Borough Green
Coordinates: 51°17′29″N 0°18′22″E / 51.291300°N 0.306200°E
Borough Green is a large village and civil parish in the Tonbridge and Malling District of Kent, England. The main village is situated on the A25 road between Maidstone and Sevenoaks in Kent.
History
The village's name describes what it originally was - the green to which the people of what was then the borough of Wrotham went for recreation. There is also a view that "borough", which predates any borough council in the area, relates to barrow, possibly referring to the Roman remains near the station site. Its location at a crossroads (the old route from Gravesend to Hastings crossed here) meant that inns were gradually opened:
- 1586 Red Lion (now closed)
- 1592 "Black Bull", later the Black Horse now known as "Black Horse and Hooden"
- 1753 The Bull
- 1837 Fox & Hounds (now private houses)
- 1860 The Rock (also now private houses)
- 1878 The Railway Hotel now known as The Henry Simmonds
Great Comp, an early 17th-century house, is located in the parish of St Mary's Platt, one mile to the east of the village. Its gardens Great Comp Garden, are administered by a charitable trust, are open to the public.
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened its line to Maidstone on 1 June 1874, and a station named Wrotham and Borough Green was built. Later the names were reversed to Borough Green & Wrotham reflecting the fact that the station was in Borough Green, whereas Wrotham is some mile to the north. The reversal also reflected Borough Green's size, having now outgrown Wrotham.
The River Bourne flows through the southern part of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill at Basted.
Famous people
- Catherine Crowe (1803–1876), novelist and playwright, was born Catherine Ann Stevens in Borough Green.[1]
- Richard Hearne (1908–1979), actor, comedian and writer, most famous as Mr Pastry a comical children's character, lived at Platt's Farm, Long Mill Lane in nearby St Mary Platt from the 1940s.[2]
- Richard Dixon, a chemist who has done notable work on the thermal and optical properties of matter, was born in Borough Green on 25 December 1930.[3]
Sports Teams
Potters Football Club of the Sevenoaks & District Premier Division are the villages' main sports team. Potters FC currently operate one men's team, although have close ties with Borough Green Junior Football Club who operate teams from U7s through to U18's.
Potters FC were founded in 2007 by lifelong village resident and current Manager, Henry Willard, and play home games at their original home ground of Potters Mede, located on the A227 main road on the border of Borough Green and Wrotham.
The club's home strip is white shirts/black shorts/black socks, whilst their away strip is dark blue and black striped shirts/black shorts/black socks. The clubs' official website is http://www.pottersfc.co.uk.
Other sports teams in the village:
- Borough Green Junior Football Club
Businesses & Organisations
The following have UK headquarters in Borough Green:
- H+H Celcon
- OMF International
- ReachAcross (formerly Red Sea Mission Team)
- OTG (Formerly Otford Tool and Gauge).
- WKD Storage Ltd.
- Stonebridge Hair Accessories
- Borough Green Osteopaths
- Clairglow Heating Ltd
Churches
There are three churches in Borough Green:
- Anglican (Church of England): The Church of the Good Shepherd, Quarry Hill Road
- Baptist (Association of Grace Baptist Churches): Borough Green Baptist Church, High Street
- Roman Catholic: St Joseph's, Western Road
- Liberty Church : Pentecostal Church, meets in the Village Hall
Schools
- Borough Green Primary School
Nearest Settlements
 |
Romney Street and West Kingsdown | Wrotham | Trottiscliffe | |
| Ightham |  |
Platt and Wrotham Heath | ||
| ||||
 | ||||
| Hatch | Basted, Claygate Cross | Plaxtol |
References
- ↑ ODNB: Joanne Wilkes, "Crowe, Catherine Ann..." Retrieved 22 September 2010, pay-walled.
- ↑ Kent and Sussex Courier, 15 October 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
- ↑ Academic Family Tree Retrieved 13 March 2014.
The Kent Village Book, Alan Bignell (Countryside Books, 1986). Borough Green Primary School website, (Accessed 03/03.2008) Borough Green Past and Present Published 1994. In K.C.C. library
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Borough Green. |
