Blean

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Blean
The church of St Cosmus and St Damian, Blean - geograph.org.uk - 752048.jpg
Church of St Cosmus and St Damian
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Blean
Location within Kent
Area13.67 km2 (5.28 sq mi)
Population5,589 (Civil Parish 2011) [1]
•  Density 409/km2 (1,060/sq mi)
OS grid reference TR119608
Civil parish
  • Blean
District
Shire county
Region
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
List of places
UK
England
Kent
51°18′25″N1°02′35″E / 51.307°N 1.043°E / 51.307; 1.043

Blean is a village and civil parish [2] in the Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The developed village within the parish is scattered along the road between Canterbury and Whitstable, in the middle of the Forest of Blean. The parish of St. Cosmus and St. Damian in the Blean was renamed "Blean" on 1 April 2019. [3]

Contents

History

According to Edward Hasted's 1800 county study, the village was once part of the king's ancient forest of Blean in the hundred of Westgate. [4]

The name Blean is the dative form of the Old English word ‘blea’ which means rough ground. [5] [6] Therefore the name of the parish means "the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian (sic) in the rough ground."

In 1835, the Blean Union Workhouse, designed by William Edmunds, was built on four acres south of Herne Common. The design was based on Sir Francis Bond Head's Plan of a Rural Workhouse for 500 Persons, a publication of the Poor Law Commission. To keep costs down, no outside drains were added, and the building was windowless. Discipline was severe. A nine-year-old girl was once punished for a small offence by being forced to remain overnight in the mortuary with a corpse; however, the Master and Matron were dismissed as a result. [7]

Amenities

The village has a druid woodland sculpture park, noted for its large sleeping dragon. The east of the village has a hall and recreation ground used for sports.

The parish church is about half a mile from the village centre. It is dedicated to St Cosmus and St Damian and emphasising some kind of descriptor of the land itself, has always been suffixed 'in the Blean'. It is a 13th-century building and Grade II* listed, the second highest designation in the national grading scheme. [8] [9]

The village contains: two pubs; a cafe; an archery store; corner store.

Governance

Blean is part of the electoral ward of Blean Forest. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 6,176. [10]

Economy

Blean's economy is closely tied to Canterbury and to a lesser extent, Whitstable. In television entertainment Smallfilms operates here the production company that created the animated series Ivor the Engine , Bagpuss and the Clangers , at Peter Firmin's barn on the Blean farm. The bay window of Firmin's house was featured in the opening sequence of Bagpuss . [11]

Eponyms

The Hunt-class destroyer HMS Blean was named after the village's Blean Beagles hunt.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Peter Arthur Firmin was an English artist and puppet maker. He was the founder of Smallfilms, along with Oliver Postgate. Between them they created a number of popular children's TV programmes, The Saga of Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Clangers, Bagpuss and Pogles' Wood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitstable</span> Town in Kent, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Canterbury</span> Local government district in Kent, England

Canterbury, commonly called the City of Canterbury, is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. As well as Canterbury itself, the district extends north to the coastal towns of Whistable and Herne Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reculver</span> Seaside village in Kent, England

Reculver is a village and coastal resort about 3 miles (5 km) east of Herne Bay on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. It is in the ward of the same name, in the City of Canterbury district of Kent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barfrestone</span> Human settlement in England

Barfrestone is a village and a former civil parish, now in the parish of Eythorne, in the Dover district, in east Kent, England. It is between Shepherdswell, Eythorne and Nonington, close to the pit villages of Elvington and Snowdown. In 1931 the parish had a population of 91. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Eythorne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunkirk, Kent</span> Human settlement in England

Dunkirk is a village and civil parish between Faversham and Canterbury in southeast England. It lies on the Canterbury Road between Boughton under Blean and Harbledown. This was the main Roman road from the Kentish ports to London, also known as Watling Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canterbury (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency since 1295

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobbing, Kent</span> Human settlement in England

Bobbing is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England, about a mile north-west of Sittingbourne, and forming part of its urban area. The hamlet of Howt Green and village of Keycol are included within the parish. According to the 2011 census Bobbing parish had a population of 1,969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonington</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boughton under Blean</span> Human settlement in England

Boughton under Blean is a village and civil parish between Faversham and Canterbury in south-east England. "Boughton under Blean" technically refers only to the hamlet at the top of Boughton Hill; the main village at the foot of the hill is named Boughton Street, but the whole is referred to as "Boughton under Blean" or more commonly as just "Boughton". The Blean refers to the Forest of Blean, an area of long-standing Kent woodland covering over 11 square miles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chestfield</span> Human settlement in England

Chestfield is a village in the Canterbury District of Kent, England. The parish is centred 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the sea on the north coast of Kent, between the towns of Whitstable and Herne Bay. It is approximately five miles (8 km) north of Canterbury. Over a third of the parish, all of which is the south of its ambit, is woodland. The north-west consists of a business park and superstore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston-next-Wingham</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadoxhurst</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackington</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sholden</span> Human settlement in England

Sholden is a small village adjacent to the seaside town of Deal, lying on the road towards Sandwich in Kent, South East England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swalecliffe</span> A coastal village in Kent, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coldred</span> Small settlement in Kent, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seasalter</span> Village in Kent, England

Seasalter is a village in the Canterbury District of Kent, England. Seasalter is on the north coast of Kent, between the towns of Whitstable and Faversham, facing the Isle of Sheppey across the estuary of the River Swale. The settlement of Yorkletts is included in the ward. It is approximately 6 miles (10 km) north of Canterbury.

References

  1. ↑ Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density Archived 11 February 2003 at the Wayback Machine United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 November 2013
  2. ↑ "Blean". Mapit. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  3. ↑ "The Canterbury City Council (Reorganisation of Community Governance) Order 2018" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Hasted, Edward (1800). "Parishes". The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. Institute of Historical Research. 9: 2–7. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  5. ↑ English, University of Nottingham - Institute of Name Studies School of. "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "Blean Parish Council".
  7. ↑ "Blean, Kent". The Workhouse: The Story of an Institution. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  8. ↑ "Church of St Cosmus and St Damian, St Cosmus and St Damian in the Blean". www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Cosmus and St Damian (Grade II*) (1085522)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Blean Forest Ward population 2011" . Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Bagpuss - See Emily Play". BBC. London. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2008.



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