Coordinates: 51°04′11″N 0°41′23″E / 51.069620°N 0.689800°E / 51.069620; 0.689800

Tenterden
Tenterden Town Railway Station
St Mildred's Church
Tenterden  Tenterden shown within Kent
Population	7,613 [1]
OS grid reference	TQ885334
Civil parish	Tenterden
District	Ashford
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	TENTERDEN
Postcode district	TN30
Dialling code	01580
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Ashford
Website	www.tenterdentown.co.uk
List of places: UK • England • Kent

Window in St Mildred.

Tenterden is a Cinque Port town in the Ashford District of Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother.

The town's name is derived from the Old English "Tenet Waraden", meaning a den or forest clearing in the forest which belonged to the men of Thanet.

History[link]

The first record of dwellings in Tenterden can be found in a charter which mentions Heronden, the town, began to grow from the 14th century around the wool industry. Unlike other such centres in the Weald it had the advantage of access to the sea. Much of what is now Romney Marsh was under water, and ships docked at Smallhythe. Timber from the Wealden forests was used to construct ships, and in 1449 Tenterden was incorporated into the Confederation of Cinque Ports as a limb of Rye. Ships built in the town were then used to help Rye fulfil its quota for the Crown.

A school was in existence here in 1521; later (in 1666) it was referred to as a grammar school.

In 1903, Tenterden Town railway station was opened.

The town[link]

Town council[link]

For the purposes of local government, the town is divided into four wards: North, South, West and St Michaels. The latter is the part of the town to the north (see below). Tenterden has an active Town Council which supports such events as the May Fair, Tentertainment a great music festival, late night Christmas shopping and the Fantastic Folk Festival.

Churches and chapels[link]

There are two parish churches:

• St Mildred's is in the main part of the town. The church dates from the 12th century, and was progressively enlarged until 1461, when the distinctive tower was constructed. It was one of the churches in the 1588 system of warning beacons.
• St Michael's: The suburb now called St Michael's was known as Boresisle until Victorian times, when a church dedicated to St Michael was built to serve this community. The church was consecrated in 1863, but construction of the steeple took a further 12 years.

The Unitarian Chapel, originally called the Old Meeting House, was built c. 1695. A plaque on the wall records that Dr Benjamin Franklin worshipped here in 1783, where he was to hear Joseph Priestley preach.

The town[link]

Tenterden's broad tree-lined High Street offers a selection of shopping facilities, making the town a centre for a number of villages in the area. Tourist attractions draw the visitors: especially the Kent & East Sussex Railway line to Bodiam; Chapel Down a local vineyard; Tentertainment Music Festival; and the Tenterden Folk Festival, held on the weekend of the first Saturday in October each year since 1993.

Tenterden is an important nodal centre with routes radiating to Rolvenden and Hastings (A28), Wittersham and Rye (B2082), Appledore and New Romney (B2080), Woodchurch and Hamstreet (B2067) and Ashford and Maidstone (A28/A262). It has a busy town centre which is home to many small boutiques and antique shops, as well as craft shops, book shops and various banks. There is also a large Tesco which is accessible to pedestrians from the High Street and vehicles from Smallhythe Road. Tenterden also has a Waitrose store accessed from Sayers Lane and Recreation Ground Road. There are numerous public houses in the town centre, The Woolpack (Enterprise Inns) next to the Town Hall, the former Eight Bells (now a Cafe Rouge), The White Lion (Marston's Inns), The Vine (Shepherd Neame) and The William Caxton (Shepherd Neame). The town also benefits from a leisure centre at the end of Recreation Ground Road. The centre was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales.

Homewood School & Sixth Form Centre, a large secondary school, catering for the Weald and South Ashford is situated in Tenterden.

Tenterden Lions Club was formed in 1958; its members serve the community by giving time to local needs and raising money for local, national and international good causes. Every December, Father Christmas travels around Tenterden and some of the local villages providing enjoyment, as well as collecting money to support various good causes.

The Tenterden and District Chamber of Commerce promote and support businesses in Tenterden and the surrounding area. The Chamber are a thriving group who hold regular networking meetings for members, run the Tenterden Town community website, publish the InCinque Newsletter, organise a Town brochure, have input into the many walking guides, organise Late Night Shopping, the Christmas street lights, the shop Christmas trees and various Christmas events, and support the Tentertainment Music Festival, an annual event normally held in July and the Folk Festival held in October every year.

At Christmas time, Tenterden has a tradition of late-night shopping on the first Friday of December, with Christmas lights, stalls, entertainment and goodies for the whole family, as well as free parking.

