| Sevenoaks | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 | |
  Sevenoaks Location withinKent | |
| Population | 21,167 (2021 census) |
| Demonym | Sennockian |
| OS grid reference | TQ525555 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Sevenoaks |
| Postcode district | TN13, TN14, TN15 |
| Dialling code | 01732 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°16′41″N0°11′15″E / 51.2781°N 0.1874°E /51.2781; 0.1874 | |
Sevenoaks is a town andcivil parish inKent, England. Situated 21 miles (34 km) south-east ofCharing Cross, Sevenoaks is served by theSouth Eastern Main Line commuter railway into London. It is the principal town of theSevenoaks district,[2] followed bySwanley andEdenbridge. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 21,167, while the larger built-up area had a population of 26,475.
A settlement was recorded in the 13th century, when a market was established. Construction ofKnole House in the 15th century helped develop the village. Sevenoaks became part of the modern communications network when one of the earlyturnpikes was opened in the 18th century; the railway was relatively late in reaching it. In the 21st century, it has a largecommuting population. The nearbyFort Halstead defence installation was formerly a major local employer. Located to the south-east of the town isKnole Park, within which liesKnole House.
Educational establishments in the town includeTrinity School,Knole Academy, and the independentSevenoaks School.
In 1100, the name of the settlement was recorded asSeouenaca (here the "v" is interchangeable with "u"[3]), in turn derived from the 10th-centuryOld Englishseofon combined withac: the place of the seven oaks. The original seven oaks were inKnole Park and have been replaced many times.[4]
Alternatively, Baedeker's Guide of 1887 states that Sevenoaks "is said to be a corruption of Chevenix".[5]
There are few records earlier than the 13th century for the town, when it was given market status. The weekly cattle market was held in Hitchen Hatch Lane until 1999.[6] It was closed to make way for the160 BT building in London Road. A food market is held in the centre of town every Saturday. In theMiddle Ages, two hospitals were provided by religious orders for the care of old or sick people, especially those going onpilgrimage.
Sevenoaks School, at the south end of High Street, is one of the oldest lay foundations in England. It was founded by William Sevenoke in 1432. Sevenoke, a foundling, had been brought up in the town. In later life he became a merchant and served as alderman, sheriff andMayor of London. Founding the school and adjacent almshouses was his thanks to the town. In 1560 the school was granted letters patent byQueen Elizabeth I and became known asQueen Elizabeth's Grammar School.
In 1456,Thomas Bourchier,Archbishop of Canterbury, purchased the Knole estate and builtKnole House. The mansion dominates the town.
The eponymous oak trees in Knole Park have been replaced several times over the centuries. In 1902, seven oaks were planted on the north side ofThe Vine cricket ground to commemorate thecoronation ofKing Edward VII.[7] During theGreat Storm of 1987, six of those trees were blown down. Their replacements, planted in a ceremony involving well-known people from television shows such asBlue Peter and locals such asGloria Hunniford andCaron Keating, were vandalised, leaving the one mature tree standing. The trees have been replaced and eight oak trees of varying ages line The Vine.
A serious railway accident occurred nearby on 24 August 1927.Southern RailwayK class passengertank engine No. A800 River Cray was derailed hauling a Cannon Street to Deal express, knocking a road bridge and killing 13 passengers. The locomotive crew survived. The entire K class was subsequently rebuilt to prevent such an event from occurring again. The accident called into question the quality of track laying in the area.[8]
A number of institutions provided healthcare in the 19-20th centuries including:
Sevenoaks is governed by a town council with sixteen members.[10] The town is divided into six wards: Kippington, Northern, St John's, Town, Wildernesse and Eastern. The offices of Sevenoaks District Council[11] are located in the town.
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The town is situated at the junction of two main routes from the north before traffic climbs over theGreensand Ridge which crosses Kent from west to east; that situation is similar toMaidstone andAshford. This road was one of the earliest in the county to beturnpiked in 1709, because of the clay soils.[13]
The valley to the north is that of theRiver Darent; that river turns to the north to cut through theNorth Downs. Several lakes are located along the course of the river here, the result of theextraction of sand and gravel in the past.
The built-up area of the town has developed primarily along the main roads. The settlement ofRiverhead to the north-west is the largest; other parts of the town (in clockwise order from the north) include Greatness;[14] Wildernesse; St John's; Hollybush; Sevenoaks Common; and Kippington.
