Cliffe

"CLIFFE, a parish in the lathe of Aylesford, in the hundred of Shamwell, in the county of Kent, 3 miles from the Higham station of the North Kent line, and 6 N. of Rochester, its post town. It is situated near the Thames, at the end of a chalk range. The village is a coastguard station, and belongs to Earl Darnley. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester, value £1,297, in the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church, dedicated to St. Helen, is a large cruciform structure, with a tower and good peal of bells. It contains several effigies and stained-glass windows. Here are National schools for both sexes. This was anciently a place of great importance, and possessed as many as seven churches. A fair is held on the 28th September."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]