| Murston | |
|---|---|
 Church of All Saints | |
  Murston Location within Kent | |
| Population | 5,300 (2005) [1] 5,977 (2011 Census) [2] |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Sittingbourne |
| Postcode district | ME10 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
Murston is a suburb of Sittingbourne, in the Swale district, in the county of Kent, England. It is about 1 mile north-east of central Sittingbourne, on the east bank of the Milton Creek.
According to Edward Hasted in 1798, it was once called 'Muston'. The parish contains about 1000 acres of land, of which about 30 are used as woodland. North of the village are salt marshes that suffer from winter fogs and are foul-smelling. [3]
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, referred to Murston having a post office (under Sittingbourne control) and a quay and several docks on the creek. It also comprised 1,317 acres of land, and 145 acres of water. The population in 1851 was 191 and then in 1861, it rose to 572. There was a ferry over the Swale to Elmley. [4] In 1921 the civil parish had a population of 1603. [5] On 31 March 1930 the parish was abolished to form Sittingbourne and Milton, part also went to Luddenham. [6] It is now in the unparished area of Sittingbourne and Milton.
The older records, mention the Manor of 'Herst Hall'. King Richard I, while at the Siege of Acon in Palestine, was assisted by 'Bartholomew de Murston' of the manor. Later, John de Murston became owner of the manor, during the reign of Edward III. Sir Edward Hales, 1st Baronet was another manor owner. The widow of Sir Roger Twisden, 6th Baronet was the owner in 1798. [3]
Also within the parish is East Hall, which also had a manorship. It has passed through many hands, including the St. Leger family in 1377. [3] It now is a Grade II listed building. [7]
Also in the parish is the estate of Mere Court (named from the closeness to the marshes). It has passed through many hands, including Sir Arnold Savage's father in 1374. It now is a Grade II listed building. [8]
The village also has (the Grade II listed) Church of All Saints, [9] which is in the diocese of Canterbury, and deanery of Sittingborne. [3] It also now acts as a branch of Kent Savers Credit Union. [10] Then, in 1990, Central Park Stadium was built for Sittingbourne F.C. but it is now used by Kent Kings.
The former brickworks have been replaced by a large industrial estate (called the Eurolink Industrial Estate), [11] including the Bayford Meadows Kart Circuit. [12]
On the northern boundary of the parish, the Swale Way (a bypass route called the 'Sittingbourne Northern Relief road' (which was built in 2010/11)) passes over the Milton Creek heads from the A249 road (past Kemsley) towards the Eurolink Industrial estate and towards the East Hall Farm residential development. [13] Plans were to extend it past Bapchild to the Kent Science Park near Highsted, [14] before joining the M2 Motorway. However, they were put on hold by cost and planning issues. [15]
Beyond the Swale Way, the area towards the Swale is still marshland. The Murston Lakes connected to the Swale and were initially constructed for earlier brickworks, were later used for oyster rearing and are now part of 'Little Murston Nature Reserve'. They are designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA). [16] Passing along the Swale along the Milton Creek towards Sittingbourne is the Saxon Shore Way (a long-distance path around most of Kent). [17]
Murston was a centre for brickmaking. [18]
Between 1830 and 1870, brick making employed over 50% of the local population. George Smeed (1812-1881) was a local entrepreneur who developed the extractive industries and the related enterprises. In 1846, he started making bricks at Murston. These were Kentish yellows known as stock bricks, permeable bricks with the distinctive yellow ochre colour, that would form an impermeable glaze when exposed to sulphur dioxide. These need a slurry of 64% brick earth (the local subsoil), 25% town ash, and 11% chalk. In 1848, he produced 30 million bricks. In 1850, he established a Roman Cement Mill and later a second one. The ran a fleet of Thames sailing barges, and started constructing them. He built a gasworks at Murston in 1863, and leased land to the Burnham, Brick, Lime and Cement company, who built two cement bottle kilns at Murston. During the 1860 he built 150 houses for his Murston workers. By 1880, his company Smeed Dean produced 50 million bricks. The company was sold to the Dunstable Cement Company in 1926, which is now part of Blue Circle Industries. [18]
The 1930s maps show a brickmaking works near Mere Court Farm. They had moved closer to the Milton Creek in the 1940s.
