Speldhurst

**Speldhurst**
	Speldhurst
	; ; Speldhurst ; Speldhurst shown within Kent
Population	1,500
OS grid reference	TQ555415
District	Tunbridge Wells
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Tunbridge Wells
Postcode district	TN3
Dialling code	01892
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Tunbridge Wells
	List of places: UK • England • Kent

Main	Births etc

Coordinates: 51°09′06″N 0°13′19″E / 51.1516, 0.2219

Speldhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The parish is to the west of Tunbridge Wells: the village is 3 miles (5 km) west of the town.

Speldhurst has a primary school, a parish church, a general store with post office, a pub, a violin shop and a small business park.

History[]

The name Speldhurst derives from the Old English for 'wooded hill ('hyrst') where wood-chips ('speld') are found'.^[1]

Parish Church[]

St Mary's Church Speldhurst was designed by John Oldrid Scott and built by Hope Constable of Penshurst, being dedicated to St Mary on 6 May 1871. The stained glass windows are by Burne Jones and William Morris. At present the parish of Speldhurst is part of a united parish with Ashurst and Groombridge. A previous incumbent of St Mary's Church Speldhurst was Rev Baden Powell, the father of Lord Baden-Powell who founded the Scout Movement. Rev. Powell married his second wife in the Church, and she is buried in the churchyard.

Local customs[]

Speldhurst has an annual pram race on the second Sunday in May. There are various race categories of different age groups with the main event being two laps around the village. Contestants have to push a "baby" around the course and all have to down half a pint every time they pass the two drinks stations, one situated by the George and Dragon and the other by the old Northfields pub.^[2]^[3]

Speldhurst has become famous for the "Speldhurst sausages" which are known world wide.^[4]

Parish villages and hamlets[]

Ashurst
Langton Green
Old Groombridge
Speldhurst itself
Stone Cross

References[]

^ "Key to English Place Names". University of Nottingham - Institute for Name Studies. http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/county/Kent. Retrieved 2 Sep 2014.
^ "Speldhurst pram race preparations begin". This is Kent. 2008-08-23. http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Speldhurst-pram-race-preparations-begin/story-11993929-detail/story.html. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
^ Verdon, Anna. "Hundreds turn out for annual Speldhurst Pram Race". Kent & Sussex Courier. http://www.courier.co.uk/Hundreds-turn-annual-Speldhurst-Pram-Race/story-21109009-detail/story.html. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
^ Peter Lamb. "Lambs Larder Speldhurst Sausages". Lambslarder.co.uk. http://www.lambslarder.co.uk/speldhurst.html. Retrieved 2012-11-08.

External links[]

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This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Speldhurst. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.

[1] "Key to English Place Names". University of Nottingham - Institute for Name Studies. http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/county/Kent. Retrieved 2 Sep 2014.

[pramrace-2] "Speldhurst pram race preparations begin". This is Kent. 2008-08-23. http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Speldhurst-pram-race-preparations-begin/story-11993929-detail/story.html. Retrieved 2012-11-08.

[3] Verdon, Anna. "Hundreds turn out for annual Speldhurst Pram Race". Kent & Sussex Courier. http://www.courier.co.uk/Hundreds-turn-annual-Speldhurst-Pram-Race/story-21109009-detail/story.html. Retrieved 19 May 2014.

[sausage-4] Peter Lamb. "Lambs Larder Speldhurst Sausages". Lambslarder.co.uk. http://www.lambslarder.co.uk/speldhurst.html. Retrieved 2012-11-08.

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