Elham Valley

Elham (pronounced Eel-um) is a village and civil parish in East Kent situated approximately 9 miles (14 km) south of Canterbury and 5 miles (8 km) north west of Folkestone in the Elham Valley. At the 2011 Census the population included the hamlet of Ottinge and village of Wingmore.

Elham railway station is a disused railway station on the Elham Valley Railway which served the village of Elham in Kent and the surrounding villages. Situated to the east of Elham the clapboard station was opened in 1887. In 1931 the line was singled and one platform was closed. Regular passenger services were withdrawn on 1 December 1940 when the line was taken over for military use. In 1946 the line was reopened for goods traffic but a year later this service ceased when the station was officially closed. After closure the station building was demolished but one platform still exists forming a retaining wall of a garden for a house now built on the station site.

Ottinge is a hamlet located NNW of Folkestone in Kent, England. It lies less than one mile (1 km) from the village of Lyminge and occupies a site at a crossroads between that village and Elham (where, at the 2011 Census, the population was included).

Great Shuttlesfield Down is a 21.8-hectare (54-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Folkestone in Kent.This unimproved grassland is dominated by Sheep's fescue, upright brome and tor-grass, and it is grazed by sheep and cattle. Notable invertebrates are the rare adonis blue butterfly and two solitary wasps, crossocerus cetratus and crossocerus styrius.The site is private land but a public footpath from Lyminge crosses the northern end.

Acrise Place is a mainly 18th-century house located about 6 miles (9.6 km) north of Folkestone in the village of Acrise, Kent, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.It is a brick-built house dating from the 16th century, with modifications in 1671 and 1691, and which was restored in the 1950s and 1987. There are two parallel ranges, a 16th-century north-facing range and a 17th-century south-facing range. It was originally built by the Hamon family in the 16th century, but acquired in 1666 by Jane and Thomas Papillon for about £6,000. Jane managed this property and their town house. Her letter from 1667 and 1668 are extant. The house and estate were passed down in that family for several generations. Two of the Papillon owners were Philip and David Papillon, father and son, who were both MPs for nearby Dover. In 1850 the Papillons sold Acrise to William Mackinnon MP after whose death it was sold in 1908 to the Walney family, who occupied it until 1936. After standing empty for a time the house was used by the Army during the war and repurchased by the Papillons in 1946. On 29 July 1944, Flight Sgt Anthony Drew of 56 Squadron RAF, while pursuing a V1 Flying Bomb in a Hawker Tempest, became disoriented in cloud and crashed into the ground, narrowly missing the house. Drew's remains and some wreckage of his Hawker Tempest were recovered the next day. Drew had previously shot down 3 V-1s. The Folkestone Building Company purchased the property in 1986 and undertook a major programme of restoration of the main house. They also converted the 18th century stable blocks and ancillary buildings to exclusive residential units. The main house is now divided into two separate properties, Acrise Place and Acrise Court.The 18th-century stable block is a separately listed Grade II listed building.

St Martin's Church is an Anglican church in the village and parish of Acrise in Kent, England. The church dates back to the Norman era, and was designated a Grade I listed building in 1966.

Bladbean is a scattered hamlet between Canterbury and Folkestone in Kent, England. It lies along a minor road east of Stelling Minnis. It is in the civil parish of Elham.

Acrise is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district, Kent, England, located between Elham and Densole and about six miles north of Folkestone. The settlement derives its name from Old English, 'Acrise' being a development of the Old English term for "Oak Rise", the parish being on a small hill, still populated with old oak trees. The parish includes three particularly significant buildings. The 18th century Acrise Place is a manor house. The medieval church of St Martin (which now stands within the grounds of the big house) is of Norman origin. The Old Rectory is a very fine example of a parsonage dwelling of its era and is a grade II listed building.

Wingmore is a small village between Canterbury and Folkestone in Kent, England. It is situated in the Elham Valley approximately halfway between the larger villages of Elham and Barham on the B2065. It consists of a few cottages and farms. The population at the 2011 Census was included in the civil parish of Elham

Lyminge was a station on the Elham Valley Railway. It opened in 1887 and finally closed to passengers and freight in 1947.

Lyminge is a village in southeast Kent, England. It lies about five miles (8 km) from Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel, on the road passing through the Elham Valley. At the 2011 Census the population of Etchinghill was included. The Nailbourne stream begins in the village and flows north through the Valley, to become one of the tributary streams of the Great Stour. The hamlet of Ottinge lies to the NE on the road to Elham. Lyminge is home to the Grade II* listed Sibton Park, now owned by the Holiday Property Bond but previously a school. The village is surrounded by farmland and ancient forests. There is a wide variety of flora and fauna in the surrounding area, including badgers, various species of deer along with wild boar which are thought to have escaped from farmed populations. Lyminge was a royal centre of the Kingdom of Kent of Anglo-Saxon England and a church was founded in 633.