Addington, Kent

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| static_image_name = Addington Long Barrow, north side of road 04.jpg

| static_image_caption =

| official_name = Addington

| coordinates = {{coord|51.298|0.352|display=inline,title}}

| population = 769

| population_ref = (2011 Census){{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11119833&c=Addington&d=16&e=62&g=6439459&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1474627764781&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=23 September 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics| work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}

| shire_district = Tonbridge and Malling

| shire_county = Kent

| region = South East England

| constituency_westminster = Tonbridge{{cite web|title= Location of Tonbridge |url= https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4364/location |website=parliament.uk |access-date=28 February 2025}}

| post_town = West Malling

| postcode_district = ME19

| postcode_area = ME

| dial_code =

| os_grid_reference =

}}

Addington is a village in the English county of Kent. It is close to the M20 motorway, and between the villages of Wrotham Heath and West Malling. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is called Eddintune. The meaning of the village's name is "Æddi's (or Eadda's) estate".{{cite web | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/places/names/index.shtml| publisher = BBC| title = Kent place names| access-date = 2008-03-09}} The village is notable for the long barrows, Neolithic chamber tombs. Its parish covers a little under {{convert|700|acre|km2|abbr=on}}, containing 291 houses. Addington Brook runs through the parish.

History

Addington has been continuously inhabited for over 5,000 years. Many Neolithic artifacts have been extracted from the village, but much archaeological evidence has been lost to mechanical digging. Some sites were excavated during the building of the motorway. It had two mills at the time of the Domesday survey.{{cite book | first = William| last = Coles Finch| author-link=William Coles Finch| year = 1933| title = Watermills & Windmills| publisher = C W Daniel Company| location = London }} There was a watermill powered by the Addington Brook (TQ 656 587 {{Coord|51.303227|0.376605|display=inline|format=dms}}), demolished in the nineteenth century; the site now lies within West Malling Golf Course.{{cite book | last = Fuller & Spain| year = 1986| title = Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex)| publisher = Kent Archaeological Society| location = Maidstone| isbn = 0-906746-08-6}}{{cite web|url=http://www.millsarchive.com/Kent/MillPageData/MillsList.aspx?powersource=2 |publisher=The Mills Archive |title=Watermills list |access-date=2008-03-09 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418233451/http://www.millsarchive.com/kent/MillPageData/MillsList.aspx?powersource=2 |archive-date=2010-04-18 }} The remains of an old structure named the Addington Place were visible until the early 21st century, now beneath a golf course and stables.

During the Black Death, Addington was severely affected, and four of the church rectors succumbed to it.{{Cite book |last=Mee |first=Arthur |title=The King's England: Arthur Mee's Kent |publisher=The Caxton Publishing Company Ltd. |year=1936 |pages=14}}

Features

The village has one pub, the Angel. There are rumours of a tunnel running from the pub's basement to the church, located {{convert|750|m|yd|abbr=on}} away. Addington does not have a school, so children attend schools in nearby villages. Addington is divided by the M20 and M26 motorways. There are sandpits and quarries on both sides of the motorways, which are now almost entirely worked out.

The village is home to Addington Village Cricket Club, which has two Saturday teams and a 1st XI that plays in Division 2 of the Kent League (1st XI).

File:St Margaret's Church, Addington 01.jpg

The parish church is dedicated to St. Margaret, and dates back to 1403.{{cite web |last1=Bristow |first1=W. |title=Parishes: Addington Pages 542-548 The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 4. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol4/pp542-548 |website=British History Online |access-date=3 October 2021}} It is part of a combined benefice with All Saints Birling, St. Martin Ryarsh and St. Peter & St. Paul Trottiscliffe.{{cite web |title=BART Group of Churches |url=https://www.bartcombinedbenefice.org.uk/welcome.htm |website=BART Combined Benefice |access-date=3 October 2021}}

Traces of the former gardens of Addington Park can still be seen. Rockeries, ponds and old tennis courts are easily discernible in the private grounds of the Seekers Trust between a church and the golf course.

Long barrows

=Chestnuts=

The Chestnuts long barrow is the better preserved of the two long barrows. It was excavated in 1957, and artifacts from the dig are displayed in Maidstone Museum. It is believed to be on a Ley line.