Graveney | |
---|---|
All Saints Church, Graveney | |
Location within Kent | |
Population | 490 (2011) [1] |
Civil parish | |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Faversham |
Postcode district | ME13 |
Police | Kent |
Fire | Kent |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
UK Parliament | |
Graveney is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Graveney with Goodnestone, in the Swale district, in Kent, England. It is located between Faversham and Whitstable. The main part of the village is located along the intersection of Seasalter Road, Sandbanks Road and Head Hill Road (at the railway crossing), which is surrounded by farmland. The rest of the village is dispersed amongst this farmland. In 1961 the parish had a population of 305. [2]
Features include a local pub ('The Four Horseshoes'), a primary school and a church. There is also a regular bus service that runs through the village.
The Saxon Shore Way (long-distance path) passes around the Graveney Marshes (between Seasalter and Faversham). [3] The marshes are part of the South Swale SSSI.
The first records of Graveney are as land acquired in 811 by Wilfred, archbishop of Canterbury, from Cenulph, King of Mercia. Graveney is listed in the Domesday Book in 1086 and was held by the de Gravene and de Feversham families and from 1408 by the Botiller family. Anne Botiller married John Martyn (d.1436) who built the manor house Graveney Court. [4]
On 1 April 1983 the parish was abolished to form "Graveney with Goodnestone". [5]
All Saints Church, Graveney, was constructed in Norman times, but it is mainly 14th century. The connections between the village of Graveney and the Christian Church can be traced back to a time before the Domesday Survey. [6]
In 1970, when improvement works were being undertaken by Kent River Authority to drainage channels (Hammond Drain and White Drain) in Graveness, an Anglo-Saxon clinker-built boat was found in the mudflats. The boat was carefully removed by the National Maritime Museum to be conserved and stabilised by the Mary Rose Trust. [7] [8]
It was a cross-channel cargo vessel, reconstructed as some 13.6 m (45 ft) long and 3.4 m (11 ft) wide and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in draught. Later studies, including dendrochronology determined that it was built from oak, in the mid-890s. It was abandoned in the mud in 950AD. It was also found that one of the last cargoes it carried was hops (vines used in making beer). Other remains include fragments of quern-stones (grinding stones) made from Mayen lava, located in the Rhineland, Germany.[ citation needed ]
Across the marsh run the 400kV powerlines of the national grid They are supported by eight pylons. There is a large 150/400kV electricity substation, serving the London Array offshore wind farm that lies to the north beyond the mouth of the Thames Estuary. Planning permission has been granted to construct a 350MW solar power farm around Cleve Hill, and connect the output to the grid through this substation. [9]
The Battle of Graveney Marsh was the last ground level battle fought on British soil; there were no fatalities and one flesh wound. It was fought on 28 September 1940 and the participants were the crew of Junkers Ju 88 twin-engine bomber that had been forced to crashland and London Irish Rifles who had been billeted in Seasalter. [10] The marshes are the homes to many wildlife species, including lapwing, brent goose, golden plover and marsh harrier. [9]
Whitstable is a town in the Canterbury district, on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, five miles north of Canterbury and two miles west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32,100.
Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. The council is based in Sittingbourne, the borough's largest town. The borough also contains the towns of Faversham, Queenborough and Sheerness, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. It includes the Isle of Sheppey and is named after The Swale, the narrow channel which separates Sheppey from the mainland part of the borough. Some southern parts of the borough lie within the Kent Downs, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, 8 miles (13 km) from Sittingbourne, 48 miles (77 km) from London and 10 miles (16 km) from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British trackway which was used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons, and known as Watling Street. The name is of Old English origin, meaning "the metal-worker's village".
