Halstead 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 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 ...

. It is located 4.7 miles south east of

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 ...

& 6.1 miles north west of

, adjacent to the Kent border with

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,607. The name Halstead is derived from the Old English ''hald'' (refuge, shelter) and ''stede'' (site, place), meaning 'safe place' or 'place of refuge'. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

is dedicated to St Margaret. Halstead Community Primary School is located in the village. Botanist and photographer

Anne Atkins Anne Atkins is an English novelist, writer and broadcaster. The author of four novels – ''The Lost Child'', ''On Our Own,'' ''A Fine and Private Place'', and ''An Elegant Solution'' – as well as three books of non-fiction, she is a regular c ...

lived since 1841 to her death at Halstead Place, were she is buried. Author

Edith Nesbit Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her children's literature, books for children as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also ...

spent some of her adolescence in Halstead during the 1870s and her book ''

The Railway Children ''The Railway Children'' is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in ''The London Magazine'' during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film ...

'' is thought to be based on her time living in a house, Halstead Hall, whose garden is about a mile and a half from the railway line. The parish is adjacent to

Fort Halstead Fort Halstead was a research site of Dstl, an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast of London. Originally constructed in 1892 as part ...

, a government defence research centre that is thought to have developed Britain's first atomic bomb.

Transport

Rail

The nearest

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...

station to Halstead is

Knockholt Knockholt is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located north west of Sevenoaks & south of Orpington, adjacent to the Kent border with Greater London. The village is mostly a ribbon development, surro ...

, located 1.4 miles away.

Buses

Halstead is serves by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes R5 and R10 which provide connections to

Cudham Cudham is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley and beyond London's urban sprawl. It is located on the Greater London border with Kent, bordering the Sevenoaks District. Cudham lies south of Orpington ...

and

References

* Hasted, Edward - "The History of Kent" pp319–322 (1788, reprinted 1972). * Kitchener, Geoffrey - "Halstead in Kent - An Historical Guide" (1978).

External links

Halstead Parish Council
Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent {{Kent-geo-stub

Transport

Rail

Buses

See also

References

External links