Benenden

"BENENDEN, a parish in the hundred of Rolvenden, lathe of Scray, in the county of Kent, 31, miles to the S.E. of Cranbrooke, and 6 from Tenterden. Staplehurst is its post town. The village is small, and the land is partly laid out in hop grounds. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury, value £212, in the patronage of Gathorne Hardy, Esq. The church, rebuilt in 1672, is dedicated to St. George, and has a tower containing a peal of eight bells. There is a dissenting meeting-house, and a free school, founded by Edward Gybbon in 1602, and further endowed by Thomas Gybbon, in 1609, the income of which is £114 per annum. There are several other bequests for education, and the entire annual value of the parochial charities is about £180. Hempstead Park is the principal residence. Fairs for the sale of horses and cattle are held here on the 15th May and the 4th August."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]