Staplehurst

"STAPLEHURST, a parish and post town in the hundreds of Cranbrook and Marden, lathe of Scray, county Kent, 9 miles S.E. of Maidstone, and 4 N.E. of Cranbrook. It is a station on the South-Eastern railway. The village, which is large, is chiefly agricultural. There are several houses of ancient date. The land is partly in hop-grounds. The soil consists of gravel and clay. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury, value £674, in the patronage of St. John's College, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient structure. The interior was restored in 1853, and contains a brass. The register dates from 1523. The parochial charities produce about £63 per annum, of which £35 go to Bathurst's school. There are chapels for the Independents and Baptists. A fair for cattle, corn, and hops is held on the 11th October."

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