Penshurst | |
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![]() Penshurst village | |
Location within Kent | |
Population | 1,628 (2011 Census) [1] |
OS grid reference | TQ525435 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Tonbridge |
Postcode district | TN11 |
Police | Kent |
Fire | Kent |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
UK Parliament | |
Penshurst is a historic village and civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, within the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England.
The village is situated between the market town of Tonbridge and the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, some 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Sevenoaks. Penshurst and its neighbouring village, Fordcombe, recorded a combined population of some 1,628 at the 2011 Census. [1]
The majority of the parish falls within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the village is itself a conservation zone, with controls on the landscape ensuring the protection of its woodland and fields. There are several listed buildings in the village.
The village is the home of two historic estates. Penshurst Place, formerly owned by King Henry VIII, sits at the centre of the village in the valley, while Swaylands is situated at the top of Rogues Hill on the outskirts of the village.
The village grew up around Penshurst Place, the ancestral home of the Sidney family. There are many Tudor-looking buildings in the village, although some are Victorian. Henry Stafford the first Baron Stafford was born here in 1501.
The Leicester Arms, once part of the Penshurst Estate, was owned by Sir William Sidney, grandfather of poet and statesman Sir Philip Sidney. His other grandson, the Viscount De L’isle, was appointed Earl of Leicester in 1618 and it was shortly after this that The Leicester Arms, formerly known as The Porcupine, was renamed in his honour. The pub and hotel is now owned privately.
Penshurst railway station, on the Tonbridge to Redhill railway line, is some 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the village, at the hamlet of Chiddingstone Causeway. Penshurst Airfield was located close to the station, but within the parish of Leigh. It opened in 1916 as a military airfield, and served as a civil airfield from 1919-36. It was reopened as RAF Penshurst in 1940, and closed in 1946. To the south of the village, within the parish, are the settlements of Saint's Hill and Smart's Hill.
Penshurst Place is a 14th century manor house built in 1341. The 2,500 acre estate, once the property of King Henry VIII, was left to his son King Edward VI and granted to Sir William Sidney in 1552. The Sidney family have been in continuous occupation for more than 460 years since. The house and its extensive gardens are now open to the public. The historic banqueting hall at Penshurst Place has been used as a filming location for many Hollywood films, including The Secret Garden and The Other Boleyn Girl , as well as the BBC television series Merlin and Wolf Hall . [2] [3] The ancient historic parkland provides scenic walks to many visitors each year, contributing significantly to Penshurst's tourism industry. The two walking trails across the estate - the Parkland and the Riverside Walks, both take in part of the Eden Valley walk. With over 7 miles of the Rivers Medway and Eden flowing through the Estate, and several lakes, both game and coarse fishing are popular at Penshurst Place.
The parish church, dedicated to St John the Baptist, is one of the two churches in the civil parish. The Grade I listed church houses many memorials and tombs, including those of a Viceroy of India, two Field Marshals and two winners of the Victoria Cross. [4]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(November 2022) |
William Philip Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle,, known as Lord De L'Isle and Dudley between 1945 and 1956, was a British Army officer, politician and Victoria Cross recipient who served as the 15th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1961 to 1965. He was the last non-Australian to hold the position.
Tonbridge and Malling is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Tonbridge is the largest settlement but the authority is based in the modern development of Kings Hill.
Viscount De L'Isle, of Penshurst in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1956 for William Sidney, 6th Baron de L'Isle and Dudley, VC, KG, GCMG, GCVO (1909–1991).
Sevenoaks is a local government district in west Kent, England. Its council is based in the town of Sevenoaks.
Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving in the Peninsular War and the Waterloo Campaign he became Secretary at War in Wellington's ministry. After a tour as Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1830 he became Secretary at War again in Sir Robert Peel's cabinet. He went on to be Governor-General of India at the time of the First Anglo-Sikh War and then Commander-in-Chief of the Forces during the Crimean War.
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, was a British diplomat and statesman who served as Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1910 to 1916.
Hildenborough is a village and rural parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Tonbridge and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Sevenoaks. The village lies in the River Medway valley, near the North Downs, in an area known as The Weald.
Penshurst Place is a historic building near Tonbridge, Kent, 32 miles (51 km) south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, Sir Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete surviving examples of 14th-century domestic architecture in England. Part of the house and its gardens are open for public viewing. Many TV shows and movies have been filmed at Penshurst.
Chiddingstone is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the River Eden between Tonbridge and Edenbridge. The village of Chiddingstone Causeway and the hamlet Chiddingstone Hoath are also included in the parish.
Leigh, historically spelled Lyghe, is a village and a civil parish located in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. It is located six miles (10 km) south of Sevenoaks town and three miles (5 km) west of Tonbridge.
Wrotham is a village on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Borough Green and approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of Sevenoaks. It is between the M20 and M26 motorways.
Fordcombe is a village within the civil parish of Penshurst in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The village is located on the northern slopes of the Weald, five miles (8 km) west of Royal Tunbridge Wells.
The following is a list of recreational walks in Kent, England.
Plaxtol is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The village is located around 5 miles (8 km) north of Tonbridge and the same distance east of Sevenoaks. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,117.
Sir Ivone Augustine Kirkpatrick, was a British diplomat who served as the British High Commissioner in Germany after World War II, and as the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the highest-ranking civil servant in the Foreign Office.
Chiddingstone Causeway is a village 4 miles (6 km) west of Tonbridge in Kent, England. It is within the Sevenoaks local government district. It is in the civil parish of Chiddingstone.
The Royal Households of the United Kingdom consists of royal officials and the supporting staff of the British Royal Family, as well as the Royal Household which supports the Sovereign. Each member of the Royal Family who undertakes public duties has his own separate Household.
The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list should be published on that day anyway.
St John the Baptist Church at Penshurst, Kent is a Grade I listed Anglican parish church in the Diocese of Rochester in England. Those buried or commemorated here include Knights, Earls, Viscounts, a Viceroy of India, a Governor-General of Australia, a Private Secretary to two Kings, two Field Marshals and two winners of the Victoria Cross. Through its courtiers, soldiers, statesmen, politicians or priests whose lives appear on memorials or through its changing architecture, brasses, carvings, effigies and windows, the church helps tell a country's story through the eyes of single village.
Swaylands is a private parkland estate set high upon the Kentish Weald, on the edge of the village of Penshurst in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England.