Westerham

Westerham is a village which is now almost a town. It lies about ten miles west of Sevenoaks in Kent, England. It has been recorded at least as early as the ninth century and was mentioned in the Domesday Book in a Norman form, Oistreham (compare Ouistreham in Normandy). Ham is an Old English word meaning a village or homestead, and so Westerham is literally a westerly homestead.

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There is much evidence that the area around Westerham has been settled for thousands of years: inds such as a Celtic fortification (c 2000 BC) and a Roman road are close by. The manor was originally run by Godwin, Earl of Kent and later by his son Harold the last Saxon King of England.

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By 1227 Henry III granted Westerham a market charter, making the now village a major player in the buying and selling cattle in Kent, a tradition that survived right up to 1961 when the last cattle market was held. Over the centuries new families moved into the village, including the Warde family, who have lived at Squerryes Court since 1731. The Wardes still live there today: and their home is a tourist attraction.

Sevenoaks: Sevenoaks is a town in Kent, in south-east England. It is the seat for the Sevenoaks local government district, and is today a commuter town, lying 25 miles from London. At Riverhead lies the source of the River Darent....

Kent: :This article is about the English county of Kent. See also Kent (disambiguation)....

England: :For an explanation of often confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology)....