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PemburyPembury is an attractive Kent village, near the spa town of Tunbridge Wells. It is easily accessible from the A21 London-Hastings trunk road and only 4 miles from Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge railway stations. Regular bus services from both towns and from the surrounding rural area make Pembury very easy to reach.A bit of the past......The earliest evidence suggests that there was a village of Pepenbury in about the eleventh century, with the earliest settlement in the 12th. century of the Manor House, Hawkwell in Pepenbury Magna, near the old parish church. The first turnpike (toll) road in Kent was the section between Pembury and Sevenoaks and in 1785, the coaching inn was dealing with 14 coaches a day.In Lower Green, one of the five hamlets making up Pembury, there were cottages dating from Tudor times to the early 19th century. Between 1500 and 1700 the cloth industry flourished in Pembury, including the trades of weaving, fulling and clothmaking. Brick and tile making were very important industries in Pembury for over 100 years as witnessed by some of the road names - Red Row, Slate Row and the bricks and tiles produced were used throughout the south-east of England. In the Upper Green were the newer houses of the gentry, the almshouses, the Camden Arms and many shops including a beer shop, a smithy and a wheelwright's house on the Green itself. From Lower Green, the road led through hopgardens and fields to the hamlet of Romford, site of several large houses and farms. The premises of Stanton House were said to have been used as a workhouse for aged men between 1822 to 1837. Keyes Mill on Stone Court Farm was said to be the origin of one of Turner's famous paintings in 1807.In 1895, the year when the Pembury Parish Council was first formed, there were 1,500 parishioners. By 1931, this had risen to 2,631 and by 1971 to 4,795. The population of Pembury is now well over 6,000. Pembury todayAlthough it has changed considerably since its very rural beginnings, Pembury still strongly maintains its village identity, continuing to update its local plan - Pembury 2000 Plus. Pembury's position at an important crossroads gave rise to 4 churches, at least 5 inns and a thriving commercial community. Today there are shops and commercial services of every imaginable kind; 4 pubs, a newsagent, a greengrocer, a butcher, several hairdressers, a post office, dispensing chemist, takeaway food shops, wine merchant, estate agents, a hotel and charity shop. Other village businesses include farms, coal & coke merchant, garden centres, dancing school, solicitor, new sales and accident repair garages, builders & decorators, driving schools, conservatory specialist, civil engineers, electricians, beauty therapists, gas and plumbing specialists, carpet layers, IT and business services, a national supermarket, a bank.Community groups and services include a public library, a thriving primary school, 3 doctors, nursery and playgroups, Scouts & Guides, churches of several denominations, sports clubs, especially football, cricket and bowls clubs, Women's Institutes, political parties, theatrical group, horticultural society, civic society, walkers/ramblers group, photography club, Hospice link group, plus many more. Various events take place throughout the year; very full sports fixtures lists, the Musical Picnic, the Village Fete on the Green, Pembury in Bloom, the Village Quiz, and November Fireworks display plus regular events such as councillors' surgeries, children's clinic, Parish Council meetings, etc.The Pembury Village News, a full colour quarterly magazine, regularly reports on all aspects of Pembury life - the good, the bad and the ugly - and is read with much enthusiasm by all ages and sectors of the community. |
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03 February 2010
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