East Peckham

Village and parish in Kent, England

Human settlement in England

East Peckham

St Michael's Church

East Peckham

Location within Kent

Area| 12.88 km2 (4.97 sq mi) [1]
Population| 3,306 (2011 Census)[2]
• Density| 257/km2 (670/sq mi)
OS grid reference| TQ662482
District|

* Tonbridge and Malling

Shire county|

* Kent

Region|

* South East

Country| England
Sovereign state| United Kingdom
Post town| Tonbridge
Postcode district| TN12
Dialling code| 01622
Police| Kent
Fire| Kent
Ambulance| South East Coast
UK Parliament|

* Tonbridge[3]

List of places

England
Kent

51°13′N 0°23′E﻿ / ﻿51.22°N 0.38°E﻿ / 51.22; 0.38

East Peckham is a village and civil parish in Kent, England on the River Medway. The parish covers the main village as well as Hale Street and Beltring.

## History

[edit]

The Domesday entry for East and West Peckham reads:-

The Archbishop himself holds Pecheham, In the time of King Edward the Confessor it was taxed at six sulungs, and now six sulungs and one yoke. The arable land is ten carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixteen villeins, with fourteen borderers, having four carucates and a half. There is a church, and ten servants, and one mill, and six acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of six hogs.[4]
Of the land of this manor, one of the archbishop's tenants holds half a sulung, and was taxed with these six sulungs in the time of King Edward the Confessor, although it could not belong to the manor, except in the scotting, because it was free land.[4]
Richard de Tonebridge holds of the same favour two sulungs and one yoke, and has there twenty-seven villeins, having seven carucates, and wood for the pannage of ten hogs. The whole value being four pounds. In the time of King Edward the Confessor, the manor was worth twelve pounds, when the Archbishop received it eight pounds, and now what he has is worth eight pounds.[4]

Part of the manor of East Farleigh lay within what is now East Peckham.

Ralph Fitz Turold holds of the bishop (of Baieux) half a sulung in Estockingeberge. In the time of King Edward the Confessor, two Freemen held it, and then like now, and it is valued at twenty shillings.[5]

There is a persistent myth that the village was originally around the far northern border with Mereworth. Sheet 80 of the First Edition One-Inch Ordnance Survey map published on 1 January 1819 shows the village as being two miles north east as St Michael's church stands on high ground there, now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust and open daily. In the mid-nineteenth century the new parish church of the Holy Trinity was built in what had for centuries been, and likely since the first multi-family settlement arose, the parish population centre.[citation needed] The architects were Whichcord and Walker of Maidstone,[6] and the foundation stone was laid on 24 October 1840.[7]

The River Bourne joins the Medway in the south of the parish and powered a watermill, Little Mill. Another watermill on the River Medway stood at Branbridges. Large, populated parts used to flood with unusual frequency among parishes along the Medway. The East Peckham Flood Relief partnership was formed in 2003. A dam since 2005 exists on the Coult Stream at Bullen Farm.[8][9] It is 160 metres (170 yd) long and 4 metres (13 ft) high and has the capacity to hold 80,000 cubic metres (18,000,000 imp gal) of floodwater. The scheme cost just over £1 million.[8][10]

In 2012, a local amateur theatre group, The Russett Players, was formed in the village.[11]

## Settlement and amenities

[edit]

East Peckham developed from nine hamlets (Roydon, Hale Street, Beltring, Little Mill, The Pound, Snoll Hatch, The Bush, Goose Green and Chidley Cross).[12] These straddle the River Medway.[13] It was economically focussed on hop growing and other agriculture,[citation needed] in which sector plant growing remains economically important, including two garden centres. Beltring includes The Hop Farm Country Park, including outdoor cinema, escape room and two restaurants and the world's largest collection of Oast Houses.[citation needed] Hale Street is another residential area to the east of the main village.[citation needed]

Pound Road has most of the village's amenities including the primary school, Co-op convenience store and local shops.[citation needed]

Brookside Garden Centre in 2010.

