| Cuxton | |
|---|---|
 Looking south, Cuxton seen fromRanscombe Farm. In the distance is the cement works atHalling | |
  Cuxton Location withinKent | |
| Population | 2,627 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ709665 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ROCHESTER |
| Postcode district | ME2 |
| Dialling code | 01634 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°22′30″N0°27′00″E / 51.375°N 0.450°E /51.375; 0.450 | |
Cuxton is a village in theunitary authority ofMedway inSouth East England. It lies on the left bank of theRiver Medway in theNorth Downs. It is served by the A228, andCuxton railway station on theMedway Valley Line betweenStrood andMaidstone. A low valley leads up from the river to the hamlet of Lower Bush.
Archaeological evidence suggest the first human occupation was around 200,000 years ago. A hoard of 196 handaxes from theAcheulian era was excavated in 1962. This is now displayed in theBritish Museum. The name is believed to have developed from "Cucula's stone".[2]
The remains of a Roman villa were found under the church yard. The Saxons occupied the town and it became known as Cuckelstane. The church and parish was given byÆthelwulf, King of the West Saxons to the Cathedral church of St. Andrew, Rochester. The church contains muchNorman architecture, and is unusual as it lies on a southeast–northwest axis. This gave rise to the rhyme,He that would see a church miswent / Let him go to Cucklestane in Kent.
In Tudor times the principal house in the town was Whorne's Place, erected on the river bySir William Whorne, Lord Mayor of London in 1487. This was later owned by the Leveson family and most notablySir John Leveson who was Lord Deputy Lieutenant of Kent. This was taken over by the Mashams, strongroyalists who moved on to the Mote in Maidstone. The mansion was demolished in 1782 and only an outlying granary, now a house still bearing the name Whorne's Place, survives in 2011.
The only other manor in Tudor Cuxton was that of Beresse or Beresh, now known as Bush. It doesn't survive.
In 1610,William Laud was rector of Cuxton; he later became Archbishop of Canterbury underCharles I and was executed by the puritans in 1645 because of his strong royalist loyalties.
InUpper Bush there are four houses dating from 14th century and aTudorKentishYeoman's house.[3] A tin chapel from Cuxton was dismantled and re-erected at theMuseum of Kent Life,Sandling.
On 10 August 2015, a gang smuggling guns into the UK were filmed by officers from theNational Crime Agency (NCA) as they unloaded their illicit cargo near Cuxton Marina.[4] The gang were intercepted as they made their way to a second site, where they planned to bury the weapons; two of the gang were subsequently found guilty of gun smuggling.[5] The NCA described the haul of weapons and ammunition seized by its officers as the largest of its kind in the UK.[4]
Ranscombe Farm is aplantlifenature reserve,country park and working farm. Part of the site is included in theCobham WoodsSite of Special Scientific Interest, and the whole farm is within theKent DownsArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Cuxton is part of theelectoral ward called Cuxton and Halling. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 5,448.[6]
Media related toCuxton at Wikimedia Commons
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