Riverhead
Riverhead might well have been a small village on the very outskirts of Sevenoaks in the not to distant past, but places, like people, have a habit of evolving and the popularity of Riverhead has contributed to its amazing growth over the past century. I can fully understand why it is so popular with people who commute to the City and those who choose to work locally. It has everything that you would expect of a village: a good sense of community, surrounded by stunning countryside and yet it is also able to provide the benefits that one would expect of a town: a large supermarket, restaurants and schools. What more could anyone ask for! The icing on the cake must certainly be the excellent transport links with the M25 Junction 5 just a few moments away along with the A21 to Tunbridge Wells and Hastings. For those of us who want to use public transport Sevenoaks train station is within walking distance.
Riverhead is also far older and of greater importance than is immediately apparent. The Saxons are believed responsible for the start of any settlement here as the name was originally “Rothered” which is Saxon in origin. The village wasn’t named after what would seem the most obvious – the river. “Rither” Is a Saxon word for hill and it is the hill to the East of Riverhead after which it is named.
Riverhead was, for many centuries, the centre of the Hundred of Codsheath. Hundreds were a division of land and people by the Saxons and this particular Hundred along with Riverhead also included Sundridge, Seal, Shoreham and Sevenoaks Weald. This fact alone makes it superior to Sevenoaks, which seems to be intent upon engulfing the place!
Riverhead is much more than just a supplier of necessities for modern day living. There are plenty of reminders of its past, after all it is our past that makes us what we are and so it is with Riverhead. In some ways we are all constantly revisiting the past. When we look at photographs of our families or ourselves, or visit a place or person we’ve not seen for a while the past becomes part of our present once again and it is just the same in Riverhead. Every step we take especially within the conservation area is a step into a different age. Just like a patchwork quilt Riverhead is home to a wide array of different architectural styles. Luckily history and architecture tended to evolve slowly unlike the frenetic pace of the fashion world where comfort doesn’t come into the equation! Just a judicious little nip and tuck and an old building was given a new lease of life! 16th century timber framed buildings along with brick built Victorian and Edwardian properties are still to be found contained within the conservation area.
Cars, unlike man have probably had the greatest impact upon what we see today. An increase in traffic led to the widening of the High Street with the loss of several old buildings and the mysterious disappearance of a local landmark – a water fountain that was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. There are photographs of the fountain in various places but no one knows what has become of it!
There are still plenty of hidden gems that are not in the conservation area but scattered around Riverhead, like the parkland that is all that remains after Montreal House was demolished. The parkland is a mere reflection of the beauty of the house itself and is still home to plenty of wildlife including Kingfishers and Moorhens that depend upon the stream which eventually trickles into the River Darenth. It is wrong to call it a house as it was in fact a mansion. The house was built in the Palladian style using the natural contours of the surrounding landscape to maximise the views of the countryside which formed part of the two hundred acre estate as was fashionable with most of the aristocracy at the time. The house was so lovely that even King George III and Queen Charlotte stayed in 1778.
I cannot speak about the house without mentioning the man who was responsible for it. He was known as “The Conqueror of Canada” and was born on 29th January 1717 in the village. It is amazing that the area surrounding Sevenoaks has provided history with two of the best soldiers that we have ever seen. Their names should be on the tip of every school boys tongue but it is highly unlikely that they will have even heard of them let alone are aware of their achievements!
I believe what they achieved is equally worthy of a plinth in Trafalgar Square alongside Nelson. Jeffrey Amherst was the second of eight children who rose to the dizzy heights of Commander in Chief of the British forces in Canada. He managed to inspire a “raggle taggle” army of disillusioned soldiers and colonists into a fighting force to be feared!
General James Wolfe is probably the better known of the two men because he died capturing Quebec from the French, but it was under Jeffrey Amherst’s leadership that he was able to do this and Jeffrey received the ultimate surrender of the French at Montreal. He returned to England as a national hero and was created Lord Holmesdale in 1776 by King George III
Riverhead is so much more than a suburb of Sevenoaks with its colourful past it seems destined to have a distinctive future!
copyright© Wendy Stevenson 2011
Can you help? Contact us if you know the history of a town or village in Kent near you. We're also looking for Photographs of Kent, submit online
Comment about this article: editorial@wikikent.co.uk
|
