Westerham

See also: Feldkirchen-Westerham

Westerham
A view across Westerham Green
Westerham Location within Kent
Population	4,475 (2011)
OS grid reference	TQ445545
Civil parish	Westerham
District	Sevenoaks
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WESTERHAM
Postcode district	TN16
Dialling code	01959
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Sevenoaks

Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. It is recorded as early as the 9th century, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book in a Norman form, Oistreham (compare Ouistreham in Normandy, Oistreham in 1086). Hām is Old English for a village or homestead, and so Westerham means a westerly homestead. The River Darent flows through the town, and formerly powered three watermills.

History

View of Westerham, Kent ca. 1831, from W. H. Ireland's History of Kent.

View of the Church, 1922

View of the Town, 1922

Church of St Mary the Virgin

There is evidence that the area around Westerham has been settled for thousands of years: finds such as a Celtic fortification (c 2000 BC) and a Roman road are close by, along with the remains of a Roman encampment just past the ruins of a tower south of the town at the summit of Tower Woods.

The tower dates back to the 18th century, and was originally constructed by the owners of Squerryes Court as a folly for their children's amusement.

The manor was originally run by Godwin, Earl of Wessex and later by his son Harold Godwinson the last Saxon King of England. The first Norman lord of Westerham was Eustace II of Boulogne, and the town appears in the Domesday Book as Oistreham. By 1227 Henry III granted Westerham a market charter, making the new village a major player in the buying and selling of cattle in Kent, a tradition that survived to 1961 when the last cattle market was held. St Mary's Church is thought to date from the 13th century, although it was much altered in Victorian times. In 1503 the Protestant martyr John Frith was born in the town.

The church is unusual in that it displays the only known representation of a royal arms of King Edward VI (reigned 1547–1553) in a church. There is little doubt that it is the king's arms as the supporters are a lion and a dragon, and there is a curious Latin phrase beside the arms: "VIVAT REX CURAT LEX" (Long live the King, custodian of the law). England did not have another male monarch until the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

In 1596, there was a peculiar subsidence of a hill measuring 80 by 28 perches, which was transformed into a dale.

General James Wolfe was born in the town in 1727 at what is now known as the Old Vicarage due to a terrible storm on the night he was born. He lived in Quebec House—many streets and buildings are named after him and St Mary's contains not only the font in which he was baptised but also a memorial window to him by Edward Burne-Jones. The town square contains statues to both Wolfe and Churchill.

Interior and exterior scenes for the 2009 BBC mini-series Emma were shot at Squerryes Court with the house appearing as Emma Woodhouse's home Hartfield, while exterior scenes were shot at Chilham, Kent.

Alice Liddell, cited as the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland lived in the Vicarage for a brief period. Alice rented 'The Breaches' just before she died and then when she became very ill she went to stay with her sister Rhoda at Hoseyrigge in Westerham. She was born at Westminster and when she died aged 82 a memorial service was held for her at St Mary's Church. She was not buried in Westerham. Record producer Brian Higgins, whose Xenomania production team produced hit singles and albums for artists such as Girls Aloud, Kylie Minogue, Sugababes, Pet Shop Boys, Texas and Franz Ferdinand, now occupy what used to be known as the Old Vicarage.

BBC Children's TV founders Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird lived together in Westerham and named their production company Westerham Arts which was commissioned by the BBC to create The Woodentops, Andy Pandy and the Flower Pot Men.

During a January 1967 visit to Knole Park in Sevenoaks to shoot a promotional film for Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane, John Lennon stopped at a Westerham antiques shop and purchased a poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal, which later inspired the song, "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"

As well as the parish church (a Grade II*-listed building), there is a Grade II-listed chapel associated with the Congregational Federation and a Roman Catholic church. Westerham Evangelical Congregational Church dates from 1839 and St John the Baptist's Catholic Parish Church opened in 1955.

Economy

Westerham Mill c. 1912

Westerham was home to the Black Eagle Brewery, which was taken over by Taylor Walker & Co in the 1950s, becoming part of Ind Coope in 1959 and closing in 1965. Yeast from the brewery was preserved at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures and is now used by the present day Westerham Brewery which was established in 2004 by Robert Wicks. The brewery produces a range of ales, including Westerham British Bulldog.

Westerham was home to Crayford Engineering, a successful car conversion company, from 1962 to the 1980s, working from a workshop at Squerryes Mede.

Chartwell

Main article: Chartwell

Chartwell House facade, Westerham

The Churchill statue

In 1922 Winston Churchill MP purchased Chartwell Manor on the outskirts of Westerham, which, apart from the time he spent at 10 Downing Street and 28 Hyde Park Gate (his London Home), was his home for the rest of his life. Chartwell is now administered by the National Trust.

There is a statue of Sir Winston Churchill on the village green at Westerham. It was sculpted by Oscar Nemon and stands on a base of Yugoslavian stone, the gift of Marshal Josip Broz Tito.

Transport

Rail

The nearest National Rail station to Westerham is Oxted station, located 4 miles away.

Buses

Westerham is served by London Buses route 246, Southdown PSV routes 236, 594 & 595, Go Coach route 1 and Arriva route 401 (Sundays only). These connect it with places including Bromley, Biggin Hill, East Grinstead, Edenbridge, Hayes, Oxted, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Tunbridge Wells.

Roads

Westerham lies south of the M25 motorway. The A25 road goes west to Oxted, Redhill & Guildford and east to Sevenoaks and Wrotham. The A233 road goes north to Biggin Hill and Bromley. The B2026 road goes south to Edenbridge.

