Eddington, Kent
Encyclopedia
Eddington, Kent, was a village in South East England
to the south-east of Herne Bay, Kent
, to the east of Beltinge
and to the north of Herne
. It is now a suburb of Herne Bay, in Greenhill
and Eddington Ward, one of the five wards of Herne Bay. Its main landmark for over 100 years until 2010 was Herne Bay Court, a former school which once possessed one of the largest and best-equipped school engineering workshops in England; it later became a Christian conference centre.
. It is in Greenhill and Eddington ward
, and forms part of Herne and Broomfield
parish.
with some head Brickearth
next to Plenty Brook; however to the east this changes to Tertiary
deposits of the Thanet, Oldhaven and Woolwich beds
. Its northern boundary is the railway line
, and its southern edge includes the Thanet Way
and Herne Bay cemetery. At its western limit is Eddington Business Park and its eastern sector contains part of Eddington Conservation Area
. This conservation area includes a small portion of the north-west of Herne and Broomfield
parish, known locally as the Links. Herne Bay Golf Club is in the south of Eddington. Eddington Business Park contains Herne Bay Delivery Office for the Royal Mail
. In the past, parts of Eddington have been susceptible to flooding from Plenty Brook and the Council
has recommended the construction of upstream storage lagoons
near Herne Bay Golf Course besides other measures.
and Eddington Ward were Roger Matthews and Margaret Flaherty, both representing the Liberal Democrats
. Herne Bay councillor Roger Matthews was charged in March 2009 alongside Herne Bay Golf Club owner Julian Brealy in respect of corruption. Matthews represented Greenhill and Eddington ward on Canterbury City Council
, and was suspended from the local Liberal Democrats group. The councillor denied the charge and was later cleared, but the businessman was convicted. Previously in 2008, Greenhill and Eddington ward representative Margaret Flaherty was taking on local council work herself, clearing shrubbery from road signs at Eddington. At times the council
has chosen to remove travelling families from this area. Kent Enterprise House at Eddington hosts the annual parish meetings.
period, around 3,500 BCE. The evidence for this was a polished stone axe found near the present Thanet Way
. A late Bronze Age
enclosure was found near a possibly earlier monument with a ring ditch
. It is thought that late Bronze Age tree-clearance and consequent soil erosion
may explain a subsequent period of abandonment of this farmland. The Romans
and Romano-British
then laid out a field system and made cremation burials. There is some evidence of local habitation occurring at the end of the Roman occupation. At the north of the Eddington Farm site in the early- or mid-Saxon period, a farmstead was built.
In October 2003 Crispin Jarman investigated apparent concentrations of early to middle Iron Age
activity and medieval
activity on land adjacent to the old Thanet Way at Underdown Lane. It is thought that the 4−8 Iron Age roundhouses
there are part of a larger settlement, along with a possible cremation burial. A possible northern edge of a medieval farmstead was discovered in the south-west corner of the site, along with pottery from the 13th and 14th centuries.
In April 2007 there were archaeological investigations at Talmead House, Mill Lane, and on land to the west of Mill Lane, Eddington. Features including Roman cremation burials were found, including one adjacent to Talmead Pond.
. Between the 16th and 19th centuries it was a hamlet set among fields, with farms, tracks and roads. By 1800 it had become a junction between roads to Sea Street (Upper Bay), Underdown, Greenhill
, Blacksole, Beltinge Fostal and Herne Bay
. There was an old track which turned sharply, linking Parsonage Farm and Badcock Farm, and this track was upgraded to a turnpike road
joining Herne Bay and Canterbury
in 1814. In 1860 the Faversham
-Ramsgate
railway (now Chatham Main Line
) cut through the roads to Sea Street, Beltinge
and Blacksole, but the Canterbury Road had its own bridge under the railway embankment
, and at that time it was realigned to fit. Terraced housing
was built on Canterbury Road in the 1890s, and Parsonage and Badcock farmsteads were demolished around 1900. Parsonage Road was developed by 1930, but there was no more development until the 1950s at Eddington Lane. Between the 1950s and the 21st century, most of the remaining open land was built up, except for The Links. For example, in the 1990s Nurserylands housing estate was built to the north of Eddington Lane and facing onto Plenty Brook; however Vincent Nurseries to the south of the development retains a rural aspect. One of the more recent developments in 2001 was St Augustine's Court housing estate on the junction of Canterbury Road and the Old Thanet Way (A2990
).
