Copyright Kent Past 2010
Kent Past
The History of Kent
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History of Frittenden
Frittenden comes from the Old English ‘denn’, meaning 'woodland pasture' and ‘ing’ as a ‘connective particle, linking the first and last element’ combined with a personal name; therefore, a 'woodland pasture connected with Frith'.
A charter of 804AD names Frittenden village, and again in the Anglo Saxon Chronicles
of 839, describing how King Ethelwulf of Wessex gave the village to St Augustine’s,
Canterbury.
Frittenden parish church is a Grade: II listed building, dedicated to
Saint Mary the Virgin. The Normans rebuilt the church in the 12th century, replacing
a Saxon building. In the centuries that followed, they extended and added to it,
culminating in the 15th century tower. In 1790, lightning struck the steeple and
the ensuing fire burnt the building to the ground. Edward Hasted described the church
prior to the fire as consisting of ‘two isles and two chancels, having a spire steeple,
in which are six bells’. In 1804, Thomas Mears cast a new ring of six bells. Charles
and George Mears completed the octave in 1847 with the addition of a treble and a
tenor. In 1848, the Reverend Edward Moore provided the funds for the architect R
C Hussey to rebuild the church around the tower. Further restoration took p-
Edward Moore, a major landowner, had a key influence on Frittenden. For not only did he rebuild the church, he also established the school, a Penny Bank and Provident Society, together with many of the buildings in the parish.
King Henry VIII gave Lord Thomas Cromwell land in the village.