Addington is a village in the English county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. It is close to the

M20 motorway The M20 is a Controlled-access highway, motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 road (England), A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25 motorway, M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports a ...

, and between the villages of Wrotham Heath and West Malling. In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 it is called Eddintune. The meaning of the village's name is "Æddi's (or Eadda's) estate". The village is notable for the long barrows,

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

chamber tomb A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave (burial), grave. Built from Rock (geology), rock or som ...

s. Its parish covers a little under , containing 291 houses. Addington Brook runs through the parish.

History

Addington has been continuously inhabited for over 5,000 years. Many Neolithic artifacts have been extracted from the village, but much archaeological evidence has been lost to mechanical digging. Some sites were excavated during the building of the motorway. It had two mills at the time of the Domesday survey. There was a

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

powered by the Addington Brook (TQ 656 587 ), demolished in the nineteenth century; the site now lies within West Malling Golf Course. The remains of an old structure named the Addington Place were visible until the early 21st century, now beneath a golf course and stables. During the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

, Addington was severely affected, and four of the church rectors succumbed to it.

Features

The village has one pub, the Angel. There are rumours of a tunnel running from the pub's basement to the church, located away. Addington does not have a school, so children attend schools in nearby villages. Addington is divided by the M20 and M26 motorways. There are sandpits and quarries on both sides of the motorways, which are now almost entirely worked out. The village is home to Addington Village Cricket Club, which has two Saturday teams and a 1st XI that plays in Division 2 of the Kent League (1st XI). The parish church is dedicated to St. Margaret, and dates back to 1403. It is part of a combined benefice with All Saints Birling, St. Martin Ryarsh and St. Peter & St. Paul Trottiscliffe. Traces of the former gardens of Addington Park can still be seen. Rockeries, ponds and old tennis courts are easily discernible in the private grounds of the Seekers Trust between a church and the golf course.

Long barrows

Chestnuts

The Chestnuts long barrow is the better preserved of the two long barrows. It was excavated in 1957, and artifacts from the dig are displayed in Maidstone Museum. It is believed to be on a Ley line.

Addington

Addington long barrow is not well-preserved. Its area has been plundered throughout the history of the village, and a road goes through it.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent