Sturry

Sturry
Sturry High Street
Sturry shown within Kent
Population	4,843
OS grid reference	TR176606
Parish	Sturry
District	City of Canterbury
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CANTERBURY
Postcode district	CT2
Dialling code	01227
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Canterbury
European Parliament	South East England
List of places: UK • England • Kent

Coordinates: 51°′″N 1°′″E / 51.3036, 1.1211

Sturry is a small village on the River Great Stour three miles north-east of Canterbury in Kent. It is a large parish incorporating the former mining village of Hersden and several hamlets.

It lies at the old Roman junction of the road from the city to Thanet and Reculver: at the point where a fort was built to protect the crossing of the river. Sturry railway station was opened in 1848 by the South Eastern Railway: it is on the line between Canterbury and Ramsgate. The station was until the 1860s the stage coach point for Herne and Herne Bay.

Sturry was one of the most badly bombed villages in England during the Second World War, the greater part of the High Street being destroyed by a parachute mine in 1941, which killed 15 people. Nonetheless a number of interesting buildings remain, including St Nicholas Parish Church, which is predominantly Norman in style, with the oldest parts dating to about 1200. The Manor House, built in 1583, is now the junior school of The King's School, Canterbury. Famous alumni include Antony Worrall Thompson and Orlando Bloom . There is also an oast house which is used as the pre-preparatory school. Nearby, on the river, is the remains of a large village water mill, and even the High Street retains some charming historic buildings. The village virtually adjoins one of the smallest towns in England, Fordwich, where there are further historic buildings, including the historic Town Hall. Fordwich itself is smaller in size than Sturry. A rare survival, a small granary, constructed with wooden weather-boards is located at Blaxland Farm and has nine staddle stones supporting it.

Since the 1960s a large number of satellite housing estates have been built on the north side of the village, mostly in former woodland. Although the houses in these estates are bland if not ugly, they have turned Sturry into one of the major dormitary villages for Canterbury. Nonetheless, the village is still overwhelmingly rural, with fields for arable farming and livestock grazing, and large amounts of coppice woodland. A number of market gardens can also be found in the countryside around the village. Large and deep quarries are still worked on the edge of the village, with the old workings flooded to provide recreational lakes used primarily for fishing.

Recently, A Costcutter was open, replacing the Corner Shop near the Bus Station. This shop sells an array of goods and the staff are always friendly.

External links

• A photographic tour of St Nicholas Church, Sturry
• Sturry Parish Council website

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