Goudhurst, Kent

Description
Goudhurst, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands on a hill, near the river Theise, 5 miles WNW of Cranbrook, and has a station on the Cranbrook and Paddock Wood branch of the S.E.R.; was formerly a seat of the clothing trade and a market-town, and has now a post, money order, and telegraph office (S.O.), under Staplehurst, and a news-room. The parish comprises 9798 acres; population of the civil parish, 2734; of the ecclesiastical, 1858. Goudhurst Hill has an altitude of 491 feet, forms part of a range about 3 miles long, and is skirted on the W by the river Tees. Bedgebury Park was long the residence of the Bedgeburys; passed to the Colepepers, the Stephensons, the Cartiers, and the Beresfords. Combwell was once a priory, and afterwards the residence of the Campions. Finchcocks belonged to the Finchcock family in the time of Henry III., and the present mansion was built by the Bathursts in 1725. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £320 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. The church stands on a lofty site, commands from its tower an extensive and noble view, is itself a fine edifice, and contains many monuments of the Colepepers and the Campions. There are Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, Baptist, and Roman Catholic chapels, an endowed school, and other charities.