Wye

"WYE, a parish and town in the hundred of Wye, lathe of Shepway, county Kent, 9 miles S.W. of Canterbury, and 4 N.E. of Ashford. It is a station on the Ashford and Canterbury branch of the London and South-Eastern railway. The village is situated in the vale of the Stour, near the bridge built in 1638, and under Wye Down. The manor, which was co-extensive with the lathe in the Saxon times, formed part of the royal demesne, and after the Conquest was given by William I. as "Wi" to Battle Abbey. In 1431 Cardinal Kempe founded a college here, and upon the Dissolution, the manor having reverted to the crown, Queen Elizabeth presented it to the Hunsdons, from whom it passed to the Finches in the reign of Charles I. The Royalists had a skirmish here with Rich's men in 1648. In the neighbourhood are Wye Court, Wilmington, the Hermitage, Ollantigh, once the seat of the Thornhills, Spring-Grove, the Bretts' old seat, and Withersden, where is a mineral well. Hops are largely cultivated. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Canterbury, value £70. The Earl of Winchilsea is impropriator of the vicarial tithes, amounting to £641, the rectorial tithes, commuted at £655 10s. being part of the endowment of the see of Canterbury. The church, dedicated to SS. Gregory and Martin, formerly collegiate, was rebuilt by Cardinal Kempe in the reign of Henry VI., and contained his tomb, which was smashed by the fall of the steeple in 1686. The church was partly taken down in 1701, and is consequently smaller than formerly, being principally noticeable on account of its circular chancel. containing numerous monuments. The register commences in 1564. The ancient college, now used as the schoolhouse, is a quadrangular edifice, with a cloister and old hall; both the grammar school founded in the reign of Charles I. and Lady Thornhill's charity school, founded in 1708 for the education of 50 boys and 60 girls, are held in this building. Races take place in May. Fairs are held on 29th May and 11th October."

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