The most common type of house in Wouldham is a two-up and two-down house, originally built for the cement workers in the village.

These were built towards the end of the 1800s and remain in place as homes today. They typically have two reception rooms downstairs along with a kitchen addition at the rear. A staircase in between the two reception rooms leads to two more rooms upstairs. On some of the houses, a bathroom can be found above the kitchen addition, but you have to walk through the back bedroom in order to reach it. The bathroom in these houses would have previously been used as a third bedroom, before indoor bathrooms became common.

These terraces were known by their individual terrace name, rather than the High Street as they are today. This also meant that they were numbered from 1 onwards from the left house of that terrace. As an example, 36 High Street today would have been 1 Medway Place previously.

I believe this new numbering system came into force during the 1970s.

Walking down the High Street from the Church, the terraces appear mostly on the left hand side in the following order:

Church Place

Click on the photo above to enlarge. Photo kindly provided by Nigel Chadwick.

Now 230-238 High Street, plus the houses to the side.

Ulundi Place

Down the side of the old co-op shop.

Paddock Cottages

A 1880 plaque can be seen on the terrace. Now 170-180 High Street.

Unknown Name Row

Click on the photos above to enlarge. Photos kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

This used to be a row of shops. Now 152-160 High Street.

Perrins Cottages

Now 128-132 High Street.

Sankey Cottages

Click on the photo above to enlarge. Photo kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

These are now demolished.

Medway Cottages

Now 110-118 High Street.

Factory Cottages

Click on the photo above to enlarge. Photo kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

Now 88-100 High Street.

Albion Place

Now 70-72 High Street.

Providence Place (part 1)

Click on the photo above to enlarge. Photo kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

A 1886 plaque can be seen on the terrace. Now 54-68 High Street.

Providence Place (part 2)

Now 46-52 High Street. Despite being a separate terrace, this was 9-12 Providence Place.

Portland Place (opposite side of road)

Click on the photo above to enlarge. Photo kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

Now 35-69 High Street.

Langford Terrace

Click on the photo above to enlarge. Photo kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

A 1867 plaque can be seen on the terrace. 40 and 42 High Street have been converted into one house. Now 38-44 High Street.

Medway Place

Click on the photos above to enlarge. Photos kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

A 1867 plaque can be seen on the terrace. Now 4-36 High Street.

Temperance Row (opposite side of road)

Now 19-25 High Street.


There are also other terraces with similar houses to be found in Ferry Lane, Castle Street, Medway View and Ravens Knowle:

Click on the photos above to enlarge. Photos kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

Other Houses

The Homestead

Click on the photos above to enlarge. Photos kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

The Homestead (formerly known as The Square) is found next door to the former pub - The Dog & Partridge.

Originally known as The Square, the cottages on the left became the home of the Norris family in the early twentieth century while the cottages at the back became the stables and workshops for their business as carriers and markers of horse-drawn vehicles.

A policeman who was in the famous Sidney Street Battle of London was born in these cottages, Jim Burrell.

The following information was sent into us by Anne Martin:

"I wondered if you might be interested in the attached photo, of a 1930 Wouldham wedding. The groom is Henry Norris, grandson, I believe, of the whiskery Mr. Norris pictured on the website on a garden seat at the Homestead. Henry's father and mother, Ernest and Sarah, are on the left of the bridal couple. My mother, a member of the Norris tribe, is in the back row & various relatives dotted around. (How many copies of this photo are still in existence!!)

The people in the wedding photo are:

Back row: Mrs. Watson, Mrs. Horton, (unknown woman), Lilian Bennett nee Norris (my mother), Harry Swadling, Lucy Swadling nee Botley, Mr. Bonwick, Mrs. Bonwick,Rita Norris, Hilda Norris, Phil Timothy.

3rd row: Mrs. Gadd, Stanley Norris (brother of Ernest)*, (unknown woman), Clara Botley, Ernie Norris, Minnie Norris (my grandmother), Harry Botley, Rosie Botley, Win Timothy with baby Roy, Jesse Norris (my grandfather).

2nd row: Henry Norris ('old Uncle Harry', father of Ernest)*, Ernest Norris (father of the groom), Sarah Norris ('Aunt Sally' - mother of the groom), Henry Norris, Ada Norris nee Botley, Mrs. Botley with a little boy, Tim Timothy, George Norris (my uncle)*.

Front row: Jesse Norris jnr (my uncle Joe)*, Albert Swadling, (unknown boy), ? Watson (bridesmaid), Clarence Swadling, ? Watson (bridesmaid), Percy Botley, 'Ginger' Norris.

(My mother said she was looking grim in the photo because the gentleman next to her was a horrid man known as 'Old Sod'. His son in the sailor suit in the front row was also horrid and known as 'Young Sod'!!)

* Stanley was a gentle little man who never spoke and lived with Ernest & Sally at the Homestead.
* Henry Norris - I think this is the whiskery old gent on the garden seat at the Homestead on the website.
* George Norris, my mother's brother, is still living, aged 91 (in Faversham).
* Jesse Norris Jnr., (Joe),my mother's brother - died in the submarine 'Urge' near Malta in 1942. His name is on the WW2 plaque on the Wouldham Church lychgate. I have newspaper cuttings reporting him missing and then when it was confirmed he had been lost.

