Blean 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
Canterbury district 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 ...
, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is
ancient woodland
In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...
. The
developed village within the parish is scattered along the road between Canterbury and
Whitstable
Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32 ...
, in the middle of the Forest of Blean. The parish of St. Cosmus and St. Damian in the Blean was renamed "Blean" on 1 April 2019.
History
According to
Edward Hasted
Edward Hasted (20 December 1732 OS (31 December 1732 NS) – 14 January 1812) was an English antiquarian and pioneering historian of his ancestral home county of Kent. As such, he was the author of a major county history, ''The History and To ...
's 1800 county study, the village was once part of the king's ancient forest of Blean in the
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of Westgate.
The name Blean is the
dative
In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...
form of the Old English word ‘blea’ which means rough ground.
Therefore the name of the parish means "the church of
Saints Cosmas and Damian
Cosmas and Damian ( ar, قُزما ودميان, translit=Qozma wa Demyaan; grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός, translit=Kosmás kai Damianós; la, Cosmas et Damianus; AD) were two Arab physicians in the town Cyrrhus, and were r ...
(sic) in the rough ground."
In 1835, the Blean Union
Workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...
, designed by William Edmunds, was built on four acres south of Herne Common. The design was based on
Sir Francis Bond Head's ''Plan of a Rural Workhouse for 500 Persons'', a publication of the
Poor Law Commission
The Poor Law Commission was a body established to administer poor relief after the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. The commission was made up of three commissioners who became known as "The Bashaws of Somerset House", their secretary a ...
. To keep costs down, no outside drains were added, and the building was windowless. Discipline was severe. A nine-year-old girl was once punished for a small offence by being forced to remain overnight in the
mortuary
A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cus ...
with a corpse; however, the Master and Matron were dismissed as a result.
Amenities
The village has a druid woodland sculpture park, noted for its large sleeping dragon. The east of the village has a hall and recreation ground used for sports.
The parish church is about half a mile from the village centre. It is dedicated to
St Cosmus and St Damian and emphasising some kind of descriptor of the land itself, has always been suffixed 'in the Blean'. It is a 13th-century building and
Grade II* listed
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 second highest designation in the national grading scheme.
The village contains: two pubs; a cafe; an angling store; corner store.
Governance
Blean is part of the
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
of Blean Forest. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 6,176.
Economy
Blean's economy is closely tied to
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.
...
and to a lesser extent, Whitstable. In television entertainment
Smallfilms
Smallfilms is a British television production company that made animated TV programmes for children from 1959 until the 1980s. In 2014 the company began operating again, producing a new series of its most famous show, ''The Clangers'', however it ...
operates here the production company that created the animated series ''
Ivor the Engine
''Ivor the Engine'' is a British cutout animation television series created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms company. It follows the adventures of a small green steam locomotive who lives in the "top left-hand corner of Wales" a ...
'', ''
Bagpuss
''Bagpuss'' is a British animated children's television series which was made by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate through their company Smallfilms. The series of thirteen episodes was first broadcast from 12 February to 7 May 1974. The title char ...
'' and the ''
Clangers
''Clangers'' (usually referred to as ''The Clangers'') is a British stop-motion children's television series, consisting of short films about a family of mouse-like creatures who live on, and inside, a small moon-like planet. They speak only ...
'', at
Peter Firmin
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
's barn on the Blean farm. The bay window of Firmin's house was featured in the opening sequence of ''
Bagpuss
''Bagpuss'' is a British animated children's television series which was made by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate through their company Smallfilms. The series of thirteen episodes was first broadcast from 12 February to 7 May 1974. The title char ...
''.
Eponyms
The
Hunt-class destroyer
The Hunt class was a class of escort destroyer of the Royal Navy. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in the Second World War, particularly on the British east coast and Mediterranean convoys. They ...
HMS ''Blean'' was named after the village's Blean Beagles hunt.
References
External links
Parish Church of St Cosmus & St Damian in the Blean
Villages in Kent
Civil parishes in Kent
City of Canterbury
{{Kent-geo-stub