Little Chart
{{short description|Civil parish and small village in Ashford in Kent, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|static_image = St Mary the Virgin Little Chart 1.jpg
|static_image_width = 250px
|static_image_caption= The replacement St Mary the Virgin Church
|official_name= Little Chart
|coordinates = {{coord|51.1791|0.7809|display=inline,title}}
|civil_parish= Little Chart
|population=234
|area_total_km2=6.01
|population_ref=(Civil Parish 2011)[http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] 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=4 February 2025}}
|post_town= Ashford
|postcode_district = TN27
|postcode_area= TN
|dial_code= 01233
|os_grid_reference= TQ943459
}}
Little Chart is a village and civil parish, situated {{convert|4|mi}} north-west of Ashford in Kent, South East England. The parish lies south of the M20 motorway.
Geography
Within the parish boundaries is the linear settlement village centre by the old water mill and two smaller neighbourhoods less than 500m east:
- Little Chart Forstal (the term forstal means the land in front of a farm and farmyard; cp Painters Forstal{{Cite web|url=http://www.faversham.org/pages/standard.aspx?i_PageID=1181|title=Painters Forstal}}). Colloquially known as The Forstal, it is home to Little Chart Cricket Club.{{Cite web|url=https://littlechartcc.play-cricket.com/|title=Little Chart CC|website=littlechartcc.play-cricket.com|access-date=2019-08-20}}
- Rooting Street
The river flowing eastwards, passing a long mill pond and mill on its way, is the West Stour.
History
File:Ruined Church of St. Mary's at Little Chart - geograph.org.uk - 455253.jpg.]]
The secular property that would have had the highest grading of listed building in the parish, Surrenden Park,[http://www.littlechartpc.kentparishes.gov.uk/default.cfm?pid=853 The Surrenden Estate] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002084029/http://www.littlechartpc.kentparishes.gov.uk/default.cfm?pid=853 |date=2 October 2011 }} half in Pluckley, was owned by the Dering family for over 400 years; the family estate covered about four square miles of Kent. Part of their property was Calehill Park,{{Cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/192673|title=Geograph:: Entrance to Calehill Park, Little Chart © David Kemp|website=www.geograph.org.uk}} to the north. Neither property now exists: Surrenden succumbed to fire in 1952; Calehill was demolished in 1951.
Transport
Little Chart is situated close to the M20 motorway. The closest railway station is Charing.
Amenities
File:The Swan Inn, Hothfield Road, Little Chart, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 1427440.jpg
The original village church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and the Holy Rood, was wrecked in 1944 by a V-1 flying bomb during World War II;{{Cite web|url=http://kent.lovesguide.com/little_chart_old.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011235633/http://kent.lovesguide.com/little_chart_old.htm|url-status=dead|title=Little Chart old church|archivedate=11 October 2007}} it stood on a site further upstream from the village, near Chart Court. The new church, completed in 1955, is now within the village.{{Cite web|url=http://kent.lovesguide.com/little_chart.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011211225/http://kent.lovesguide.com/little_chart.htm|url-status=dead|title=Little Chart new church|archivedate=11 October 2007}}
The Ford Paper Mill, named after the one-time ford over the Great Stour, has a long history, and is still in operation dealing in salvaged paper.[http://www.littlechartpc.kentparishes.gov.uk/default.cfm?pid=854 Ford Paper Mill history] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002084113/http://www.littlechartpc.kentparishes.gov.uk/default.cfm?pid=854 |date=2 October 2011 }}
The Stour Valley Walk, which follows the Great Stour river, and the Greensand Way, from north to south, are both routed through the village. The village has a large pub, The Swan Inn.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theswaninnlittlechart.co.uk/index|title=The Swan Inn, Ashford|website=www.theswaninnlittlechart.co.uk}}
Past residents
Jonathan Bates, the Oscar-nominated sound engineer and youngest son of acclaimed writer H. E. Bates, was born in the village.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/dec/03/obituary-jonathan-bates-sound-editor |title=Obituary: Jonathan Bates |accessdate=9 October 2011|work=guardian.co.uk|location=London|first=Mick|last=Monks|date=3 December 2008}}
Australian-born current affairs and sports journalist and broadcaster Jeffrey Thomas owned and lived in the Grade II listed Forstal Farmhouse with his family in the 1970s,{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1320570|title=FORSTAL FARMHOUSE, Little Chart - 1320570 {{!}} Historic England|website=historicengland.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-08-20}} where he was instrumental in the formation of the Little Chart Cricket Club in the Kent Village Cricket League.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.littlechartparishcouncil.org.uk/ Little Chart Parish Council pages]
{{Commons category-inline|Little Chart}}
{{Ashford, Kent}}
{{authority control}}