Godmersham
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| static_image_name = St Lawrence Godmersham 2.jpg
| static_image_caption = St Lawrence's Church, Godmersham
|country = England
|official_name= Godmersham
|coordinates = {{coord|51.2180|0.9571|display=inline,title}}
|civil_parish= Godmersham
|population=376
|area_total_km2=15.7
|population_ref=(Civil Parish 2011)[http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030211201309/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |date=11 February 2003 }} United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 10 May 2014
|shire_district= Ashford
|shire_county= Kent
|region= South East England
|constituency_westminster= Weald of Kent{{cite web|title= Location of Weald of Kent |url= https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4385/location |website=parliament.uk|access-date=8 February 2025}}
|post_town= CANTERBURY
|postcode_district = CT4
|postcode_area= CT
|dial_code= 01227
|os_grid_reference= TR066506
}}
Godmersham is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village straddles the Great Stour river where it cuts through the North Downs and its land is approximately one third woodland, all in the far east and west on the escarpment of the North Downs. It is six miles north-east of Ashford on the A28 road midway between Ashford and Canterbury in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with the North Downs Way and Pilgrims' Way traversing the parish.
The village is divided in two by the floodplain of the Stour. The parish civil includes Godmersham village itself, and Bilting. It shares many of its activities with the neighbouring parish of Crundale, a smaller parish to the east.
History
The first known record of Godmersham was AD824 when Beornwulf, King of Mercia, gave it as a whole to Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury. The village also is recorded in the Domesday Book. Bilting is thought to be older.{{Cite web |url=http://www.godmershampc.kentparishes.gov.uk/ |title=Parish Council website |access-date=27 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007192040/http://www.godmershampc.kentparishes.gov.uk/ |archive-date=7 October 2016 |url-status=dead }}
Although a significant number of residents work on the land, many work in Ashford, Canterbury and further afield, while some commute to London by train from Wye station. The village school in The Street closed in 1946 and the shop/post office in 1982. It is many years since there was a public house in the village.{{fv|date=November 2024}}
Saint Lawrence Church
The ancient parish church is dedicated to St Lawrence the Martyr, it is part Saxon, part 12th-century (Norman), and was restored in 1864, it contains a carving considered to be one of the earliest representations of Thomas Becket.[http://www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Godmersham Kent Churches]
Godmersham Park
{{main|Godmersham Park}}
Godmersham Park House was built in 1732 and eventually became the property of Edward Austen Knight, brother of Jane Austen who was known to have visited often. Her novel Mansfield Park depicts similar characters and scenes as those visible at the start of the 19th century, and in the case of architecture still present.{{Cite web |url=http://www.kentdowns.org.uk/40places/19.%20Godmersham%20Park.html |title=Kent Downs |access-date=29 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205072059/http://www.kentdowns.org.uk/40places/19.%20Godmersham%20Park.html |archive-date=5 February 2013 |url-status=dead }}[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=463431 Pastscape - Godmersham Park House] The house is currently the home of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians College.[http://www.abdo.org.uk/read.php?page=20&p=12 ABDO] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120150913/http://www.abdo.org.uk/read.php?page=20&p=12 |date=2010-11-20 }} A drawing of Godmersham Park appears as the background of the £10 note that entered circulation in 2017, which features a portrait of Austen.
Notable residents
In popular culture
Author Russell Hoban repurposes Godmersham as "Good Mercy" in his 1980, post apocalyptic novel Riddley Walker.{{Cite web|url=http://www.errorbar.net/rw/Places|title=Places - Riddley Walker Annotations|website=Errorbar|access-date=21 August 2022|archive-date=29 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729025537/http://www.errorbar.net/rw/Places|url-status=live}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Godmersham}}
- [http://www.ashford.gov.uk/about_the_borough/local_services/venues_for_hire/godmersham_village_hall.aspx Godmersham Village Hall Details at Ashford.gov]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110703025751/http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/gardenfinder/garden.aspx?id=11773 NGS Gardens Open for Charity]
{{Ashford, Kent}}
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