| Eccles | |
|---|---|
 Eccles from Blue Bell Hill | |
  Eccles Location within Kent | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Aylesford |
| Postcode district | ME20 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
Eccles is a village in the English county of Kent, part of the parish of Aylesford and in the valley of the River Medway.
It is near to the site of a Roman villa estate and pottery kiln, excavated between 1962 and 1976. The site was occupied from a decade or so after the Roman invasion up until the end of Roman Rule. [1] The villa underwent at least four main phases of construction. There is possible evidence of a military influence in the initial period [2] and latterly it comprised 37 rooms or more. It was preceded by an earlier development represented by a small, rectangular granary and an associated length of boundary wall, dating to AD 55-AD 65. The discovery of large-scale pottery manufacture in the immediate post-conquest era suggests the likelihood of industrial installations such as workshops, stores and wharves along the Medway. [3] The villa has been described as a particularly large and grand example of its kind and one of the most important villas in Britain from several points of view. [4] Situated beneath and around the villa are traces of an earlier, Iron Age farmstead, represented by a group of linear boundary ditches and pits. [5]
A large Saxon cemetery was discovered adjacent to the south-east wing of the villa formed by 200 or more graves aligned east–west and containing extended human skeletons. Up to three layers of burials were recognised during excavation. Grave goods were found with some of the lower and outlying burials, giving them a likely mid-seventh century date. Some of the skeletons showed evidence of having suffered fatal weapon injuries probably originating from a single hostile event. Towards the south east of the cemetery are a group of post holes which have been interpreted as a shrine, temple or small chapel. Signs of reuse during the medieval period include cesspits and rough cobbling beyond the courtyard boundary wall. [6]
The archaeological site incorporates evidence of Roman and Medieval tile kilns, dating from AD 180 to AD 290 and from the mid thirteenth century respectively. Additionally, large quantities of waste material indicate the site of a Roman pottery kiln with a terminal date of AD 70. [7]
Further details of the archaeology in this area can be found in The Romano-British Villa and Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Eccles, Kent. [8]
There is a reference to the Common Park at Aylesford, dating to 1597, which has been interpreted as a deer park, although it could refer to a common. The site lies to the South of Eccles village and to the west of (now) Bull Lane. According to an 1805 map the park consisted of some 269 acres
Prior to 1850, the area now occupied by Eccles was mostly farms and arable land. [9] Around that time, the builder Thomas Cubitt bought two farms near the river and opened a brickyard and cement works. [10] The brick works was the most advanced in the world producing up to 30 million bricks a year. Situated on a gentle slope, the buildings were positioned along tram lines so that each stage of manufacture moved closer to the quay; with this arrangement production progressed by gravity rather haulage. [11] Transfers within the works site were facilitated by upwards of three miles of tram and railroad, connecting the works buildings with the extraction pits and the wharf. Piped water was provided to the works from a large reservoir. At its peak, the works employed almost a thousand men and boys. [12] The plant formally closed in 1941 and was later demolished. [13] [14]
As the brick works was established, a local farmer Thomas Abbot built a terrace of 22 cottages to house the workers, the settlement soon increased to 300. [15] The area was known as ‘Bull Lane’ before it adopted the name of ‘Eccles’. The former name still appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1897. [16]
Although the village did not acquire the name ‘Eccles’ until some time in the second half of the 19th century, the name is not new. In her book The Place Names of Kent, [17] Judith Glover traces it in its present form back to 1208 and suggests that it derived from the 10th-century 'Aecclesse', meaning the 'meadow of the oak'. The Domesday Book of 1086 records Eccles as ‘Aiglessa’. [18] At that time, it had a population of 22 households, putting it in the largest 40% of recorded settlements. [19] It has also been suggested that the name 'Eccles' comes from the Latin word 'ecclesia' meaning 'church', implying that a post-Roman Christian community existed in the area, although there is no evidence for this. [20] Volume 4 of The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, published in 1798, reports that Eccles was a manor of the parish of Aylesford, "which was of some note in the time of the Conqueror, being then part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the king's half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the book of Domesday". [21] The site of the manor of Eccles was lost to public knowledge by the 18th Century, but it was surmised to be somewhere at the eastern extremity of the parish, near Boxley Hill.
