Smarden

"SMARDEN, a parish and post town in the hundred of Calehill, upper division of Scray lathe, county Kent, 9 miles N.E. of Cranbrooke, and 3 S. of Headcorn railway station. The parish is situated on the South-Eastern railway and the river Buelt. The village, which is considerable, was formerly a market town. The land is partly in hop-grounds. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury, value £501, in the patronage of the archbishop. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, has a square tower containing five bells. The register dates from 1632. The parochial charities produce about £64 per annum, of which £45 go to the free school founded in 1716 by Stephen Dudson. There are places of worship for the Baptists and Wesleyans. A National school for boys has recently been built."

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