Ash
The village of Ash can is found some three miles to the north west of Sandwich, it is a large and prosperous village still able to support two schools, a doctor’s surgery and a handful of shops; unfortunately the brewery and organ maker have long since disappeared. Although long since gone Ash at one time had its own railway station which was part of the East Kent Light Railway but this was decommissioned in 1948 by Dr Beeching.
Ash was renowned for the quality of fruit and vegetables produced in the many market gardens, today it is famed for the quality of wine produced by two nearby vineyards all of these small scale operations owe their success to the quality of the alluvial soil left behind by the sea.
The village is ancient and unlike other similar villages has managed to retain a large number of fine medieval buildings, one of which is listed as a Historic Building of Kent, along with a number of Tudor cottages. These give us some idea as to how old the village is but it is in fact much older, there was very likely a Roman settlement here as the village evolved along the main Roman highway from the port of Sandwich to Canterbury. The name Ash is a derivative of the Old English “aesc” which literally means ash. It was at one time part of the Royal Manor of Wingham but it became a parish in its own right when it was given by King Athelstan in 850 AD to the See of Canterbury.
Ash would have been quite an important stopping point on the journey to Sandwich, which at the time was a major port. Travel was difficult before the coming of the railway because of the state of the roads; in some areas during the winter it became impossible to move anything because the pot holes and the mud as animals became bogged down and unable to move. This meant that even in the best of weather it was necessary to stop every ten to fifthteen miles to rest. The inhabitants of Ash would have seen some of the most famous Kings and Queens of England on their way to the continent. Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of France, who was probably better known as the “she wolf” for her help in removing her husband Edward II from the throne and his eventual murder, most certainly past through Ash.
copyright© Wendy Stevenson 2011
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