I spent many happy hours as a child visiting Uncle Ern and Aunt Sally at the Homestead, a serene place with a ticking long-case clock and a big kettle bubbling on the hob. I am still in touch with a school friend whose grandfather used to row the ferry across the river. Her mother was a Stevens and was at Wouldham School with my mother.

p.s. 'Aunt Sally' on the wedding photo was a Blackman before her marriage - another well-known Wouldham family.

p.p.s. Photo 246 - Bernard Norris, the boy with the dog. He might have been the 'Bernard' who was killed during the war along with two of his friends - teenage, I think - when they found a live shell and threw it on a bonfire with fatal results. My grandma used the incident as a warning to me not to pick up any unusual objects - 'remember what happened to cousin Bernard!' I was reminded frequently."

Borden Cottage

Click on the photos above to enlarge. Photos kindly provided by Wouldham Parish Council.

Borden Cottage was situated at the northern end of the village, roughly where the entrance to Rectory Close now stands.

Footballer Jimmy Fletcher lived at Borden Cottage, after having lived in Ravens Knowle.

Manor House & Mansion House

Both of these houses appear in the earliest ordnance survey maps either side of School Lane.

Census Records

VCHExplore have put together the census records for Wouldham for 1841, 1861, 1881 and 1901. To view these records, please click here.

Old Newspaper Reports

Kent Messenger - Friday 22nd March 1991

Click on the photos above to enlarge. Photos kindly provided by Roger Webb.

GOLIATH FIRM PLANS 100 HOMES ON PLAYING AREA

Fearless village set to take on giant

'Deal' given emphatic rejection in ballot of residents

The small village of Wouldham is preparing for a David and Goliath battle with cement giant Blue Circle, which plans to build more than 100 homes on playing fields.

The bombshell was dropped at the end of February when the company, which is a major landowner in the village, revealed its development proposals.

Blue Circle Properties hopes the fields will be earmarked for housing in the Medway Gap and Vicinity Local Plan, which will be considered at a public inquiry next month.

April 10 will be D-Day, when attention turns to Wouldham and its path into the 21st Century.

If the land is set aside for houses, Blue Circle is likely to seek planning permission from the borough council and is set to build the new homes over the next five years.

Parish council clerk Barbara Earl said villages were prepared for a battle. A solicitor has been hired to contest the proposals.

She said the council had reluctantly accepted the principle of building up to 1,000 homes in St Peter's Pit three years ago. The other alternative was to fill it with rubbish. Homes have not yet been built on the site.

The scheme, which was revealed to villagers at a public meeting at the beginning of the month, details plans for up to 110 houses on the recreation ground and part of the allotments with a further 10 at Wouldham Court Farm.

Mrs Earl said a public ballot on the proposals had shown the village's depth of feeling. More than 200 voted against with just 35 agreeing.

They rejected the carrot which was dangled in front of them by the developer. Blue Circle offered eight acres of new recreational ground and a new village hall in return for the residents' blessing.

High Street environmental improvements and new access roads to alleviate parking problems are also part of the project.

Residents are, however, playing a dangerous game and run the risk of losing out altogether.

Success story

The parish leases the recreation ground from Blue Circle, which ends in 2003, but notice could be given to quite in 1996.

"It is the villagers' choice and whatever they want, we will fight for on their behalf," Mrs Earl said. "We had a success story when an application came in for Ravens Knowle pit to be filled with waste. The appeal was dismissed.2

She added: "We are only a small parish but we are fearless. We are prepared to take on Blue Circle."

Kevin Boys, of Blue Circle Properties, said a Government inspector would examine the evidence in detail at the public inquiry and make up his mind.

He added: "We have had no response from the parish council about the proposals. We do not know what aspects of the scheme they are opposed to and are unaware of the brief which the villages want the parish council to put forward following the referendum."

Heather Webb, 44, who has lived in the village all her life made her feelings very clear, echoing the thoughts of many other residents.

"We want the recreation ground to be left where it is and not moved elsewhere," she said.

Kent Messenger - Friday 12th November 1999

Click on the photos above to enlarge. Photos kindly provided by Roger Webb.

Villagers fight 790 new homes

Villagers are fighting the first of two housing schemes which together would treble the population of Wouldham.

A plan for 90 houses on a site east of the High Street will be considered by Tonbridge and Malling council on Thursday.

It is the first of two schemes that would increase the village's population from about 900 to almost 3,000.

The second plan for 700 houses in Peters Pit, in the south of the village, is likely to be considered by the council next year.

Tonbridge and Malling's Local Plan has designated Wouldham as an important site in its bid to build 7,000 houses before 2011.

But Wouldham Parish Council fears the village will not be able to cope with the influx of people. Members are particularly concerned that roads are not suitable.

Congested

They say Rochester Road to the north, School Lane and Pilgrims Way to the east and Knowle Lane to the south are already seriously congested at times.

Parish council clerk Michael Ross said: "The major concerns are that the road infrastructure just is not there to cope with more houses. We are extremely worried about these plans."

Councillors believe the village will have to re-think its water supply systems and sewerage.

Villager Mary Johnson added: "We are concerned about the school. It is already full".

Cllr Geoff Rowe (Lib Dem), who represents Wouldham on Tonbridge and Malling council said: "Wouldham residents do like their rural identity. They do not want to see it destroyed."

About 30 villagers attended a site meeting on Wednesday organised by the council. The majority were opposed to the development of the site east of the High Street which is an important nature reserve now used as allotments.

But some traders welcomed the schemes, Bob Pope, manager of Wouldham Village Stores said: "More houses hear means we will not be dying village."

The applicant, cement company Blue Circle Industries, says it will work with villagers to provide extra services. Among the options is a traffic calming system through the centre of the village.

Councillors are being recommended to approve the scheme.

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