Sittingbourne is an industrial town in the Swale district, in Kent, southeast England, 17 miles (27 km) from Canterbury and 45 miles (72 km) from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons.
Sittingbourne and Sheppey is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Gordon Henderson, a Conservative.
Bapchild is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England, about two miles inside of Sittingbourne. It lies on the old Roman road now the A2, and according to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,068, including Tonge, increasing to 1,141 at the 2011 Census.
Iwade is a village and civil parish 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town of Sittingbourne in the English county of Kent.
Lower Halstow is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England. The village is northwest of Sittingbourne on the banks of the Medway Estuary. It lies north of Newington on the A2 Roman road.
Ospringe is a village and area of Faversham in the English county of Kent. It is also the name of a civil parish, which since 1935 has not included the village of Ospringe.
Newington is a village and civil parish in the borough of Swale in Kent, England. The parish is located beside the A2 road between Rainham to the west and Sittingbourne to the east. The population of the parish in 2011 was 2,551.
Faversham was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Faversham in Kent which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Milton Regis is a village in the district of Swale in Kent, England. Former names include Milton-next-Sittingbourne, Milton Royal, Middleton, Midletun and Middletune. It has a population of about 5,000. Today it is a suburb of Sittingbourne, although this has not always been the case. Until around 1800, Sittingbourne was a small hamlet and under the control of the Manor of Milton Regis.
Elmley is the local name for the Isle of Elmley, part of the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, England. It was also the name of a very late 19th century industrial village on the isle. Edward Hasted describes, in 1798, the isle as two-eighths of the Isle of Sheppey estimated as 11 miles by 8 miles. Its present national nature reserve covers more than the easily traceable area of the former isle by extending to the east, over Windmill Creek, one of two Sheppey inlets, former internal tidal channels.
Milstead is a village and civil parish in the borough of Swale in Kent, England. It is surrounded by the villages of Frinsted, Wichling, Doddington and Lynsted in Kent, England. It is the southernmost parish in the Sittingbourne area, it is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) from Sittingbourne town centre. Just past the M2 motorway.
Tunstall is a linear village and civil parish in Swale in Kent, England. It is about 2 km to the south-west of the centre of Sittingbourne, on a road towards Bredgar.
Conyer is a hamlet within Teynham civil parish in the borough of Swale in Kent, England. It is located around one mile north of the village of Teynham, and at the head of Conyer Creek, which flows into the Swale to the north. The Saxon Shore Way and National Cycle Route 1 pass through the hamlet.
Highsted is a village near Sittingbourne in Kent, England. It is in the civil parish of Rodmersham.
Keycol is a village near Sittingbourne in Kent, England. At the 2011 Census the population of the village was recorded in the civil parish of Bobbing.
Tonge is a village near Sittingbourne in Kent, England. The hamlet is north of Bapchild, close to Murston Marshes beside the Swale.
Rodmersham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swale in the north of the English county of Kent. It is just under 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Bapchild on the A2 road and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of the town of Sittingbourne. Rodmersham Green, which forms the bulk of the modern village, is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the south-west of the village church towards the Highsted Valley and Tunstall.
Milton Creek Country Park is situated in 128 acres between Milton Regis and Kemsley, on the west bank of Milton Creek in Sittingbourne, Kent, England. This site was once called Church Marshes Country Park.
Ridham Dock is a dock on The Swale in the English county of Kent. It is located in the parish of Iwade around 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Sittingbourne.
George Smeed is a Thames barge built in 1882 by Smeed Dean & Co. Ltd. in Murston.
Media related to Murston at Wikimedia Commons