Eastling is a small village 4½ miles to the southwest 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 ...

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is set in a designated

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

on the slope 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 ...

. The village's

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

boasts some excellent buildings and gardens, and the Eastling

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 ...

St Mary's Church

The village church of St Mary's is believed to have been built on the foundations of an earlier place of worship before the 11th century. The oldest surviving parts are the base of the southwest tower, the nave and the western part of the chancel. The chancel was extended eastwards in the 14th century to create a sanctuary. About the same time, the St Katherine Chapel and an arcade was added to the southeast corner. The nave, north aisle and south arcade were substantially rebuilt by the architect R.C. Hussey in 1855–56; the west porch added and the nave re-roofed. St Mary's

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, pulpit, lectern, rector's stall and choir stalls all date from that era.

Eastling school

Eastling County Primary School opened on Kettle Hill on 7 February 1881 with 80 children. The first head was Bessie Higham; from February 2002 until 2017 it was Dave Walsh, and as of 2017 it is Allison Dale. It replaced a schoolhouse built before 1842 in Newnham Lane and which doubled as a church hall. Currently (January 2020) the school has a roll fluctuating around 100 pupils with spaces for 15 new pupils each year at ages 4 and 5.

Transport

A public bus service (the number 660) links the village to Faversham, every day except Sundays.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Kent Borough of Swale Civil parishes in Kent