Kemsley Explained

Country:England
Coordinates:51.36°N 0.74°W
Official Name:Kemsley
Population:6,100
Population Ref:(2005)[1]
7,621 (2011)[2]
Shire District:Swale
Shire County:Kent
Region:South East England
Constituency Westminster:Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Post Town:Sittingbourne
Postcode District:ME10
Postcode Area:ME
Os Grid Reference:TQ905660
Static Image:Kemsley Village Hall - geograph.org.uk - 711017.jpg
Static Image Caption:Village hall, Kemsley

Kemsley, once a separate village, is now a suburb of Sittingbourne in Kent, England.

According to Asserius Menevensis in his contemporary survey, the Danes built a fortress or castle here in 893 at a place called 'Kemsley downe'. This later became 'Castle Rough'.[3]

At the end of the 19th century, the site of the village was simply a row of cottages beside a brick works,[4] located close to the remains of the medieval fortified manor house Castle Rough.

In 1924, with expansion impossible at the old Sittingbourne Paper Mills, owner Edward Lloyd built the new Kemsley Paper Mill, which served by a creek allowed the direct importation of raw materials to the site. At the same time he built a garden village to house his employees, the core of which comprises the modern day Kemsley village. The narrow gauge industrial railway which served the factory is now the preserved Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway, a tourist attraction. Kemsley railway station is on the Sheerness Line.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2005 Ward Level Population Estimates . Kent County Council . September 2006 . 2007-08-20 .
  2. Web site: Ward population 2011. 21 September 2016. Office for National Statistics. Neighbourhood Statistics.
  3. Hasted . Edward . Edward Hasted . 1799 . Parishes . The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent . Institute of Historical Research . 6 . 163–192 . 27 February 2014.
  4. Web site: Map Page . 2008-11-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081121144552/http://www.old-maps.co.uk/indexmappage2.aspx . 2008-11-21 .