Shoreham Aircraft Museum

Shoreham is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 5.2 miles north of Sevenoaks. The probable derivation of the name is estate at the foot of a steep slope. Steep slope was from the Saxon word scor. pronounced shor, but written sore by Norman scribes. The village of Shoreham contains three traditional independent pubs: The Samuel Palmer (formally Ye Olde George Inn), The King's Arms and the Crown; with The Rising Sun in nearby Twitton.

The Shoreham Memorial Cross is a Christian cross hill figure carved into a chalk escarpment above the village of Shoreham, Kent. The concept of the cross was the idea of a Shoreham man, Samuel Cheeseman, two of whose sons had been killed on active duty during the First World War. It was carved between May and September 1920 on land donated by Francis Mildmay who had also served in the war. In October 2021 Historic England designated the cross a scheduled monument.

Sevenoaks is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Laura Trott, a Conservative.

On 29 September 1934, an Airspeed Courier of London, Scottish & Provincial Airways Ltd crashed just north of Shoreham, Kent. The aircraft was on a scheduled international passenger flight from Heston Aerodrome west of London to Le Bourget Airport, Paris. All four people on board were killed. Two people were injured by flying débris.

Shoreham railway station serves Shoreham in Kent, England. It is 22 miles 52 chains (36.5 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Eynsford and Otford. Train services are provided by Thameslink.

Polhill Bank is a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) nature reserve south of Shoreham, which is north of Sevenoaks in Kent. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is in Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.This chalk grassland site is on a south-east slope. There is also an area of scrub, which provides a habitat for birds such as blackcap and willow warbler. Flora include rock-rose.The site is open to the public.

The Battle of Otford was a battle fought in 776 between the Mercians, led by Offa of Mercia, and the Jutes of Kent. The battle took place at Otford, in the modern English county of Kent.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the Mercians and the people of Kent fought at Otford, without giving the outcome, although it is considered significant that Kent was re-established as an independent kingdom after the battle. The kings of Kent continued to issue charters after 776, without any reference to Offa, so historians have deduced that Otford was a Kentish victory. The charters S 35 (dated 778), S 36 (dated 779) and S 37 (765 x 785) are in the name of Egbert, while S 38 (dated 784) is in the name of King Ealhmund. The changeover between Ecgberht and Ealhmund cannot be dated more precisely than 779–784.Kent was struggling to remain independent against the growing power of Mercia. In the 770s, the kings of Kent were resisting their demotion to subkings. According to the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, the Mercians were victorious at the battle near Sevenoaks. The historian Frank Stenton argued that Egbert of Kent defeated Offa and that Kentish independence was restored for some years. Offa's victory over Wessex at Bensington, Mercian pressure resumed and Kent was absorbed into Mercia.

Fackenden Down is a 14-hectare (35-acre) nature reserve north of Sevenoaks in Kent. It is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Otford to Shoreham Downs Site of Special Scientific InterestThis site is mainly chalk grassland, with some woodland and scrub. There are a variety of orchids, and butterflies such as the brown argus, common blue and dark green fritillary.There is access from a road off Shoreham Road opposite Darenth Valley Golf Club.

Otford to Shoreham Downs is a 145.1-hectare (359-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Kemsing and Eynesford in Kent. It is part of Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and part it is Fackenden Down, a nature reserve managed by the Kent Wildlife TrustThese downs have woodland, scrub and species-rich chalk grassland, which has been traditionally managed by grazing. A decline in grazing has caused the chalk downland to become overgrown, but it is still very species diverse, with over a hundred plants recorded.

Preston Hill Country Park is in Eynsford, in Kent, England. It is a woodland and former military firing range. Within the site of the park and woodland, stood Preston Hill farmhouse. This was then damaged in 1944 after a 1000 kg parachute bomb or mine was dropped, in the early hours of 22 January 1944. Three of the farmhouse occupants were killed and 8 others were injured, later the ruined farmhouse was demolished. The site was then used as a Ministry of Defence firing range (up to the 1940s); the remnants of the range can still be seen.Since 1951 it has been a Site of Special Scientific Interest (part of 363.7 acres (1,472,000 m2) Otford To Shoreham Downs site).Preston Hill has extensive views across the countryside from the Darenth Valley (following the River Darent) to Lullingstone Country Park. The site has 232 acres (940,000 m2) of chalk grassland and woodland with many wild flowers and rare butterflies at this site of outstanding natural beauty located within the Kent Downs.On the grasslands, a variety of butterflies including chalkhill blues and dark green fritillaries can be seen. Since the site is relatively quiet, common adders and grass snakes can also be found. The grassland is grazed occasionally by a herd of feral goats, which came from the Great Orme, near Colwyn Bay in North Wales.These are used to further encourage the growth of wildflowers.There are paths through the woodland (called 'Preston Plantation') at the top of the hill although they are steep in places and some have become overgrown.The park also is acreddited with a Green Flag Award by Natural England (linked with Lullingstone Country Park).

Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies on the River Darent, 3 miles (5 km) north of Sevenoaks. Otford's four churches are the Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in the village centre, the Otford Methodist Church, the Most Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, and the Otford Evangelical Church. By the village pond, also a roundabout, there are pubs, cafes and shops. The village has three schools, Otford Primary School, St Michael's Prep School, and Russell House.

Otford Palace, also known as the Archbishop's Palace, is in Otford, an English village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent. The village is located on the River Darent, flowing north down its valley from its source on the North Downs. The King of Mercia, Offa, fought the Kentish Saxons in 776 at the Battle of Otford. In 791 (or possibly in the preceding year) Offa gave lands at Otford to Christ Church Canterbury (the ‘vill by the name of Otford’). This was a very significant gift. It meant that the Monastery of Christ Church Canterbury and subsequently the Archbishops of Canterbury became the Lords of the Manor of Otford. The size of this piece of land was not recorded but further gifts of land were made in 820 and 821. The first, by Coenwulf, the Mercian King and son of Offa and in the following year by Ceolwulf, his brother and successor, who donated to Otford lands bordering the East bank of the River Darent between Shoreham and today's Bat and Ball. The second charter, in which Ceolwulf gives Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, five plough lands consisting of two groups, one lying north-west of Kemsing and the other to the south-west, can be found in the British Museum. A large moated manor house was built here and enlarged over the next 600 years by 52 subsequent archbishops. Until 1543, the palace was one of the chain of houses belonging to the archbishops of Canterbury. In 1500, the Court Roll stated that Otford was, “one of the grandest houses in England” In 1514, Archbishop Warham frustrated by the City Fathers at Canterbury to allow him to build a new palace there, added the North, East and West Ranges around a great courtyard. The enlarged Palace predated that of Cardinal Wolsey at Hampton Court and was little larger in its extent. Visitors to the Palace included Erasmus (a good friend of William Warham), Holbein, Cardinal Campaggio and King Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon en route to the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. A survey (c1537) recorded that over the bridge is the forebay or forefront of the Galerye well edified and bilded of free stone with large oute caste of baywondows after an uniforme plan by all the Northe Part of the said mote, verye pleasunte to the prospects and view of the said sighte. The hall was invironed aboute with Galeries and Towers and Turrette of Stone and the Chappell embatiled and parte covered with leade. However, in 1543 Henry VIII forced Archbishop Thomas Cranmer to surrender the palace to the Crown. Archbishop Cranmer's secretary Ralph Morrice was present in c 1543 when King Henry VIII visited Cranmer at Knole. ‘I was by when Otteford and Knole was given him. My Lord Cranmer mynding to have retained Knole unto himself, saied, that it is too small a house for his Majestie. “Marye” (saied the King), “I had rather to have it than this house (meaning Otteford), for it standith of a better soile. This house standith lowe and is rewmatike like unto Croydon where I colde never be without sykeness. And as for Knole it standith on a sounde parfait holsome grounde. And if I should make myne abode here as I do suerlie minde to do nowe and then, I myself will lye at Knole and most of my house shall lye at Otteford.” And so my this means bothe these houses were delivered upp unto the Kings hands, and as for Otteford, it is a notable greate and ample house, whose reparations yerlie stode my Lordew in more that wolde thinke. After Henry's death, Elizabeth I showed relatively little interest in the Palace and eventually sold it to the Sidney Family who converted the Western side of the North Range into their private quarters. However, the decline continued and, when the area was dis-parked in 17th century the buildings were used as part of Castle Farm. In 1761, the North East Tower of the Palace was demolished and the stonework carried to Knole, Sevenoaks, where it was used to build Knole Folly which lies to the South-East of Knole House. The principal surviving remains are the North-West Tower, the lower gallery, now converted to cottages, and a part of the Great Gatehouse. There are further remains on private land, and a section of the boundary wall can be seen in Bubblestone Road. The entire site, of about 4 acres (1.6 ha) is designated as an ancient monument. There are many related buildings in the village, including a wall in St Bartholomew's Church dating from c. 1050. Otford Palace is of exceptional significance for • The evidence which it provides for the form and architectural character of what was one of the outstanding buildings of early 16th century England. • Its archaeological potential to yield much more information about that building, particularly on the moat island, and its medieval predecessors. Otford Palace is of considerable significance for • The evidential value of the adaptation of the north-west range by the Sidney family. • Its ability to illustrate the form and scale of a late medieval archiepiscopal palace, despite its fragmentary survival. • The aesthetic qualities, designed and fortuitous, of the north range building in its open space setting. • The contribution it makes to the character and appearance of Otford Conservation Area. • The insight it provides into the character and ambition of Archbishop Warham. Otford Palace is of some significance for • As an illustration, especially with the archive material, of the struggle for the conservation of historic places during the 20th century. • Its contribution to the identity of Otford and its community today. The Palace is now under the care of the Archbishop's Palace Conservation Trust.