Pigots 1840

Pigots 1840 - Kent

Eynesford, Farningham & Shoreham

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Eynesford or Aynsford, is a village and parish in the lathe of Sutton-at-Hone and hundred of Axton, Dartford & Wilmington – 18 miles SE from London, 19 NW from Maidstone, and 6 SE from Foots Cray; pleasantly situated on the banks of the Darent, the stream of which propels the machinery of mills for grinding corn and for the manufacture of paper; these are the only branches of trade, beside those necessary for the accommodation of a country village. At the north end of the village are the ruins of Aynsford castle; the walls nearly four feet thick; their circuit is irregular, and embraces an area of nearly an acre of ground. A visit to the church, dedicated to St Martin, cannot fail to gratify the antiquary, being a perfect specimen of the earliest Norman architecture; it is built in form of a cross, with two large aisles; and at the west end is a spire steeple underneath which is a very curious circular doorway, of Saxon or early Norman construction. In this church are several ancients monuments, most of which have suffered either by the operation of time or the wanton and thoughtless intruder. The benefice is a vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the see of Canterbury; there is also a sinecure rectory attached; the archbishop appoints to the rectory, and the rector presents to the vicarage. The baptists have a chapel; and at the hamlet of Crockinhill is a school founded by Thomas PALMER in 1809, free for the children of the parish of Eynesford, which, with Crockinhill hamlet, contained in 1831, a population of 1277 persons.

Between one and two miles from Eynesford, in the same hundred as that village, on the main road from London to Maidstone, is Farningham (anciently Fremingham), village and parish. The Darent passes through the valley, close to the village; and some of the inhabitants are employed in the corn and paper mills on that river. The church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, is spacious, erected principally in the early English style of architecture, with a handsome flint tower at its western end; it contains some monumental brasses and other interesting antique memorials – also an octagonal stone font emblematically carved, the work of a remote age, The living is a vicarage in the patronage of the archbishop of Canterbury. Farningham once had a market on Tuesday and a fair for four days; the former has long been discontinued – the latter is unimportant, and limited to 15^th October. Population of the parish in 1831, 701.

About three miles south from Eynesford is the small village of Shoreham, situated to the road to Seven Oaks, from which it is distant about four miles and a half north. The church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, is an edifice of considerable antiquity and contains several handsome monuments; the benefice is a discharged vicarage, in the gift of the dean and chapter of Westminster. Population of the parish, 1015.

POST OFFICE – Eynesford, Henry BOOKHAM, Postmaster. Farningham, Jane CLEMENT, Postmistress. Letters from London &c. arrive (by foot post from Dartford), every morning at nine, and are despatched every afternoon at four.

*** The names without address are in Farningham.

GENTRY & CLERGY

ALLCHIN Mr Thomas, Farningham

BECKLEY Mr Charles, Farningham

BURNSIDES Rev John Andrew, Farningham

COLLIER Mr James, Farningham

COLLYER Miss Ann, Farningham

COOMBS Mr Thomas, Eynesford

DELMAR Rev William, Eynesford

DYKE Sir Percival, Lullingstone castle

GOLDING Mr George, Eynesford

GREGORY Mr John, Shoreham

KEMBLE Wm Newell esq, Kingsdown

PAWLEY Mr John, Farningham

PHILLIPS Mr Thomas, Eynesford

PLUMMER Mr Thomas, Eynesford

PRICE Rev John, Shoreham

PRIOR Thomas esq, Eynesford

RAY Mr Nicholas, Farningham

ROGERS Rev Henry, Farningham

TIMS Mr John, Eynesford

WARING Mr William, Farningham

WELLER Mr Thomas, Eynesford

WINSTON Rev Benjamin, Farningham

ACADEMIES

EVEREST Charles, Farningham

LASH Thomas, Eynesford

SHARWOOD Thomas, Farningham

PROFESSIONAL PERSONS

EDWARDS & HUNT, surgeons

KILLICK Anthony, land agent, Eynesford

RYAN John Edward, surgeon

INNS & PUBLIC HOUSES

Bricklayers Arms, Samuel WALLACE

Bull Inn, George MANDY

Chequers, Abraham BILLING

Fox & Hounds, Jno. BRAND, Eynesford

George, John DAY, Shoreham

Harrow, William YOUNG, Eynesford

Hop Pole, Richard Bethell LLOYD

Lion Inn, William WELLS

Plough, Mary WHALE, Eynesford

SHOPKEEPERS & TRADERS

ATWOOD William, grocer & draper and agent to the Norwich Union fire office

BATH John, market gardener

BELLCHAMBER William, shoemaker

BENHAM Henry, tailor, Eynesford

BETTS William, corn dealer, Eynesford

BOOKER Henry, carpenter, Eynesford

BOWLES Richard, miller, Shoreham

CAVEY Jno. & Jas. maltsters, Eynesford

COLLYER Charles, miller

EVEREST Charles, patent truss maker

FALLOWS & BROTHERS, maltsters, millers and paper makers, Eynesford

FEUILLADE George, cabinetmaker &c.

FIELD Thomas, hairdresser

GANDY John, saddler

GIBSON William, blacksmith

GOODWIN Ths. shopkeeper, Eynesford

HALES Robert, blacksmith

HANKINS Jacob, watch & clock maker

HARDING John, butcher, Eynesford

HEARN Richard, shoemaker, Eynesford

HEARN William, shoemaker, Eynesford

HEARNE Richard, wheelwright

MANDY Geo. auctioneer & appraiser

MARTIN William, butcher

MILLS Thomas, butcher, Shoreham

MORGAN Geo. shoe maker, Eynesford

MORGAN William, wheelwright, Eynesford

PETMAN James, wheelwright

PHILLIPS Jas. grocer & corn chandler

ROGERS Hy. grocer & draper, Eynesford

SAKER David, blacksmith, Shoreham

SHARP Jas, bricklayer & parish clerk

SHERWOOD Jeremiah, carpenter

SPAIN Wm. brick maker & lime burner

STOCKLEY John, plumber &c.

STUBBING Wm. plumber &c. Eynesford

TURNER Thomas, baker

WADLOW George, blacksmith

WALLIS George, tailor

WELLER John, bricklayer

WOOD Thomas, shoe maker

YOUNG James, wheeler, Eynesford

COACHES

To London, a coach from the Bull Inn, Farningham, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday morning at half past eight; goes through Foots Cray and Eltham.

Coaches, Van and Carriers to and from London, Maidstone &c. pass through Farningham daily.

This page was last updated on 06-Mar-2021.