Boughton Malherbe ( ) 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 authorit ...

in the

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

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, equidistant between

and

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom *Ashford, Kent, a town **B ...

. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 428, including Sandway and Grafty Green, increasing to 476 at the 2011 Census.

Heritage

In August 2011 a hoard of more than 350 bronze weapons, tools, ornaments and other objects dating to the late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

was found in a field at Boughton Malherbe by two metal detectorists. The objects are of types that are unusual in southern Britain, but are common in northern and north-west France and therefore it is thought that the objects were made in France and later brought to southern Britain where they were subsequently buried in about 875–800 BC. The manor of Boughton Malherbe is mentioned 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 ...

of 1086 as belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury. By the reign of King John, it was held by the de Malherb family and then passed by inheritance and marriage to the Wotton family, including the Tudor courtier

Sir Edward Wotton Sir Edward Wotton (1489–1551) was the Treasurer of Calais and a privy councillor to Edward VI of England. Life Edward first appears in the commission of the peace for Kent on 2 June 1524; subsequently his name was generally included in the comm ...

Boughton Place Boughton Place, formerly Bocton Place or Bocton Hall, is a country house in Boughton Malherbe, Kent, England. It is the historic home of the Wotton family and birthplace of Sir Henry Wotton (1568–1639), ambassador to Venice under James I. H ...

, a 16th-century

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

, was home to Sir

Henry Wotton Sir Henry Wotton (; 30 March 1568 – December 1639) was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to Augsburg, in 1604, he famously said, "An ambassador is an honest gentlema ...

and other members of the Wotton family and was later owned by the

Earls of Chesterfield Earl of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope. He had been created Baron Stanhope, of Shelford in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, also i ...

and the Earls Cornwallis. Many of the Wottons are buried in the Church of St Nicholas, including Lady Katherine Wotton and her husbands, Lord Stanhope (d.1634) and Daniel O'Neill (d.1664), an Irish army officer, politician and courtier.

Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston, (21 October 1851 – 15 January 1926), born Aretas Akers, was a British Conservative statesman who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 until he was raised to the peerage in 1911. He notably serve ...

(1851–1926) who was a

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

, lived at

Chilston Park Chilston Park is a country house in Boughton Malherbe, Kent, England. Started in the 15th century, the house has been modified many times and is a Grade I listed building, currently operated as a country house hotel. History In the early 12th ...

, and has a memorial stone dedicated to him in the village church.the Peerage.com
/ref> File:Chilston Park.jpg, Chilston Park File:Lantern gate at Boughton Malherbe church - geograph.org.uk - 74223.jpg, Lantern gate at Boughton Malherbe church

References

Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent {{Kent-geo-stub