Ulcombe

"ULCOMBE, a parish in the hundred of Eyhorne, lathe of Aylesford, county Kent, 6 miles N.E. of Staplehurst, its post town, and 4 N. of the Headcorn railway station. The village is situated in the Weald. The soil is loamy, with a subsoil of gravel and Kentish ragstone. There are hop-grounds. The parish is intersected by several small streams that fall into the Medway. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury, value £379. The church, dedicated to All Saints, originally belonged to the priory of Christ Church, Canterbury, from which it was wrested in the Danish wars, but restored in 941; in 1220 it was made collegiate by Archbishop Langton, and afterwards became a rectory. The present building has recently been restored. The interior contains old brasses and monuments to the St. Leger and Stringer families, and a more recent one to the Marquess and Marchioness of Ormond. The register dates from 1560. The parochial charities produce about £3 per annum. There is a National school. The principal residence is Ulcombe Place, the ancient residence of the St. Legers."

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