The village
of Marden is situated approximately 8 miles south of the County Town of
Maidstone with its excellent shopping, educational and recreational
facilities.
The Parish
of Marden, which includes Chainhurst, consists of mainly mixed farming and has
a population of just over 3000. It
is in an area renowned for the growing of apples.
The village
benefits from local shops including a Post Office, Bank, Grocers, Chemist,
Butchers, Bakers, Fast Food outlets and Main Line Railway station for London
and the South Coast.
History -
Settlement in Marden, or Meredenne, is thought to have been before the 9th
Century. The densely forested
Weald was very wet and swampy, but became used for pig grazing and the
clearings, which provided temporary settlement for herdsmen were called 'dens'
- Marden. The availability of
timber as a building material encouraged permanent settlement and Marden had a
church by 1085. This church is
mentioned in the Domesday
Monachorum.
Marden has
always been closely linked to the land and it has been from agriculture that
the village has derived its prosperity. The
Wealden forest provided timber for construction and fuel.
This, in addition to water for power and sheep for wool, made Marden an
ideal area for cloth production. Migrant
Flemish in the 16th Century provided the expertise and mills were
sited in Pattenden and Sheephurst Lanes.
The village of Marden in the south of the Borough was part of a Royal
Hundred and had its own Court, exempt from the jurisdiction of the County
Sheriff.
The weather boarded Court House still stands in the centre of the square but
the town stocks have been moved to the south porch of the 13th Century church
of St Michael and All Angels.
