Copyright Kent Past 2010
Kent Past
The History of Kent
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History of Kemsing
Kemsing comes from the Old English 'ing' meaning a 'place-
Princess Edith, the illegitimate daughter of King Edgar -
There is evidence of Roman occupation, in Kemsing, with the remains of a water mill,
or perhaps a villa, at the western end of the village, and a tile works to the east.
Kemsing
parish church is a Grade: II listed building, dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin.
The Normans built it in the 12th century, with remodelling of the nave in the 14th
century, addition of a timber bell tower and reconstruction of the chancel in the
16th century. Early in the 15th century, William Wodewarde cast and hung two bells
in the tower. In 1797, Edward Hasted described St Mary’s church as a ‘small church,
consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end,
in which are two bells’. In 1891, the architect Sir J G Jackson added the north and
chancel aisles, also in that year; John Taylor cast a third bell. The noted Victorian
designer Sir Ninian Cooper remodelled the interior in 1908. In 1991, Whitechapel
cast a ring of six bells – from two of the old bells plus additional metal – with
the dedication in September of that year. They rehung the tenor independently, as
a service bell.
Kemsing railway station opened on the London Chatham and Dover Railway’s single track Otford to Maidstone branch line on 1 June 1874. The line increased to double track on 1 July 1882…. more