Ash is a village and civil parish in the

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

district of east

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 ...

about three miles west of

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

. The civil parish has a population of 2,767, increasing to 3,365 at the 2011 Census, and includes the villages of Ash, Westmarsh, Ware, Hoaden and Richborough. The Ash Level, by the River Stour, takes up the northern part of the parish.

History

Ash was once on the main thoroughfare from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

to the channel port of Sandwich. It takes its name from the Old English æsc (

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

) and shows its

toponymy Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

in its first recorded form, Æsce, in about 1100. A variation may be Esch in 1418. Ash was once part of the Royal manor of Wingham and having been given to the

See of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

in 850 AD by

King Athelstan King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

, it became a separate parish in 1282, one of the largest in Kent at that time. The Harflete or Harfleet family were Lords of the Manor for many years. The family died out in the late seventeenth century. 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 I ...

parish church, is dedicated to St Nicholas and probably built on the site of an earlier

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 ...

church, dates partly from the 12th century and has a 15th-century tower with a green copper spire (once used as a navigation aid), which now houses a ring of ten bells. It also has the best collection of medieval monumental effigies in Kent, including one to Jane Kerriel (c. 1455) which reveals a unique horseshoe head-dress. Ash is known for its market gardens, and at one time had its own brewery and organ maker. There are two vineyards nearby. The village has a primary school (named Cartwright and Kelsey), a prep school (named St Faiths), doctors' surgery and several shops. There are many medieval buildings in the village, including 'Molland House' which is named as a ''Historic Building of Kent'' and eleven of the twelve original

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

s. In the same lane are a number of Tudor cottages. ''The Chequer Inn'' began life as a

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples w ...

, dating from about 1500. From 1916 to 1948 it had a station ("Ash Town") on the

East Kent Light Railway The East Kent Light Railway was part of the Colonel Stephens group of cheaply built rural light railways in England. Holman Fred Stephens was engineer from its inception, subsequently becoming director and manager. The line ran from Sheph ...

, one of Colonel Stephens' lines, which ran between

Shepherdswell Shepherdswell (also Sibertswold) is a village in the civil parish of Shepherdswell with Coldred, and the Dover District of Kent, England. Culture and community Village social life centres on the local Grade I listed church 'Church of St Andrew' ...

and Wingham. The village is also on the

Miner's Way Trail The Miner's Way Trail is a long-distance circular footpath in England, starting at Sholden, Kent. Linking up the coalfield parishes of East Kent. Including; the parishes of Deal, Ash, Aylesham, Chillenden, Eastry, Eythorne, Elvington, Goodnes ...

. The trail links up the coalfield parishes of East Kent.

References

External links

*
Ash Parish Council website

St Nicholas Parish Church website
{{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links