Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for SALTWOOD

SALTWOOD, a village and a parish in Elham district, Kent. The village stands near the Ashford and Dover railway, ¾ of a mile N of Hythe, and 1¾ E S E of Westen-hanger r. station; commands a fine view; and has a post-office under Hythe. The parish contains also the hamlets of Saltwood-Green and Pedlinge, and comprises 2, 600 acres. Real property, £4, 470; of which £91 are in quarries. Pop., 643. Houses, 129. The manor was givento the see of Canterbury, in 1036, by the Danish jarl Halfden. S. Castle, situated close to the village, is said to have been first erected in 488, by Escus or Oisc, king of Kent; was restored or rebuilt, in 1080, by Hugo de Montfort; was held, for some time, by various knights, under the archbishops; was the rendezvous of the fourknights who planned the murder of Becket; passed afterwards to the Crown, but was restored by King John to the archbishops; underwent enlargement and embellishment, at great cost, by Archbishop Courtenay, in the time of Richard II.; was thence a residence of the arch-bishops till the time of Henry VIII.; went then to the Crown in exchange for other property; was given by Henry VIII. to the Clintons; passed afterwards through various hands, and sank into decay; is now a spacious and magnificent ruin, including great portion of the walls, an inner gate-house with two fine circular towers, a chapel, and an outer gate-house converted into a farm-house; and, with Sandling Park, a fine neighbouring brick mansion, belongs now to W. Deedes, Esq. Brock-hill House has been the seat of the Tournay family since 1498. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury. . Value, £784.* Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is chiefly of the time of Edward III., and was recently restored. Charities, £31.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Saltwood AP/CP       Elham RegD/PLU       Kent AncC
Place: Saltwood

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.