Chevening

"CHEVENING, a parish in the hundred of Codsheath, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, in the county of Kent, 32 miles W. of the Sevenoaks railway-station, which is its post town. It is situated in a pretty spot, and once belonged to the Crivequer family. It comprises the hamlets of Bissells Green and Chipstead. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury, value £766, in the patronage of the archbishop. The church, dedicated to St. Botolph, is an ancient structure, partly in the Gothic and partly in the early English styles, with an embattled tower, and is in good repair. It contains two beautiful stained-glass windows in the chancel: the one at the E. end being a memorial window to Frederick Pirkins, Esq., late of Chipstead Place, in this parish, and is the gift of his son, George Perkins, Esq.; the other, on the N. side, as well as the tablets, were presented by the present rector, the Rev. Thomas Sikis, M.A. There are two handsome windows in the Stanhope Chapel, recently executed by the Countess Stanhope, and also monuments of the Stanhope and other families, including the splendid monumental work of Chantrey, to the memory of Lady Frederica Louisa Stanhope. There are charities lift by the Countess of Stanhope, Mrs. Wyndham, and Mrs. Strode, for apprenticing poor children. The register commences in 1561. There are National schools for both sexes. Chivining Place, built by Inigo Jones, and now the seat of Earl Stanhope, is delightfully situated. It was here that the late Earl Stanhope displayed his mechanical genius in perfecting that press which so materially promoted the progress of the noble art of printing."

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