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In 1801, the parish had a population of 2,600.[citation needed]
| Census | Population | Female | Male | Households | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 18,588 | 9,713 | 8,875 | 7,609 | [15] |
| 2011 | 20,409 | 10,501 | 9,908 | 8,118 | [16] |
| 2021 | 21,167 | 10,895 | 10,272 | 8,347 | [17] |
At the 2011 census, theOffice for National Statistics defined a "Sevenoaks urban area" with a population of 24,987.[18] In 2013, it defined a "Sevenoaks built-up area" – includingChipstead,Dunton Green,Godden Green,Riverhead, andSeal[19] – with a population of 29,506.[20][21] Following the 2021 census, it defined a new "Sevenoaks built-up area" – including Chipstead, Dunton Green and Riverhead, but not Seal or Godden Green – with a population of 26,475.[22]
Sevenoaks, like much ofWest Kent, is characterised by high levels of economic activity and a skilled resident workforce. A large proportion of that workforce commutes elsewhere to their places of employment, mostly to central London. Those factors have led to high house prices and pressure on the local area to build more houses. Many of those houses attract high prices, making it difficult for people to buy property. A wide range of middle-class occupations are in short supply locally. Industries such as finance and business services tend to predominate. Transport links are generally very busy and town centre congestion is common at peak times.[23]
The main industrial area is located north of the town, alongside the A225. Sevenoaks Quarry[24] is on Bat and Ball Road, also to the north.
The shopping area in High Street[25] includes the new Bligh's development. It is a typical small town centre, with one M&S department store having opened in 2014.
Bligh's shopping development opened in phases in 2002. The site was originally a meadow, before becoming a bus station and car park. Access can be gained from several directions including the High Street and London Road. Much of the architecture is based on slightly earlier periods but with a contemporary edge.[citation needed]
Music string manufacturerRotoSound is based in Sevenoaks. The company's strings have been used byJimi Hendrix,Brian May, andPete Townshend. In the US, the company is associated with theBritish Invasion sound of the 1960s and 1970s.[26]
Knole Park is a 1,000-acre (4 km²)SSSI and medieval deer park containing several thousand trees, a cricket pitch and a golf course running across. In its centre isKnole, the home of the Sackville family (theEarls of Dorset) since it was given to them by Queen Elizabeth I in 1577. The estate is owned and maintained by theNational Trust, although theSackvilles still live there.
Riverhill House and gardens are located directly to the south of Knole Park, on the southern edge of Sevenoaks. The house and gardens, which were first built in the 16th century, are privately owned byJane Margaret Rogers but are periodically open to the public.
There are four churches within theChurch of England in Sevenoaks, dedicated to St Luke, St Mary Kippington, St Nicholas (Evangelical),[27] and St John the Baptist (Anglo-Catholic,[28] under the pastoral care of theBishop of Richborough[29]).The three churches of St Luke's, St Mary Kippington together with St Mary the Virgin Riverhead with Dunton Green make up the West Sevenoaks Team Ministry and are mid-Anglican.[30]
The historic medieval parish church of Sevenoaks is St Nicholas' Church. As with many other medieval churches in the area the first written reference to the church is in theTextus Roffensis (about 1120).[31] The current main shape of the church is 13th Century, and rebuilt in the 15th Century.[32]
TheRoman Catholic church is dedicated toSt Thomas of Canterbury.[33] Mass has been celebrated on the site since 1880. Additions to the church occurred in 1894, 1927 and 1994.
There are some eight other denominations represented in the town.[34] These include Hope Church (Charismatic); Christ Church Sevenoaks, a constituent church of theUnited Reformed Church;[35] St John’s Hill United Reformed Church; the DriveMethodist Church,[36] the Vine Evangelical Church (non-denominational); and also the VineBaptist church.
There is one mixed state secondary school, theKnole Academy, which was created in 2009 from an amalgamation ofWildernesse School (for boys) and Bradbourne School (for girls) and four state primary schools, one of which is Church of England and another of which is Catholic.
