Bethersden 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

borough of Ashford The Borough of Ashford is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. It borders five other Kent districts, as well as East Sussex to the south-west. Ashford Borough Council's main offices are in the town of Ashford. The bo ...

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 ...

, England, west of the town of Ashford. Located on the main road, A28, between

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...

and Ashford. The village has an active community, including a small primary school,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team and tennis club by the park. Bethersden was formerly the centre of the Kentish wool trade. Bethersden was the seat of the Lovelace family, at what is now Lovelace Court, which included

William Lovelace (MP) William Lovelace (died 1577), of Bethersden, near Ashford and Canterbury, Kent, was an English politician and lawyer. He was the son of William Lovelace and Alice Stevens, and studied law in Gray's Inn (1548), being called to the bar in 1551. ...

, and the 17th-century poet Richard Lovelace. The Bethersden Parish Records Society holds the original parish register, maps, books, photographs and other records relating to the village.

Bethersden Marble

Bethersden has long been associated with the material known as Bethersden Marble which was quarried until the 19th century and used in many of Kent's churches and cathedrals. The name 'marble' is misleading because it is a limestone packed with fossilized gastropod shells which polish well, hence the use of the term.

Churches

*St Margaret's Church, built in the early 15th century. *Baptist church (Union Chapel).

Public Houses

The village has three public houses, The Bull, The George and The Pig & Sty. However, The George closed in 2020, see the website https://thegeorgebethersden.co.uk/.

Local Businesses

Several successful businesses have operated from the village: Stevenson Brothers, who produce high-quality handmade rocking horses; W & D Cole, who make iron gates and railings; and the former Colt Houses, who sold prefabricated timber homes.

Gallery

File:St Margaret, Bethersden, Kent - East window - geograph.org.uk - 324107.jpg, St Margaret - East window File:The Oast, Lovelace Farm, Bethersden, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 1136933.jpg, The Oast, Lovelace Farm File:Plurenden Manor Farm - geograph.org.uk - 339913.jpg, Plurenden Manor Farm

References

External links

Bethersden Parish Council websiteBethersden page of Ashford Council web site
Villages in Kent Villages in the Borough of Ashford Civil parishes in Ashford, Kent {{Kent-geo-stub