Hasted also mentions Underdowne Farm in Eddington, owned in 1800 by the Oxendon family who had rebuilt the farmhouse. Underdowne Farm was once part of the manor
of Makinbrooke in the north-west part of the parish of Herne
. This manor was originally owned by the See of Canterbury
for the benefit of knights who served their country. After Edward III's
reign the manor belonged to Adam le Eyre of London, then to Thomas Wolton of Eastbridge hospital in Canterbury
. By 1528, Robert atte Sea of Herne was renting the land. It was subsequently inherited by the Crayford family, and then the aforementioned Oxendons.
By 1858 Eddington and Underdown were separate districts of Herne parish. In Eddington, Edward Collard was a farmer, William Evans was the surgeon in Herne Street, Eddington, William Johncock was the blacksmith, and Thomas Taylor was running the Blacksmiths' Arms Inn. By 1891, Eddington was still a hamlet in the parish of Herne. It had a post office, a blacksmith, a builder and a maltster. Residences included Prospect House, The Priory and Eddington House.
local landmark from around 1900 to around 2008, situated near Talmead. Around 1900, James Thurman MA bought part of Parsonage Farm at Eddington from Joseph Gore who had leased 165 acres between Herne and the sea at the end of the 19th century. Gore kept the 15-acre field which still exists at the end of Parsonage Road, and kept a herd to supply The Creameries in Herne Bay, but sold up in 1914. Meanwhile on the site of the old farmstead Thurman built New College, known locally as Eddington College, as a school in competition with Herne Bay College which at that time occupied numbers 6−8 St George's Terrace, Herne Bay and was run by Captain Eustace Turner. Both schools were evacuated in World War I
and were requisitioned by the military. Thurman retired and after the war Eddington College was taken over by Captain Turner who ran it as Herne Bay College until 1939. The college specialised in engineering, and in the 1930s "the College possessed one of the largest and best-equipped school engineering workshops in England, and was remarkable for its many engineering examination successes." However the building and its engineering equipment were requisitioned for the World War II
war effort. After the loss of the engineering equipment, the school could not reopen after the war and the building was sold. It reopened in 1949 as Herne Bay Court: a Christian conference centre. By 2006 it had closed and was standing empty for several years, with the council
discussing development plans. Between 2007 and 2010 there was a local movement to save or reopen Herne Bay Court. This building is locally listed in respect of its use as army headquarters in World War II. The trees at Herne Bay court are subject to a tree preservation order
.
establishment.
Underdown House group: Underdown House is in Underdown Lane and the associated group includes The Cottage, the Tithe Barn to the south-west and the Old Coach House. The L-shaped Underdown House has a 17th century west wing and an 18th century frontage; it has original casement windows with small leaded panes at the back on the west side and at the west end of the southern frontage. Unfortunately the originally rural setting of the house has been compromised by recent contiguous housing estates, St Augustine's Court and Wye Green. The Cottage is mid-19th-century with a hipped
slate roof and original cambered sash window
s. The Old Coach House is late 17th to early 18th century, and is weatherboarded
with a tie-beam roof
. The Tithe Barn dates from around 1500, and is weatherboarded over a red brick base, with a thatched roof which was once tiled. On the east side the roof has a projecting thatched hip which contains a few original tiles.
Priory (The) group: The Priory is at 203 Canterbury Road. The group includes numbers 1 and 2 Laurel Cottages (numbers 195 and 197 Canterbury Road), and Little Cottage. The Priory is an early 19th century brown brick house in Gothic Revival
style, including a pointed doorway with moulded architrave
. Laurel Cottages date from the 18th century and they have since been pebbledashed, but contain original sash windows. Little Cottage is timber-framed
and was re-faced with stucco
in the 18th century; it has a tiled roof and original sash windows.
Forge Cottage (The) and sewer vent column: The Forge Cottage is at 250 Canterbury Road. It is an 18th century, weatherboarded and timber-framed building with a half-hipped
, tiled roof. The doorcase is 18th century, but the 6-panelled door has been moved to another location on the building. Also on Canterbury Road but not grouped with The Forge Cottage is a listed, cast iron sewer vent column
with Corinthian
capital
, dated 1870 and made by W. Macfarlane and Co. in Glasgow.
