The Countryside in the 1970's:
A Survey of Eastling

Eastling is a small village of about 410 inhabitants occupying 155 dwellings, situated about five miles south of Faversham. A unique feature of this place is that the centre of the village has buildings on one side of "The Street" only, the other side having been taken up with cherry orchards. However, recently the old orchards have been cut down one by one and the land ploughed up. The village proper is on level land about 300 ft above sea level but outlying parts especially to the east are very undulating and fairly wooded.

Eastling is under the administration of Swale Rural District Council - Parliamentary Division Faversham. The Parish is roughly L-shaped and has an area of about 3 sq.miles. Eastling is in the designated North Downs area of outstanding Natural Beauty which will eventually be part of the National Parks Scheme.

There are many forms of the spelling of this name. Hasted refers to it as Easling. It is named Eslinges in Domesday Book and has undoubted Saxon origin and associations with the personal name Esla (Jessup). Other spellings occur - Aesling, Easlyng, Iseling in old deeds. The family name of Eslinges definitely appears in 12th and 13th centuries.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT - Post War

Development is severely controlled by the local planning authority.

a) Houses

i) 16 Airey houses erected in immediate post-war period
ii) In Newnham Lane a new Rectory and two houses built on part of the Old Rectory garden and tennis courts. Three bungalows on part of the Glebe land sold by Church Commissioners.
iii) One Police House
iv) Two houses for Medway W.B. Staff.
v) 13 Bungalows known as Meeson's Close built in 1960's on further glebe land with a main road frontage. It is of interest that the Close is named after the late Mr. Meeson, a much respected local farmer and Churchwarden.
vi) Four bungalows for the elderly built 1968 by KCC.

b) Industrial buildings

As this is an area of special landscape value the principal industries shall be agricultural and forestry and development not related thereto shall only be permitted if a strong case for such development can be proved and subject in any event to appropriate siting and a high standard of design.

Two new enterprises recently:

i) A conspicuous but not unpleasing group of buildings erected by Medway Water Board on Faversham Road, functioning as a Booster Station. Three unmanned wells and pumping stations - at Belmont, Selling and Throwley - remotely controlled at Eastling, provide water which collects in the reservoir, is chlorinated and repumped into a 30-inch main at the rate of 8million gallons daily to join the intricate network of mains for the Medway area and Sheppey as far as Gravesend. The grounds fronting this station at Eastling are well laid out and maintained with lawns and shrubs.

ii) In Newnham Lane a registered smallholding has now been developed on modern lines with a large area under glass on a Dutch system. About 1/2 acre is a "cold house" using electrically warmed air in overhead polythene ducts. Both sections are under the same roof. Lettuces, tomatoes and chrysanthemums are grown here in succession as well as a large area of outdoor crops. There is also a smaller propagating house.

c) Other Buildings

None

d) Road Development

Nil

TRAFFIC AND ITS IMPACT ON THE COUNTRYSIDE

Traffic through Eastling has increased considerably during the last few years - more residents own cars, mechanised farming means more tractor and agricultural traffic passing up and down. The lane through the village is used by an increasing amount of through traffic from Faversham to Lenham and Maidstone. There are no speed limits - (there is no street lighting) and some of this traffic goes too fast. Only two sections of footway exist in a quarter mile of the built-up area and pedestrians face dangerous conditions at times.

Newnharn Lane has restricted access prohibiting vehicles wider than 6ft 6in.

None of the roads in the area are classified.

TREE PLANTING AND PRESERVATION, FORESTRY COMMISSION WORK

There is no official tree planting or preservation scheme in this area nor any direct Forestry Commission work.

The Belmont Estates cover 3,000 acres in this and two other adjoining administrative areas; of this 800 acres are woodland under systematic forestry control. Over 500 varieties of trees are grown and every aspect from nursery and planting stages to felling and sale of mature timber is carried on. Small and medium sized conifers are sold for Christmas trees and large well-grown trees removed bodily for sale to various civic authorities all over the country under their own tree planting schemes.

PRESERVATION OF NATURAL, HISTORIC AND OTHER TREASURES

In addition to the ancient parish church of St. Mary there are seven houses on the Statutory list of Buildings of Architectural or Historical Interest (all Grade II) and seven others on the Supplementary list (Grade III). This is a high proportion of the dwellings in this small place.

There are other cottages scattered about which are old and interesting. The church has a Norman West doorway clearly indicating its early origins. Of the present fabric nave and tower are 13th century, the former greatly restored in 1856 when a West porch was added. The Chancel and south chapel are 14th century and retain several interesting features. The South aisle retains the ancient stone bench along the inside wall, one of the few churches to do so. The saying "The weakest go to the wall" originated in this way as seating was not provided in the body of the church until post-Reformation times.

The Churchyard wall is interesting in that it is a continuous curve - having no right angles - and the old "mounting block" is inside the wall a few yards to the south of the main gate - a very unusual arrangement. In the churchyard are many large yew trees, that nearest the West door, one of the oldest and largest in Kent, is 35ft in circumference.