A detailed history of the village of Eccles can be found in The Medway Valley: A Kent landscape transformed. [9]
There is a school, a church, [22] a pub, a convenience store with post office services, [23] and a doctors’ surgery. [24] There is also a church hall, which is used by the village pre-school, and a drop-in centre for the over-50s in Cork Street.
At the centre of the village is a large park (‘the Rec’) with a skate park, children's play facilities and exercise equipment for adults. On weekends there are junior football games. Nearby, there is a sports field which has been used by Eccles Football Club since the 19th century.
There is now just one pub in Eccles, the Red Bull, which is grade II listed. [25] [26] The Walnut Tree was demolished in early 2012 and the site developed into private housing. [27]
St Mark’s School, [28] Eccles, is a small mixed-year group, Church of England Primary School. It was rebuilt in 2002 on a green-field site close to the small Victorian building that it replaced. [29] It is set in attractive grounds, with solar roof panels, large gardens, allotment beds and a sports court. [30]
A library bus visits every Tuesday afternoon. [31]
A farmers’ market is held on every third Sunday of the month [32] at Aylesford Priory which is within walking distance of the village.
Eccles is three miles from junctions 5 and 6 of the M20 motorway, and the same distance from junction 3 of the M2 motorway. Maidstone East Station is 4+1⁄2 miles away. The village also has road access to communities on the west bank of the Medway by way of Peter's Bridge which was opened in September 2016. [33]
Eccles sits between the villages of Aylesford (one mile away) and Burham (also one mile away), below the North Downs whose shelter provides a favourable micro-climate for both the village and the adjacent vineyards. [34]
There is a network of footpaths around the village providing access to the surrounding countryside, vineyards and the River Medway. There are all-weather footways south to Aylesford Priory and north to Pilgrims' Way and thence to Burham. Beyond Burham, there is a combined footpath and cycle way down to the Riverside Walk at Peter's Village.
Eccles features on a number of ramblers' routes. For example, it is part of the 'Ancient Sites of Aylesford' walk, [35] which incorporates the ancient monuments of Kit's Coty House and Little Kit's Coty House.
Three major long-distance trails pass within a mile of the village. They are the Pilgrims' Way, the North Downs Way and the Medway Valley Walk.
The vineyard adjacent to Eccles village is located on land acquired by the wine producer Chapel Down in 2007. [34] It is named after the ancient monument which is situated on the slope of the North Downs immediately above. [36] The conditions for viniculture are reputed to be similar to those of the Champagne region in France. [37] By coincidence, the route of the 2007 Tour de France through Kent included a section of Pilgrim’s Way that lies immediately along the northern boundary of the vineyard. [38] [39]
At one time, prior to its acquisition by Chapel Down, the land had been designated as the site for the Mid Kent Parkway Station on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. [40] [41] However, following strong opposition from PEFTT (Protect Eccles From The Train) and other local groups, [42] it was eventually decided that the rail route would not run along the Medway Valley past Eccles and Burham but would instead pass through a 4 km tunnel under Blue Bell Hill, and run alongside the M2. [43] Among those claiming credit for this decision were a coven of White Witches from Hastings who had previously performed a ritual at Little Kit’s Coty House on the Countless Stones to protect them from any disturbance by the railway. [44] [45]
The 95 acres of the vineyard are planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Bacchus grapes. [46] The Chardonnay grape is used in a premium single-vineyard range of wines which are marketed as the Kit’s Coty Collection. [47]
Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, England, 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Maidstone.
The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a total distance of 70 miles (113 km). About 13 miles (21 km) of the river lies in East Sussex, with the remainder being in Kent.
Snodland is a town in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It lies on the River Medway, between Rochester and Maidstone, and 27 miles (43 km) from central London. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 10,211.
