Hildenborough

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.214
longitude= 0.242
official_name= Hildenborough
population = 4,600 (2001 census)
shire_district= Tonbridge & Malling
shire_county = Kent
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Tonbridge & Malling
post_town= TONBRIDGE|postcode_district = TN11
postcode_area= TN |dial_code= 01732 83
os_grid_reference= TQ565485

Hildenborough is a village and rural parish in the District of Tonbridge and Malling, Kent. It is two miles (three kilometres) north-west of Tonbridge and five miles (eight kilometres) south-east of Sevenoaks. The village lies in the River Medway valley, near the North Downs in an area known as The Weald.

Origin of name

Hildenborough was originally just Hilden – or, in its 13th-century form, Hyldenn. The elements here are Old English "hyll" ‘hill’ and "denn" ‘woodland pasture’, so the sense is of a ‘pasture on or by a hill’. By 1349 the name had become Hildenborough, having acquired the affix from "burh" ‘manor, borough’.

Communications

Hildenborough stood on the first road in Kent to be turnpiked in 1710: the highway from Sevenoaks through Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells; carrying much traffic "en route" to “the Wells”. A number of inns sprang up to service this traffic, including the Hilden Manor and the Half Moon.

Today the village, along with Tonbridge and Sevenoaks, is by-passed by the modern A21 road.

The "railway" was late coming to Hildenborough: the South Eastern Railway did not open its direct line from London until 1 May 1868. The six-mile (ten-kilometre) gradient up to Sevenoaks takes its name from the village. The railway station was situated close to the existing houses at the time, which is now about one mile (one and a half kilometres) from the village centre.

Religion

By the 1840s, the Parish of Tonbridge was approximately 10 miles (16 km) long and 2½ miles (4 km) wide. A circular letter dated 26 September 1842 explained that, "as the Parish was so large, a great many people were unable to attend the church [in nearby Tonbridge] ." It was proposed that, "a new church should be built for the people living in the Hildenborough district." Dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, the church was consecrated on 9 July 1844. [http://history.touch2000.org.uk/stjohns]

In the 1990s a "church plant" was established by St John's to serve the southern part of the village. This congregation meets weekly in Stocks Green School, and more info can be found here: [http://www.stocksgreen.com] .

Modern Hildenborough

Sackville School, Hildenborough, a private educational establishment, now occupies Foxbush House, built in 1866 for Charles Fitch Kemp, a London chartered accountant, who had an “ambition to be a country landowner”. The house was subsequently sold twice before the second World War, when it was occupied by the military. It was used by various educational establishments from 1949; Sackville School was established in 1987 and its grounds are a Registered Historic Park.

Apart from one large financial institution Fidelity Investments having set up its UK Headquarters in Hildenborough and a GlaxoSmithKline factory at nearby Powder Mills, the village is primarily based on small businesses. It is very much a commuter village with its good communication links to London.

One of the village's oldest buildings, the Hilden Manor restaurant owned by Beefeater, was burnt down by a fire caused by an electrical fault, and has now been restored and rebuilt by Oaklands. It was officially re-opened on 6 October 2006, along with a Premier Travel Inn newly built next to it.

Activities

There are several activities for children and teenagers, including those run by Hildenborough Church, and a Scout troop (8th Tonbridge). Further away in Watts Cross is Hildenborough rifle and pistol club. Hildenborough has a very friendly and sometimes successful cricket club that plays its home games on Sundays, on the recreation ground in Riding Lane. The club headquarters is based at the Hildenborough Social Club, just down the road.It also has a BHS and ABRS qualified riding school and livery yard with a cross country course also in Riding Lane.

Local celebrities

Hildenborough is the family home of Olympic double-gold medallist Kelly Holmes. Other famous residents include Sir Henry Cooper and, according to recent news articles, footballer Lee Bowyer. There has also been some speculation that one of the participants in the Great Train Robbery lives in the village.

Demography

As of the 2001 UK census, the Hildenborough electoral ward had a population of 4,588. The ethnicity was 98.7% white, 0.6% mixed race, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% black and 0.2% other. The place of birth of residents was 94.3% United Kingdom, 0.6% Republic of Ireland, 1.7% other Western European countries, and 3.4% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 78.8% Christian, 0.1% Buddhist, 0.2% Hindu, 0% Sikh, 0.1% Jewish, and 0.2% Muslim. 12.6% were recorded as having no religion, 0.4% had an alternative religion and 7.6% did not state their religion.cite web | title = Neighbourhood Statistics | publisher = Statistics.gov.uk | url = http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadDatasetList.do?a=3&b=5945194&c=Hildenborough&d=14&g=460658&i=1001x1003&m=0&r=1&s=1204030989812&enc=1&domainId=16 | accessdate = 2008-02-26]

The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 39.1% in full-time employment, 13.5% in part-time employment, 10.9% self-employed, 1.5% unemployed, 2.4% students with jobs, 3.2% students without jobs, 17.1% retired, 7.8% looking after home or family, 2.8% permanently sick or disabled and 1.7% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 13.4% retail, 9.3% manufacturing, 7.2% construction, 17.6% real estate, 9.2% health and social work, 10.2% education, 5.5% transport and communications, 3.9% public administration, 3.2% hotels and restaurants, 12.5% finance, 1.5% agriculture and 6.5% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in education, finance and real estate. There were a relatively low proportion in manufacturing, public administration, hotels and restaurants. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 25.9% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.

References

External links

* [http://www.thisishildenborough.co.uk/ Hildenborough Parish Council]