Godmersham

---

title: "Godmersham" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-kent", "villages-in-the-borough-of-ashford", "civil-parishes-in-ashford,-kent"] description: "Village in Kent, England" topic_path: "general/villages-in-kent" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godmersham" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village in Kent, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox UK place"]

Field	Value
static_image_name	St Lawrence Godmersham 2.jpg
static_image_caption	St Lawrence's Church, Godmersham
country	England
official_name	Godmersham
coordinates
civil_parish	Godmersham
population	376
area_total_km2	15.7
population_ref	(Civil Parish 2011)
shire_district	Ashford
shire_county	Kent
region	South East England
constituency_westminster	Weald of Kent
post_town	CANTERBURY
postcode_district	CT4
postcode_area	CT
dial_code	01227
os_grid_reference	TR066506
::

| static_image_name = St Lawrence Godmersham 2.jpg | static_image_caption = St Lawrence's Church, Godmersham |country = England |official_name= Godmersham |coordinates = |civil_parish= Godmersham |population=376 |area_total_km2=15.7 |population_ref=(Civil Parish 2011) |shire_district= Ashford |shire_county= Kent |region= South East England |constituency_westminster= Weald of Kent |post_town= CANTERBURY |postcode_district = CT4 |postcode_area= CT |dial_code= 01227 |os_grid_reference= TR066506 Godmersham is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village straddles the Great Stour river where it cuts through the North Downs and its land is approximately one third woodland, all in the far east and west on the escarpment of the North Downs. It is six miles north-east of Ashford on the A28 road midway between Ashford and Canterbury in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with the North Downs Way and Pilgrims' Way traversing the parish.

The village is divided in two by the floodplain of the Stour. The parish civil includes Godmersham village itself, and Bilting. It shares many of its activities with the neighbouring parish of Crundale, a smaller parish to the east.

History

The first known record of Godmersham was AD824 when Beornwulf, King of Mercia, gave it as a whole to Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury. The village also is recorded in the Domesday Book. Bilting is thought to be older.

Although a significant number of residents work on the land, many work in Ashford, Canterbury and further afield, while some commute to London by train from Wye station. The village school in The Street closed in 1946 and the shop/post office in 1982. It is many years since there was a public house in the village.

Saint Lawrence Church

The ancient parish church is dedicated to St Lawrence the Martyr, it is part Saxon, part 12th-century (Norman), and was restored in 1864, it contains a carving considered to be one of the earliest representations of Thomas Becket.

Godmersham Park

Main article: Godmersham Park

Godmersham Park House was built in 1732 and eventually became the property of Edward Austen Knight, brother of Jane Austen who was known to have visited often. Her novel Mansfield Park depicts similar characters and scenes as those visible at the start of the 19th century, and in the case of architecture still present. The house is currently the home of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians College. A drawing of Godmersham Park appears as the background of the £10 note that entered circulation in 2017, which features a portrait of Austen.

Notable residents

• Samuel Pegge, Antiquarian, Vicar of Godmersham 1730–1750.

In popular culture

Author Russell Hoban repurposes Godmersham as "Good Mercy" in his 1980, post apocalyptic novel Riddley Walker.

References

References

1. [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] {{Webarchive. link. (11 February 2003 [[United Kingdom Census 2011]] ''[[Office for National Statistics]]'' Retrieved 10 May 2014)
2. "Location of Weald of Kent".
3. "Parish Council website".
4. [http://www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Godmersham Kent Churches]
5. "Kent Downs".
6. [http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=463431 Pastscape - Godmersham Park House]
7. link. (2010-11-20)
8. Samuel Pegge the Elder in [[Dictionary of National Biography]] accessed online 25 September 2007
9. "Places - Riddley Walker Annotations".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::