Oare is a village and civil parish north of Davington,

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 ...

in southeast

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 separated from

by the Oare Creek. To the north of the village are the

Oare Marshes Oare Marshes is a Local Nature Reserve north of Faversham in Kent. It is owned and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of The Swale Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, National Nature Reserve, Ramsar internationally important w ...

, and the Harty Ferry which once linked to

Harty Harty may refer to: * Harty (surname), a list of people * Harty baronets, an extinct title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom * Harty, Swale, Kent, England, a village * Harty, a community in the township of Val Rita-Harty, Ontario, Canada ...

on the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the districts of England, local government district of Borough ...

Kent Wildlife Trust Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a Conservation movement, conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve ou ...

manages a nature reserve that is an important stopping place for migratory birds. According to

Edward Hasted Edward Hasted (20 December 1732 OS (31 December 1732 NS) – 14 January 1812) was an English antiquarian and pioneering historian of his ancestral home county of Kent. As such, he was the author of a major county history, ''The History and ...

, in 1798, it was part of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

. It was once anciently recorded as 'Ore', meaning fenny or marshy place in 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 ...

language. The manor of Oare belonged to

Odo of Bayeux 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 ...

, the Bishop of

Bayeux Bayeux (, ; ) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It is also known as the fir ...

and half-brother of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

, and was noted so 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 ...

of 1086. After Odo's trial for fraud, the manor passed to the Arnulf Kade who gave it to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

s. During Edward VI's reign, it passed to Lord Clinton (a relative of Edward Clinton, Lord Clinton). Historically, Oare was the southern terminus of the Harty Ferry, which ran across the Swale channel between the then Isle of Harty and the mainland. The village has a church on the outskirts dedicated to

St Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repe ...

. The 13th-century church is

Grade I 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, Hi ...

. The village also has two public houses, the

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, Hi ...

Shepherd Neame Shepherd Neame is an English independent brewery which has been based in the market town of Faversham, Kent, for over 300 years. While 1698 is the brewery's official established date, town records show that commercial brewing has occurred on the ...

-run Three Mariners Inn and The Castle.The Castle on Geograph
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Industry

Oare Windmill, across the Oare boundary and in Faversham, is believed to date from about 1819. Originally a corn mill, after 1879 it was owned and operated by the Gun Powder Company as part of the Faversham area's

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

industry. During the First World War, the Mill was requisitioned by the government. In 1963, it was converted into a private home. Between 1916 and 1919, the

Davington Light Railway The Davington Light Railway was a narrow gauge railway built to serve the armaments factories near Davington, in Kent, England. It ran between Davington and Uplees. History Munitions have been produced at Faversham since 1561. Three gunpowder ...

ran close to the village and took workers from Oare halt to the main munitions factories at Uplees.

References

External links

Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent {{kent-geo-stub