A short history by Christopher Bell The first record we have of regular Masses in Westerham appears in the 1920 Notices Book of the Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury, Sevenoaks, whose priests had been allocated responsibility for Westerham. Mass was said in a variety of local venues over the years, including the former Crown Hotel ...
Reference: 0003
November 29 1923 saw a meeting of women voters at St Mary’s Hall, presided over by Mrs Bonham-Carter. Still limiting the right to vote to women over the age of thirty, government policy was changing, suffrage had begun to champion and addresses were given by Lady Edith L. J. Rogers CBE of ‘Whitelands,’ Edenbridge, and ...
Reference: 0001
Darenth mill was sited down the end of today’s Mill Street at the east-end of town. Unlike Elm View mill at the west-end, Darenth mill was of wooden construction, of which there are very few photographs in existence. This photograph shows that the wheel was of the ‘overshot’ variety which meant that the wheel could ...
Reference: WH1124
Note the spelling gaff on this 1900s photo postcard. It should say ‘Spring Shaws’, the name comes from a ‘Shaw’ meaning a thin but dense woodland strip of forestry grown as a wind-break and used in valleys and hill-tops alike.
Reference: WH1133
This photograph taken in the mid 1950s shows Elm View Mill in a bad state of repair. The notice above the door states ‘The public are warned not to approach this mill as the structure is in a highly dangerous condition’. Most of the joists of the upper floor and the roof timbers had rotted ...
Reference: WH1125
The lady standing in the doorway of number 6 Mill Street is Florence Louisa (nee Paige) Allen, who would have been 52 in 1921. She lived at 2 Mill Street from 1891 and was still there in 1939. The lady in the hat is her daughter Ellen (nee Paige) Whitmore who married Fred Whitmore in ...
Reference: WH1129