Hildenborough


Hildenborough is a village and rural parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is located 2 miles north-west of Tonbridge and 5 miles south-east of Sevenoaks. The village lies in the River Medway valley, near the North Downs, in an area known as The Weald.

Origin of name

Hildenborough was originally just Hilden – or, in its 13th-century form, Hyldenn. The elements here are Old English hyll 'hill' and denn 'woodland pasture', so the sense is of a 'pasture on or by a hill'. By 1349 the name had become Hildenborough, since Hilden was one of the boroughs of the Lowy of Tunbridge.

History

World War II

At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 Hildenborough was considered a quiet safe location, and children from London schools were evacuated to the Village School. In October 1939 there were 250 evacuees on the school roll. In the absence of air raids on London during this period of the "phoney war" many of these children returned home. The quiet was not to last.
In July 1940, the Battle of Britain got underway in the skies above Kent and the village became anything but quiet. Hildenborough is only ten miles from RAF Biggin Hill, an important airfield and a Sector headquarters co-ordinating airfields in Kent. Other airfields under Biggin Hill were at Gravesend some fifteen miles away and night fighters were at West Malling ten miles away. There were emergency landing strips in Stocks Green Road, Hildenborough less than a mile from the village centre and at Penshurst Airfield, Charcotte only 3 miles away. Most of the evacuees had left the village before the bombs started to fall.
On 6 September a Hurricane piloted by Flying Officer Bowring attacked a Junkers 88 Bomber and the pilot of the crippled plane ordered his radio operator to bail out. This was Corporal Heinrich Agel and he landed on the roof of the "Boiling Kettle" tea rooms. He was taken in by the owners and given tea and cakes while they waited for the Police to arrive. The plane went on to crash-land at Tanyard Farm in Hadlow Road, Tonbridge. The crew of five were reunited at Tonbridge Police station before being taken to a POW camp for the duration of the war.
On 11 September a twin-engine Heinkel 111 bomber was shot down by two Hurricanes and crash-landed on the airstrip behind the Old Barn in Stocks Green Road. The Hurricanes circled to watch as the crew of five walked away from the wreckage and were captured by a group of soldiers.
27 October, a Sunday, started with a Mk11 Spitfire diving to earth behind the Half Moon pub killing the Pilot John R.Mather.. Later that same day a Messerschmitt 109 was shot and forced to land on Penshurst airfield, a temporary air-strip near Penshurst. The pilot of the Spitfire was flying officer Peter Chesters.
After this busy spell the village did not suffer from the war until one day in 1942 bombs fell on the "Grenadier Pub" in Riding Lane. There were no injuries; the landlord was safe in his cellar tapping a new barrel.
The village and surrounding area played host to American troops who all left the area in the follow-up from D-Day. The war returned in June 1944 with the first of the flying bombs. On 29 June a flying bomb damaged School House and there are numerous records of the disturbance caused by the flying bombs. The window in the north transept of St John's Church was blown out at this time. It became so dangerous in the village that in July children were evacuated in what was now called "Buzz Bomb Alley". There were other V1 and V2 events in the village but these are not well documented as many of these fell in fields.
Ref.1 Hildenborough School Log book.
Ref.2 Blazing Bomber to Boiling Kettle by Gordon Church. Bygone Kent Vol. II No. 5.
Ref.3 Courier Newspaper 1972
Ref.4 "The Airmen's Stories – P/O P Chesters". Battle of Britain Museum. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
Ref. 5 Courier Newspaper.

Transport

Hildenborough stood on the first road in Kent to be turnpiked in 1710: the highway from Sevenoaks through Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells; carrying much traffic en route to "the Wells". A number of inns sprang up to service this traffic, including the Hilden Manor and the Half Moon.
Today the village, along with Tonbridge and Sevenoaks, is by-passed by the modern A21 road.
The railway was late coming to Hildenborough: the South Eastern Railway did not open its direct line from London until 1 May 1868. The six-mile gradient up to Sevenoaks takes its name from the village. The railway station was situated close to the existing houses at the time, which is now about one mile from the village centre. There are regular direct routes to London Bridge, London Waterloo East and London Charing Cross, taking approximately 30–45 minutes. In the opposite direction, direct trains go to Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Hastings.

Religion

By the 1840s, the Parish of Tonbridge was approximately long and wide. A circular letter dated 26 September 1842 explained that, "as the Parish was so large, a great many people were unable to attend the church ." It was proposed that, "a new church should be built for the people living in the Hildenborough district."
Dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, the church was consecrated on 9 July 1844.
In 1992 a "church plant" was established by St John's at Stocks Green School, to serve the southern part of the village, initially meeting monthly until 1994 when weekly services started. The congregation moved back to the Church Centre at St John's in 2008.
Hildenborough Gospel Hall, located in Mount Pleasant, was established some time around 1850.

