Sheldwich

Sheldwich
Jesmondene Oast, Sheldwich
Village hall
Sheldwich Sheldwich shown within Kent
Population	491 (2011)^[1]
OS grid reference	TR010567
Civil parish	Sheldwich, Badlesmere & Leaveland
District	Swale
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Faversham
Postcode district	ME13 0 or 9
Dialling code	01795, 01227 or 01233
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Faversham and Mid Kent
List of places UK England Kent

Coordinates: 51°16′31″N 0°52′54″E / 51.2754°N 0.8817°E / 51.2754; 0.8817

Sheldwich is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swale in Kent, England.

Geography

Sheldwich is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) south of the market town of Faversham, 10 miles (16 km) north of Ashford and 10 miles west of Canterbury via the M2 and A2. It is fragmented into five parts, with North Street a distinct settlement on the A251, Sheldwich (including the Church and school) scattered further south on or close to the main road, Sheldwich Lees, a small village in its own right lying 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the junction of Lees Court Road and the Ashford Road (A251), and the hamlets of Gosmere and Copton^[2] to the north. Other than North Street, Copton and part of Gosmere, the remainder of the parish lies within the Kent Downs, (the eastern part of the North Downs), a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The population of the parish in the 2001 census was 522. The village name of Sheldwich is unique within the United Kingdom.

Governance

Sheldwich in elections every four years elects one representative to Kent County Council, this is currently:

Election		Member^[3]	Ward
	2013	Andrew Bowles (C)	Swale East

Sheldwich elects two representatives to Swale Borough Council, currently:

Election		Member^[4]	Ward
	2015	George Bobbin (C)	Boughton and Courtenay
	2015	Andrew Bowles (C)	Boughton and Courtenay

There is also the parish council with delegated responsibilities, such as for trees, litter, parks, some local leisure activities and a planning advisory role.

Lees Court

South east of the village of Sheldwich Lees is Lees Court, architecturally of the highest grade, Grade I, a fully restored country house forming a central row with its Dairy Court, Estate House listed as Grade II, courtyard, stable yard in its listed parkland and grounds.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] Lees Court was the country seat for many years of the Right Honourable Earl Sondes. Destroyed entirely by fire in 1910 it was painstakingly rebuilt. The house and outbuildings are now converted into private residences. The gardens and grounds remain carefully maintained.

History

In ancient charters it was called 'Schyldwic'.^[9] In 784, it was given this name by Ealhmund of Kent, to Abbot Wetrede and his convent of 'Raculf Cestre', or Reculver. During King Edward I's reign (1239–1307), it passed to the family of Atte-Lese, which included the Manor of Sheldwich. This then became the Manor of Leescourt due to the name of the Atte-lese family mansion.^[9]

In 1367, Sir Richard At-Lese (MP) was an owner of the manor, he was later Sheriff of Kent. He died in 1394.^[9] In King James I's reign, Sir Richard Sondes became the owner and his son Sir George Sondes destroyed a large section of the manor house. After Sir George, Marquis of Blanquefort inherited the manor. It then stayed under his family control until 1798.^[9]

The village church, parts of which are eleventh century, listed as Grade II*, is dedicated to St. James. It was extended and extensively restored in 1888.^[10]

The village features its manor house, rebuilt almost entirely,^[11] lying close to woodland known as Church Plantation. It is near to Grade II* listed Throwley House.^[12]

Because of the small scattered population (522 according to the 2001 census) the civil parish is joined with those of two smaller neighbouring villages. It is known as Sheldwich, Badlesmere and Leaveland. As most of the parish lies within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Planning laws are tight with very little new development permitted since its establishment in the mid-1960s.

The following are listed structures within the Parish:

Throwley House (Grade II* )^[12]
Church of St James (Grade II* )^[13]
Lees Court (Grade I)^[7]
Yew Tree Cottage^[14]
Bier House 30 m SE of Church of St James^[15]
The Manor House^[11]
Dairy Court, Estate House And Courtyard, Lees Court^[5]
Yew Tree Cottage^[16]
Stocks Cottages ^[17]
Barn, now converted to residence. 10 m E of The Stocks^[18]
Three Chest Tombs about 10 m S of Chancel of Church of St James^[19]
Colbrahamsole Farmhouse and Garden Wall^[20]
Gates about 5 m E of the Gate House (T.R. 016559)^[21]
Chambers Cottage^[22]
West End^[23]
The Old School and Old School House^[24]
Lords Cottages^[25]
Stable Yard^[6]
The White House^[26]
The Old Post Office and adjoining Post Office Cottage^[27]
The Old Bakery^[28]
Meadow Cottage^[29]
The Old Cottage^[30]
Stable Block About 10 m N of Throwley House^[31]
Little Lords^[32]
Lees Court^[8]

Economy

There are several listed oast houses, some now residential, such as those pictured and Gosmere Oast.^[33] The area is almost wholly agricultural with a particularly fine herd of cattle at Badlesmere Court Farm and some sheep.

References

External links

Media related to Sheldwich at Wikimedia Commons

Nearest Settlements

Sheldwich

Leaveland, Throwley

Badlesmere

Shottenden (in Chilham)

Towns and villages in the Borough of Swale in Kent, England

Unparished areas	Sheerness Sittingbourne

Civil parishes	Badlesmere Bapchild Bobbing Borden Boughton under Blean Bredgar Doddington Dunkirk Eastchurch Eastling Faversham Graveney with Goodnestone Hartlip Hernhill Iwade Leaveland Leysdown-on-Sea Lower Halstow Lynsted with Kingsdown Milstead Minster-on-sea Newington Newnham Norton, Buckland and Stone Oare Ospringe Queenborough Rodmersham Selling Sheldwich Stalisfield Teynham Throwley Tonge Tunstall Upchurch Warden

Other settlements	Bay View Brogdale Chestnut Street Conyer Danaway Dargate Davington Denstroude Elmley Faversham Without Halfway Houses Harty Heart's Delight, Swale Highsted Kemsley Keycol Luddenham Milton Regis Mockbeggar Murston Norton Oad Street Oversland Painters Forstal Rushenden Shellness Uplees Waterham Whitehill

List of places in Kent

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