Riverhead is a northern village part of the urban area of
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...
in the
district of the same name in Kent, England and is also a
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 ...
. The parish had a population in 2001 of 1821,
[ increasing to 2,634 at the 2011 Census.][
The parish stretches from Chipstead Lake and the ]River Darent
The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford. 'Darenth' is frequently found as the spelling of the river's name in older books and ...
in the north through the hamlet of Dibden and A21 to Mill Bank Wood in the south.
History
The origin of the name of the village may lie in the Saxon word 'rither' meaning hill or
deriving from the word meaning 'cattle landing place'.
Riverhead was an early settlement, part of the Codsheath Hundred.
The settlement grew in size during Saxon times as traffic on the pilgrim routes between
Canterbury and Winchester increased.
The prosperity of the village during Georgian times is indicated by the high proportion
of households that had to pay Hearth Tax
A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is con ...
on their properties, and although the village
was of modest size, it was surrounded by several major country estates such as
Chipstead Place, Bradbourne and Montreal.
Riverhead had a variety of country industries typical of the area, including a tannery, a
timber yard, smithies and the posting house. The economy was based mainly on
agriculture, along with some gravel and sand quarrying to the north east of the village
that created the lakes around Bradbourne which are now a wildfowl reserve.[
The village has a central conservation area that covers some and contains about 30 listed
buildings. The listed properties in the Conservation Area date from the 17th-18th centuries
and the older unlisted properties date mainly from the 19th Century.][
The 1831-built ]C of E
C, or c, is the third letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''.
History
"C ...
church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin; its architect was Decimus Burton
Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman revival, Greek revival, Georgian neoclassical and Reg ...
. It is in the late Georgian ''lancet'' style, executed in characteristic local materials. The 1882 extension by Arthur William Blomfield
Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...
shows how Victorian church design developed. The east window was installed in 1905 by Charles Eamer Kempe
Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lychg ...
.
Today
Every year there is the Village Fete and Carnival on the little common, surrounded by residential roads in the west of the village, held by the 3rd Sevenoaks scout group.
There is one pub in Riverhead, The Bullfinch ( McMullen & Sons). The village has a butchers on The Square, Batchelors, a small, family-run business, providing its own spicy sausage from a South African recipe called 'Boerewors'.
Shops on the White Hart Parade and London Road include a couple of boutiques, a small art gallery, restaurants, a dry cleaners, barber, and hairdressers. The parade gets its name from a pub that was once there. The village Library offers telecottage services and is open on specific week days. On London Road, along with a coffee shop and boutique, there is also a power-tools, car and machinery hiring shop.
In the north of the village is Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
and a range of other shops such as Bathstore, a tile store and Majestic Wine
Majestic Wine is a British wine retailer based in Watford, England. The company employs more than 1,300 employees nationwide, and operates more than 200 stores across the United Kingdom.
History
1980 to 1999
Majestic Vintners was founded b ...
. There is also an Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
dealership. The Barratt Lakeside Place estate, built on the former Marley Tiles site in the mid-1990s, sits pleasantly on the banks of Chipstead Lake.
Digital television has been available for aerials pointing east in Riverhead since 2006 from the Blue Bell Hill Transmitter for Kent & Sussex TV transmissions, which is also now broadcasting in HD.
Education and sport
Riverhead contains Amherst Primary School and Riverhead Infants School. On Saturdays, there is Saturday morning football club at the former school, open to the students there. There is a nursery on the former site of Riverhead Infants School until 2002 with the rest of the site now being residential. Holmesdale Cricket Club play in Riverhead at the top of Worship's Hill.
Behind the church is an area known as the sand pits which is popular amongst the young people in Riverhead. The area adjoins a steep sandstone cliff.
The Riverhead parkland is part of the former Montreal Park
Montreal Park is a development in Sevenoaks in Kent which was formerly the home of Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, Lord Amherst, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. It was named after his Montreal Campaign, conquest of Montreal in 1760.
Histo ...
(the remaining part is an estate of houses) and offers walks and children's recreation areas traversing the Wealden Greensand vale of the Darent Valley between Riverhead Infants School and Brittains Lane, Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...
.
Governance
There is one representative on Kent County Council grouped under Sevenoaks Central, conservative John London first elected in 1997. There are two representatives on Sevenoaks District Council :
There is also a parish council with nine members.
Nearest settlements
Public transport
Riverhead is close to Sevenoaks railway station
Sevenoaks railway station is on the South Eastern Main Line, serving the town of Sevenoaks, in Kent, England. It is down the line from London Charing Cross and is situated between and stations. Trains calling at the station are operated by ...
, only mile from the village centre and is served by four main bus routes during weekdays (8, 401, 402, 452), all linking the village with Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...
town and station, with about six buses an hour during the day. Buses from Riverhead also connect the village to St Johns Hill, Sevenoaks (8) (452), Oak Lane, Kippington (8), Seal and Kemsing (452), Hildenborough(402), Tonbridge for Pembury Hospital (402), Tunbridge Wells (402), and Westerham (401). There are currently limited services from Riverhead to Otford. The Go Coach 401 bus is the only service in the village operating on Sundays and Bank Holidays; this runs between Westerham, Sevenoaks, and Tonbridge. Main bus services are provided by Arriva Kent & Sussex and Go Coach.
References
External links
Riverhead Parish Council website
Riverhead Parish Church
{{authority control
Villages in Kent
Civil parishes in Kent
Sevenoaks