Nurstead
Coordinates: 51°23′44″N 0°21′36″E / 51.395480°N 0.360°E
Nurstead (or Nursted) is a locality, ecclesiastical parish and former civil parish situated 3 miles south of Gravesend and ½ a mile north of Meopham, Kent, England.
The parish was in the Hundred of Toltingtrough in the Lathe of Aylesford in the county of Kent. It has an area of 522 acres.[1]
The name of the parish was "Notestede" in the Domesday Book, but by the 18th century although formally spelled "Nutsted" it was at this time commonly called Nursted.[2]
It is at present in the civil parish of Meopham, which is divided into three wards, one of which bears the name "Hook Green and Nurstead".
Nurstead has a small 14th-century church, dedicated to St Mildred and this is still the church of the parish, although the benefice is united with Meopham.
A quarter of a mile north of the church is Nurstead Court, one of the most famous small medieval houses in the country.[4]
The civil parish was abolished in 1935 when it was united with Cobham [5] and in 1963 it was transferred to Meopham .[6]
Nurstead is a small parish, being not quite a mile in extent each way. It lies most of it on high ground, and has a great variety of soils, having in it arable, orchard, and hop ground, and some woodland towards the north boundary of it, next to Northfleet (formerly a parish and then an Urban District; it joins to Meopham southward. In 1797 there were but five houses in it, i.e.. Nurstead Court, Nurstead Hill Farm at the west end of the parish, and Copthall, at the east end, plus two cottages.[7]
In the following century and up until the abolition of the civil parish, the population remained low, as follows:[8]-
| Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1811 | 29 |
| 1821 | 33 |
| 1831 | 38 |
| 1841 | 36 |
| 1851 | 34 |
| 1881 | 64 |
| 1891 | 56 |
| 1901 | 43 |
| 1911 | 48 |
| 1921 | 50 |
| 1931 | 39 |
Notes
- ↑ See parish of Nurstead in http://www.british-history.ac.uk
- ↑ See The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 1, author:Edward Hasted, publ. 1797
- ↑ Church of England web site http://www.achurchnearyou.com/nurstead-st-mildred/ Retrieved January 2016
- ↑ See Meopham Parish Council web site at http://www.meopham.org
- ↑ Ministry of Housing Order No. 79448, County of Kent Review Order, dated 1 April 1935
- ↑ Meopham Parish Council web site
- ↑ See Hasted's survey under the parish of "Nutsted"
- ↑ See census tables for this parish in Victoria County History of Kent Vol 3, publ.1932, ed William Page,ISBN 9780712906081. Also see Nurstead in http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk, 23/11/12