Horsmonden

Horsmonden

Furnace Pond
Horsmonden
 Horsmonden shown within Kent
Population 1,620 [1]
2,435 (2011 Census)[2]
OS grid referenceTQ705405
DistrictTunbridge Wells
Shire countyKent
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Tonbridge
Postcode district TN12
Dialling code 01892
Police Kent
Fire Kent
Ambulance South East Coast
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentTunbridge Wells
List of places
UK
England
Kent

Coordinates: 51°08′20″N 0°25′44″E / 51.139°N 0.4288°E / 51.139; 0.4288

Horsmonden (pronounced i/hɔːzmənˈdɛn/, horzmen-DEN) is a village in the Tunbridge Wells district of Kent, England. The village is located in the Weald of Kent. It is situated on a road leading from Maidstone to Lamberhurst, three miles north of the latter place. The nearest railway station is Paddock Wood.

Etymology

The word 'Horsmonden' is derived from the Anglo Saxon hors bunda denne (the Horse farmer valley). The first record of the village was Horsbundenne, from around the turn of the twelfth century.[3]

History

The village was an important centre of the medieval iron industry and the nearby Furnace Pond is one of the largest of the artificial lakes made to provide water power for the works. King Charles I visited the foundry in 1638 to watch a canon being cast - a bronze four-pounder, forty-two inches long, now preserved in London's White Tower.

The village was home to Jane Austen's grandfather and several other of her relatives, many of whom lived at Capel Manor House. Many of the family's graves can be seen in the churchyard of St. Margaret's Church.[4]

There is a gypsy horse fair held on the village green each year. In 2000, the local parish council with assistance of the then-Home Secretary Jack Straw, ruled that due to ongoing safety concerns, the fair would not go ahead and a 5 mile exclusion zone was put in place.[5] However due to protests and legal action from the wider gypsy community, this decision was overturned and the fairs resumed following a compromise between the travellers and the local authorities in 2001.

The village church, St Margaret's, is located some distance away from the centre of the village towards the neighbouring village of Goudhurst.

Just outside the village is the 16th Century National Trust property Sprivers,[6] which has an open garden at specific dates as part of the National Gardens Scheme.

Public transport

When the branch railway line to Hawkhurst was operating, there was a railway station for the village. However Horsmonden railway station closed in 1961. The station site is now used as a garage called "Old Station Garage" and the stationmaster's house is now a private residence.

Today the only public transport for Horsmonden is the 297 bus route which was until recently operated by Arriva Southern Counties, but is now run in conjunction with a number of separate bus companies and Kent County Council.

There are also two school bus services (268 & 267) operated by Hams Travel.

Cricket club

Horsmonden cricket club dates back to 1743. It is home to 8 cricket teams, 4 men's sides and 5 youth sides.[7]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-england-southeastengland.php?cityid=E34003674
  2. ↑ "Civil Parish population". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for Nastional Statistics. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "History of Horsmonden - Kent Past". kentpast.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Home - Horsmonden Village Kent". Horsmonden Village Kent. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Audrey Gillan. "Gypsies attack 'racist' Straw over ban on fair". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "Sprivers Garden - National Trust". nationaltrust.org.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Horsmonden Cricket Club". horsmondencc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Horsmonden.
 Paddock Wood Collier Street Marden Thorn
Brenchley Curtisden Green
   Horsmonden  
Lamberhurst Kilndown Goudhurst
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