Wrotham ( ) is a village on the
Pilgrims' Way 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 ...
, England, at the foot of the
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills ...
. It is north of
Borough Green
Borough Green is situated in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The central area is situated on the A25 road between Maidstone and Sevenoaks, with the M26 motorway running through the centre dividing Wrotham and Borough Gree ...
and approximately east of
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the tradition ...
. It is between the
M20 and
M26 motorways.
History
The name first occurs as ''Uurotaham'' in the year 788, meaning 'homestead of a man called Wrōta'.
The offshoot village on
Wrotham Heath
Wrotham Heath is a settlement in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is part of the civil parish of Wrotham, and is approximately south-east of the village of Wrotham, east of Sevenoaks, and west of Maidstone. It is lo ...
at the heart of the
heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
of the same name, once an area of wholly
common land
Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
A person who has ...
, is to the south-east.
Wrotham shows extensive signs of occupation by the Romans and it is posited that the Wrotham Pinot, a disease-resistant variety of the
Pinot noir
Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
grape found in Wrotham churchyard, is descended from vines brought by the Romans.
The church of St George is Early English and later; nearby is the site of a palace of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, maintained until the time of Archbishop
Simon Islip
Simon Islip (died 1366) was an English prelate. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury between 1349 and 1366.
Early life
Islip was the uncle of William Whittlesey. He was a cousin of Walter de Islip, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer:Ball, F ...
(c. 1350).
Wrotham Hill to the north was a main measuring point for the 18th-century
trigonometric survey linking the
Greenwich Royal Observatory with the
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its hist ...
. This
Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790) was led by General
William Roy
Major-General William Roy (4 May 17261 July 1790) was a Scottish military engineer, surveyor, and antiquarian. He was an innovator who applied new scientific discoveries and newly emerging technologies to the accurate geodetic mapping of G ...
.
In 1894 the parish became an
Urban District. However, in 1934 the area of the parish was considerably reduced when
Borough Green
Borough Green is situated in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The central area is situated on the A25 road between Maidstone and Sevenoaks, with the M26 motorway running through the centre dividing Wrotham and Borough Gree ...
,
Plaxtol
Plaxtol is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The village is located around north of Tonbridge and the same distance east of Sevenoaks. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1 ...
and
Platt __NOTOC__
Platt may refer to:
Places
* Platt, Austria
* Platt, Florida, an unincorporated community in DeSoto County, Florida, United States
* Platt, Kent, England
People
* Platt (surname)
* Platt baronets, two baronetcies of the United Kin ...
were excised to form separate civil parishes. By the same order, Wrotham lost its Urban District status and was joined to
Malling
Malling may refer to:
* Malling Rural Sanitary District, Kent, England - (1875–1894)
* East Malling and West Malling, a village and town in the above Rural Sanitary District
* Malling Abbey, an abbey of Anglican Benedictine nuns located in West ...
Rural District.
Close by is the
Wrotham transmitting station which was the first transmitter in the UK to broadcast on
FM in 1955 and now carries the main national FM radio frequencies for most of London.
Hundred of Wrotham
The parish of Wrotham formed a major part of the ''Hundred of Wrotham'', forming 58% of its area and 61% of its population (1891)
[Victoria County History of Kent Vol 3, p. 363, publ.1932, ed William Page,]
The area and population of each parish and the totals for the Hundred were as follows:
[
The Hundred of Wrotham was one of the hundreds of the Lathe of ]Aylesford
Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, England, northwest of Maidstone.
Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. Two pubs, a village ...
.
Governance
Wrotham is a civil parish within the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling
Tonbridge and Malling is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Tonbridge is the largest settlement but the authority is based in the modern development of Kings Hill.
Geography
Tonbridge and Malling Borough cover ...
. The parish has 8 councillors elected at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
. Wrotham parish comprises the local government ward of Wrotham. which is one of the 53 seats on the Tonbridge & Malling District Borough Council. The seat is held by the Conservative Martin Coffin, having been re-elected in 2011. Tonbridge & Malling District Borough Council is responsible for running local services, such as recreation, refuse collection and council housing; while Kent County Council
Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the non-metropolitan county, county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 non-metropolitan district, district councils, and around ...
is responsible for education, social services and trading standards. Both councils are involved in town planning and road maintenance. Wrotham is part of the Electoral Division of Malling West of Kent County Council
A 2008 report showed that Wrotham has experienced one of the greatest deteriorations of basic services, losing the most amenities in the previous four years.
Wrotham is in the parliamentary constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
of Tonbridge and Malling
Tonbridge and Malling is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Tonbridge is the largest settlement but the authority is based in the modern development of Kings Hill.
Geography
Tonbridge and Malling Borough cover ...
. Since the constituency's creation in 1974 it has been represented by two Members of Parliament: Sir John Stanley from 1974 to 2015 and Tom Tugendhat from 2015 onwards, both representing the Conservative Party.
Demography
At the 2001 UK census
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.
The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
, the Wrotham ward had a population of 1,815. The village had 759 households; of which, 42% were married couples, 29% were individuals, 9% were cohabiting
Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increasi ...
couples, and 6% were lone parent families. 20% of households had someone at pensionable age living alone.
The ethnicity
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
of the village was given as 99.2% white, 0.66% mixed race
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...
, and 0.16% Black. The place of birth of the town's residents was 95.9% United Kingdom (92.0% England), 0.4% Republic of Ireland, 0.8% other Western Europe, 0.4% Eastern Europe, 1.0% Africa, 0.8% Asia, 0.4% North America and 0.3% elsewhere.
Religion was recorded as 74.81% Christian, 0.44% Jewish, 0.22% Buddhist, 0.17% Muslim and 0.17% Sikh. 15.46% were recorded as having no religion, 0.33% had an alternative religion, and 8.42% did not state their religion.
Economy
At the 2001 UK census, 39.5% of the village's residents aged 16–74 were employed full-time, 12.9% employed part-time, 14.1% self-employed and 1.6% unemployed, while 1.9% were students with jobs, 3.4% students without jobs, 14.3% retired, 8.0% looking after home or family, 2.5% permanently sick or disabled and 1.9% economically inactive for other reasons. Compared to national figures, the village had a low rate of unemployment, and a high proportion of self-employed workers.
Employment by industry was 16% retail; 14% real estate; 13% manufacturing; 10% construction; 8% health and social work; 8% education; 7% transport and communications; 5% finance; 5% hotels and restaurants; 3% public administration
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, Administration (government), administration of Government, government establishment (Governance#P ...
; 3% agriculture; 1% energy and water supply; and 6% other. Compared to national figures, Wrotham had a high percentage of workers in agriculture; energy and water supply; hotels and restaurants; and construction. It had a low percentage in health and social work; and public administration.
According to Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for ...
estimates, the average gross income of households in Wrotham between April 2001 and March 2002 was £770 per week (£40,000 per year).
Local businesses
The village has a variety of small businesses serving the needs of the community. It has a central concentration of pubs, three within a hundred yards of each other: the Rose and Crown, the George and Dragon and the Bull Hotel. A fourth, the Three Postboys, ceased trading in 2009.
Notable people
* Peaches Geldof, English journalist, television presenter and model, lived in Wrotham. She died at her home in 2014
*Field Marshal Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge (1785–1856), British Army officer and politician, was born in the village
*Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Wintle (1897–1966), British Army officer and noted eccentric, died in the village
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Kent
Market towns in Kent