Chestfield is a village (and civil parish and with Swalecliffe a district council ward) in the Canterbury District of Kent, England. The parish is centred from the sea on the north coast of Kent, between the towns of Whitstable and

Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...

. It is approximately five miles (8 km) north of Canterbury. Over a third of the parish, all of which is the south of its ambit, is woodland. The north-west consists of a business park and superstore.

Geography

Chestfield & Swalecliffe railway station Chestfield and Swalecliffe railway station is on the branch of the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the villages of Chestfield, Swalecliffe and the Eastern region of the town of Whitstable, Kent. It is down the line from and is situated ...

is on the

Chatham Main Line The Chatham Main Line is a railway line in England that links London VictoriaQuail Map 5 – England South ages 2–13Sept 2002 (Retrieved 14 December 2011) and Dover Priory / Ramsgate, travelling via Medway (of which the town of Chatham is ...

a straight two-track line which marks the northern boundary of the parish. A footpath and a road each lead to Radfall which is a woodland locality of a few houses on two streets in the wooded hills to the south - more than one third of the parish is woodland, and almost all of it was woodland in the Middle Ages, when it contributed greatly to the Forest of

Blean Blean is a village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury, Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The village, developed village within the parish is scattere ...

. The north-east of the parish is non-residential, having a superstore spanning two buildings and the John Wilson business park.

History

The Chestfield Barn originated as part of the Chestfield Manor in the 14th century, a possession of the half-brother of William the Conqueror,

Odo, Bishop of Bayeux Odo of Bayeux (died 1097), Earl of Kent and Bishop of Bayeux, was the maternal half-brother of William the Conqueror, and was, for a time, second in power after the King of England. Early life Odo was the son of William the Conqueror's mother ...

. It is believed that the Manor dates back to as early as 1084, particularly as it is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. In the early part of the 20th century the barn was converted into a golf house by Abe Mitchell, to service the golf course constructed in 1924 by George Reeves.

Governance

Chestfield forms part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

called Chestfield and Swalecliffe. This ward had a population of 8,398 at the 2011 Census.

Transport

Thanet Way provides a goods and long-distance commuter alternative to the railway station. However, much of the rest of the parish is better served by footpaths and country lanes suitable for cycling.

References

External links