Notable people[link]

• Benn Barham, professional British golfer.
• William Caxton (of printing press fame) is reputed to have been born in the town.
• Edith Craig (daughter of Ellen Terry), actress, theatre director, producer, costume designer and early pioneer of women's suffrage, lived at Smallhythe Place.
• Nicki French, international singer/songwriter.
• David Frost, media personality and daytime TV game show host, was born in the town.
• Kevin Godley (of 10cc and Godley & Creme) was the owner of Heronden Hall and Heronden Gatehouse, the later having recently been restored to a very high standard by the present owners.
• Gary Hume, artist, Royal Academician and Turner Prize nominee.
• Roderick Kedward, historian and specialist on Vichy France and the Resistance.
• Sholto Marcon, Olympic gold medallist in field hockey, was Vicar of Tenterden.
• John Parker (Irish judge), died 1564, who became a leading statesman and judge in Ireland, began life as a cloth-maker in Tenterden.
• Peter Richardson, the former Worcestershire, Kent and England cricketer is a current inhabitant.
• Sir Donald Sinden, the actor, lives in the area and the local theatre is named after him.
• Dame Ellen Terry, the actress, lived for many years at nearby Smallhythe Place (which is now under the care of the National Trust).
• Samuel J. Tilden, who lost the U.S. presidency by one vote in 1876, is descended from the Tilden family of Tenterden.

Population[link]

The district had a population of 7,600 at the 2001 census.

Sports[link]

• Tenterden Town Football Club, established in 1889, is based on the High Street, along Recreation Ground Road whereit has played since formation. After many seasons of varied fortunes, for the 2008/09 season it has two teams: the 1st XI competes in the Kent County League, and the Reserve XI competes in the Ashford & District Football League, both on a Saturday afternoon. Tenterden's ground hosts the annual Weald of Kent Charity Cup Final, which Tenterden itself has contested on a number of occasions, most recently during the 2000/01 season, losing 3-1 to Tyler Hill.
• Tenterden Tigers Junior Football Club, established in 1996.
• Tenterden Cricket Club is based along Smallhythe Road.
• The Tour de France raced through the town in July 2007, with a sprint for the Maillot vert (green jersey) taking place in Tenterden.
• Homewood Badminton Club was formed over 30 years ago for intermediate and advanced players. They play every Tuesday at the Tenterden Leisure Centre and participate in local leagues.
• Tenterden Golf Club is located in Chalk Hill.

Miscellaneous[link]

Tenterden is the name of one of the oldest working railway steam locomotives in the world, an 0-6-0 tank engine.

Local media[link]

Tenterden has one local commercial radio station, KMFM Ashford, which serves the entire borough of Ashford. The town is also served by county wide stations BBC Radio Kent, Heart Kent and Gold.It lies within the BBC South East and ITV Meridian regions.

The local newspaper is the Kentish Express, published by the KM Group. Tenterden is also served by two free newspapers - Ashford Extra from the KM Group, and yourashford published by KOS Media on Wednesdays.

Twinning[link]

Tenterden is twinned with the following places

• Avallon

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tenterden

• Tenterden Town website Official community website for Tenterden, and Tenterden and District Chamber of Commerce
• Tenterden Town Forum Community Forum
• Transition Town Tenterden
• Tenterden Web Site Local Tourism Web Site, owned by a Rye business
• Smallhythe Place
• Homewood School
• Tenterden Cricket Club
• Tourist Guide to Tenterden
• Kent County Football League
• Tenterden Tigers Junior FC
• Tenterden Lions Club
• Homewood Badminton Club contact details

	Woolpack Corner	High Halden St Michaels	Shadoxhurst
	Benenden		Woodchurch
		Tenterden    East
	Rolvenden	Small Hythe Wittersham	Leigh Green Reading Street Stone in Oxney

v t e Towns and villages in the Borough of Ashford, Kent, England Aldington Aldington Frith Anvil Green Appledore Appledore Heath Ashford Bagham Bethersden Biddenden Bilsington Bilting Bockhanger Bodsham Bonnington Boughton Aluph Boughton Corner Boughton Lees Brabourne Brabourne Lees Brattle Bromley Green Brook Challock Charing Chilham Chilmington Green Crundale Eastwell Ebony Egerton Godinton Godmersham Great Chart Hamstreet Hastingleigh High Halden Hinxhill Hothfield Kenardington Kennington Kingsnorth Leigh Green Little Chart Mersham Molash Newenden Newtown Orlestone Pluckley Reading Street Rolvenden Rolvenden Layne Ruckinge St Michaels Sevington Shadoxhurst Small Hythe Smarden Smeeth Stanhope Stone in Oxney Stubbs Cross Tenterden Warehorne Westwell Westwell Leacon Willesborough Wittersham Woodchurch Woolpack Corner Wye List of places in Kent

Thomas Day
Thomas Day by Joseph Wright of Derby (1770); National Portrait Gallery, London
Born	(1748-06-22)22 June 1748 London
Died	28 September 1789(1789-09-28) (aged 41) Barehill, Berkshire
Occupation	Author, Lawyer
Nationality	British
Genres	Children's literature
Notable work(s)	The History of Sandford and Merton

Thomas Day (22 June 1748 – 28 September 1789) was a British author and abolitionist. He was well known for the children's book The History of Sandford and Merton (1783–1789) which emphasized Rousseauvian educational ideals.

