Charing () 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 Ashford 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 ...

, in south-east England. It includes the settlements of Charing Heath and Westwell Leacon. It is located at the foot of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...

and reaches up to the escarpment. In 2011 the parish had a population of 2,766. The

Pilgrims' Way A pilgrims' way or pilgrim way is a standard route that pilgrims take when they go on a pilgrimage in order to reach their destination – usually a holy site or place of worship. These sites may be towns or cities of special significance such a ...

, the M20 motorway and Charing railway station (between London Victoria and Ashford International via

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

) serve the parish.

History

The name Charing first appears in 799 as ''Ciorrincg''. The name probably comes from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

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

from London to

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 ...

, and is one day's walk from

. 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

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 ...

s 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 Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

. The palace was an important building in the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

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 known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

, 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television programme '' Restoration'', 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 John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some 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 building 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 ...

s: **''The Bowl'' **''The Wagon & Horses'' *The Kent County

Crematorium A crematorium, crematory or cremation center is a venue for the cremation of the Death, dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a ...

. At which were cremated 60 Commonwealth service personnel of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the author Charles Hamilton, who as Frank Richards created Billy Bunter. Here also were cremated Archbishops William Temple and Cosmo Gordon Lang.

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 A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, v ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

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 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 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. Charing railway station was opened on 1 July 1884, as part of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) extension to of the 1874 line 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 Modernisation plan, the "Kent Coast Electrification" scheme saw the suburban electrification of the previous Southern Railway extended from Maidstone East through to Ashford. Train services are currently operated by Southeastern, with one train in each direction throughout the middle of the day, and an enhanced service during peak periods.

Notable People

* Arthur Ashwell (1908–1985), cricketer * Frederick Coppins (1889–1963), Canadian soldier, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

Cecil Headlam Cecil Headlam (19 September 1872 – 12 August 1934) was an English first-class cricketer active in 1895–1908, who played for Middlesex and Oxford University. He was born in Paddington; died in Charing. He was also a cricket historian. He ...

(1872–1934), cricketer * Robert Honywood (1601–1686), Member of Parliament * Jim Moir (born 1959), comedian, artist * Nancy Sorrell (born 1974), model, actress, television presenter * Ronald Stuart (1886–1954), Royal Navy Captain, recipient of the

References

External links

Current parish council websiteCharing village web site (2010 archive copy)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