Mersham | |
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![]() Morris men at Mersham | |
Location within Kent | |
Area | 13.85 km2 (5.35 sq mi) |
Population | 1,124 (Civil Parish 2011) [1] |
• Density | 81/km2 (210/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | TR053396 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Ashford |
Postcode district | TN25 |
Dialling code | 01233 |
Police | Kent |
Fire | Kent |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
UK Parliament | |
Mersham is a mostly agricultural large village and civil parish near Ashford in Kent, England. The population of the civil parish includes the area of Cheesman's Green now known as Finberry.
In the mid 19th century, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Mersham in the following terms:
The village stands adjacent to the Tunbridge and Dover railway, 1½ mile NNW of Smeeth r. station, and 3½ SE of Ashford; and has a post office under Ashford and a fair on WhitFriday. The parish comprises 2,675 acres. Pop., 752. Houses, 143. The property is much subdivided.
Mersham Hatch is the seat of Sir N. J. Knatchbull, Bart.; has belonged to his family since the time of Henry VIII.; and is a red brick mansion, rebuilt in the last century. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £632. [lower-alpha 1] Patron, Oriel College, Oxford. The church is ancient but good; comprises nave, aisles, and two chancels; and contains monuments of the Hatch family. There are an endowed school with £10 a year, [lower-alpha 2] and charities £61. [2] [lower-alpha 3]
Until the early 20th century Mersham was for its majority a farming and orchard-tending community with close ties to the local market town of Ashford. The small village dates back to Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book . The village was owned by the Archbishops of Canterbury for over 500 years. The Anglican church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and is in the highest category of listed building, at Grade I. [3] It stands on the site of a Saxon church, and is part Norman. It is thought that the village gives rise to the surname Marshman.[ citation needed ]
The village has been the home of the Knatchbull family since the times of Henry VIII. In 1638 Sir Norton Knatchbull founded Ashford Grammar School, to which pupils were not admitted until they could read the Bible in English, he was also the Member of Parliament for Romney.
In the early 19th century Edward Knatchbull served in the Whig government and in 1830 another Sir Edward Knatchbull became M.P. for Romney and was given responsibility under Sir Robert Peel in his government of 1841.
Most of the neighbourhood of Cheesemans Green is in the parish.
The clustered village centre is in the small percentage of the parish between High Speed 1 and the M20 motorway.
There are two water mills on the East Stour river, one of which, Swanton, is still working.
Part of Hatch Park, a mixture of medieval deer park and SSSI, is in the civil parish.
Baron Brabourne, of Brabourne in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1880 for the Liberal politician Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen, the second son of Sir Edward Knatchbull, 9th Baronet, of Mersham Hatch. He had previously represented Sandwich in the House of Commons and served as Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs and Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. Lord Brabourne had assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Hugessen in 1849. His son, the second Baron, represented Rochester in Parliament as a Liberal.
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Sir Norton Knatchbull, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1679.
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William Western Knatchbull-Hugessen was an English amateur cricketer who played in three first-class cricket matches in 1858 and 1859.
Henry Edward Knatchbull was an English clergyman and amateur cricketer who played top level matches in the 19th century.