Elham
Encyclopedia
- Elham, Gholam-HosseinGholam-Hossein ElhamGholam-Hossein Elham was Iran's official government spokesperson. He was a member of the Guardian Council and former Minister of Justice upon the death of Jamal Karimi-Rad....
is the official spokesman of the government of IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
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Elham is a village in East Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
situated approximately 9 miles (14 km) south of 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....
and 5 miles (8 km) north east of Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
in the Elham Valley
Elham Valley
The Elham Valley is a chalk valley carved by the River Nailbourne situated in the North Downs in East Kent. The valley is named after the settlement of Elham...
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Toponomy
The origin of the village's name has always been a matter of argument. The village is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Alham. This may have derived from Ulaham, which it is referred to in an Anglo SaxonOld English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
charter of 855A.D. The suffix "ham" is derived from the German word "heim", meaning "home". Thus, it is assumed that Ulaham means homestead of a person named Ula. Another theory is that the name originates from the presence of eels once found in the Nailbourne
Little Stour
The Little Stour is one of the tributaries of the River Stour in the English county of Kent. The upper reaches of the river are better known as the Nailbourne, whilst the lower reaches were once known as the Seaton Navigation....
centuries ago.
Early history
The discovery of hundreds of 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...
hand axes, scrapers and worked flints at Dreal's Farm on the chalk plateau to the east of the village is the earliest evidence of human activity in the Parish. 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...
remains have also been discovered indicating continuity of settlement. There is also a cluster of Bronze Age tumuli in Elham Park Wood and there is a further tumulus on the hillcrest between Ottinge
Ottinge
Ottinge is a hamlet located NNW of Folkestone in Kent, England. It lies less than one mile from the village of Lyminge and occupies a site at a crossroads between that village and Elham....
and Rhodes Minnis
Rhodes Minnis
Rhodes Minnis is a village near Folkestone in Kent, England....
. Evidence of Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
occupation is limited to discoveries of coins and pottery and there is little Anglo Saxon archaeological evidence although the Anglo Saxon cemetery at Lyminge may extend over the parish boundary.
St Mary's Church http://www.elhamchurches.com dates from about 1200 whilst the Abbot's Fireside Restaurant on the high street is of Tudor origin (built in 1641). This is reputed to have been the headquarters of the Duke of Wellington during the times when there was a threat from Napoleonic invasion. In the centre of the village is The Square. This dates from 1251 when the village was granted a market by Edward I and was in use until the early 19th century. The village once had two windmills but both now no longer exist.
19th century to present day
The population of Elham was 1,192 in 1881. The Elham Valley RailwayElham Valley Railway
The Elham Valley Railway is a disused railway line that runs through the Elham Valley connecting Folkestone and Canterbury in East Kent. It was operational from 1887 to 1947.- History :...
opened in 1889 and closed in 1947. There are still traces of its existence throughout the parish such as the remains of the station platforms at the bottom of Duck Lane. Until the early 1900s a brickworks existed within the village (the Elham Valley Brick and Tile Company) with kilns situated on the east side of the valley.
Governance
Elham Parish Council oversees matters within the village. The parish is very large for such a small settlement, strecthing to the edge of LymingeLyminge
Lyminge is a village in southeast Kent, England. It lies about five miles from Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel, on the road passing through the Elham Valley. The Nailbourne stream begins in the village and flows north through the Valley, to become one of the tributary streams of the Great Stour...
in the south, to the hamlet of Breach in the north, and east to Acrise
Acrise
Acrise is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in Shepway District, Kent, England, about six miles north of Folkestone. The settlement derives its name from Old English, 'Acrise' being a development of the Old English term for "Oak Rise", the parish being on a small hill, still populated with old oak...
and west to Stelling Minnis
Stelling Minnis
Stelling Minnis is a village and civil parish in the Shepway District in Kent, England. The village lies to the south of Canterbury, and to the east of the B2068, Stone Street, the Roman road, which takes traffic between Lympne and Canterbury.- Windmill :...
. Elham is situated within the Elham and Stelling Minnis ward within the local government district of Shepway
Shepway
Shepway is a local government district in Kent, England. It includes the towns of Folkestone and Hythe and the Romney Marsh. It is named after the Jutish lathe of Shepway; the Royal Court of Shepway, which met near Lympne at a place called Shepway Cross, was the principal court of the Cinque Ports...
