•  Newington, Kent

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Newington like this:

NEWINGTON, a village and a parish in Wilton district, Kent. The village stands on Watling-street, and on the London, Chatham, and Dover railway; 3¼ miles W N W of Sittingbourne; occupies the site of the Romanstation Durolevum; was known to the Saxons, and at Domesday, as Neweton; is now, in contra-distinction to other Newingtons, sometimes called Newington-juxta-Sittingbourne; was once a market-town; and has a railway station with telegraph, a post-office under Sittingbourne, and a floral and horticultural society. ...

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The parish contains also the hamlet of Breach, and comprises 2, 103 acres. Real property, £6, 410. Pop. in 1851, 731; in 1861, 854. Houses, 172. The manor belonged, at Domesday, to Queen Editha; was given to a nunneryfounded, soon after Domesday, on a site 1¼ mile W of the parish church; passed, in the time of Henry II., toa secular canonry of seven priests on the same spot; went, soon afterwards, to Sir Richard de Lucy; took then the name of Newington-Lucies; was exchanged in 1278, by Almericus de Lucy, with the monks of St. Augustine in Canterbury for other lands; went, at the Reformation, to the Crown; and passed in 1680, to Roger Jackson, in the end of Queen Anne's time, to the Pembertons, in 1771, to H. Mills, Esq., and in 1831, to Edward Leigh, Esq. The transference of it from the nunnery arose from the prioress having been found strangled in a bed; and that from the secular canonry arose from the murder of one of the canons by four of his brethren. The manor-house was, some years ago, taken down; and a new street, called Legh-street, was formed over its site to the railway station. Many entrenchments of Romanorigin, very numerous Roman coins and other Roman relics, and distinct vestiges of a Roman burying-place, have been found in and near the village; and many lines of ancient earthwork, and very numerous Roman urns, have been found at Keycol Hill, about 1 mile from the village, and supposed by some writers, though with little evidence, to have acquired its name by corruption of Caii Collis, signifying " Caius Julius Cæsar's Hill." About 130 acres are disposed in hops; and a considerablearea is occupied with orchards. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £350.* Patron, Eton College. The church stands ½ a mile from the centre of the village; is partly decorated English, partlymodern; consists of nave, aisles, and two chancels, with fine W embattled tower; and contains a remarkable octagonal font, an ancient tomb, three brasses, and other monuments. There are a national school, and charities £13.

Newington through time

Newington is now part of Swale district. Click here for graphs and data of how Swale has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Newington itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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