Ash is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the
Dover
Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast 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 southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
district of east
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 ...
about three miles west of
Sandwich
A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...
.
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
WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...
, 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 City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
to the channel port of Sandwich. It takes its name from the Old English æsc ( 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 na ...
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 in 850 AD by King Athelstan, 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 is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
parish church, is dedicated to St Nicholas and probably built on the site of an earlier Saxon
The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
church, dates partly from the 12th century and has a 15th-century tower with a lead spire (once used as a navigation aid for ships), 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 garden
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to s ...
s, and at one time had its own brewery and organ maker. There are two vineyards nearby.
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 usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
s. In the same lane are a number of Tudor cottages. ''The Chequer Inn'' began life as a timber-framed hall house, dating from about 1500.
From 1916 to 1948 it had a station (" Ash Town") on the East Kent Light Railway, one of Colonel Stephens' lines, which ran between Shepherdswell and Wingham.
Notable features
The village has a primary school (named Cartwright and Kelsey), a prep school (named St Faiths), doctors' surgery and several corner shops.
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, Kent, Deal, Ash, Dover, Ash, Aylesham, Chillenden, Eastry, Eythor ...
. The trail links up the coalfield parishes of East Kent.
Notable people
* Ann Robertson (nurse)
* Paul Farbrace (cricket coach)
* Jonathan Ackeroyd (ex-CEO Burberry)
* Matilda Anne Mackarness (''née'' Planché)
* Matilda Oldcastle, the daughter of John Oldcastle
See also
* RAF Ash
References
Further reading
*Planché, J. R. (1864) ''A Corner of Kent, or some account of the parish of Ash-next-Sandwich''
External links
*
Ash Parish Council website
{{authority control
Villages in Kent
Civil parishes in Kent