Among locally listed World War II monuments are the Warden’s Post at Eddington House Junior School, Canterbury Road, and the Army occupation of Avonleigh, Parsonage Road. Also relating to World War II is the pillbox near the former crossroads of the Thanet Way and Canterbury Road. Dating from the 19th century or earlier is the Maltings at Eddington Farm.
. The earliest burials date from 1871. In 1880 interments were officially ended at Herne church and other local graveyards. Edmund James Reid (1849−1917), the head of CID
who investigated the Whitechapel murders in 1888, is buried in plot J62. Scattered among the plots there are war graves from World Wars I and II.
The cemetery contains an elaborate monument to Lydia Cecilia Hill
, known as Cissie Hill, a cabaret dancer and close friend of Ibrahim, Sultan of Johor
who funded the building of Mayfair Court and the associated servants' quarters in Grand Drive, Herne Bay
for her. In 1938 there were rumours of an engagement between the "glamour girl" Sissy and the 64-year-old divorcee sultan, whom she had met in Ceylon
in 1934, but the sultan promptly denied this. Sissy was killed in a daylight bombing raid at the age of 27 years while shopping in Canterbury on 11 October 1940, and was identified by her jewellery, said to be a gift from the sultan.
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
to the south-east of Herne Bay, Kent
Herne Bay, Kent
Herne Bay is a seaside town in Kent, South East England, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary, it is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government district...
, to the east of Beltinge
Beltinge
Beltinge is a suburb of Herne Bay in Kent, England. It is at the eastern part of the town, just west of the ancient village of Reculver.In Beltinge, you can find:*ABC Pre-Schools*Londis Beltinge is a suburb of Herne Bay in Kent, England. It is at the eastern part of the town, just west of the...
and to the north of Herne
Herne, Kent
Herne is a village in South East England, divided by the Thanet Way from the seaside resort of Herne Bay. Administratively it is in the civil parish of Herne and Broomfield in Kent. Between Herne and Broomfield is the former hamlet of Hunters Forstal; Herne Common lies to the south.The hamlet of...
. It is now a suburb of Herne Bay, in Greenhill
Greenhill, Kent
Greenhill is an outlying suburb of the coastal town of Herne Bay, in Kent in southeast England. The erstwhile Thanet Way, now renumbered as the A2990 road, separates Greenhill from Herne Bay....
and Eddington Ward, one of the five wards of Herne Bay. Its main landmark for over 100 years until 2010 was Herne Bay Court, a former school which once possessed one of the largest and best-equipped school engineering workshops in England; it later became a Christian conference centre.
Geography
Eddington was a village and is now a suburb in the south of Herne Bay, on what is now the Canterbury Road or A291A roads in Zone 2 of the Great Britain numbering scheme
List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames and east of the A3 .-Single- and double-digit roads:-Triple-digit roads:-Four digit roads:...
. It is in Greenhill and Eddington ward
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
, and forms part of Herne and Broomfield
Herne and Broomfield
Herne and Broomfield is a civil parish within the City of Canterbury. The parish is situated to the north of Canterbury in Kent. The seaside town of Herne Bay is the other side of the A299 road, Thanet Way that marks the northern boundary of the parish...
parish.
Geology and topography
Eddington is approximately 13 metres above sea level, lying above mainly London ClayLondon Clay
The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for the fossils it contains. The fossils from the Lower Eocene indicate a moderately warm climate, the flora being tropical or subtropical...
with some head Brickearth
Brickearth
Brickearth is a term used in southeast England for loess, a wind-blown dust deposited under extremely cold, dry, peri- or postglacial conditions. The name arises from its use in making house bricks. The Brickearth is normally represented on 1:50,000 solid and drift edition geological maps...
next to Plenty Brook; however to the east this changes to Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
deposits of the Thanet, Oldhaven and Woolwich beds
Lambeth Group
The Lambeth Group is a stratigraphic group, a set of geological rock strata in the London and Hampshire Basins of southern England. It comprises a complex of vertically and laterally varying gravels, sands, silts and clays deposited between 56-55 million years before present during the Ypresian age...
. Its northern boundary is the railway line
Chatham Main Line
The Chatham Main Line is a British railway line that runs from either London Victoria to Dover Priory / Ramsgate or London St Pancras to Faversham, with both services travelling via Medway...
