Charing probably means 'a bend in the road' from the Saxon word cerring. The first known record is in 799 when it was written as 'Ciorrincg'.
Part of the present church at Charing, dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, was built in the 14th century, although a Saxon chapel stood on the site long before. In 1590, the church was very badly damaged by a fire caused by a Mr Dios, while he was out bird shooting. The day was very hot, the wooden shingles on the church roof very dry, and the hot shot started a fire which burned so fiercely that the bells in the steeple melted. When the church was rebuilt, it was equipped with only one bell. In 1878 a further five bells were donated by Bishop Tufnell.
Charing stands on the route of the old pilgrim way, Archbishops of Canterbury would stay at the manor house, just outside the churchyard, which became known as the Archbishop's Palace and it was probably the 14th century Archbishop John Stafford who built the Gate House, consisting of a great archway. It is still the local custom whenever an Archbishop of Canterbury visits Charing for him to robe at the old palace, by courtesy of the present owner, before he goes into the church.
Some of the four thousand men and women who travelled with Henry VIII on his way to the 'Field of the Cloth of Gold' in 1520 were entertained, in the Palace's banqueting hall.
Maidstone & Ashford Railway opened Charing station on 1st July 1884, as part of an 18 mile eastward extension from the county town.