## Transport

[edit]

East Peckham is bypassed by the A228 road which is the closest major road to the village.[citation needed]

The village is served by the Arriva Southern Counties routes 6 and 6A which provide connections to Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone as well as the Go-Coach route 208 to Tonbridge.[14][15]

Beltring railway station on the Medway Valley Line is the closest rail station to East Peckham and is served by hourly Southeastern train services to Tonbridge, Maidstone and Strood.[16][17]

## Notable people

[edit]

In 1896, Walter Arnold of East Peckham, was summonsed for travelling at 8 mph (13 km/h) in a motorised vehicle, thereby exceeding the then speed limit for towns of 2 mph (3.2 km/h). He was caught by a policeman who gave chase on a bicycle. Arnold was fined 1 shilling plus costs, the first speeding conviction in the UK. [18][19][20]

James Pimm (1798–1866) created the gin-based liqueur known as Pimm's. He died at his family home in East Peckham and is buried at Holy Trinity Church.[21]

Sir Roger Twysden (1597–1672) lived at Roydon Hall, and was born in East Peckham.[7]

## Twinning

[edit]

East Peckham is twinned with Chéreng, Nord, France.[22]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "East Peckham Parish". Nomis.
2. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
3. ^ "Location of Tonbridge". Retrieved 25 February 2025.
4. ^ a b c Hasted, Edward (1798). The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. Vol. V. Canterbury: W Bristow. p. 93\. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
5. ^ Hasted, Edward (1798). The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. Vol. V. Canterbury: W Bristow. p. 102\. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
6. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1070728)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
7. ^ a b Rose, Hugh James; Maitland, Samuel Roffey (1840). "Kent". The British Magazine and Monthly Register of Religious and Ecclesiastical Information. J. Petheram: 709. Retrieved 30 May 2011. "trinity east peckham."
8. ^ a b "Dam delights East Peckham residents" (PDF). Tonbridge & Malling District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
9. ^ "East Peckham Flood Relief Partnership" (PDF). Tonbridge & Malling District Council. Retrieved 22 February 2009. [dead link]
10. ^ East Peckham Flood Relief Partnership
11. ^ "The Russett Players". therussettplayers.weebly.com.
12. ^ "East Peckham Character Areas - Supplementary Planning Document" (PDF). Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
13. ^ "51.21N 0.38W". www.achurchnearyou.com.
14. ^ "Routes 6/6A: Tunbridge Wells to East Peckham and Maidstone". Arriva Southern Counties, June 2020.
15. ^ "Route 208: Pembury to East Peckham". Go Coach, June 2020. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
16. ^ "Beltring station information". Southeastern, May 2020.[permanent dead link]
17. ^ "Timetable 3: Maidstone East and Medway Valley Lines" (PDF). Southeastern, May 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
18. ^ "National Motoring Museum – Motoring firsts". Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
19. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Eureka Years, Series 4, 1893". BBC.
20. ^ "US History, Criminal Justice, The first speeding ticket". Archived from the original on 3 May 2010.
21. ^ Gardner, Mark (25 June 2005). "How a Farmer's Son Invented the Taste of the Social Summer". Faversham Times.
22. ^ "French exchange group battle with motorway repairs". Kent and Sussex Courier (Paddock Wood edition). No. 17 June 2011. p. 25.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to East Peckham.

* East Peckham Parish Council
* Holy Trinity Church Website
* St Michaels Church

Places adjacent to East Peckham

| West Peckham | Nettlestead | Yalding

|
|

|  |
Hadlow
Golden Green |

East Peckham

| Laddingford
|  |
Tudeley | Branbridges
Beltring | Collier Street

* v
* t
* e

East Peckham

Buildings|

* Beltring station
* Branbridges Mill
* Holy Trinity Church
* Little Mill
* St Michael's Church

Businesses|

* Arnold

People|

* Isabella Twysden
* Roger Twysden
* William Twysden

Sport, arts and leisure|

* Hop Farm
* War and Peace show

Places in East Peckham
civil parish|

* Beltring
* Branbridges

Twinning|

* Chéreng

* v
* t
* e

Towns and villages in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England

* Addington
* Aylesford
* Branbridges
* Beltring
* Birling
* Blue Bell Hill
* Borough Green
* Burham
* Ditton
* East Malling
* East Peckham
* Eccles
* Golden Green
* Hadlow
* Hildenborough
* Ightham
* Kings Hill
* Larkfield
* Leybourne
* Mereworth
* New Hythe
* Offham
* Platt (St. Mary's Platt)
* Plaxtol
* Ryarsh
* Shipbourne
* Snodland
* Stansted
* Tonbridge
* Trottiscliffe
* Walderslade
* Wateringbury
* West Malling
* West Peckham
* Wouldham
* Wrotham
* Wrotham Heath

List of places in Kent

Authority control databases

National|

* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX

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