, and its southern edge includes the Thanet Way
A299 road
The A299, better known as the Thanet Way, is a major road in the county of Kent, England, and runs from Brenley Corner near Faversham to Ramsgate via Whitstable and Herne Bay. It is predominantly used for freight traffic to Ramsgate Harbour and local traffic to Thanet.Most of the A299 was...
and Herne Bay cemetery. At its western limit is Eddington Business Park and its eastern sector contains part of Eddington Conservation Area
Conservation Area (United Kingdom)
In the United Kingdom, the term Conservation Area nearly always applies to an area considered worthy of preservation or enhancement because of its special architectural or historic interest, "the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance," as required by the Planning ...
. This conservation area includes a small portion of the north-west of Herne and Broomfield
Herne and Broomfield
Herne and Broomfield is a civil parish within the City of Canterbury. The parish is situated to the north of Canterbury in Kent. The seaside town of Herne Bay is the other side of the A299 road, Thanet Way that marks the northern boundary of the parish...
parish, known locally as the Links. Herne Bay Golf Club is in the south of Eddington. Eddington Business Park contains Herne Bay Delivery Office for the Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
. In the past, parts of Eddington have been susceptible to flooding from Plenty Brook and the Council
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
has recommended the construction of upstream storage lagoons
Retention basin
A retention basin is used to manage stormwater runoff to prevent flooding and downstream erosion, and improve water quality in an adjacent river, stream, lake or bay. Sometimes called a wet pond or wet detention basin, it is an artificial lake with vegetation around the perimeter, and includes a...
near Herne Bay Golf Course besides other measures.
Local government
As of January 2010 the local councillors for GreenhillGreenhill, Kent
Greenhill is an outlying suburb of the coastal town of Herne Bay, in Kent in southeast England. The erstwhile Thanet Way, now renumbered as the A2990 road, separates Greenhill from Herne Bay....
and Eddington Ward were Roger Matthews and Margaret Flaherty, both representing the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
. Herne Bay councillor Roger Matthews was charged in March 2009 alongside Herne Bay Golf Club owner Julian Brealy in respect of corruption. Matthews represented Greenhill and Eddington ward on Canterbury City Council
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
, and was suspended from the local Liberal Democrats group. The councillor denied the charge and was later cleared, but the businessman was convicted. Previously in 2008, Greenhill and Eddington ward representative Margaret Flaherty was taking on local council work herself, clearing shrubbery from road signs at Eddington. At times the council
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
has chosen to remove travelling families from this area. Kent Enterprise House at Eddington hosts the annual parish meetings.
History
Much of the history of the layout and buildings of Eddington is described in the Eddington Conservation Appraisal of 2009.Archaeology
Between August and September 1998, an archaeological dig by Houliston found evidence of early occupation in the vicinity of Eddington Farm, and a follow-up investigation by Crispin Jarman and Grant Shand found signs of occupation, farming and burial which had occurred from the later NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
period, around 3,500 BCE. The evidence for this was a polished stone axe found near the present Thanet Way
A299 road
The A299, better known as the Thanet Way, is a major road in the county of Kent, England, and runs from Brenley Corner near Faversham to Ramsgate via Whitstable and Herne Bay. It is predominantly used for freight traffic to Ramsgate Harbour and local traffic to Thanet.Most of the A299 was...
. A late Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
enclosure was found near a possibly earlier monument with a ring ditch
Ring ditch
In archaeology, the term ring ditch refers to a regularly shaped circular or pennanular ditch cut. The term is most often used as a generic description in cases where there is no clear evidence for the function of the site: for instance where it has been ploughed flat and is known only as a...
. It is thought that late Bronze Age tree-clearance and consequent soil erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
may explain a subsequent period of abandonment of this farmland. The Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and Romano-British
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
then laid out a field system and made cremation burials. There is some evidence of local habitation occurring at the end of the Roman occupation. At the north of the Eddington Farm site in the early- or mid-Saxon period, a farmstead was built.
In October 2003 Crispin Jarman investigated apparent concentrations of early to middle Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
activity and medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
activity on land adjacent to the old Thanet Way at Underdown Lane. It is thought that the 4−8 Iron Age roundhouses
Roundhouse (dwelling)
The roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, originally built in western Europe before the Roman occupation using walls made either of stone or of wooden posts joined by wattle-and-daub panels and a conical thatched roof. Roundhouses ranged in size from less than 5m in diameter to over 15m...
there are part of a larger settlement, along with a possible cremation burial. A possible northern edge of a medieval farmstead was discovered in the south-west corner of the site, along with pottery from the 13th and 14th centuries.