Life and works[link]

Day was born on 22 June 1748 London, the only child of Thomas and Jane Day. Thomas Day, Sr. died when Day was about a year old, leaving him fatherless but wealthy. Day first attended a school in Stoke Newington, Middlesex, but after a bout with smallpox he removed to Charterhouse School. He subsequently attended Corpus Christi College, Oxford where he became a star debater and developed a close friendship with William Jones, but he did not graduate and left the college in 1767.

Day moved back to his family estate at Barehill, Berkshire. There he met the progressive educator Richard Lovell Edgeworth, from whom he became almost inseparable. Together the resolved to educate Edgeworth's son, Dick, in the style of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile. Edgeworth and the project converted Day to Rousseauism. He declared in 1769 that the two books he would save, were all the world's books to be destroyed, would be the Bible and Emile. He, Edgeworth and Dick even visited Rousseau in France. Because of his connection with Edgeworth, Day was able to join the Lunar Society in Lichfield and meet and converse with Erasmus Darwin as well as Anna Seward.

After this education project, Day undertook a second: he tried to train a wife. After failing to find the perfect wife (several women turned down his proposals of marriages), he decided to adopt two foundlings from orphanages and, using Rousseau's maxims, educate them to be the perfect wife (two would ensure that one of them worked out). He adopted a 12-year-old and an 11-year-old whom he renamed Sabrina and Lucretia and took them to France to educate them in isolation. Unfortunately, the girls became ill and "squabbled" and he decided to give up on Lucretia, who he did not think could satisfy him intellectually. Sabrina he felt was still a possibility, but her character had to be further strengthened. After dropping hot wax on her arms and hearing her scream, though, he gave up in despair.

Although Day was wealthy, he decided to study the law and in 1776 was admitted to Lincoln's Inn; he rarely practised.

Day did finally meet his "paragon" of a woman in Esther Milnes (1753–1792), an heiress from Chesterfield. They were married on 7 August 1778. The couple subsequently moved to a small estate at Stapleford Abbotts, near Abridge in Essex. They lived a very ascetic lifestyle and Esther was never allowed to contact her family. In 1780, the couple moved to Anningsley in Surrey, when Day bought a new estate there. It was a philanthropic project for both husband and wife and they laboured to improve the conditions of the working classes around them.

In 1773, Day published his first work-"The Dying Negro," a poem he had written with John Bicknell that tells the horrifying story of a runaway slave; it was a bestseller.

View on the US Declaration of Independence[link]

The contradiction between the claim that "all men are created equal" and the existence of American slavery, attracted comment when the United States Declaration of Independence was first published. Congress having made a few changes in wording, deleted nearly a fourth of the draft before publication, most notably removing a passage critical of the slave trade, and there were members of Congress who owned black slaves.^[1] In 1776, Thomas Day responding to the hypocrisy in the Declaration wrote;

"If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves." ^[2]

Later works[link]

Day argued for the rights of the American colonists in his poem "The Devoted Legions" (1776) and in 1780 he argued in Parliament for an early peace with the revolutionaries as well as parliamentary reform. His speeches were also published as pamphlets.

But it was as a writer for children that Day made his reputation. The History of Little Jack (1787) was extremely popular, but it could not match the sales of The History of Sandford and Merton (1783, 1786, 1789) which was a bestseller for over a hundred years. Embracing Rousseau's dictates in many ways, it narrates the story of the rich, noble but spoiled Tommy Merton and his poor but virtuous friend Harry Sandford. Through trials and stories, Harry and the boys' tutor teach Tommy the importance of labor and the evils of the idle rich.

Day was thrown from his horse while trying to break it using kindness at Barehill, Berkshire, on 28 September 1789 and died almost instantly. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Wargrave, Berkshire.^[3]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Blackman, John. A Memoir of the Life and Writings of Thomas Day, author of “Sandford and Merton.” London: John Bedford Leno, 1862. No ISBN available.

• Chandler, Anne. “Defying ‘Development’: Thomas Day’s Queer Curriculum in Sandford and Merton.” Novel Gazing: Queer Readings in Fiction. Ed. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Durham: Duke University Press, 1997.

• Gignilliat, George Warren, Jr. The Author of Sandford and Merton: A Life of Thomas Day, Esq. New York: Columbia University Press, 1932. No ISBN available.

• Keir, James (1791). An Account of the Life and Writings of Thomas Day, Esq‎.. London: John Stockdale. http://books.google.com/books?id=s900AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=james+keir. 

• Rowland, Peter. The Life and Times of Thomas Day, 1748-1789: English Philanthropist and Author, Virtue Almost Personified. Lewiston: E. Mellen Press, 1996. ISBN 0-7734-8844-8.

• Scott, S. H. The Exemplary Mr Day, 1748-1789, author of Sandford and Merton, A Philosopher in Search of the Life of Virtue and of a Paragon Among Women. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., [1935]. No ISBN available.

• Uglow, Jenny. The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002.

External links[link]

• Thomas Day from Brycchan Carey's listing of British abolitionists