham Church of England Primary School

Adisham village hall and recreation ground - geograph

The village church is dedicated to ''Holy Innocents'', and dates to around the late 12th century. A Church of England primary school also serves the village. The

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

was built in 1903 and is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The village hall was built in 1908 and is still used regularly for public events, including parish council meetings and a Big Breakfast event held on the first Saturday of every month. Adisham Recreation Ground was opened to the public in 1921, and is situated behind the village hall. Adisham's village shop shut down in 2004 and the ''Bull's Head''

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

closed around 2010.

Transport

Adisham railway station opened on 22 July 1861. It is on the Chatham Main Line - Dover Branch. There is also a daily bus service to Canterbury.

Notable residents

The Rector of Adisham in the archdiocese of Canterbury, Master John "The Martyr" Bland. Bland was a Protestant minister during the reign of Queen Mary I, who had him burned at the stake on 12 July 1555, being found guilty of heresy. The agricultural pioneer John Reynolds, who introduced the Swedish turnip, or swede, into England, lived at Adisham.

References

External links