| Paddock Wood | |
St Andrew's Church |
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Paddock Wood
Paddock Wood shown within Kent |
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| Population | 8,263 (2001) |
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| OS grid reference | TQ675445 |
| Parish | Paddock Wood |
| District | Tunbridge Wells |
| Shire county | Kent |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | TONBRIDGE |
| Postcode district | TN12 |
| Dialling code | 01892 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Tunbridge Wells |
| List of places: UK • England • Kent | |
Paddock Wood is a small town and civil parish in the Borough of Tunbridge Wells and county of Kent in England, about 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Maidstone. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 8,263,[1] and is the centre for hop growing in Kent.
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Paddock Wood formed part of the ancient parish of Brenchley.[2] There are several theories for the origin of the name "Paddock Wood"; it may have been derived from the nearby Manor of Parrock, or from the nearby woodland and paddocks.[3] A railway station was opened here on 31 May 1842,[3] on the South Eastern Railway main line from London via Redhill to Dover.
In 1847 cottages had begun to appear, and by 1851 a fairly sizeable community had developed, and an Anglican church, St Andrew's, was built. In 1860 the area was separated ecclesiastically from Brenchley to form a Church of England parish.[2][4] The area around Paddock Wood has always had a history of hop farming, and in the growth of the town is partly due to the seasonal influx of hop pickers, and at the height of the season up to 8,000 people would arrive to work on the farms.[3]
In August 1896, the first speeding offence in the United Kingdom was committed in Paddock Wood when Walter Arnold of East Peckham was chased by a police constable on a bicycle and apprehended for driving at 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) in his Benz motor-car. The speed limit in force at the time was 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h). Mr Arnold was fined 1s at Tonbridge Magistrates Court.[5]
On 19 May 1929, Farman F.63bis Goliath F-GEAI of Air Union,[6] whilst on a flight from Croydon to Paris, crashed at Keylands Sidings near Paddock Wood railway station, it stopped yards from the signal box and was destroyed by fire, the pilot and mechanic escaped with minor injuries.[7]
On 9 December 1944 near Faenza, Italy, a 22-year-old Captain in the British Army, John Brunt, whose parents came from Paddock Wood, held off a German counter-attack and remained behind while giving covering fire that enabled his men to safely withdraw, and was awarded the Victoria Cross. After the war the Kent Arms public house in Paddock Wood was renamed the John Brunt VC in his honour.[3] In 1997 the pub gained new management, and changed its name to the Hooden Horse but was forced to revert the name after local outrage (see main article John Brunt V.C. (public house)).
The town of Paddockwood in Canada was named by Fred Pitts who emigrated there from Paddock Wood.[3]
Paddock Wood has three tiers of local government: parish or town, district or borough and county.
Paddock Wood is a civil parish, formed in 1955 out of Brenchley.[2] The parish council has used its powers under the Local Government Act 1972 to designate the parish as a "town" and thus the parish council is known as Paddock Wood Town Council. Since 2001 the parish has been divided into two wards (East and West) for the elections of parish councillors. There are 13 parish councillors, with 7 representing the East ward and 6 representing the West.[8]
Since 1974 Paddock Wood has formed part of the Borough of Tunbridge Wells. The borough is governed by a 48 member council. The town elects 4 borough councillors, with 2 each for the Paddock Wood East and Paddock Wood West wards. They are all members of the majority Conservative Party.[9]
The upper tier of local government is provided by Kent County Council. The county council has 84 members, with each representing a electoral district. Paddock Wood forms part of the electoral district of Tunbridge Wells Rural.[10]
The commercial areas of Paddock Wood are separated by the railway line.
To the South of the railway lies Commercial Road which runs north east to south west through the town, and is the main shopping street. At the north east end of the street is the entrance to the Railway Station. Commercial Road is home to the branches of several banks, a variety of take-aways, a restaurant and a number of small shops including Fishing Emporium. To the east of Commercial Road, runs Maidstone Road. This road runs north to Beltring and East Peckham, and south to Matfield, and is the main route into and out of the town.
To the north of the railway line lie the industrial areas. Eldon Way Industrial Estate can be found to the east and is home to branches of Initial City Link and British Car Auctions, among others. To the west is the larger Transfesa Road and Paddock Wood Distribution Centre. This is the home to a number of companies including Norman Collett, CoolChain, Ketlon, Mack Multiples, Warburtons and a Whirlpool warehouse, which was destroyed in a large fire in early July 2005.[11]
Mascalls Gallery, a public art gallery opened in 2006 on the site of Mascalls School. It has a frequently changing programme of exhibition featuring national and international known artists. These have included Henry Moore, LS Lowry, Graham Sutherland and Lee Miller as well as artists from Latin America, Japan and America! In 2010 Mascalls Gallery exhibited for the first time in the UK drawings by Marc Chagall for nearby Tudeley Church.
Paddock Wood is on the B2160 and B2161 roads and not to far from the A228, A264, A21 and A26 roads. The A21 in the area suffers from congestion and traffic problems.
The town has two schools, Paddock Wood Primary School which was built in 1909,[3] and which has approximately 600 pupils[12] and Mascalls School, (a comprehensive secondary school), opened in 1956 and has around 1400 pupils,[3] and it takes its pupils from Brenchley, Matfield, Capel, Five Oak Green, East Peckham, Horsmonden, Lamberhurst and Yalding, as well as Paddock Wood itself.[13] The school has recently been extended with a purpose built Arts and Design block housing specialist facilities for Art, Music, Drama, Dance and Design Technology.
Notable people from Paddock Wood include
| Hadlow Golden Green |
East Peckham Beltring |
Hunton | ||
| Five Oak Green | Collier Street | |||
| Paddock Wood | ||||
| Pembury | Brenchley | Horsmonden |
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