Media

Since the town is close to London, television signals are received from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter, placing Westerham in the BBC London and ITV London areas. BBC South East and ITV Meridian can also be received from the Bluebell Hill TV transmitter.

Local radio stations are: BBC Radio Kent (96.7 FM), Heart South (103.1 FM), Gold (603 AM) and KMFM West Kent, which broadcasts from its studios in Strood on 96.2 FM.

The town is served by these local newspapers, Westerham County Border News and Sevenoaks Chronicle.

The Famous Orpington & District Amateur Boxing Club based at the Royal Standard Westerham

Orpington & District Amateur boxing club located in Orpington , Kent, England. The club was originally established as Orpington Lads Club in 1912 by the St. Mary Cray Scout Troop, a scout group in St. Mary's Cray. Its purpose was to support underprivileged young men in the Orpington area. The Clubs Motto Progredior is translated Progression.

Between the years 1962 to 1990, Orpington & District ABC has produced numerous notable amateur champions and has had several distinguished former members. Some of these include Jimmy Cable , Albert Hillman, and Mark Baker.

Orpington & District ABC produced the most national champions of any boxing club with the Borough and held the record for most kent, Southern Counties and London Champions

Orpington & District ABC won a record school boy titles of any club in Kent during the period from 1962 to 1980 and also held the Kent and Southern counties school boy championships at the RoseCroft Club. Due to the clubs position on Kent borders the club also went on to box in the South East Divisional's winning multiple London titles.

The club later affiliated to Surrey ABA Southern counties, when located in Westerham in 1986.

The club holds the distinction of being one of the oldest boxing clubs in Kent and is currently situated in Pettswood. It name was changed to Orpington & District Amateur Boxing Club in 1936 from Orpington lads Club under the guidance of former professional boxer Harry Taylor, who introduced the prestigious Taylor's Cup.

In 1937 under the guidance of Harry Taylor his stable of boxers put on various tournaments to raise funds for Cray Wanders Football Club to prevent it from closing.

During World War II, the club temporarily closed down. It wasn't until 1962, under the leadership of Alf Reilly at St. Joseph's Boys School in Orpington and Eric Lubbock MP as the president , that the club reopened. It later moved to St. Mary's Cray Sea Cadet Hall and then the Rose Croft Social Club in the late 1960s and 1970s, With Jack Stewart the then president of the Rosecroft ensuring the club had a home until he resigned in 1980.

Orpington & District ABC has a rich history of producing champions, including Eric Lubbock MP,Mick Spencer, Gary Cable, Alan Cable, Johnny Hillman, Albert Hillman, Mark Baker, Robert Mullholland, Robert Stacey, Terry Pearson, P Martin and Ray Mason.

In 1966, the club successfully raised funds to build the Magpie Hall Lane Youth Centre in Southborough. It briefly operated from the Youth Centre at Magpie Hall Lane Pettswood before relocating to the Rosecroft social club in St.Mary’s cray coached by ex England international and national champion and previous boxer for the club Mick Spencer.

The club then relocated behind the Queenshead public house in Green St. Green in 1980 with Mick Spencer moving to the Fitzroy lodge. Ex pro Arthur Davis was now the head coach.In 1986, the club moved again, due lack of funding and unsuitable venue, this time to Westerham, where it merged with the Sir Winston Churchill Boxing Club,and the Spitfire Boxing club Bigginhill with Jimmy Cable serving as president and John Hart as coach. During this period, the club continued to produce national champions such as Robert Stacey and Mark Baker and good regional boxers such as Neville Smith,Dean Philp, Justin Worrel,Ian Tebbit and Mark Dalton.

Unfortunately, the club faced challenges in the 1990s, when the Royal Standard pub in Westerham closed this was the closure of all 3 clubs the Spitfire, Sir Winston Churchill and Orpington ABC leading to temporary closures due to a lack of venues and funding. However, in 2007 the Cray valley boxing club in Poverest claimed the Orpington & District ABC name and briefly re-opened and again produced regional champions under coach Olly Rutherford. The club sadly closed in 2013 due to lack of funding yet again.

Orpington & District ABC reopened its doors in again Pettswood April 2024 with an 15 year lease, ensuring the continuation of its legacy in the boxing community.

The club is the only official boxing club affiliated to the National Governing Body England Boxing & Sport England based in Pettswood and was the Original boxing club in Pettswood being located there in 1966. Amateur tournaments were held at the Daylight Inn with Great Elms Boxing club which was located in Great Elms road in Bromley.

The club also has a professional affiliation to the British Boxing Board of Control.

The club is now run by ex boxers & family members of the original Orpington & District ABC.

Local sports clubs

Westerham Cricket Club was founded in 1831, folded in 2004 and reformed in 2019. Previous home grounds: 1831 to 1874 Farley Common, Westerham; 1875 to 1987 Squerryes Park, Westerham; 1988 to 2004 Costell's Meadow, Westerham. In 1990, the cricket club invited the football, rugby and netball clubs to join them in forming the Westerham Sports Association (WSA) which secured a grant to build a new clubhouse which opened in 1990 and still exists. The Cricket Club now plays its home matches at Valence Park, a picturesque cricket ground on the outskirts of Westerham.

Westerham is also home to a football team, Westerham Football Club, which was founded in 1888. Westerham Junior Football Club provide football for 5-18 year olds playing in the Tandridge and Crowborough leagues. Both clubs are located at King George V Playing Field.

Westerham has two ladies netball teams that compete in the Tunbridge Wells League. Westerham also hosts a weekly parkrun on part of the Squerryes Estate.

See also

• List of places of worship in Sevenoaks (district)

External links

• Community, Business and Tourism in Westerham
• Westerham Town Web Site