East Peckham is a village and civil parish in Kent, England on the River Medway. The parish covers the main village as well as Hale Street and Beltring.

History

The Domesday entry for East and West Peckham reads:- Part of the manor of East Farleigh lay within what is now East Peckham. There is a persistent myth that the village was originally around the far northern border with Mereworth. Sheet 80 of the First Edition One-Inch Ordnance Survey map published on 1 January 1819 shows the village as being two miles north east as St Michael's church stands on high ground there, now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust and open daily. In the mid-nineteenth century the new parish church of the Holy Trinity was built in what had for centuries been, and likely since the first multi-family settlement arose, the parish population centre. The architects were Whichcord and Walker of Maidstone, and the foundation stone was laid on 24 October 1840. The River Bourne joins the Medway in the south of the parish and powered a watermill, Little Mill. Another watermill on the River Medway stood at Branbridges. Large, populated parts used to flood with unusual frequency among parishes along the Medway. The East Peckham Flood Relief partnership was formed in 2003. A dam since 2005 exists on the Coult Stream at Bullen Farm. It is 160 m long and 4 m high and has the capacity to hold 80000 m3 of floodwater. The scheme cost just over £1 million. In 2012, a local amateur theatre group, The Russett Players, was formed in the village.

Settlement and amenities

East Peckham developed from nine hamlets (Roydon, Hale Street, Beltring, Little Mill, The Pound, Snoll Hatch, The Bush, Goose Green and Chidley Cross). These straddle the River Medway. It was economically focussed on hop growing and other agriculture, in which sector plant growing remains economically important, including two garden centres. Beltring includes The Hop Farm Country Park, including outdoor cinema, escape room and two restaurants and the world's largest collection of Oast Houses. Hale Street is another residential area to the east of the main village. Pound Road has most of the village's amenities including the primary school, Co-op convenience store, local shops and the now closed Merry Boys pub. Brookside Garden Centre is located in the village, and was opened in 1968.

Transport

East Peckham is bypassed by the A228 road which is the closest major road to the village. The village is served by the Arriva Southern Counties routes 6 and 6A which provide connections to Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone as well as the Go-Coach route 208 to Tonbridge. Beltring railway station on the Medway Valley Line is the closest rail station to East Peckham and is served by hourly Southeastern train services to Tonbridge, Maidstone and Strood.

Notable people

On 28 January 1896 Walter Arnold, of the Arnold (automobile) company of East Peckham, was summonsed for travelling at 8 mph in a motorised vehicle, thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit for towns of 2 mph. He had been caught by a policeman who had given chase on a bicycle. He was fined 1 shilling plus costs, the first speeding fine in England, and thus became the first person to be convicted of speeding in the UK. James Pimm (1798–1866) was a British food proprietor who created the gin-based liqueur known as Pimm's. Pimm died on 16 August 1866 at the family home in East Peckham. He is buried at Holy Trinity Church, East Peckham, Kent, England.

Twinning

East Peckham is twinned with Chéreng, Nord, France.