The civil parish has a population of 2,767, increasing to 3,365[1] at the 2011 Census, and includes the villages of Ash, Westmarsh, Ware, Hoaden and Richborough. The Ash Level, by the River Stour, takes up the northern part of the parish.
History
Ash was once on the main thoroughfare from Canterbury to the channel port of Sandwich. It takes its name from the Old English æsc (ash) and shows its toponymy in its first recorded form, Æsce, in about 1100.[2]
Ash was once part of the Royal manor of Wingham and having been given to the See of Canterbury in 850 AD by King Athelstan, it became a separate parish in 1282, one of the largest in Kent at that time.
The Harflete or Harfleet family were Lords of the Manor for many years. The family died out in the late seventeenth century.
The Grade I listed parish church, is dedicated to St Nicholas [4] and probably built on the site of an earlier Saxon church, dates partly from the 12th century and has a 15th-century tower with a lead spire (once used as a navigation aid for ships), which now houses a ring of ten bells. It also has the best collection of medieval monumental effigies in Kent, including one to Jane Kerriel (c. 1455) which reveals a unique horseshoe head-dress.
Ash is known for its market gardens, and at one time had its own brewery and organ maker. There are two vineyards nearby.
There are many medieval buildings in the village, including 'Molland House' which is named as a Historic Building of Kent[5] and eleven of the twelve original manor houses. In the same lane are a number of Tudor cottages. The Chequer Inn began life as a timber-framedhall house, dating from about 1500.[6]
