Lenham
Equidistant between Ashford and Maidstone is the quaint Kentish village of Lenham. It stands at the source of the River Great Stour on the southern side of the North Downs. Although for all intents and purposes, factoring its relatively small population and traditional village landscape, Lenham is considered by many as a village, yet official classifications tend to consider this settlement otherwise. The fact that Lenham is allowed a market, and is classified as a “market village” means that technically is should be recognised as a town rather than a village. However, the residents and local heritage campaigners remain keen to project the “village” image of their community.
Lenham was first recognised, both as a market and as a settlement in the Domesday book and is dated as early as 1088. It is thought that Lenham, as it stands today was actually originally formed from the unity of two neighbouring hamlets – West Lenham and Estlenham. The fact that these two settlements came about in the first place is also attributed to the close proximity to river and spring waters in the region. Although its status as a market settlement should deem it a town, the traditional village appearance and feel tends to prevail.
The village square and green are the centrepieces of the village of Lenham. The village square is where the two village pubs, one of which is also a hotel, can be found. There are also a number of local stores and traditional tea rooms. Overall, Lenham maintains a very close knit community feel, with just one primary school and the Swadelands secondary school, which all local school children attend. The village still retains many of its original historical features, with the street pattern, particularly in the centre of the village dating back to the fifteenth century and the majority of the buildings being examples of original 1800s architecture. The village parish also features heavily within the community; the church is dedicated to St. Mary and works hard to organise local activities, such as the annual village fete.
Another focal point of the village landscape is most certainly the two hundred foot chalk cross which features on the slope of the downs along The Pilgrims’ Way or North Downs Way, which passes just to the north of Lenham. This cross is a memorial to those who fell in the Great War. It was first carved into the slopes of the Downs in 1922. It has since been fully restored in 1994 and is now officially dedicated in remembrance of those who lost their lives in both the First and Second World Wars. During the World War Two the cross actually had to be filled in between 1939 and May 1945 to avoid it being used as a navigation aid by the Luftwaffe, which could have potentially made it much easier to pin point certain towns and cities. During the Blitz phase of the second world war Lenham suffered at the hands of the German air guns, since it lay in the flight path of London bound attacks.
The village has good links to other larger cities and towns in the south east, provided principally by its railway station which is part of the Maidstone Eastern railway line. The village was also effected by the creation of the transport links between the British Isles and France, when two traditional cottages had to be demolished to make way for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. In 1950 Lenham was also one of the first television signal receiving points between London and Calais, alongside the village of Harvel, to pick up television signals from the continent.
