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Chartham is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of
Kent, England 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 the ...
. It is situated on the Ashford side of the city, and is in the North Downs area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, south west 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. ...
, England. The Great Stour Way path passes through the village. A
paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
in the village has specialised in the production of
tracing paper Tracing paper is paper made to have low opacity, allowing light to pass through. It was originally developed for architects and design engineers to create drawings that could be copied precisely using the diazo copy process; it then found ma ...
since 1938. There are numerous arable farms and orchards in the parish. The village has an unstaffed station,
Chartham Chartham is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of Kent, England. It is situated on the Ashford side of the city, and is in the North Downs area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, south west of Canterbury, England. The Great St ...
, and a staffed level crossing. It has an outlying locality sharing in many of the community resources, Chartham Hatch. Nearby communities are
Harbledown and Rough Common Harbledown is a village in Kent, England, immediately west of Canterbury and contiguous with the city. At local government level the village is designated as a separate civil parish, that of Harbledown and Rough Common. The High Street is a con ...
,
Blean Blean is a village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury, Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The village, developed village within the parish is scattere ...
, and to the north
Thanington Thanington is a civil parish on the west edge of Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom. It extends to the south-west of A2 from Wincheap to the Milton Bridge in Chartham. It is the only parished area within the City of Canterbury. The north ward of T ...
.


History


Toponymy

The earliest recorded form of the name is ''Certham''. The name ''Chartham'' literally means 'Village on rough ground', and the word "Chart" is also found in other villages in Kent with this meaning. The Stone Street part of the name comes from Stone Street, a road and small hamlet that runs parallel to the A28 on the other side of the villages.


Modern day

The river provided power for the paper mills until some point before 1955. Paper making has been a major occupation for the last 625 years; the mill dates from the late eighteenth century. The
dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...
at Burnt House Farm is not only notable for its building's architectural merit but is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument for its importance in sending homing birds to and from important envoys such as the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
.


Geography and economy

Chartham is located on the Great Stour river scattered along the Ashford Road in Canterbury and on the vale of the
Kent Downs The Kent Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Kent, England. They are the eastern half of the North Downs and stretch from the London/ Surrey borders to the White Cliffs of Dover, including a small section of the London Boroug ...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...
. Its paper mill specialises in the production of tracing paper. There are numerous arable farms and orchards in the parish. The village is served by Chartham railway station which is one stop westbound from Canterbury West station on the high speed line to London, although high speed services do not stop here. Chartham is also on the western end of the 3-mile Great Stour Way cycle path to Canterbury City Centre. Being in such close proximity to the city, the village's economy is closely tied to Canterbury. Aside from this, there are several village stores, two pubs, a small venue (Chartham Village Hall in Station Road) and a vineyard.


Governance

At the national level Chartham is in the
parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
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. ...
for which
Rosie Duffield Rosemary Clare Duffield (born 1 July 1971) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Canterbury since 2017. Early life Rosemary Clare Duffield was born on 1 July 1971 in Norwich, Norfolk, England and l ...
(Labour) has been MP since 2017. Prior to
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
in 2020 for
European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...
Chartham was in the
South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...
constituency. Chartham is also 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 ...
called Chartham and Stone Street. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 5,878.


Demography

In the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 1801 the number of people present in the parish of Chartham, enclosing an area of about and including the settlement of Chartham Hatch, was given as 776, and this figure remained roughly stable until the late 19th century when a dramatic increase was recorded: in the census of 1881, the number was given as 2,473.


Landmarks


Church

The Church of St Mary is located next to the village green and contains six bells, five of which were made by
Joseph Hatch Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...
in 1605, which makes the bells the oldest complete set by the same
bellfounder Bellfounding is the casting and tuning of large bronze bells in a foundry for use such as in churches, clock towers and public buildings, either to signify the time or an event, or as a musical carillon or chime. Large bells are made by casting ...
in Kent.Chartham Parish Design Statement
Canterbury City Council & Chartham Society, March 2005
It was built in approximately 1294 and features a number of brasses, including that of Sir Robert de Setvans (d 1306). The stonework of its chancel windows exhibit a form of
tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...
, known as Kentish or split cusp tracery, which originates here. The tower is 14th century and the renovation was in 1875 by
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
architect
George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccle ...
.


Railway Station

The Chartham railway station lies one stop west of Canterbury West and has regular trains to London stations including
London Victoria station Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Qu ...
and London
Charing Cross railway station Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashf ...
. The
HS1 High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe; ...
trains also pass through the station but do not stop here.


Outlying areas


Shalmsford Street

The village is contiguous with the smaller Shalmsford Street to the west, and was until recently the location of St Augustine's Mental Hospital, formerly known as the East Kent Lunatic Asylum. The site on which St Augustine's stood has now become a housing estate. The village's post office was at 105 Shalmsford Street, but is now located at 14B Godfrey Gardens in the Chartham Downs housing area. In Shalmsford Street is also Chartham Primary School, in which Chartham Parish meetings are held.


Chartham Hatch

Chartham Hatch is the northern upper part of the village, also known as a
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
, of approximately 200 houses. It is surrounded by small woods and its
orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...
s of apples and pears.
Village Hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...
, formerly the school, is in the centre. The famous
North Downs Way The North Downs Way National Trail is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty ...
passes through the village.


Horton

Horton or Horton Manor is a tiny hamlet northeast by the Great Stour Way with its weir, Grade II listed manor house, and
scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
manor chapel remains, later which became an
oast house An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. They can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas and are often good examples of vernacular architecture. Many re ...
and agricultural storage area. In 844 King Æthelwulf of
Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...
granted land at Horton to Ealdorman Eadred. A translation of the text of Charter S 319 reads: "Bounds of Horton. On the east: the wood which is called down-grove. On the west: the
rch RCH may stand for: * Radio Club de Honduras, an amateur radio organization * Railway Clearing House, the British financial clearing house and technical standards bureau for railways * The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal), a unit of the Canadian F ...
ishop and Lulla jointly. On the southern side: the land of Lulla at Chartham. On the north: the land of Beornwulf, which he possesses in eternity." Mystole House


Mystole and Thruxted

These hamlets are south west along the Great Stour and to the south east. Mystole is rich in heritage due to its focal point, Mystole House, a 16th-century historic building, with architectural Grade II* status and former appurtenances/outbuildings: Grade II* listed Mystole Coach House; its Park; listed orangery; tennis court; Archway Lodge; The Tetherings and Stable House. Thruxted itself has a large working farmhouse.


Chartham Downs

Built on the ground of the former mental asylum hospital, and sharing the name of the hospital, Chartham Downs is a large housing area to the north-east of the village. It encompasses a local shop (incorporating the village post office), football/cricket grounds and three children's play parks. It lies on the North Downs Way, and is closer to Street End, Nackington and Thanington than to the opposite end of Chartham. This fact means that the estate whilst being part of Chartham in a political aspect, is in many ways cut off from the village. In 1997 development of the site for housing was begun. A few of the hospital buildings, including the administration block, the water tower, and the chapel, were retained but the rest were demolished. Although
Canterbury City Council Canterbury (, ) is a 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. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of th ...
suggested that "a change of name would help in creating a new sense of identity", the site is known as St Augustine's Estate, however signs refer to the area as ‘Chartham Downs’.


References


External links

*
Chartham Hatch village hall website
{{authority control City of Canterbury Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent