Horsmonden
| Horsmonden | |
| Kent | |
|---|---|
 Furnace Pond | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ705405 |
| Location: | 51°8’20"N, -0°25’44"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,620 |
| Post town: | Tonbridge |
| Postcode: | TN12 |
| Dialling code: | 01892 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Tunbridge Wells |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Tunbridge Wells |
Horsmonden is a village in the Weald of Kent close to the border with Sussex. In fact, just over an acre of the parish trespasses over the border into the latter county at the confluence of the rivers Teise and Bewl. The village itself is situated on a road leading from Maidstone to Lamberhurst, three miles north of the latter place. The nearest railway station is Paddock Wood.
Etymology
The word 'Horsmonden' is derived from the Anglo-Saxon hors bunda denne (the Horse farmer valley). The first record of the village was Horsbundenne, from around the turn of the twelfth century.[1]
History
The village was an important centre of the mediæval iron industry and the nearby Furnace Pond is one of the largest of the artificial lakes made to provide water power for the works. King Charles I visited the foundry in 1638 to watch a canon being cast - a bronze four-pounder, forty-two inches long, now preserved in London's White Tower.
The village was home to Jane Austen's grandfather and several other of her relatives, many of whom lived at Capel Manor House. Many of the family's graves can be seen in the churchyard of St Margaret's Church.[2]
There is a gypsy horse fair held on the village green each year. In 2000, the local parish council with assistance of the then-Home Secretary Jack Straw, ruled that due to ongoing safety concerns, the fair would not go ahead and a five-mile exclusion zone was put in place.[3] However due to protests and legal action from the wider gypsy community, this decision was overturned and the fairs resumed following a compromise between the travellers and the local authorities in 2001.
The village church, St Margaret's, is located some distance away from the centre of the village towards the neighbouring village of Goudhurst.
Just outside the village is the 16th Century National Trust property Sprivers,[4] which has an open garden at specific dates as part of the National Gardens Scheme.
Public transport
When the branch railway line to Hawkhurst was operating, there was a railway station for the village. However Horsmonden railway station closed in 1961. The station site is now used as a garage called "Old Station Garage" and the stationmaster's house is now a private residence.
Today the only public transport for Horsmonden is the 297 bus route.
Cricket club
Horsmonden cricket club dates back to 1743. It is home to 8 cricket teams, 4 men's sides and 5 youth sides.[5]
Notable people
- John Browne (d 1651), gunfounder, leased Brenchley Furnace, the site of which is now in Horsmonden.
- Simon Willard, (d 1676), founded the town of Concord in Massachusetts Bay, was born in Horsmonden
- William Moon (1818–94), teacher and philanthropist, was born in Horsmonden
- Ruth Thomas (b 1967), novelist, was born in Horsmonden
References
- ↑ "History of Horsmonden - Kent Past". kentpast.co.uk. http://www.kentpast.co.uk/horsmonden.html. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ↑ "Home - Horsmonden Village Kent". Horsmonden Village Kent. http://www.horsmonden.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=38. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ↑ Audrey Gillan. "Gypsies attack 'racist' Straw over ban on fair". the Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/sep/07/humanrights.world. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ↑ "Sprivers Garden - National Trust". nationaltrust.org.uk. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sprivers-garden/. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ↑ "Horsmonden Cricket Club". horsmondencc.co.uk. http://www.horsmondencc.co.uk/. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Horsmonden) |