Nettlestead 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 ...

on the road south-west of, and part of the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

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 ...

. The parish includes Nettlestead Green and part of Seven Mile Lane. More than 800 people live in the parish. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin has links with William the Conqueror's half brother, Odo. According to the reference quoted below, 'it is said that Nettlestead church owes its enormous

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows to a 15th-century Agincourt veteran who came back from France very impressed with what had already been done with stained glass decoration for churches there. The man was Reginald de Pympe, and his son, John, added more stained glass later in the same century. The de Pympes made quite an impression upon Nettlestead in their day. Reginald moved into

Nettlestead Place Nettlestead Place is a country house in Nettlestead, Kent, England. The house and its gatehouse are each separately Grade I listed buildings. Buildings The construction of Nettlestead Place began c. 1250–60 with additions added c. 1438 and ...

, which he rebuilt at about the same time as he had the church rebuilt and embellished with the new glass. Nettlestead Green is a separate village lying two miles farther south. Both villages are close to 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 ...

Wateringbury Wateringbury is a village and civil parish near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. The Wateringbury Stream flows into the River Medway just above Bow Bridge. It formerly powered three watermills in the village, one of which survives. The ...

is immediately to the north.

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 ...

, MP

References

External links

notes on the village
{{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent