Godinton (sometimes known as Godinton Park) is a suburb of

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about southeast of central London and northwest of Folkestone by road. In the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, with its stately home

Godinton House Godinton House (also known as Godinton House and Gardens or Godinton Park) is a stately home in the parish of Great Chart, owned by a non-profit-making trust. It is north-west of the centreof the town of Ashford, Kent, UK. Description Godi ...

within its outskirts. Godinton is located between

Great Chart Great Chart is a village in the civil parish of Great Chart with Singleton in the Ashford Borough of Kent, England. The parish is split between the ancient village of Great Chart and the modern Singleton neighbourhood on the western outskirts of ...

Hothfield Hothfield is a village and civil parish in the Ashford Borough of Kent, England and is 3 miles north-west of Ashford on the A20. It is completely split in two by Hothfield Common. Geography In the north west is Hothfield Common, 58 hectares ( ...

and the town of Ashford proper. The

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...

suburb of

Goddington Goddington is an area in south-east London, located in the London Borough of Bromley. It is situated south of Ramsden, south-east of Orpington town centre, and north of Chelsfield. It lies directly adjacent to the London Green Belt. Until 1965 i ...

is named (indirectly) after the village, as lands near Orpington were owned by Godinton-based Simon de Godyngton in the 13th century.

Demography

At the 2001 UK census, the Godinton

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 ...

had a population of 3,933. The ethnicity was 97.1% white, 0.7% mixed race, 1.6% Asian, 0.3% black and 0.3% other. The place of birth of residents was 93.3% United Kingdom, 0.8% Republic of Ireland, 2.1% other Western European countries, and 3.8% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 75.5% Christian, 0.4% Buddhist, 0.4% Hindu, 0% Sikh, 0% Jewish, and 0.7% Muslim. 14.7% were recorded as having no religion, 0.5% had an alternative religion and 7.8% did not state their religion. The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 50.4% in full-time employment, 13.8% in part-time employment, 6.8% self-employed, 2.4% unemployed, 2.6% students with jobs, 3% students without jobs, 10.6% retired, 6% looking after home or family, 2.3% permanently sick or disabled and 2% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 20.3% retail, 14.7% manufacturing, 8.5% construction, 9.9% real estate, 10.3% health and social work, 6% education, 8.7% transport and communications, 7.2% public administration, 4% hotels and restaurants, 4.2% finance, 0.6% agriculture and 5.6% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in public administration, construction, transport and communications. There were a relatively low proportion in education, agriculture and real estate. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 14.8% had a

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide. During 2015 a seven-day per week (and evenings) bus service was introduced for the first time. The circuitous G Line links the estate with the town centre, railway station and South Willesborough. Curiously, the route taken through the Estate is one-way which means that one is often, initially, taken further away from the desired destination.

References

{{Ashford, Kent Ashford, Kent