Pictures of Tenterden

About Tenterden

Beautiful Wealden market town with a broad High Street crammed with many typical Wealden tiled and weather-boarded properties.

The town is located on slightly rising ground looking out over the vast agricultural landscape of the Rother Levels, which sweep down to the Romney Marshes and finally, the sea. Tenterden has a long history, church records at the ancient church dedicated to St.Mildred, go back to 1180. The church is famous for its Bethersden marble tower, which in the 15th-century was used as a guide for shipping. It's intricately carved ceiling is also of note.

In the 14th-century, the town became a famous cloth-making centre and much of Tenterden's prosperity came during the heady day's when wool was king. Flemish weavers came over, many of them settled in Tenterden and surrounding villages, it was from them that we learned the art of dying wool and weaving cloth.

During the reign of Henry VI in the 15th-century, the king admitted Tenterden to the Confederation of Cinque Ports, but the change in course of the River Rother later changed, and the town port was replaced by nearby Smallhythe. In the 16th-century a local shipbuilding industry sprang up.

A visit to the local museum is very rewarding. Here in a lovely two storey white weather-boarded building from the 19th-century, you can learn all about the town's history, its people and culture. There are regular changing displays, relating to farming, hop picking and the Cinque Ports. You can also learn much of the surrounding countryside.

The Kent and East Sussex Railway is a Mecca for all steam enthusiasts. Trains carry passengers along seven miles of rolling countryside in an exciting journey culminating at Bodiam, with its magnificent castle.

You cannot fail to be impressed with this lively little town, it has an olde-worlde charm coupled with a friendly ambience. Many of its shops are housed in buildings dating back to the 18th-century, still with their original facades. Houses in the town offer a wealth of interest with some showing historic features from the 15th-century. It is an eye-catching town, set in lovely natural countryside, it is a perfect location from which to explore the undulating Kentish landscape.