Copyright Kent Past 2010
Kent Past
The History of Kent
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Sutton Valance comes from the Old English words ‘sūð’ meaning ‘south, southern’,
with ‘tūn’ as an ‘enclosure, a farmstead’ combined with a warlord’s name; therefore
a ‘south farm/settlement’ with the affix from William de Valance, half-
Sutton Valance parish church is a Grade: II listed building, dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin. A church stood on the site in Saxon times, although, Mathew Habershon, the 19th century architect rebuilt the near collapsed 15th century church, in 1823. Edward Hasted provides a description of the old church in his 1798 topographical survey, stating it ‘is a handsome church, the steeple stands on the north side of it, and had a high spire on it formerly, the upper half of which having been burnt down by lightning, it is at that part flat and covered with lead’. G M Hills made additional alterations in 1874. In 1723, Richard Phelps cast the only surviving bell from the ring of four.
History of Sutton Valence