Bredgar is a village and civil parish in the

Borough of Swale Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England and is bounded by Medway to the west, Canterbury to the east, Ashford to the south and Maidstone to the south west. Its council is based in Sittingbourne. The distri ...

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.

Location

The village lies to the southwest of

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

on the road between Tunstall and

Hollingbourne Hollingbourne is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone. The parish population is around 900 and has th ...

(previously the B2163). The

M2 motorway This is a list of roads designated M2: Europe * M2 motorway (Great Britain), a motorway in England * M2 expressway (Hungary), a motorway in Hungary * N2 road (Ireland)#M2 motorway, a motorway in the Republic of Ireland * M-2 highway (Monteneg ...

crosses the parish. Junction 5 is west of the village.

History

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of 34

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

gold

aurei The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver ''denarii'' (sin. denarius). The ''aureus'' was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th cent ...

was discovered in the parish in 1957. It is thought to be related to the Claudian invasion, possibly buried by a soldier before the

Battle of the Medway The Battle of the Medway took place in 43 AD, probably on the River Medway in the lands of the Iron Age tribe of the Cantiaci, now the English county of Kent. Other locations for the battle have been suggested but are less likely. This was an ...

. In the reign of King Henry III (12th century), Robert de Bredgar, resided here and his name appears in an ancient roll of the benefactors to the monastery of

Davington Davington is a suburb of Faversham in Kent, England. Davington Priory is a local government ward within the Faversham Town Council and Swale Borough Council areas. Until the civic boundary changes were brought into effect in 2004, the electora ...

(in

Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...

). The village was then named after this family. The village was originally called Bradgare. The parish had around 1300 acres of land, of which one hundred acres are covered by wood. With Tunstall and Bobbing, it was controlled by the Manor of

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

Features

The parish includes several

Grade II 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 Irel ...

buildings. These include Swanton Court, a 16th-century house, and the 15th century Mann's Place. Bredgar House is in the centre of the village, and was constructed in the 18th century. A war memorial was constructed in the village centre by the pond in 1920, to commemorate soldiers fallen in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and later updated for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was Grade II listed in 2007. The parish also has its own church, St John The Baptist Church, which is in the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of Canterbury, and the deanery of

. It is

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 Irel ...

. King Henry III gave out alms from this church to the

leprous Leprous is a Norwegian rock band from Notodden, formed in 2001. The group was founded by singer and keyboardist Einar Solberg and guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke. After releasing several demos with relatively unstable lineups, the band released th ...

women of the hospital of St. James, (alias St. Jacob), near

Thanington Thanington is a civil parish on the west edge of Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom. It extends to the south-west of A2 from Wincheap to the Milton Bridge in Chartham. It is the only parished area within the City of Canterbury. The north ward of T ...

, near Canterbury. It was refurbished in 2014, including the installation of running water. The Sun Inn is the village's pub. It has existed since the 16th century and features a large garden. Bredgar is home to the privately owned Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway, a steam railway with a collection of various locomotives and rolling stock. The railway is open to the public on Saturdays through the summer.

References

External links

Historical notes on Bredgar parish
Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent {{kent-geo-stub