Books and Booklets
Over the years CDLHS has produced and contributed to several books, booklets and even a tea towel. Their details are listed below.
If you would like to purchase any, please click here to send an email with your requirement.
NB. If you are able to collect from Charing there will be no P&P charge
140 Year of the Maidstone to Ashford Railway – The Charing Connection
This book, written by committee member, Stephen Beck, in conjunction with Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre, is the story of the origins and construction of the railway from Maidstone to Ashford that runs through Charing. It explores the improvements made over the years, its use during both World Wars, the freight traffic over the route, the electrification in the 1960s and much more. It contains some very rare photographs, mainly from the Society’s collection and many from the celebrated railway photographer, Brian Stephenson who very kindly made his collection available.
It is A4 sized, fully illustrated in colour and consists of 38 pages.
IISBN No 978-0-9570299-3-4, Price £7.50 + £3.50 p&p.
Charing in the First World War
This book is a compilation of the 61 illustrated panels from our successful 2014 CDLHS exhibition commemorating the centenary of the First World War. Made in memory of all the parishioners of Charing who were involved in the First World War in so many different ways, it shows how the parish of Charing supported the war and how it was affected by it. Each A4 page is based on an exhibition panel, researched and written by CDLHS.
Design by Jim Wire.
Illustrated by Frances Wire. (aka Frances Pickering - visit her website and see her work on instagram)
2018 ISBN 978-0-9570299-1-0 65pp A4 size, photographs in b&w, illustrations in colour.
Price £10 + £3.50 p&p for each book ordered.
A History of Charing: the parish from earliest times to 1900
This book traces the history of a large and important manor and parish in central Kent from prehistoric times to 1900. The manor was held by the archbishop of Canterbury from the 8th century to the Reformation, and by the Crown until the 17th century. The 19th century is explored from the perspective of the census returns. Many unpublished documents and maps have been used to bring to life regional and local events, and describe the land, people and occupations. Three further chapters cover the history of the church, the archbishops’ palace, and the many historic houses remaining in the village and surrounding countryside.
2011. ISBN 978 0 9570299-0-3. A4 size, 126pp, c. 100 maps, drawings and photographs, in colour and b & w.
Price £12 + £3.50 p&p for each book ordered.
A Hand-Painted Map of the Ashford Area on a unique Tea Towel
SOLD OUT
Peter Holman was an accomplished artist who lived in Charing in the 1960s, & one of his works is a map that he painted in 1965. The style is very individual, as it shows the countryside around Ashford, with the lie of the land, hills, good viewing points plus other places of interest and historical information covering an area of 77 square miles.
Villages that are included on the Tea Towel Map include: Ashford, Boughton Lees, Brabourne, Brook, Challock, Charing, Charing Heath, Great Chart, Hothfield, Kennington, Little Chart, Mersham, Smeeth, Westwell & Wye.
CDLHS have been given permission by Peter's family to produce the Tea Towels, which we are now selling, to help raise funds for the preservation & conservation of items of historical significance that we own.
Sorry our stocks have dried up
The Field of Cloth of Gold - The Charing Connection
On 23 May 1520, Henry VIII and a very large entourage stayed overnight in Charing whilst on his journey to the 'Field of Cloth of Gold'. This was a two week long, spectacular event celebrating the Anglo-French treaty of 1518, held near Calais, on what was then English territory.
Charing resident and History Society member, Celia Jennings, has extensively researched Henry's journey from Greenwich to Calais, and has written this splendid booklet, which was published in 2020 to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of this historic event.
2020 ISBN 978-0-9570299-2-7 A5 size 28 pages illustrated in colour.
Price £5 + £3.50 p&p for each book ordered.
Charing – A Pictorial Past
The book begins with several pages of 19th-century drawings and watercolours of Charing, followed by numerous photographs dating from the late 19th century to the present day, arranged by topics and explained by informative captions. Topics include farming, occupations, buildings, the parish church, transport, education, leisure and people.
2005. A4 size, 116pp, c.200 drawings and photographs, in b & w.
Price £10 + £3.50 p&p for each book ordered.
Harry Ward:
My Early Recollections of Life in Charing from 1868
Harry Ward was born in Charing in 1864 and died there in 1940. He went to school aged six, but two years later began working part time in the rope walk. As an adult he was employed for 56 years as a gardener and domestic servant to one the large houses in the village. His recollections, written in the last few years of his life, span his memories of childhood and youth, and have much to say about farming, entertainment, school, church (he was a bell ringer), the fire brigade (he was a fireman), transport, people and places. This is a fascinating account of life in Kent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
2002. A4 size, 20pp, 16 b & w photographs taken by the author.
Price £2.50 + £3.50 p&p for each book ordered.
Thanks for the Memories:
a pot-pourri of memories of the war years(1939-1945).
Memories of the war years collected from Charing residents and contemporary local publications. The book covers a variety of topics including the early war years, tales of evacuees, transport, the military in Charing, the land army, local efforts in Britain’s resistance movement, bombs, prisoners of war, and rationing.
1992. A5 size, 32pp.
Price £2 + £3.50 p&p. for each book ordered.
A Life in Charing: Hilda Barnard’s story
An account of Hilda Barnard’s life in Charing in her own words from her birth in 1890 to within a few weeks of her death in 1983. She talked about her childhood and family, the countryside, the village, its institutions and buildings, her years in service at Pett Place, her marriage to an Ashford man, although they continued to live in Charing where her children were born, and many other things that she remembered.
1986. Published by the Society’s Oral History Group. 23pp
Price £2.50 + £3.50 p&p. for each book ordered.
A Saunter Through Kent: Charing 1900 & 2019
Malcolm Horton, Charing resident, and CDLHS member, has written, with CDLHS support, this 16-page, limited edition publication. Malcolm has kindly donated all profits to CDLHS; we have just 30 copies left. It reproduces Sir Charles Igglesden's view of Charing in 1900, followed by a very positive overview of our village in 2019.
2019 A5size, 16pp.
Price £5.00 + £3.50 p&p. for each book ordered.