Little Chart

infobox UK place
country = England
static_

static_image_caption=Little Chart church
official_name= Little Chart
latitude= 51.1791
longitude= 0.7809
civil_parish= Little Chart
population = 239 [ [http://www.ashford.gov.uk/about_the_borough/towns_and_villages/little_chart.aspx Ashford Borough Council] Census 2001]
shire_district= Ashford
shire_county= Kent
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Ashford
post_town= TONBRIDGE
postcode_district = TN27
postcode_area= TN
dial_code= 01233
os_grid_reference= TQ943459

Little Chart is a civil parish [ [http://www.littlechartpc.kentparishes.gov.uk/ Little Chart Parish Council] ] and small village to the north-east of Ashford in Kent, South East England. The parish has an area of convert|1485|acre|km2, and a population of 239. Within the parish boundaries are two hamlets: "Little Chart Forstal" (the term "forstal" means the land in front of a farm and farmyard; cp Painters Forstal [ [http://www.faversham.org/pages/standard.aspx?i_PageID=1181 Painters Forstal] ] ); and "Rooting Street".

The main property in the district, Surrenden Park [ [http://www.littlechartpc.kentparishes.gov.uk/default.cfm?pid=853 The Surrenden Estate] ] , to the south of the village, was owned by the Dering family for over 400 years; the family estate covered much of this part of Kent. Part of their property was "Calehill Park" [ [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/192673 Calehill Park] ] , to the north. Neither property now exists: Surrenden succumbed to fire in 1952; Calehill was demolished in 1951.

The original village church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and the Holy Rood, was wrecked in 1944 by a V-1 flying bomb during World War II. [ [http://kent.lovesguide.com/little_chart_old.htm Little Chart old church] ] ; it stood on a site further upstream from the village, near "Chart Court". The new church is now within the village [ [http://kent.lovesguide.com/little_chart.htm Little Chart new church] ] .

The Ford Paper Mill, named after the one-time ford over the Great Stour, has a long history, and is still in operation dealing in salvaged paper. [ [http://www.littlechartpc.kentparishes.gov.uk/default.cfm?pid=854 Ford Paper Mill history] ]

The Stour Valley Walk, which follows the Great Stour river, and the Greensand Way, from north to south, are both routed through the village. The village public house is the "Swan Inn".

References