Northbourne

"NORTHBOURNE, a parish in the hundred of Cornilo, lathe of St. Augustine, county Kent, 3 miles W. of Deal, its post town, and 4 S. of Sandwich. It is situated at the source of a small rivulet which flows on to Sandwich, and from which the parish derives its name. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The land is almost wholly arable, and hops are grown extensively. The impropriation belongs to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury, value £168, in the patronage of the archbishop. The church, dedicated to St. Augustine, is a cruciform structure of flint with a square tower. The interior has a monument to the Sandys family, which is decorated with numerous shields. There is a National school for both sexes. In 618 the manor of Northbourne was given by Eadbald, King of Kent, to St. Augustine's monastery at Canterbury, after which it came to the crown, and eventually became the property of Sir W. C. James, Bart., of Betshanger. Northbourne Court is the principal residence. On the Downs, near Little Betshanger, are the remains of a camp formed in the reign of Elizabeth to oppose the landing of the Spaniards."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]