Modern Hildenborough

, a private educational establishment, now occupies Foxbush House, built in 1866 for Charles Fitch Kemp, a London chartered accountant, who had an "ambition to be a country landowner". The house was subsequently sold twice before the Second World War, when it was occupied by the military. It was used by various educational establishments from 1949; Sackville School was established in 1987 and its grounds are a Registered Historic Park.
Apart from one large financial institution Fidelity Investments having set up its UK Headquarters in Hildenborough and a GlaxoSmithKline factory at nearby Powder Mills, commerce in the village is primarily based on small businesses. It is very much a commuter village with its good transport links with London.
One of the village's oldest buildings, the Hilden Manor restaurant owned by Whitbread, was burnt down by a fire caused by an electrical fault, and has now been restored and rebuilt by Oaklands. It was officially re-opened in 2006 with a Premier Inn hotel newly built next to it.
The village's GP practice can be traced back to 1879. The Hildenborough and Tonbridge Medical Group now has a large, purpose-built medical centre in Westwood which also houses a dispensary. The practice has over 16000 patients, with branch surgeries in the villages of Leigh and Weald, as well as the Trenchwood Medical Centre in north Tonbridge.
The Raphael Medical Centre in Coldharbour Lane offers Speech Therapy, Art & Music Therapy to help patients regain mental and physical abilities lost through serious illness or accidents.

Education

There is one private primary school, Fosse Bank, one private secondary, Sackville, and two state primaries, Stocks Green school and Hildenborough CEP school. Hildenborough primary was the first school in the village, and is over 150 years old.

Activities

There are several activities for children and teenagers, including those run by Hildenborough Church, and a Scout troop.
There are two football teams associated with the village Hildenborough Athletic FC, the reserves play in the local Sevenoaks & District League and the first team playing football in the Kent County Division One league as of 2011–2012 season. Action Medical Research have a regular charity cycling event, the 'Castle 100' every year that runs through Riding Lane and Shipbourne http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/explore-kent/cycling/Tonbridge-Castle-charity-ride.htm
On the first bank holiday Monday in May the Hildenborough Sports Association organises the Hildenborough Road Races Hildenborough Road Races. 2015 marks the 30th time the races have taken place.

Entertainment and Dining

Hildenborough is home to several pubs, restaurants and cafes, including the refurbished Hilden Manor, the Flying Dutchman and the Cock Horse. In addition, the Half Moon pub on Tonbridge road is a frequent live music venue.
Local resident Dame Kelly Holmes opened Cafe 1809 in December 2014, which is located on Tonbridge Road. Unfortunately this closed in 2019.
Also in Hildenborough is the Oast Theatre, home to the Tonbridge Theatre and Arts Club.

Local celebrities

Hildenborough is the family home of Olympic double-gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes, who formally ran a cafe called "Cafe 1809", but this has more recently closed down. Other famous residents included the late Sir Henry Cooper.
Henry Stallard MBE lived in Mill Lane, he was an athlete in the 1924 Paris Olympics and represented Great Britain in the 800 and 1500m. He hurt his foot in one of the races but he picked himself up and carried on running. An actor played him in Chariots of Fire. He became a pioneering eye surgeon at St Barts Hospital and Moorfields. He later moved with his wife Gywnneth to Forest Row in Sussex but used to spend Christmas in Hildenborough with his relatives.
World War I Victoria Cross recipient, William Allison White has a memorial headstone in Hildenborough churchyard.
Andy Titterrell, England and British Lions rugby player lived in Hildenborough.

Demography

At the 2001 UK census, the Hildenborough electoral ward had a population of 4,588. The ethnicity was 98.7% white, 0.6% mixed race, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% black and 0.2% other. The place of birth of residents was 94.3% United Kingdom, 0.6% Republic of Ireland, 1.7% other Western European countries, and 3.4% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 78.8% Christian, 0.1% Buddhist, 0.2% Hindu, 0% Sikh, 0.1% Jewish, and 0.2% Muslim. 12.6% were recorded as having no religion, 0.4% had an alternative religion and 7.6% did not state their religion.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 39.1% in full-time employment, 13.5% in part-time employment, 10.9% self-employed, 1.5% unemployed, 2.4% students with jobs, 3.2% students without jobs, 17.1% retired, 7.8% looking after home or family, 2.8% permanently sick or disabled and 1.7% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 13.4% retail, 9.3% manufacturing, 7.2% construction, 17.6% real estate, 9.2% health and social work, 10.2% education, 5.5% transport and communications, 3.9% public administration, 3.2% hotels and restaurants, 12.5% finance, 1.5% agriculture and 6.5% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in education, finance and real estate. There were a relatively low proportion in manufacturing, public administration, hotels and restaurants. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 25.9% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.