"Arnold's Oak" near the farm of that name has an iron "man-trap" now embedded in its bark and the undated inscription on it states: "This oak tree contains the last known man trap in existence in this district."

RIVERS, STREAMS, PONDS, CANALS

None.

DIS-USED WELLS

It is not possible to trace all the old wells. Mains water was laid on in 1923. Many wells were then used for refuse disposal or were sealed in. Older inhabitants recall that there was much sharing of wells, especially by smaller cottages.

SEWAGE DISPOSAL

No main drains. Cesspools and septic tanks in use and emptied by the Council on request.

LITTER AND DUMPING

Not a problem in this village. Domestic refuse is removed in paper sacks provided and collected weekly by the council. Prior to this system it was disposed of in woods or wells. Farmers' plastic sacks do disfigure the place at times.

RECLAMATION AND CLEARANCE OF DERELICT GROUND

None - all land fully under cultivation or woodland. Derelict chalk pit in Newnham Lane. Unused Methodist Church ground now derelict.

GRAVEL AND CHALK PITS AND QUARRIES

None in use.

PICNICKERS: CAR PARKS, LAVATORIES, PICNIC AREAS etc.

This area is fairly remote and so this does not apply.

RECREATION FACILITIES

None, except for School Playground. Wooden hut at present used once a week by the Youth Club.

FOOTPATHS, VILLAGE GREENS, COMMONS

No greens or commons.

1) Footpath from the bottom of Kettle Hill to Leather Bottle.
2) Footpath from the bottom of Kettle Hill to the edge of Divan Wood to Stalisfield.
3) Footpath from North Court via Spuckles, Pett Dane to the bottom of Haywards Hill.
4) Footpath from Spuckles to Leather Bottle.
5) Footpath from Tong Farm to Newnham
6) Footpath from Kettle Hill past Feakins Cottage to Hunting Field.
7) Footpath from Divan Court through Hope Shaw Wood to Broomham Wood to Yew hedges.
8) Footpath from North Court past Hatch Wood and Rectory Wood to Newnham Lane.
9) Footpath from Box Cottage to Church Field Farm to Newlands Farm.

Although marked on O.S. map several of these footpaths are overgrown and impassible.

WILD LIFE

No methodical observations or counts have been taken in this area. The following information obtained by casual observations only.

a) Animals - All common mammals in plenty, foxes, badgers, stoats, weasels, hares, rabbits, rats, shrews, etc.

b) Birds - All common birds. Chaffinches seem to be increasing. Barn owl, red backed shrike, green woodpecker, bramling have been sighted this winter and early spring. No information about nesting.

c) Butterflies and Moths - No exact information.

d) Flowers - 11 species of Orchids have been found in the area. Green hellebore grows just on the boundary of the parish.

No meadow flowers as all fields under plough. Few hedgerows left, but a small colony of violet survived so far.

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

Services

a) Mains water supplied 1923.
b) Gas mains from Faversham 1935.
c) Electricity 1937.
These facts supplied by the older inhabitants with excellent memories.
d) Post and Telephone. There is a post office which conducts all the usual business. Two collections and two deliveries of mail daily (under Faversham). There is a small automatic exchange in the village which serves a much wider area than that of this survey, Newnham, Stalisfield and Throwley.
e) Bus Services. Eastling is served by bus from Faversham. Seven buses daily, extra ones on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The bus stops near the railway station at Faversharn. However, except on Saturdays there is no bus back from Faversham after 18.08 so it is impossible for young people to attend evening classes or for anyone to get to Faversham for evening entertainment unless they have their own transport.
f) Health Services. Doctors (from Faversham and Teynham) attend patients in the village. Notes for the doctors can be left at the shop and prescriptions are delivered to the shop for collection by patients. The Ante-natal and post-natal clinic is held monthly at Newnham. The Health Visitor is centred on Faversham.
g) Police. A Rural constable lives in the Police house in Eastling and his duty patrol on motorcycle covers Eastling, Stalisfield, Throwley and Leaveland. With eight other constables he works in the Faversham Rural Section of Kent County Constabulary.
h) Education. There is a Primary School in Eastling with about 75 children at present drawn from Eastling and Painter's Forstal. These children use the ordinary buses and school hours of necessity fit in with the bus service. There is a possibility that the pupils from Stalisfield will be absorbed in the near future owing to reduced numbers. Older children attend secondary schools in Faversham or Canterbury.
i) Library. There is a branch of the Kent County Library which opens for about one hour on Wednesday afternoons. It has about 350 books, fiction mainly and a few non-fiction, which are changed quarterly when the Mobile Library van comes to the Social Hall where the library is housed. About one month's notice of the change over is given. At present about 25 adults use the library regularly.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANKS
for help in preparing this Survey are due to the following among others:
Members of Eastling W.I. and other Residents
Members of the Parish Council
Forestry Manager - Belmont Estate.
The Village Constable
Superintendent of the Eastling Station, Medway Water Board
Hon. Sec. The Faversham Society.