Harbledown | |
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St Nicholas' Church in Harbledown | |
Location within Kent | |
Area | 2.92 sq mi (7.6 km2) |
Population | 2,656 (2011 Ward) [1] |
• Density | 910/sq mi (350/km2) |
OS grid reference | TR130579 |
Civil parish |
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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 | |
Harbledown is a village in Kent, England, immediately west of Canterbury and contiguous with the city. At local government level the village is designated as a separate civil parish, that of Harbledown and Rough Common. The High Street is a conservation area with many listed buildings, including a tall and intact Georgian terrace on the south side. The area includes several orchards for fruit on its outskirts, within the parish boundaries.
Toponymists have determined that the village name means "Herebeald's hill". [2]
A popular story is that the place was dubbed "hobble down", after Henry II of England walked barefoot through Harbledown on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral, in repentance for his mistaken involvement in the murder of Thomas Becket.
Another suggestion is that since the name has been recorded as Herbaldoun, it is possible that the name is related to the herbs growing in the hills. "The spot is remarked to be peculiarly healthful, and herbalists are said to come every year to collect medicinal plants which grow only on that particular place." [3] For this reason the leprosy hospital was founded on this spot.
However Judith Glover in "The Place Names of Kent" gives the earliest rendition of the place names as Herebealding dun which would be AngloSaxon as Herebeald's Hill, Herebolddune in 1175, Herebaldon in 1196, Herbeldon in 1229 and established as Harbledoune in 1610.
The Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels is compact and attractive but more significant is the Hospital of St Nicholas: this is now an Almshouse with a range of cottages for elderly people. Formerly, it was a leper hospital whose inmates supported themselves by displaying a slipper that had been worn by St Thomas Becket; passing pilgrims would leave a donation for the privilege of seeing it.
The leper's hospital was founded in 1085 by Archbishop Lanfranc; "the hospital and well can still be seen". [4] The old leper church of St Nicholas, built at about the same time, is a Grade I listed property; the summary states: "a late-C11 building with C12 and C14 additions ... a very well-preserved Norman and later medieval church". [5] According to Kent County Council, the church and its buildings were converted into almshouses in 1859; that use continued until 1900. The buildings were "rebuilt in 1685 and again in 1840". [6]
As you enter the Hospital of St Nicholas a plaque reads:
"This ancient Hospital of St Nicholas Harbledown was founded by Archbishop Lanfranc c. 1084 for the relief of Lepers. On the disappearance of Leprosy from England Lanfranc's foundation gradually developed into the Almshouses of today. The main door of the church is kept locked for security reasons but the interior of the building can be seen by appointment with the Sub Prior. Visitors are invited to walk in the grounds of the Hospital."
There is thought to be a reference to the village of Harbledown towards the close of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. In the Prologue to the Manciple's tale, the pilgrims are said to near Bobbe-up-and-doun, | Under the Blee, in Canterbury Weye. [7]
Richard Culmer (1597–1662), a Puritan clergyman who had been suspended from his duties in 1635, was restored to the clergy in 1638 as a curate. He was sent to the Parish of Harbledown to assist the Reverend Austin. Culmer, known as "Blue Dick" because he always wore a blue gown, was vindictive towards drunkenness and Sabbath sports. [8] Cricket at this time was played at an inter-parish level only in the south-eastern counties but there had been a number of ecclesiastical cases in which people playing the game on a Sunday were prosecuted. Whereas Culmer had managed to suppress Sabbath sport in other places, he was less successful in Harbledown where the parishioners provoked him by "crickit playing before his door, to spite him". [8]
Having failed to stop cricket in the village by private remonstrances, Culmer in 1640 publicly denounced the sport as "profane", especially if played on a Sunday. This is one of cricket's earliest known references. [8] [9]
Organised Kent cricket was first established in 1835 in the nearby village of Hackington, with the formation of the club which became (by 1842) the Kent County Cricket Club.
Harbledown | Canterbury district | England | |
---|---|---|---|
Population | 2,593 | 135,278 | 49,138,831 |
Foreign born | 11.9% | 7.6% | 9.2% |
White | 94.3% | 96.6% | 90.9% |
Asian | 2.8% | 1.5% | 4.6% |
Black | 0.8% | 0.5% | 2.3% |
Christian | 73.3% | 73.3% | 72% |
Muslim | 0.6% | 0.6% | 3.1% |
Hindu | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
No religion | 15.7% | 16.7% | 15% |
Unemployed | 1.5% | 2.7% | 3.3% |
Retired | 17.9% | 15.2% | 13.5% |
At the 2001 UK census, the Harbledown electoral ward, which includes part of Chartham, had a population of 2,593. The ethnicity was 94.3% white, 1.2% mixed race, 2.8% Asian, 0.8% black and 0.9% other. The place of birth of residents was 88.1% United Kingdom, 0.8% Republic of Ireland, 3.1% other Western European countries, and 8% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 73.3% Christian, 0.5% Buddhist, 0.4% Hindu, 0.2% Sikh, 0.2% Jewish and 0.6% Muslim. 15.7% were recorded as having no religion, 0.7% had an alternative religion and 8.5% did not state their religion. [10]
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 35.9% in full-time employment, 12.7% in part-time employment, 11.3% self-employed, 1.5% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 8.3% students without jobs, 17.9% retired, 4.9% looking after home or family, 3.3% permanently sick or disabled and 1.9% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 15.1% retail, 8.2% manufacturing, 5.8% construction, 12% real estate, 10.8% health and social work, 24.1% education, 4.6% transport and communications, 6.7% public administration, 2.7% hotels and restaurants, 2.9% finance, 2.6% agriculture and 4.5% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in education and agriculture. There were a relatively low proportion in manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, and transport and communications. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 31.3% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide. [10]
Ælfheah, more commonly known today as Alphege, was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot of Bath Abbey. His reputation for piety and sanctity led to his promotion to the episcopate and, eventually, to his becoming archbishop. Ælfheah furthered the cult of Dunstan and also encouraged learning. He was captured by Viking raiders in 1011 during the siege of Canterbury and killed by them the following year after refusing to allow himself to be ransomed. Ælfheah was canonised as a saint in 1078. Thomas Becket, a later Archbishop of Canterbury, prayed to Ælfheah just before his murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.
Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai or Saint Damien De Veuster, born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious institute. He was recognized for his ministry, which he led from 1873 until his death in 1889, in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi to people with leprosy, who lived in government-mandated medical quarantine in a settlement on the Kalaupapa Peninsula of Molokaʻi.
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about 80 miles (130 km) east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of about 25,000. Situated between Margate and Ramsgate, Broadstairs is one of Thanet's seaside resorts, known as the "jewel in Thanet's crown". The town's coat of arms' Latin motto is Stella Maris. The name derives from a former flight of steps in the chalk cliff, which led from the sands up to the 11th-century shrine of St Mary on the cliff's summit.
Ightham is a parish and village in Kent, England, located approximately four miles east of Sevenoaks and six miles north of Tonbridge. The parish includes the hamlet of Ivy Hatch.
The Most Reverend Canon Richard Culmer of Canterbury (1597–1662) was an English Puritan clergyman, iconoclast, and theologian. He is listed by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as being of unknown parentage, although some sources indicate that he was the eldest son of Sir Henry Culmer, the first Baron Culmer. According to this family tree, Sir Henry, himself a son of a Henry Culmer, had married Mary Baldwyn of Kent in 1602, and was created a Baron by King Charles I in 1630. Although this is not listed in Burke's Peerage, his family was of considerable importance.
Charing is a village and civil parish in the Ashford district of Kent, in south-east England. It includes the settlements of Charing Heath and Westwell Leacon. It is located at the foot of the North Downs and reaches up to the escarpment. In 2011 the parish had a population of 2766.
Stone is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located 2.5 miles east of Dartford. In 2011 the parish had a population of 10,778.
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, 20 miles south east of Central London and 4 miles (6 km) north east of Sevenoaks. Also in the parish there 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 4,014 persons, increasing to a population of 4,218 at the 2011 Census.
Biddenden is a large, mostly agricultural and wooded village and civil parish in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. The village lies on the Weald of Kent, 5 miles (8 km) north of Tenterden. It was a centre for the Wealden iron industry and clothmaking.
Eastbridge Hospital, also known as The Hospital of Saint Thomas Becket the Martyr, is a Hospital in the old sense of the word short for Hospitality and was founded in the 12th century in Canterbury, England, to provide overnight accommodation for poor pilgrims who were travelling to the shrine of St Thomas Becket. It is now one of the ten almshouses still providing accommodation for elderly citizens of Canterbury and is a grade I listed building.
Ewelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, 2.5 miles (4 km) northeast of the market town of Wallingford. The 2011 census recorded the parish's population as 1,048. To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield, the northeastern corner of which is within the parish boundary. The local geology is chalk overlying gault clay; the drift geology includes some gravel.
Chartham is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of Kent, England. It is situated on the Ashford side of the city, and is in the North Downs area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 2.3 mi (4 km) south west of Canterbury, England. The Great Stour Way path passes through the village. A paper mill in the village that had specialised in the production of tracing paper since 1938 has in 2022 closed down. There are numerous arable farms and orchards in the parish. The village has an unstaffed station, Chartham, and has recently upgraded its staffed level crossing to an automatic barrier. It has an outlying locality sharing in many of the community resources, Chartham Hatch. Its current Lord Mayor is Gary Dodd.
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.
Hackington is an area of Canterbury in Kent, England, also known as St Stephen's, incorporating the northern part of the city, as well as a semi-rural area to the north.
Saltwood is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe District of Kent, England. Within the parish are the small hamlets of Pedlinge and Sandling.
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The Hospital of St Lawrence, variously known as St Lawrence's Hospital, the Hospice of St Lawrence and the free Chapel and Hospice of St Lawrence and St James, was a medieval house for lepers outside the town of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It was located to the west of the town, on what is now Welsh Row, within the parish of Acton. St Lawrence's later became a hospital for the infirm poor. Dissolved in 1548, the hospital's land and property was purchased by the Wright family. One of its buildings was subsequently used for dwellings.
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Rochester was founded in 1078 for the care of the poor and lepers. It survived as a charity until taken over with the founding of the National Health Service. The hospital closed permanently in September 2016.
Hospitals in medieval Scotland can be dated back to the 12th century. From c. 1144 to about 1650 many hospitals, bedehouses and maisons Dieu were built in Scotland.
The Hospital Chapel of St Mary the Virgin and St Thomas of Canterbury, Ilford, also known as Ilford Hospital Chapel is on Ilford Hill in Ilford. It is an ancient charitable foundation dating from about 1140, and is the oldest building in the London Borough of Redbridge. Since 1954 it has been protected as a Grade II* listed building under UK legislation.