Luddenham is a widespread hamlet or small village north-west of Faversham in Kent, England, with many long-distance views across the Swale and the Isle of Sheppey. It is on the edge of Luddenham Marshes and is also home of Luddenham School. Oare Gunpowder Works are on the edge of the village. It had, according to Edward Hasted in 1798, 396 acres of low flat arable land and 200 acres of meadow and pasture, although half of those are marsh. It is in the civil parish of Norton, Buckland and Stone.
The A299, better known as the Thanet Way, is a major road of 22 miles (35 km) in the county of Kent, England, and runs from Brenley Corner near Faversham to Ramsgate via Whitstable and Herne Bay.
The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, 163 miles (262 km) in total. This means that around Romney Marsh the route runs significantly inland from the modern coastline.
Teynham is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Swale in Kent, England. The parish lies between the towns of Sittingbourne and Faversham, immediately north of the A2 road, and includes the hamlet of Conyer on an inlet of the Swale, the channel that separates mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey. Other hamlets include Deerton Street, Frognal, and Teynham Street.
Preston or Preston-next-Wingham is a civil parish and village in the valley of the Little Stour in the Dover District of Kent, England. The village is on the B2076 secondary road. The parish includes the hamlet of Elmstone. The main river through the area is a tributary of the River Stour. The suffix 'next-Wingham' distinguishes the area from Preston-next-Faversham.
Goodnestone is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Graveney with Goodnestone, in the Swale district of Kent, England. The village is mainly on the road 'Head Hill Road' towards Graveney. In 1961 the parish had a population of 58.
South Swale is a 410.5-hectare (1,014-acre) Local Nature Reserve north of Faversham in Kent. It is owned by Kent County Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of The Swale Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest
Hernhill is a village and civil parish between Faversham and Canterbury in southeast England. The parish includes the hamlets of Crockham, Dargate, The Fostall, Lamberhurst, Oakwell, Staple Street, Thread, Waterham and Wey Street.
Oare is a village and civil parish north of Davington, Faversham in southeast England. It is separated from Faversham by the Oare Creek. To the north of the village are the Oare Marshes, and the Harty Ferry which once linked to Harty on the Isle of Sheppey. Kent Wildlife Trust manages a nature reserve that is an important stopping place for migratory birds.
Elmstone is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Preston, in the Dover district, in East Kent, England. It is situated between Canterbury and Sandwich. The Domesday Book of 1086 records Elmstone as 'Aelvetone'. In 1086 the recorded population was 3 households. In 1931 the parish had a population of 117. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Preston, part also went to Wingham.
Chillenden is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Goodnestone, in the Dover district, in east Kent, England. It is between Canterbury and Deal. In 1931 the parish had a population of 130. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Goodnestone.
Tonge is a village near Sittingbourne in Kent, England. The hamlet is north of Bapchild, close to Murston Marshes beside the Swale.
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.
The Battle of Graveney Marsh, on the night of 27 September 1940 in Kent, England, was the last ground engagement involving an organized foreign force to take place on the mainland of Great Britain. The fighting took place between the crew of a shot-down German Junkers Ju 88A-1 bomber from KG 77 and a detachment of soldiers from the 1st Battalion, London Irish Rifles (1 LIR), in Seasalter on the north Kent coast. The Ju 88, W.Nr 088 8099, 3Z+EL, and nicknamed Eule ("Owl") by its crew, was a new model and had only entered service two weeks earlier. The British forces were aware of the new model, and had issued orders to capture one intact if at all possible. It was crewed by Unteroffizier (Uffz) Fritz Ruhlandt (pilot), Feldwebel Gotthard Richter ; Uffz Erwin Richter ; and Flieger (Airman) Jakob Reiner (gunner).
Norton, Buckland and Stone is a small rural civil parish 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Teynham and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the centre of Faversham in the borough of Swale, Kent, England. It is bypassed by the M2 to the south and traverses the historic A2, on the route of the Roman road of Watling Street. In 2011 the parish had a population of 467.
Project Fortress is a photovoltaic power station under construction on the Graveney marshes between Faversham and Whitstable, Kent in the UK.