Cheriton is a northern suburb of

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

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 south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It is the location of the English terminal of the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone ( Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles (Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dove ...

as well as of the major army barracks of Shorncliffe Camp.

History

The coastal plain where 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 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills ...

meet the

Strait of Dover The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from contine ...

has been of strategic importance since ancient times.

Portus Lemanis Portus Lemanis, also known as Lemanae, was the Latin name of a Roman Saxon Shore fort, settlement and port in southern Kent. The modern village of Lympne derives its name from the ancient port. History The first documentary mention of the site is ...

was a major Roman harbour, overlooked by a fort near where Lympne Castle now stands. The Normans built Folkestone Castle on a spur of Cheriton Hill. The church of St Martin dates back to Saxon times and the name Cheriton means "Church Farm". The British government purchased a large piece of land at Shorncliffe in 1794 and fortified it in preparation for the expected French invasion. Shorncliffe Redoubt is significant as the birthplace of modern infantry tactics. A Royal Commission was set up in 1859 during another invasion panic, which led to the construction of the

Palmerston Forts The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the ...

and

Shorncliffe Army Camp Shorncliffe Army Camp is a large military camp near Cheriton in Kent. Established in 1794, it later served as a staging post for troops destined for the Western Front during the First World War. History The camp was established in 1794 when th ...

. The Army presence led to a dramatic growth of Cheriton in the second half of the 19th century. This led to the distinction being lost between Cheriton and

, whose expansion was funnelled westward by the escarpment of the Downs. Construction of the

began in 1988 and it opened in 1994. The passenger terminal is wedged between the Downs and 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, ...

just west of Castle Hill, and freight trains are marshalled at Dollands Moor Freight Yard further west.

Government

Cheriton was a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in its own right, and part of Elham Rural District from 1894 to 1898, when it became a separate urban district. This was abolished in 1934 under a

County Review Order The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their boa ...

, and divided between

and Hythe.

Geography

Cheriton sits on a level shelf halfway up the escarpment of Folkestone Downs, between Cheriton Hill on the landward side and Sandgate Hill going down to the sea. The Folkestone Downs are the southern end of the

, a low range of chalk hills running from London to the

White Cliffs of Dover The White Cliffs of Dover is the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, deposi ...

. The Seabrook Stream flows through the west of the district, cutting a scenic valley between Dibgate Camp and

St Martin's Plain The area known as St Martin's Plain is located to the west of Cheriton, part of Folkestone, Kent, England. It is used by the British Army from Shorncliffe Army Camp for training; during wartime, and especially during World War I World War ...

Demography

The population in 1851 was 1,658, which by 1861 had grown to 7,434 – of whom 4,204 were military in Shorncliffe Camp. the

Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unite ...

occupy Shorncliffe Camp so

Nepali people Nepalis ( English: Nepalese ; ne, नेपाली) are the citizens of Nepal under the provisions of Nepali nationality law. The country is home to people of many different national origins who are the descendants of immigrants from India, ...

make up a large part of the population.

Economy

The local economy is dominated by the barracks and

terminal.

Culture and community

The Folkestone & Hythe Operatic & Dramatic Society bought the garrison church in 2001 and converted it into the Tower Theatre. There is a branch library in the High Street.

Landmarks

The

Folkestone White Horse The Folkestone White Horse is a white horse hill figure, carved into Cheriton Hill, Folkestone, Kent, South East England. It overlooks the English terminal of the Channel Tunnel and was completed in June 2003. The horse was planned as a Mi ...

overlooks Cheriton from the Downs north of the Channel Tunnel terminal. The earthworks of Folkestone Castle are just to the east.

Transport

Cheriton Halt railway station Cheriton Halt is a disused railway station on the South Eastern Main Line which served the village of Cheriton on the outskirts of Folkestone in Kent, England. The station opened in 1908 and finally closed in 1947. History The South Ea ...

on the

South Eastern Main Line The South Eastern Main Line is a major long-distance railway route in South East England, UK, one of the three main routes crossing the county of Kent, going via Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford and Folkestone to Dover. The other routes are the C ...

served the village between 1908 and 1947. It was just east of the bridge on Risborough Lane. The

Elham Valley Way The Elham Valley is a chalk valley carved by the River Nailbourne situated in the North Downs in East Kent. The valley is named after the settlement of Elham. Other settlements in the valley include Etchinghill, Lyminge, Barham, Kingston, Bish ...

is a long-distance path that runs between Cheriton and Sandgate on its way up to Canterbury.

Stagecoach in East Kent Stagecoach South East is the trading name of East Kent Road Car Company Limited, a bus operator based in Canterbury providing services in Kent and East Sussex in the south east of England. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group. History Stagec ...

operates local bus services to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

every hour or to the town centre of

up to every 8 minutes.

Education

Pent Valley Technology College was one of the main secondary schools in Folkestone and Hythe. The school closed in 2017, however

Turner Free School Turner Free School is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational secondary school located in the Cheriton, Kent, Cheriton area of Folkestone in the English county of Kent. The school is located at the former site of Pent Valley Technology College. ...

opened in 2018 and occupies the same site as the previous school.

Religious sites

There were four churches in the Benefice of Cheriton, which comes under the Deanery of Elham. The church of St Martin is very ancient, the base of the thirteenth-century tower may have been a Saxon porch. The decorative arcading in the chancel is made of Bethersden marble and is very finely carved. The churchyard contains the grave of shipping reformer Samuel Plimsoll (whose gravestone bears the

Plimsoll line The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that ind ...

), and, among many military burials, 24 CWGC-registered war graves, with all three armed forces represented, 15 from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

(Major-General Hubert Hamilton being the first and highest-ranking of the latter) and nine from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The church gives its name to the military training area of

and now serves Shorncliffe Camp. All Souls church was built in response to the population growth of the late 19th century. The old parish was split along the railway embankment, with the parish of Cheriton Street being formed north of the line. A farmer's widow, Mrs Thompson, died in 1887 leaving a plot of land on the High Street and a bequest of £10,000 for the construction of a church. All Souls was designed by

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery. He was Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commis ...

and consecrated on 3 January 1895. St. Nicholas is a small rural church in the outlying village of Newington. The barracks had the largest garrison church in Britain but in 2001 it was sold for conversion into a theatre (see above). The three active churches are served by Revd Hilary Jones, who lives in St Martin's Rectory, Horn Street. Cheriton Baptist Church is just along the High Street from All Souls. St Joseph's Catholic Church is between the two, on Ashley Avenue.

Sport

Cheriton Bowls Club has a 6-rink green on Weymouth Road.

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

first played cricket against Sussex on Sandgate Plain in 1862, but the last match recorded there was in 1870. It was located to the east of the remains of the martello tower to the south of the A259 Sandgate Road.

Notable people

Odo of Cheriton (''c''.1185 – 1246/47) was a preacher and

fabulist Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mora ...

who in 1233 inherited land in Cheriton, Rochester and elsewhere from his father, James William of Cheriton. Samuel Plimsoll, the man who gave his name to the

used to indicate the limit of a ship's load, is buried in St Martin's churchyard, as is judge and politician Sir

James Knight-Bruce Sir James Lewis Knight-Bruce, (born James Lewis Knight; 15 February 1791 – 7 November 1866) was an English barrister, judge and politician. Life He was the youngest son of John Knight of Fairlinch, Devon, by Margaret, daughter and heiress ...

References

External links

{{Shepway Folkestone Former civil parishes in Kent