In April 2007 there were archaeological investigations at Talmead House, Mill Lane, and on land to the west of Mill Lane, Eddington. Features including Roman cremation burials were found, including one adjacent to Talmead Pond.
Later history
15th century to present: summary
Eddington, of which ton means a small settlement or farmstead, is first mentioned in 1466 CECommon Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
. Between the 16th and 19th centuries it was a hamlet set among fields, with farms, tracks and roads. By 1800 it had become a junction between roads to Sea Street (Upper Bay), Underdown, Greenhill
Greenhill, Kent
Greenhill is an outlying suburb of the coastal town of Herne Bay, in Kent in southeast England. The erstwhile Thanet Way, now renumbered as the A2990 road, separates Greenhill from Herne Bay....
, Blacksole, Beltinge Fostal and Herne Bay
Herne Bay, Kent
Herne Bay is a seaside town in Kent, South East England, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary, it is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government district...
. There was an old track which turned sharply, linking Parsonage Farm and Badcock Farm, and this track was upgraded to a turnpike road
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
joining Herne Bay and Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
in 1814. In 1860 the Faversham
Faversham
Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...
-Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
railway (now Chatham Main Line
Chatham Main Line
The Chatham Main Line is a British railway line that runs from either London Victoria to Dover Priory / Ramsgate or London St Pancras to Faversham, with both services travelling via Medway...
) cut through the roads to Sea Street, Beltinge
Beltinge
Beltinge is a suburb of Herne Bay in Kent, England. It is at the eastern part of the town, just west of the ancient village of Reculver.In Beltinge, you can find:*ABC Pre-Schools*Londis Beltinge is a suburb of Herne Bay in Kent, England. It is at the eastern part of the town, just west of the...
and Blacksole, but the Canterbury Road had its own bridge under the railway embankment
Embankment (transportation)
To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...
, and at that time it was realigned to fit. Terraced housing
Terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
was built on Canterbury Road in the 1890s, and Parsonage and Badcock farmsteads were demolished around 1900. Parsonage Road was developed by 1930, but there was no more development until the 1950s at Eddington Lane. Between the 1950s and the 21st century, most of the remaining open land was built up, except for The Links. For example, in the 1990s Nurserylands housing estate was built to the north of Eddington Lane and facing onto Plenty Brook; however Vincent Nurseries to the south of the development retains a rural aspect. One of the more recent developments in 2001 was St Augustine's Court housing estate on the junction of Canterbury Road and the Old Thanet Way (A2990
A roads in Zone 2 of the Great Britain numbering scheme
List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames and east of the A3 .-Single- and double-digit roads:-Triple-digit roads:-Four digit roads:...
).
19th century: spotlight
In 1800 Edward Hasted described the parish, which included Herne, as follows:
A wild and dreary country; there is a great deal of poor land in it, covered with broom, and several wastes or little commons, with cottages interspersed among them. The soil of it is in general a stiff clay, and in some parts mixed with gravel, the water throughout it is very brackish. The southern part of it is mostly coppice woods, a considerable quantity of which belong to the archbishop. and are in his own occupation. There are thirty-seven teams kept in this parish. There are about seventeen acres of hops in it, and not long ago double that number, and these are continually displanting. It also produces much canary-seed, of which it has sometimes had one hundred acres ... Northward from (Herne) is Underwood farm, and opposite to it the parsonagehouse, formerly the residence of the Milles's. These are within the hamlet of Eddinton, in which, further on upon the road, is a new-built house, belonging to Mr. Edward Reynolds.
Hasted also mentions Underdowne Farm in Eddington, owned in 1800 by the Oxendon family who had rebuilt the farmhouse. Underdowne Farm was once part of the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Makinbrooke in the north-west part of the parish of Herne
Herne, Kent
Herne is a village in South East England, divided by the Thanet Way from the seaside resort of Herne Bay. Administratively it is in the civil parish of Herne and Broomfield in Kent. Between Herne and Broomfield is the former hamlet of Hunters Forstal; Herne Common lies to the south.The hamlet of...
