East Farleigh 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

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, 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 c ...

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 village is located on the south side of the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

about two miles (3.2 km) upstream from the town of

Heritage

The

Grade I 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 ...

East Farleigh Bridge crossing the river here was built in the 14th century and is considered one of the oldest in Kent. It is too narrow to suit modern traffic conditions. It provided the crossing point for the Parliamentary forces in the

Battle of Maidstone The Battle of Maidstone (1 June 1648) was fought in the Second English Civil War and was a victory for the attacking Parliamentarian troops over the defending Royalist forces. Background In May 1648, a significant part of the Royalist uprisi ...

during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. The population of the village expanded from 642 people in 1801 to 1,668 in 1881. The population growth occurred in parallel with an increase in

hop A hop is a type of jump. Hop or hops may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hop'' (film), a 2011 film * Hop! Channel, an Israeli TV channel * ''House of Payne'', or ''HOP'', an American sitcom * Lindy Hop, a swing dance of the 1920s and ...

production, which the

tithe map The term tithe map is usually applied to a map of an English or Welsh parish or township, prepared following the Tithe Commutation Act 1836. This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods. The map and its accompanying schedule gave ...

of 1841 show covering a quarter of all land in the parish, 40 years before peak production was reached. Hops are no longer grown in the parish. The last

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 ...

in the village ceased working in 1977. East Farleigh appears 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 ...

as ''Ferlaga'' from the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

words referring to a passage (over the river in this case). The nearby village of

West Farleigh West Farleigh is a village and civil parish four miles (6km) southwest of Maidstone in the county of Kent. The parish has a population of approximately 450, and is bounded by the civil parishes of East Farleigh, Hunton, Yalding, and over the Rive ...

has the same roots. The 12th-century church is dedicated to St Mary and is a

listed building 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 ...

. East Farleigh House was the home of the noted artist Donald Maxwell from 1930 to 1936, and he is buried in the churchyard.

Amenities

There are four

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s in the parish: ''The Bull'' in the centre of the village; and ''The Horseshoes'', ''The Victoria'' and the ''Walnut Tree''.Public Houses in East Farleigh
/ref> East Farleigh railway station (actually in the parish of

Barming Barming is a civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. It lies to the west of Maidstone and at the 2011 census had a population of 2,690. The eastern end of the parish is part of the built-up area of Maidstone, although the remaind ...

) is on the Medway Valley Line.

Notable residents

Reynold Pympe Reynold Pympe (c. 1371–1426), of Nettlestead and Pympe's Court in East Farleigh, Kent, was an English politician. Pympe was the son and heir of Sir William Pympe, MP, who died in 1375, when Reynold was around four years old. Pympe was Hig ...

, politician *Two sons of

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

, both of whom were vicars of East Farleigh, are buried in St Mary's churchyard. William Wilberforce himself spent some time at The Old Rectory shortly before he died. File:East Farleigh Church.jpg, East Farleigh Church File:The Victoria - geograph.org.uk - 48867.jpg, The Victoria File:Heath Road, East Farleigh, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 187936.jpg, Heath Road File:East Farleigh Bridge C14.jpg, The medieval bridge

References

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