Chevening () 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

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...

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. It was the location for the world's earliest known organised

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 ...

match. The parish is located to the north west of

on the southern slopes of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...

. The parish is a small one, being in length and wide. It had a population of 3,092 at the 2011 Census. Apart from the village the remaining area is rural.

Chevening House Chevening House () is a large country house in the parish of Chevening in Kent, in Southeast England. Built between 1617 and 1630 to a design reputedly by Inigo Jones and greatly extended after 1717, it is a Grade I listed building. The surrou ...

is located here. 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 ...

crosses the parish. Close to Chevening, the path of

Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the C ...

's army en route to the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...

in 1066, heading south along what is now Chipstead Lane, crosses

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

's route after the battle towards

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

along the Pilgrim's Way. The village of Chevening is also small. It stands on the upper reaches of the

River Darent The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford, as illustrated by the adjacent photograph, snapped at high tide. 'Darenth' is frequen ...

. The village lies very close to the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

Parish Church

The parish church is dedicated to St Botolph. It is within the diocese of Rochester, and the deanery of Shoreham. The church has an albaster tomb to the lord of the manor, Sampson Lennard, and his wife Margaret, Lady Dacre. The church office, parish hall and rectory are located 1.3 miles distant from the parish church, on the outskirts of the village of Chipstead. The church is linked with Chevening (St Botolph's) Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, which is located 1 mile from the church, also in the village of Chipstead.

Cricket

Chevening was the venue for the world's earliest known organised

match. The match can be deduced from a 1640 court case recording a "cricketing" of "Weald and Upland" against "Chalkhill" at Chevening "about thirty years since" (i.e. around 1611). The case concerned the land on which the game was played.Underdown, David (2000) ''Start of Play'', p.4. London: Allen Lane. .

Railway

Chevening was served by a halt on the Westerham Valley Branch Line running between

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. It is recorded as early as t ...

and

Dunton Green Dunton Green is a small village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies in the valley of the River Darent, north of the town of Sevenoaks. Dunton Green is designated as being part of the Kent Downs area of outstandin ...

: the branch opened in 1881 but the halt at Chevening was not added until 1906 when steam railmotor services began on the line. Both line and halt closed in 1961.

References

External links

Location map and historical notes

Chevening Parish Council website

{{authority control 1611 establishments in England Civil parishes in Kent Cricket grounds in Kent Cricket in Kent Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in Kent English cricket in the 14th to 17th centuries History of Kent Villages in Kent