. This manor was originally owned by the See of Canterbury
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
for the benefit of knights who served their country. After Edward III's
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
reign the manor belonged to Adam le Eyre of London, then to Thomas Wolton of Eastbridge hospital in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
. By 1528, Robert atte Sea of Herne was renting the land. It was subsequently inherited by the Crayford family, and then the aforementioned Oxendons.
By 1858 Eddington and Underdown were separate districts of Herne parish. In Eddington, Edward Collard was a farmer, William Evans was the surgeon in Herne Street, Eddington, William Johncock was the blacksmith, and Thomas Taylor was running the Blacksmiths' Arms Inn. By 1891, Eddington was still a hamlet in the parish of Herne. It had a post office, a blacksmith, a builder and a maltster. Residences included Prospect House, The Priory and Eddington House.
Herne Bay Court
Herne Bay Court Evangelical Centre, known locally as Herne Bay Court, was a Herne BayHerne Bay, Kent
Herne Bay is a seaside town in Kent, South East England, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary, it is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government district...
local landmark from around 1900 to around 2008, situated near Talmead. Around 1900, James Thurman MA bought part of Parsonage Farm at Eddington from Joseph Gore who had leased 165 acres between Herne and the sea at the end of the 19th century. Gore kept the 15-acre field which still exists at the end of Parsonage Road, and kept a herd to supply The Creameries in Herne Bay, but sold up in 1914. Meanwhile on the site of the old farmstead Thurman built New College, known locally as Eddington College, as a school in competition with Herne Bay College which at that time occupied numbers 6−8 St George's Terrace, Herne Bay and was run by Captain Eustace Turner. Both schools were evacuated in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and were requisitioned by the military. Thurman retired and after the war Eddington College was taken over by Captain Turner who ran it as Herne Bay College until 1939. The college specialised in engineering, and in the 1930s "the College possessed one of the largest and best-equipped school engineering workshops in England, and was remarkable for its many engineering examination successes." However the building and its engineering equipment were requisitioned for the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
war effort. After the loss of the engineering equipment, the school could not reopen after the war and the building was sold. It reopened in 1949 as Herne Bay Court: a Christian conference centre. By 2006 it had closed and was standing empty for several years, with the council
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
discussing development plans. Between 2007 and 2010 there was a local movement to save or reopen Herne Bay Court. This building is locally listed in respect of its use as army headquarters in World War II. The trees at Herne Bay court are subject to a tree preservation order
Tree preservation order
A Tree Preservation Order or TPO is a part of town and country planning in the United Kingdom. A TPO is made by a Local Planning Authority to protect specific trees or a particular area, group or woodland from deliberate damage and destruction...
.
Eddington Farm (demolished)
Eddington Farm was on Eddington Lane and next to Plenty Brook. It originally occupied the site of the present Herne Bay sorting office and business park. It was recorded as a 40−acre farm in 1661, stretching as far as Parsonage Farm, along what is now Canterbury Road and Mill Lane. Past owners and tenants included Richard Constant, Jarvis Dadd, John and Mary Sole and Richard Reynolds. By 1841 it was an arable and pasture farm owned by Edward Collard.Pear Tree House (now The Priory)
This was at Pigeon Lane, later named Priory Lane. This road joined with Canterbury Road and Underdown Lane, and at the junction there was a hamlet including a smithy, letterbox and guidepost. A ladies' seminary occupied Pear Tree House from the 1830s to 1880s, run by Mrs Sladden and then by sisters Jane and Mary Baskerville. During this period the building was called Pear Tree House until around 1887 when the school closed and it was occupied by Charles Lethbridge and was renamed The Priory. It was a care home for some years, then became a residence. As of 2011 it is a bed and breakfastBed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
establishment.
