Ebony is a hamlet south of Ashford in

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 ...

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...

, in the civil parish of Stone-cum-Ebony, on the

Isle of Oxney Isle of Oxney is an area in Kent, England, close to the boundary with East Sussex. Up to the 13th century, the island was part of the coastline bordering what is now the Romney Marsh. As that silted up, and until the later 17th century, the R ...

in the Ashford district of Kent. EBONY (St. Mary), is a parish, in the union of

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 ...

, partly in the hundred of Tenterden, Lower division of the lathe of

Scray The Lathe of Scray is an historic division of the county of Kent, England, encompassing the present-day Districts of Swale, Ashford, and the eastern part of Tunbridge Wells The Lathes of Kent were ancient administration divisions originatin ...

, W. division, but chiefly in the hundred of Oxney, lathe of Shepway, E. division, of Kent, 4 miles (S. E.) from Tenterden. The place-name 'Ebony' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 833, where it appears as ''Ebbanea''. The name means 'Ebba's or Ybba's stream'.

Notable residents (past & present)

Norman Forbes-Robertson Norman Forbes-Robertson (24 September 1858 – 28 September 1932), known professionally as Norman Forbes, was an English actor and art dealer. He was the brother of actor Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson and a friend of Ellen Terry, Oscar Wilde, ...

– distinguished Victorian Shakespearean actor * Dave McKean – illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician * Sir Donald Sinden

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

– distinguished actor *

Marc Sinden Marcus Andrew Sinden (born 9 May 1954) is an English actor and film & theatre director and producer. Sinden has worked in film and theatre (mainly in London's West End) as both actor and producer and directed the documentary series ''Great We ...

– film director, actor and

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...

producer *

Maria Ann Smith The Granny Smith, also known as a green apple or sour apple, is an apple cultivar which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid ...

– orchardist and cultivator of the

Granny Smith The Granny Smith, also known as a green apple or sour apple, is an apple cultivar which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid ...

apple was married here. Ebony was formerly an island surrounded by marsh and the tidal waters of the River Rother. At the top of the most prominent part of the high ground, known as Chapel Bank, is the churchyard of the original Ebony Church, St Mary the Virgin. After lightning and fire damage the remains of the church, built of local ragstone, were moved by the Victorians in 1858 to the present location at nearby Reading Street, and restored. It has been suggested that references to King

Osred II of Northumbria Osred II was King of Northumbria from 789 to 790. He was the son of Alhred and Osgifu, daughter of Eadberht. He succeeded Ælfwald, son of his mother's brother Oswulf, who was murdered by the ''patricius'' (ealdorman) Sicga. Osred, even thou ...

's exile at 'Ebonia' (Evania) in the Annals of

Roger of Hoveden Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

may refer to the strategically-situated Ebony in the marshlands of the South Coast, rather than to the Isle of Man or the Hebrides. The fact that the church at Ebony was of Saxon foundation has been cited in support for this hypothesis; however there is no evidence for a 9th-century date for the church and the earliest reference is from 1070. An annual pilgrimage from the Reading Street site of the church to the original site on Chapel Bank occurs in September. The nearby church of the village of Stone-cum-Ebony, on the

, is also dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, and should not be confused with Ebony church

References

External links

Ebony Kent
Local Tourism and Information web site Villages in the Borough of Ashford Hamlets in Kent {{Kent-geo-stub