West Peckham

"WEST PECKHAM, a parish in the hundred of Littlefield, lathe of Aylesford, county Kent, 8 miles S.W. of Maidstone, its post town, 6 N.E. of Tonbridge, and 4 W. of the Wateringbury railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is situated near the river Medway, and is chiefly agricultural. There is a paper mill in the neighbourhood. Part of the land is cultivated in hops and fruit, and there is a considerable tract of woodland. The appropriation belongs to the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. There are 14 acres of glebe in this parish, and a farm of 20 acres in that of Tudeley. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury, value £177, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. The church, dedicated to St. Dunstan, is an ancient structure, with a tower containing three bells. The interior of the church contains monuments of the Colepepers. The register dates from 1560. Hamptons and Oxenhoath are the principal residences. The latter was formerly the seat of Judge Colepeper, who founded a preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers here in 1408. he Baroness Le Despencer is lady of the manor. A fair is held on Whit Tuesday."

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