Staplehurst comes from the Saxon words ‘staple’ meaning ‘post’ and ‘hurst’, which is ‘wood’. It originally stood on the route of a Roman road, which is now the A229.
The parish church is dedicated to All Saints, with the present building dating to the 15th century. Although, the door, which is decorated with wrought iron pagan symbols, is considered to be the oldest in England. There is a memorial dedicated to three martyrs burned at the stake, two in Canterbury and another at Maidstone during Mary’s persecutionous reign.
John Wesley preached at a house in Staplehurst in 1763. The owner of the house together with 14 others were charged, and sentenced, under an act of 1664, which had been repealed 70 years earlier. An appeal to the Maidstone Quarter Sessions was rejected, however, the Kings Bench finally granted the appeal, and the sentences were quashed.
Staplehurst station was opened, as part of the South Eastern RailwaysTonbridge to Ashford section, on 1 December 1842. On 9 June 1865, maintenance work was being carried out to a bridge, just outside Staplehurst, when a ganger failed to stop the Folkestone to London Express. The engine and first carriage jumped a 43 feet gap in the rails, with the remaining eight coaches crashing over the bridge, some falling into a river and the surrounding swamp, causing death and serious injury to many passengers.
Charles Dickens was travelling with his mistress and her mother from a holiday in Paris, in the first derailed coach, which was left hanging from the bridge. Dickens climbed out of the carriage and having rescued his travelling companions, returned to help other passengers to safety. Dickens was said to have suffered greatly from the experience, with many finding it significant that he died five years later, to the day.