. The present local councillor for the Elham and Stelling Minnis Ward is Pamela Carr. The village is located within the constituency of Folkestone and Hythe and is represented in UK Parliament by Damian Collins
Damian Collins
Damian Noel Thomas Collins is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Folkestone and Hythe in the 2010 general election.-Education:...
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Economy and services
Elham Church of England Aided Primary School provides education for children from the age of 4 to 11. There is also a pre-school playgroup that operates within the village hall and a surgery. Elham has retained a village stores and there is also a farm shop at North Elham. A farmers market operates from the rose and crown every other Sunday. At the hamlet of Breach just outside the parish is the Elham Valley Vineyard. There are two pubs, the Rose and Crown and the King's arms and one restaurant, the Abbot's Fireside. However, services have declined in the latter half of the 20th century and into the 21st century and there is no longer a bakers, butchers, garage, post office, news agents or bookshop within the village. The New Inn has recently been closed and converted to housing.Similar to many other villages in the UK there is a shortage of social housing but there is no obvious sign of real demand. There is availability of property for families and those on ordinary incomes. Improvements in agriculture and the decline of local businesses has resulted in fewer employment opportunities within the village than there were in the early 20th century. Elham is located on the 17 bus route from Folkestone to Canterbury operated by Stagecoach.
Environment and conservation
Elham is situated deep in the heart of the North DownsNorth Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
and within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Kent Downs
Kent Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Kent, England . They are the eastern half of the North Downs and stretch from the London/Surrey borders to the White Cliffs of Dover...
. Whilst much of the countryside surrounding the village is arable farmland there are still patches of unimproved or semi-improved grassland where wildlife is allowed to flourish such as Baldock Downs and Hall Downs. These sites often support many typical chalk downland species such as Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris), Field Scabious
Knautia arvensis
Knautia arvensis, commonly known as Field Scabious, is a species in the genus Knautia.It is a perennial plant that grows between 25 and 100 cm. It prefers grassy places and dry soils, avoiding heavy soils, and flowers between July and September. The flowered head is flatter than similar...
(Knautia arvensis)and Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor) as well as orchids such as Fragrant (Gymnadenia conopsea), Common Spotted (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) and Pyramidal (Anacamptis pyramidalis).
Park Gate Down
Park Gate Down
Park Gate Down is a stretch of chalk downland near Elham in East Kent. The site is owned and managed as a nature reserve by the Kent Wildlife Trust and is also listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation...
nature reserve is situated within the parish and is well-known for its extensive downland flora. The site and the roadside nature reserve near the chalk pit are managed by Kent Wildlife Trust
Kent Wildlife Trust
Kent Wildlife Trust covers the county of Kent, England, and is one of the largest of the 47 Wildlife Trust organisations in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney...
. Several other areas of land within the parish are maintained under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme
Countryside Stewardship Scheme
The Countryside Stewardship Scheme is an agri-environment scheme run by the United Kingdom Government set up in 1991.Originally introduced as a five-year pilot project by the Countryside Commission, the scheme aimed to improve the environmental value of farmland throughout England...
whilst there are also designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest at Park Gate Down and Shuttlesfield Down. Elham Park Wood is owned and managed by the Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
. Local volunteers and farmers also carry out work to conserve and manage the environment. There is also an active environmental group who aim to reduce carbon emissions within the local community and receive support from Kent Energy Centre and Kent County Council
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...
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Famous inhabitants
KentKent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
and England wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
Les Ames
Les Ames
Leslie Ethelbert George Ames, CBE was an outstanding wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, the Wisden of 1991 described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman of all time...
was born and brought up in Elham. Another Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
and England cricketer Mark Ealham
Mark Ealham
Mark Alan Ealham is a retired English cricketer, who played domestic cricket for Kent C.C.C. and Nottinghamshire C.C.C.. He is an all-rounder and is a former England international at both Test and one-day cricket....
used to live in the Square. Academy Award winning actress Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
spent some of her childhood in Elham. Prime Minister Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
lived at Park Gate just north west of Elham during 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...
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