Badlesmere 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 Swale district 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 ...

, England, about five miles south of

Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, 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 road (Great ...

and eight miles north of Ashford on the A251. Also called ''Basmere'', 'Badelesmere' was recorded in

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 ...

, which noted that in the time of King

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

, the parish was worth sixty

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

s. The manor was previously owned by

Odo, Earl of Kent Odo of Bayeux (died 1097) was a Norman nobleman who was a bishop of Bayeux in Normandy and was made Earl of Kent in England following the Norman Conquest. He was the maternal half-brother of duke, and later king, William the Conqueror, and w ...

(as the

Bishop of Bayeux The Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is a ...

), but, following his trial (for fraud) in 1076, his assets were re-apportioned, including Badlesmere. The abbot of St. Augustine's then claimed this manor. During the reign of King

Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

(1189–1199), the manor was held by Guncelin Badlesmere, who had accompanied the king during his Siege of Acre in Palestine. The manor passed through several generations of the Badlesmere family, including Guncelin Badlesmere (died 1301), who was

Justice of Chester The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the county until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830. Within the County Palatine ...

and his son Bartholomew Badlesmere, 1st Baron (died 1322), who was governor of

Leeds Castle Leeds Castle is a castle in Kent, England, southeast of Maidstone. It is built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds and is a historic Grade I listed estate. A castle has existed on the site s ...

. He obtained the king's licence to found a priory on his lands but nothing came of it. In 1523, Sir Thomas Randolph (an eminent statesman during the reign

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

), was born here. The church, dedicated to St Leonard, is a

grade II* 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, H ...

Anglican church, described as "interesting as a small, quite unremarkable church" which was not '

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

' in the Victorian era. Its interior is 13th century and 18th century. It has a complete set of Georgian

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in c ...

s. In 1887, J.C.L. Stahlschmidt reported that the bell hanging in the church was one of those made in 1635 by Joseph Hatch for St Mary's Church, Reculver; the church at Reculver was demolished in 1809. Forge cottage, at the northern side of the Lees, is a typical Wealden hall house dating from the late 15th century. The village green, known as Badlesmere Lees, lies off the main road between the towns of

and Ashford. The parish has been linked for many years with that of

Leaveland Leaveland is a Hamlet (place)#United Kingdom, hamlet and civil parish located in the Swale borough of Kent, South East England. In terms of topography, it is described as a "village surrounded by inhabited countryside", and is situated mostly on ...

, whose

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

church (built in 1222) is very different from Badlesmere. It has a crown-post roof and a 16th-century monument to a local family survived the Victorian restoration. The village forms part of the civil parish of Sheldwich, Badlesmere and Leaveland.

In popular culture

Badlesmere is used in The Meaning of Liff (book by

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

) to define "Someone who dishonestly ticks the "I have read the terms and conditions" box on a website". Author Russell Hoban repurposes Badlesmere as "Bad Mercy" in his 1980, post apocalyptic novel '' Riddley Walker''.

In popular culture

References

Bibliography

External links