Plaxtol
Coordinates: 51°15′33″N 0°17′41″E / 51.259220°N 0.294850°EPlaxtol is a small village of about 1,000 residents in Kent. The River Bourne flows through the parish, and formerly powered three watermills in Plaxtol - Winfield Mill (corn), Longmill (corn) and Roughway Paper Mill.
Although there is no longer a bakery in the village, there is a primary school, a Cromwellian church, a grocer, a butcher and a pub.
The name Plaxtol is rumoured to be derived from "Plax" meaning 'play' and "tol" meaning 'area'; there used to be a large green in the middle of the village where children would play after attending church on a Sunday.
The 1,000-acre Fairlawne Estate adjoining the village of Shipbourne was owned by Sir Henry Vane the Elder, in the 17th century, and was owned by the Cazalet family in the 19th century. Major Peter Cazalet was a trainer of horses owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother who was an occasional guest. The estate is currently owned by the Saudi Arabian horse-breeder Prince Khalid ibn Abdullah.[1][2]
There is a Plaxtol cricket club, who play in the Kent County Village League against other local teams, as well as friendly matches on Sundays. The club has a thriving junior section as well as an active social scene.
Surrounding villages are Hadlow, Shipbourne, and Borough Green. The nearest towns are Tonbridge and Sevenoaks.
Yopps Green to the north is sometimes referred to as a hamlet in its own right is just by Boot Wood, on the way to Sheet Hill.
Notable residents
- Walter Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley was born in Plaxtol in 1891. His father was a paper manufacturer in the village.[3]
- The teacher and theatre director Richard Tomlinson lived in the village in the 1990s.[4]
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges died in Plaxtol in 2007.[5]
References
- ↑ "The billionaires", Fortune magazine, 10 September 1990. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- ↑ Britten, Nick. "'Little village bumpkins’ defeat Saudi prince in fight for Shipbourne footpath rights", The Daily Telegraph, 26 November 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- ↑ Martin Pugh, ‘Monckton, Walter Turner, first Viscount Monckton of Brenchley (1891–1965)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011 accessed 8 July 2013
- ↑ Kate Dorney, ‘Tomlinson, (Philip) Richard Henry (1943–2006)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2010 accessed 8 July 2013
- ↑ Lawrence Goldman, ‘Hodges, Sir Lewis Macdonald [Bob] (1918–2007)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2011 accessed 8 July 2013
External links
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Ightham | Borough Green | Offham | |
| Sevenoaks |  |
West Peckham | ||
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| Shipbourne | Tonbridge | Hadlow |
