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Rodmersham
Rodmersham
	St Nicholas Church, Rodmersham
	Rodmersham Location within Kent
Population	555 (2011 Census)
Civil parish	Rodmersham;
District	Swale;
Shire county	Kent;
Region	South East;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Sittingbourne
Postcode district	ME9
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Sittingbourne and Sheppey;
	List of places UK England Kent 51°19′16″N 0°45′32″E / 51.321°N 0.759°E

Rodmersham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swale in the north of the English county of Kent. It is just under 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Bapchild on the A2 road and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of the town of Sittingbourne. Rodmersham Green, which forms the bulk of the modern village, is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the south-west of the village church towards the Highsted Valley and Tunstall.

History

In 1798, Edward Hasted records that the parish was made up of 1,050 acres (420 ha) of land, of which 75 acres (30 ha) were woodland.^[2]

It was under the control of the Manor of Milton, who controlled most of Kent.^[2] In King Richard II's reign, it was owned by John de Podach (from Devonshire). His descendants renamed themselves 'Pordage'. In the reign of King James I, it was owned by Sir William Pordage. In 1615, he renamed the manor house, 'New House',^[2] now (Grade II listed) and called Rodmersham House.^[3] In Queen Anne's reign it passed to the Lushington family. Which included Mr Thomas Lushington, a noted scholar, born in Sandwich in 1589, and afterwards educated at Oxford. The manor house stayed in the private hands of the family.^[2]

The village church, (the Grade I listed) Church of St Nicholas,^[4] is in the diocese of Canterbury, and deanery of Sittingborne.^[2] The church contains an example of a timber sedilia thought to be 15th century. The altar and reredos are by Buckeridge and Floyce, described as representing "the best order of ecclesiastical art, viz., the 15th Century German, whilst the character of the ornament is founded on the old Norfolk work".^[5]

Rodmersham Green

Hasted notes that Rodmersham Green also had a nearby hamlet of Upper Rodmersham,^[2] which is to the south of the village in an area traditionally used for orchards. There was a windmill at the north end of Rodmersham Green, built in 1835 and demolished in September 1969.^[6]

The village has six listed buildings: Baker Cottages,^[7] Pardoners Cottage,^[8] Holly Tree Lodge,^[9] Victoria House,^[10] Orsett House,^[11] and Vine Cottages.^[12] It also has a primary school,^[13] the Fruiterers Arms public house,^[14] Rodmersham Coffee Shop and two sporting venues, Rodmersham Cricket Club^[15] and Rodmersham Squash Club.^[16]

The artist Edward Ardizzone had a second home at 5 Vine Cottages, Rodermersham Green from the 1950s and took up full-time residence in 1972, dying in the village in 1979.^[17]

References

^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hasted, Edward (1798). "Parishes". The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. 6. Institute of Historical Research: 499–531. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "Rodmersham House, Rodmersham". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "Church of St Nicholas, Rodmersham". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "District News". Cheltenham Chronicle. 29 September 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 5 October 2020 – via British Library Newspapers.
^ "Exploring Kent's Past". Kent Gov UK. Kent County Council. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
^ "Baker Cottages, Rodmersham". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "Pardoners Cottage, Rodmersham". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "Holly Tree Lodge, Rodmersham". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "Victoria House, Rodmersham". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "Orsett House, Rodmersham". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "Vine Cottages, Rodmersham". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ Rodmersham Primary School
^ Fruiterers Arms
^ Rodmersham Cricket Club
^ Rodmersham Squash Club
^ "Ardizzone, Edward (1900–1979)". English Heritage. Retrieved 18 August 2012.