Leeds 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

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 ...

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.

Location

The village is located to the east of

, the county town of Kent.

Etymology

It appeared in the

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 ...

as ''Esledes'', possibly referring to a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

name. It is so called because the village is on the hillside above the

River Len The River Len is a river in Kent, England. It rises at a spring in ''Bluebell Woods'' to the southeast of the village centre of Lenham from the source of the River Great Stour; both rise on the Greensand Ridge. Its length is c. It enters the ...

, a tributary of the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

. An alternative explanation for the name is that it derived its name from Ledian, who built the first wooden fortress here in 978.

Notable features

St Nicholas's Church has the second largest Norman tower in England. Leeds Priory was dissolved in 1539. To the east of the village is

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 ...

. The church and the castle are Grade I

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 and the site of the priory is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. To the west and between

Otham Otham () is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone, Maidstone district of Kent, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 523, with 204 dwellings. Buildings The village itself has been in existence sin ...

and Leeds the area of Caring is located. Caring has a number of modern farmhouses, in the style of an

Oast house An oast, oast house (or oasthouse) or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. Oast houses can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas, and are often good examples of agricultu ...

. Another attraction is the old Vineyard, a free tourist feature. It also has a primary school, Leeds and Broomfield Church of England Primary.

References

External links

Leeds Village Website
Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent {{Kent-geo-stub