Elvington, Kent
Elvington is a small pit village on a ridge in between Canterbury and Dover in the county of Kent in Southeast England. Located near Eythorne, Elvington was mostly built in the early 20th Century to serve the nearby coal mine at Tilmanstone, as were other Kent Coalfield villages including Snowdown, Aylesham and Betteshanger.[1]
History
The name Elvington derives from the Old English meaning "farmstead of someone named Ælfwine";[2] a manor or farm of that name reportedly once stood at what is now the bowling club.
Apparently the Romans once marched through this area of Kent using the Ashey path to Barfrestone and the Roman Path across the downs and along what is now Roman Way, hence the name.
In 1916 the East Kent Light Railway opened a station at Elvington called Tilmanstone Colliery Halt. This served passengers until 1948, and closed entirely in 1951.[3]
Today the site of the mine is an industrial estate between Tilmanstone and Eythorne located on the Pike Road. A new housing estate was built in the mid-1990s and has been extensively added to.
The village is also on the Miner's Way Trail. Using the Roman Way to head to Shepherdswell. The trail links up the coalfield parishes of East Kent.[4]
Community
Services today include a community/learning centre, school,[5] shop, hairdressers, and takeaway shop as well as local information centre providing access to training and employment for local residents. The post office closed in 2008. Eythorne Elvington Community Primary school serves 104 pupils from school years one to six from Elvington and Eythorne.[6]
Recent investment from agencies such as the South East England Development Agency has led to the development of the former miners hall into a communication and learning centre.
References
- ↑ "Introduction to the project", Coalfields Heritage Initiative Kent website
- ↑ Oxford Dictionary of British Placenames, A.D.Mills, Oxford University Press
- ↑ "Elvington", Disused Stations, retrieved 20 September 2010
- ↑ "The History of the Coalfield Parishes". www.dover.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ↑ "Elvington Community Centre", Dover District Council website
- ↑ "Eythorne Elvington Community Primary website"
External links
Media related to Elvington, Kent at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 51°12′28″N 1°15′31″E / 51.20778°N 1.25861°E