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Charing is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, in south-east England. It includes the settlements of Charing Heath and
Westwell Leacon Westwell Leacon is a hamlet in the civil parish of Charing near Ashford 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 ...
. It is located at the foot of the North Downs and reaches up to the escarpment. The Pilgrims' Way, the
M20 motorway The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is long. Although not signposted in England, ...
and
Charing railway station Charing railway station serves the village of Charing in Kent, England. It is down the line from . The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by Southeastern (train operating company), Southeastern. The ticket office is staffed only ...
(between London Victoria and Ashford International via Maidstone) serve the parish.


History

The name Charing first appears in 799 as ''Ciorrincg''. The name probably comes from the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
word ''cerring'', which means a bend in the road, or it may be from ''Ceorra-ingas'', which is Anglo-Saxon, meaning ''people of Ceorra''. The village is sited on the Pilgrims' Way from London to Canterbury, and is one day's walk from Canterbury. There are a number of old manors located around the village, such as Newlands (now a horse stud) and Pett Place. The village had a market recorded in 1285, and a fair recorded in the fifteenth century. The Church of St Peter and St Paul, Charing, the parish church of Charing, is situated next to the remains of the Archbishop's Palace, just off the High Street. The church's west tower was built in the 14th century, though most of the rest of the building was reconstructed following a catastrophic fire in the 16th century. The church contains a number of memorials to the Dering family, a branch of the Dering family of Surrenden Dering, Pluckley, Kent.


Mills

Charing has had four mills over the centuries, serving the needs of the villagers. There were two watermills on the Upper Great Stour and two windmills. ;Watermills *''Burnt Mill'', a corn mill working until the 1950s, now derelict. *''Field Mill'', a corn mill, the building of which survives retaining its waterwheel. ;Windmills *'' Charing Mill'', also known as ''Field Mill'' on the Downs above the village is a smock mill which was built in the early nineteenth century and last worked in 1891. It stands today as a house conversion. *''Charing Heath Mill'' was a smock mill that was demolished c.1878. Millers include William Missing in 1845 and Robert Millgate 1862 – 1878


Places of interest

Its most famous building is the Archbishop's Palace, which lies by the church and was an ancient possession of the
Archbishop 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 Justi ...
. The palace was an important building in the diocese of Canterbury, and counted amongst its guests
King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...
, who took it for himself. It has been a farmhouse for the last 300 years. In 2004, the palace was an unsuccessful contestant in the BBC television programme ''
Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
'', where a number of potential restoration projects throughout the UK competed for funds. The church is said to contain the stone on which John the Baptist was beheaded.


Amenities

These include: * C of E Primary School *Library *Doctors' surgery *Independent shops/franchises *Kentish Tea Room *Two mid-to-large sized pubs, most of which are listed buildings: **''The Bowl'' **''The Wagon & Horses'' *The Kent County Crematorium. At which were cremated 60 Commonwealth service personnel of World War II and the author
Charles Hamilton Charles Hamilton may refer to: People in Canada * Charles Hamilton (bishop) (1834–1919), Anglican bishop of Ottawa * Charles Edward Hamilton (1844–1919), Canadian politician * Sir Charles Hamilton, 2nd Baronet, of Marlborough House (1767–184 ...
, who as Frank Richards created Billy Bunter. Here also were cremated Archbishops William Temple and
Cosmo Gordon Lang William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth, (31 October 1864 – 5 December 1945) was a Scottish Anglican prelate who served as Archbishop of York (1908–1928) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1928–1942). His elevation to Archbishop ...
.


Community

Housing development since the 1960s has also led to a significant proportion of people employed in London or business parks on the motorway corridors. Groups of residents organise frequent club-based or charity events and fairs. Charing has in the same period revived its Youth Club and
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
team/facilities. There is also a bowls club. A skate park has been added. A Community Warden assists the youths.


Demography

At the 2001 UK census, the Charing
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 ...
had a population of 2,284. The ethnicity was 98% white, 0.7% mixed race, 0.6% Asian, 0.3% black and 0.4% other. The place of birth of residents was 95.7% United Kingdom, 0.5% Republic of Ireland, 1.2% other Western European countries, and 2.6% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 77.4% Christian, 0.3% Buddhist, 0% Hindu, 0% Sikh and 0.2% Jewish, 0.4% Muslim. 12.6% were recorded as having no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion and 8.8% did not state their religion. The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 32% in full-time employment, 11.9% in part-time employment, 14.3% self-employed, 2.2% unemployed, 1.9% students with jobs, 2.1% students without jobs, 20.5% retired, 7.1% looking after home or family, 4.6% permanently sick or disabled and 3.5% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 17.8% retail, 12.9% manufacturing, 8.2% construction, 14.7% real estate, 10.2% health and social work, 7.4% education, 5% transport and communications, 4.1% public administration, 5.1% hotels and restaurants, 4.4% finance, 4.4% agriculture and 5.8% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in agriculture and construction. There were a relatively low proportion in public administration, transport and communications. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 18.4% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.


Transport

Transport links provided by the A20 London to Dover road, and direct train services to Ashford International and London Victoria via Maidstone East. There are two bus stops in Charing, with the only bus services running through being the 10X and 124, which runs exclusively as a school bus. Train services are operated by Southeastern, with one train in each direction throughout the middle hours of the day, and an much enhanced service during the morning and evening peak periods.
Charing railway station Charing railway station serves the village of Charing in Kent, England. It is down the line from . The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by Southeastern (train operating company), Southeastern. The ticket office is staffed only ...
was opened on 1 July 1884, as part of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) extension to of the 1874
line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...
to Maidstone, which itself was a branch off the LCDR's Sevenoaks branch of 1862, which joined the LCDR mainline of 1840 at Swanley. In the wake of 1955
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
Modernisation plan, the "Kent Coast Electrification" scheme saw the suburban electrification of the previous Southern Railway extended from Maidstone East through to Ashford. The only line to stop in Charing is the London Victoria line.


References


External links


Charing village web site (2010 archive copy)current (2022) (parish council maintained) village siteThe Oak, Charing, web site (dead link 2022 - probably has not been active for some years)The Beauties of England and Wales, John Britton, Joseph Nightingale, James Norris, 1808
{{authority control Villages in Kent Villages in the Borough of Ashford Civil parishes in Ashford, Kent