Ide Hill

Ide Hill
Kent
Ide Hill
Location
Grid reference:	TQ486518
Location:	51°14’46"N, -0°7’37"E
Data
Post town:	Sevenoaks
Postcode:	TN14
Dialling code:	01732
Local Government
Council:	Sevenoaks
Parliamentary constituency:	Sevenoaks

Ide Hill is a village in western Kent. It stands on one of the highest points of the sandstone ridge about five miles southwest of Sevenoaks. Its name first appears on record in 1250 as Edythehelle, presumable from an original Eadgyþe hyll, and meaning "Edith's hill".

The church is relatively modern. The village had a chapel in 1807, built by the then Bishop of London; St Mary's church was built in 1865 and "has the distinction of being the highest church in Kent", as well as boasting a beautiful lychgate, crafted by local builder Cecil 'Dusty' Boakes. There are several old buildings round the sloping village green, including the 18th-century Cock Inn and the Ide Hill Village School, built in 1856 it is the second home of the school which unusually for a church school predates the church building as the school was formed in 1809.

Two of Kent's places of interest are near Ide Hill: Bough Beech Reservoir and Emmetts Garden.

Bough Beech Reservoir was completed in 1969. A large area round it is leased to the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation as a nature reserve.

Emmetts Garden is in the care of the National Trust. It was laid out in the late 19th century. There is a stone seat near the village church to commemorate Octavia Hill, one of the Trust's founders.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Ide Hill)

• Ide Hill Village
• The Parish Churches and Community Information
• Ide Hill Primary School
• Bough Beech Reservoir
• Emmetts Garden