Eddington House (demolished)
This Georgian house of around 1790 was built as a country residence in spacious grounds on the site now occupied by the Beaumanor housing estate, on the corner between Canterbury Road and Eddington Lane. In the early 20th century it became the preparatory school for Herne Bay College, being renamed Eddington College. It continued as a prep school, changing its name to Bramdean in 1957 and then Beaumanor in the 1960s. It was demolished in 1968 by developers, and the subsequent housing estate was given the name of Beaumanor.Listed buildings
All the nationally listed buildings in this area are Grade II or II*. Some of these are listed as groups:Underdown House group: Underdown House is in Underdown Lane and the associated group includes The Cottage, the Tithe Barn to the south-west and the Old Coach House. The L-shaped Underdown House has a 17th century west wing and an 18th century frontage; it has original casement windows with small leaded panes at the back on the west side and at the west end of the southern frontage. Unfortunately the originally rural setting of the house has been compromised by recent contiguous housing estates, St Augustine's Court and Wye Green. The Cottage is mid-19th-century with a hipped
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
slate roof and original cambered sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
s. The Old Coach House is late 17th to early 18th century, and is weatherboarded
Weatherboarding
Weatherboarding is the cladding or ‘siding’ of a house consisting of long thin timber boards that overlap one another, either vertically or horizontally on the outside of the wall. They are usually of rectangular section with parallel sides...
with a tie-beam roof
Tie (engineering)
A tie, structural tie, connector, or structural connector is a structural component designed to resist tension. It is the opposite of a strut, which is designed to resist compression. Ties are generally made of galvanized steel...
. The Tithe Barn dates from around 1500, and is weatherboarded over a red brick base, with a thatched roof which was once tiled. On the east side the roof has a projecting thatched hip which contains a few original tiles.
Priory (The) group: The Priory is at 203 Canterbury Road. The group includes numbers 1 and 2 Laurel Cottages (numbers 195 and 197 Canterbury Road), and Little Cottage. The Priory is an early 19th century brown brick house in Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style, including a pointed doorway with moulded architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
. Laurel Cottages date from the 18th century and they have since been pebbledashed, but contain original sash windows. Little Cottage is timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
and was re-faced with stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
in the 18th century; it has a tiled roof and original sash windows.
Forge Cottage (The) and sewer vent column: The Forge Cottage is at 250 Canterbury Road. It is an 18th century, weatherboarded and timber-framed building with a half-hipped
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
, tiled roof. The doorcase is 18th century, but the 6-panelled door has been moved to another location on the building. Also on Canterbury Road but not grouped with The Forge Cottage is a listed, cast iron sewer vent column
Drain-waste-vent system
In modern plumbing, a drain-waste-vent is part of a system that removes sewage and greywater from a building and regulates air pressure in the waste-system pipes, facilitating flow. Waste is produced at fixtures such as toilets, sinks and showers, and exits the fixtures through a trap, a dipped...
with Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
capital
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
, dated 1870 and made by W. Macfarlane and Co. in Glasgow.
Among locally listed World War II monuments are the Warden’s Post at Eddington House Junior School, Canterbury Road, and the Army occupation of Avonleigh, Parsonage Road. Also relating to World War II is the pillbox near the former crossroads of the Thanet Way and Canterbury Road. Dating from the 19th century or earlier is the Maltings at Eddington Farm.
Cemetery
Herne Bay cemetery lies at the southern end of Eddington and is controlled by Canterbury City CouncilCity of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
. The earliest burials date from 1871. In 1880 interments were officially ended at Herne church and other local graveyards. Edmund James Reid (1849−1917), the head of CID
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
who investigated the Whitechapel murders in 1888, is buried in plot J62. Scattered among the plots there are war graves from World Wars I and II.
The cemetery contains an elaborate monument to Lydia Cecilia Hill
Lydia Cecilia Hill
Lydia Cecilia Hill , known as Cissie Hill or Cecily Hill, was an English cabaret dancer notable for being a favourite of Ibrahim, Sultan of Johor and for being briefly engaged to him. A new Art Deco house, Mayfair Court, was funded for her in Herne Bay, Kent, by the Sultan...
, known as Cissie Hill, a cabaret dancer and close friend of Ibrahim, Sultan of Johor
Sultan of Johor
Sultan of Johor is a hereditary seat and the nominal ruler of the Malaysian state of Johor. In the past, the sultan held absolute power over the state and was advised by a bendahara...
who funded the building of Mayfair Court and the associated servants' quarters in Grand Drive, Herne Bay
Herne Bay, Kent
Herne Bay is a seaside town in Kent, South East England, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary, it is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government district...
for her. In 1938 there were rumours of an engagement between the "glamour girl" Sissy and the 64-year-old divorcee sultan, whom she had met in Ceylon
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
in 1934, but the sultan promptly denied this. Sissy was killed in a daylight bombing raid at the age of 27 years while shopping in Canterbury on 11 October 1940, and was identified by her jewellery, said to be a gift from the sultan.