Staple, Kent

infobox UK place

country = England
official_name= Staple
latitude= 51.2639

longitude= 1.2553
static_

static_image_caption=Church of St James the Great, Staple
population =
shire_district= Dover
shire_county = Kent
region= South East England

constituency_westminster= Dover
post_town= Canterbury
postcode_district = CT3
postcode_area= CT
dial_code=
os_grid_reference= TR272566

Staple is a small village in east Kent. It lies southwest of the nearby village of Ash and the town of Sandwichand west of Canterbury.

History

"Staple" is a Middle English word, signifying an official market for purchase of goods for export; it derives from Anglo-Norman "estaple", "market-place", [ [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/staple "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language", 4th ed., 2000] ; Henry Harrison, "Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary""s.v." "Staple".] The "staple" of Staple was wool, exported to the Low Countries. The 1283 'Statute of Acton Burnell' (1283) removed the Staple from Calais to fifteen appointed places in England, Ireland and Wales. The royal appointment decreed that 'All wool for export should be gathered at the Staple, if not the selling there.' In the reign of Edward III the Staple was temporarily removed to Queensborough on the Isle of Sheppey; its return nine years later was occasioned by the greater ease with which export to Calais was effected, by Staple's proximity to Sandwich. The Staple system suffered a long slow decline, and was abolished in 1617. Another export product from Staple was leather.

The village church, dedicated to St. James the Great, dates to the Saxon period but there have been Bronze Age finds in the land surrounding the village. Staple is situated near the end of one of the arms of the Wansum Channel, which in prehistoric times would have provided access to the sea.

There are two gentlemen's seats at Staple, Crixhall and The Groves. The village is three miles west of the Bronze Age site at Ringlemere and east of the Roman and Mesolithic sites at Wingham.The oldest established vineyard in East Kent (1993) is at Staple.

Notes

References

* [http://www.staple-online.co.uk Staple Village]

Further reading

*Newman, John, "North East and East Kent" (series Buildings of England) (Yale University Press) 1969.