Kemsing, Kent

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Coordinates: 51°18′26″N 0°13′31″E / 51.307120°N 0.225180°E / 51.307120; 0.225180

Kemsing
Church of St. Mary
Kemsing Kemsing shown within Kent
Population	4,014  (2001)[1]
District	Sevenoaks
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Sevenoaks
Dialling code	01732 and 01959
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
European Parliament	South East England
List of places: UK • England • Kent

Kemsing is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. The parish lies on the scarp face of the North Downs, 4 miles (6 km) north east of Sevenoaks. Also in the parish are the hamlets of Heaverham, 1 mile (2 km) to the east, and Noah's Ark 0.5 miles (1 km) to the south. The population of the civil parish in 2001 was 4014 persons.

Clock at St. Edith's Hall.

Local infrastructure

The main roads in the village are West End, Dynes Road and Childsbridge Lane. Along West End can be found a mechanic, a newsagent, a post office, a butcher and St. Edith's Social Club. At the end of Dynes Road there is another newsagent, a convenience store, three takeaway restaurants and a post office, which are all collectively known as Dynes Parade.

West End is the location of the two village centre public houses, the Bell and the Wheatsheaf, while further to the east at Heaverham is the Chequers.

1 mile (2 km) south-east of the village lies Kemsing railway station. The M26 motorway passes through the parish. It is also a key stopping-off point on the North Downs Way which runs north of the village along the ridge of the Downs.

Local environment

The village lies in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Kemsing Down Reserve, managed by Kemsing Parish Council and Sevenoaks District Council, lies above the village on the North Downs. It is reached from Childsbridge Lane, and is an area of chalk grassland.

Sports facilities

To the east of the village is the large open space known as The Common Field, used for cricket and football, and the Sir Mark Collet Sports Pavilion, with tennis and squash courts.

History

Kemsing was the birthplace, in AD961, of Saint Edith of Wilton, an illegitimate daughter of the Saxon King Edgar I. The well at the centre of the village is dedicated to her, a plaque on the wall recording the local legend that her saintly presence has given the water healing properties. The historic village centre area around the well includes the war memorial, a cluster of picturesque cottages and St. Edith's Hall, the front of which is adorned with a statue of the saint and a clock which chimes the hours and bears the inscription:

'Tis mine
Each passing hour to tell.
'Tis thine
To use it ill or well.

Given the village connection with St. Edith it is perhaps surprising that the parish church, Saxon in origin, is however dedicated to St Mary the Virgin.

Another local legend states that the knights who murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket rode through Kemsing on their way to seek him out at Canterbury. Following his canonisation Kemsing became a stop-off place on the Pilgrims' Way, along which pilgrims travelled to visit the saint's shrine at Canterbury Cathedral.

The Women's Institute organisation opened its first institute in Kent in Kemsing in December 1915.

External links

• Kemsing Parish Council
• An article on the village
• St Mary's church
• Kemsing Down Reserve
• Kemsing Heritage Centre
• Kemsing Sports Association

References

1. ^ "Kemsing CP". Neighbourhood Statistics. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=795533&c=Kemsing&d=16&e=15&g=459119&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=781. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. 

• The Story of Kemsing in Kent V.E.Bowden, 1994, Kemsing Historical and Art Society, ISBN 0-9504703-2-5

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