The Medway Megaliths, sometimes termed the Kentish Megaliths, are a group of Early Neolithic chambered long barrows and other megalithic monuments located in the lower valley of the River Medway in Kent, South-East England. Constructed from local sarsen stone and soil between the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE, they represent the only known prehistoric megalithic group in eastern England and the most south-easterly group in Britain.
Little Kit's Coty House, also known as Lower Kit's Coty House and the Countless Stones, is a chambered long barrow located near to the village of Aylesford in the southeastern English county of Kent. Constructed circa 4000 BCE, during the Early Neolithic period of British prehistory, today it survives in a ruined state.
The Coffin Stone, also known as the Coffin and the Table Stone, is a large sarsen stone at the foot of Blue Bell Hill near Aylesford in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Now lying horizontally, the stone probably once stood upright nearby. Various archaeologists have argued that the stone was part of a now-destroyed chambered long barrow constructed in the fourth millennium BCE, during Britain's Early Neolithic period.
The White Horse Stone is a name given to two separate sarsen megaliths on the slopes of Blue Bell Hill, near the village of Aylesford in the south-eastern English county of Kent. The Lower White Horse Stone was destroyed prior to 1834, at which time the surviving Upper White Horse Stone took on its name and folkloric associations. Various archaeologists have suggested—although not proven—that the stones were each part of chambered long barrows constructed in the fourth millennium BC, during Britain's Early Neolithic period.
Smythe's Megalith, also known as the Warren Farm Chamber, was a chambered long barrow near the village of Aylesford in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Probably constructed in the 4th millennium BCE, during Britain's Early Neolithic period, it was discovered in 1822, at which point it was dismantled. Built out of earth and at least five local sarsen megaliths, the long barrow consisted of a roughly rectangular earthen tumulus with a stone chamber in its eastern end. Human remains were deposited into this chamber.
Kit's Coty House or Kit's Coty is a chambered long barrow near the village of Aylesford in the southeastern English county of Kent. Constructed circa 4000 BCE, during the Early Neolithic period of British prehistory, today it survives in a ruined state.
Wouldham is a village on the bank of the River Medway in Kent, Great Britain. As of 2006 its population is approximately 1000 people, with the 11th-century church, one school, one village shop, and two public houses, The Medway Inn and The Waterman's Arms.
Borstal is a place in the Medway unitary authority of Kent in South East England. Originally a village near Rochester, it has become absorbed by the expansion of Rochester. The youth prison at Borstal gave its name to the Borstal reform school system.
Chatham and Aylesford is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Tracey Crouch, a Conservative.
Blue Bell Hill is a chalk hill between Maidstone and Rochester in the English county of Kent. It overlooks the River Medway and is part of the North Downs. Settlements on the hill include the Walderslade suburb of Chatham and the villages of Blue Bell Hill and Kit's Coty. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries much of the hill was quarried for chalk.
Burham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,251, decreasing to 1,195 at the 2011 Census. The village is near the Medway towns.
Faversham Stone Chapel also known as Our Lady of Elwarton, is a medieval chapel built on top of a Romano-British mausoleum. The chapel is located in what is thought to have been the Roman settlement of Durolevum, near the modern town of Faversham, in Kent, England. It is the only chapel in England known to incorporate the remains of an ancient shrine or mausoleum.
The history of Maidstone and its environs goes as far back as Mesolithic times. It has seen settlement by the Romans and the Normans and played a role in pivotal moments of English history such as the Peasants' Revolt and the English Civil War. It has also hosted an Army barracks since Napoleonic times and was an important centre for Kent's brewing and papermaking industries.
At Eccles in Kent the remains of a huge Roman Villa with palatial dimensions were excavated between 1962 and 1976. In the second century AD, the villa was almost 112 m long. Over 135 different rooms have been identified throughout the various periods of construction and reconstruction. The villa was abandoned in the Fourth century and much of it was removed in the Thirteenth century for the construction of Aylesford Priory.
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Media related to Eccles, Kent at Wikimedia Commons