Lady Boswell's C of E Primary School on Plymouth Drive dates back to 1675 and is one of the oldest state primary schools in England. Lady Margaret Boswell left a bequest to educate 12 poor scholars of the town. The first school building was erected on London Road in 1818: it is aGrade II Listed building with aneo-Classical frontage, now called Lady Boswell House.[37] The school moved to its current site in 1972.[38] The school have an association with St Nicholas’s Church and the Rector of St Nicholas is a Foundation Governor.[39]
A ChristianFree School called Trinity School, opened in the 2010s on the Seal Hollow Road on the north-eastern edge of town, and Seal Hollow Road is also the site of thecontroversial first new UKGrammar school, an annex ofWeald of Kent Grammar School for girls in Tonbridge, in over 50 years.[40] A further annex grammar school, of Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, was due to open on the same site in September 2021.[41][needs update]
Among the high number of independent schools areSevenoaks School, a co-educational boarding and day school; The Granville School, a girls’ prep school 3–11 (with boys in pre-school); and Walthamstow Hall, an all-girls day school. There are severalpreparatory schools, includingSolefield School,New Beacon School and Sevenoaks Preparatory School.[citation needed]
There are two railway stations in Sevenoaks, with two more on the outskirts:
Sevenoaks is located at the junction of two ancient roads heading south from London andDartford to theWeald. In 1710, part of one of the roads – from Sevenoaks throughTonbridge andPembury toTunbridge Wells – was the first in Kent to beturnpiked; others followed within the century. It became theA21 road in the 1920s; the road nowbypasses the town, and also takes traffic to theM25London Orbital motorway at junction 5. The Dartford road is now theA225. The cross-countryA25 road passes through the north of the town along theVale of Holmesdale.
Bus routes in and around Sevenoaks are provided byGo-Coach andArriva Southern Counties.[44]
Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve is to the north of the town centre, around one of the former gravel pits. It is aSite of Special Scientific Interest, covering some 175 acres (71 ha).[45]
Sevenoaks Scouts is the activeScouting organisation in the town.[46]
Sevenoaks Information provides a comprehensiveWhat's On events diary for the town and surrounding area.[47]
Sevenoaks Community Forum is an active discussion forum for news and events within Sevenoaks and surrounding areas.[48]
Sevenoaks District Community Directory provides information on local leisure facilities, plus details of clubs, societies and organisations covering all activities across the Sevenoaks area.[49]
Sevenoaks has threenon-League football clubs:Corinthian Football Club who play at Gay Dawn Farm,Sevenoaks Town F.C. who play at Greatness Park and Ide Hill F.C. who currently play in Borough Green due to construction of a new club house in Ide Hill village.[citation needed]
TheVine Cricket Ground is one of the oldest cricket venues in England. It was given to the town of Sevenoaks in 1773 byJohn Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset (1745–1799) and owner of Knole House. The land was thought[by whom?] to have previously been used as a vineyard for the Archbishops of Canterbury.
Sevenoaks Suns is a women's basketball team that plays in the top flight of UK women's basketball, theWBBL. In 2017, the team won the WBBL Trophy, defeating the Leicester Riders 82–67 in the final in Glasgow.[citation needed]
Sevenoaks Hockey Club is a large club with a clubhouse at The Vine Pavilion.[50] HC Knole Park is also based in Sevenoaks.
Sevenoaks has two leisure centres;[51] many sports and other activities are available.[52]
Sevenoaks Padel Club has three outdoor Padel courts at Polhill Garden Centre.[53]
The Stag Theatre, cinema and the Plaza music and conference complex is located at the top of London Road (TN13 1ZZ). It was reopened as a community arts centre by Sevenoaks Town Council on 2 January 2009 and is supported by a strong network of volunteers. It became a not-for-profit charity in 2010. The multiplex cinema is open daily showing films. Around £550,000 has invested in equipment, infrastructure and the building since it re-opened.[54]
The demonym for a person from Sevenoaks isSennockian. The demonymOld Sennockian is used by alumni ofSevenoaks School.[55]
The local radio station for Sevenoaks isKMFM West Kent, although no local programmes are broadcast on the station due to it being part of theKMFM network across Kent that broadcasts from Medway. The station still receives local adverts, what-on local events and sponsors.
Sevenoaks is served by county wide stationsBBC Radio Kent,Heart South,Smooth Radio and many London stations.
Television signals are received from theCrystal Palace TV transmitter because of its proximity to London, placing Sevenoaks in theBBC London andITV London areas. However, the town can also receive theBluebell Hill TV transmitter which broadcastBBC South East &ITV Meridian and also through satellite television such asFreesat.
The local paper is theSevenoaks Chronicle, which is published every Thursday by theCourier Media Group.[56][citation needed]
Sevenoaks istwinned with:
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)Vpon the Tueſday in the ſame weeke being the .xxvij. of Februarie, certaine Gentlemen of Kent were ſente into Kent to bee executed there. Their names were their, the twoo Mantelles, two Knenettes, and Bret: with theſe maiſter Rudſton alſo, and certaine other were condem|ned and ſhoulde haue bene executed, but they had their pardon. Sir Henrie Iſley knight, Thomas Iſleye his brother, and Walter Mantelle,Execution. ſuffred at Maydſton, where Wyat firſt diſplayed hys Ba|ner. Anthonie Kneuet and his brother William Kneuet, with an other of the Mantelles, were executed at Seuenocke.
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