Graveyard Memorial Inscriptions

Welcome to the Elham Historical Society database website. Feel free to browse and uncover the history of Elham. Our dedicated team of historians has recently finished recording the details on all the memorials in the graveyard. Our chairman Derek Boughton has overseen the operation, correlating the data and checking for errors. The results of their labours can be seen on the burials page.

Elham beat off stiff competition for the title of Kent Village of the year 2011 organised by Action with Communities in Rural Kent.

Censuses for outlying communities in the parish will be rolled out gradually. Check out the stats page for interesting facts and

trivia about the village. We still need your help so please send us any information relating to Elham that may be of interest.

Les Ames hits out

Elham resident Les Ames in action for England against the West Indies in 1939. He was one of the finer wicketkeeper - batsmen and played for Kent CCC.

Abbot's Fireside c 1450

The Abbot's Fireside is one of the older buildings in the village and probably dates back to the mid fifteenth century.

Audrey attends school

Audrey Hepburn (neé Rushton) lived in Orchard Cottage (Five Bells) for five years in her childhood (1935-1940) and attended the local village schools. She took ballet lessons and dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina. I wonder what became of her?

George V Playing Field

Dave Lee opens Elham's brand new playground with a sensory garden and a pretty flower meadow created by the Play for Elham charity. 21st November 2010

Swing Riots of 1830

The machine breaking that led to the riots of August 1830 onwards started in the Elham Parish, writes our historian Derek Boughton, who has made a lifetime's study of the subject.

Elham residents were prominent in the gangs that sought out the new fangled threshing machines and destroyed them. Some of them cost the not inconsiderable sum for the day of £100. Full Story

Petty Sessions 1866

Thomas Bourne was charged with assaulting Mr. Thomas Holland, at Elham, on the 29th June last. Both parties live at Elham, the latter being a schoolmaster. The complainant said that on Friday evening, the 29th of June, he was standing looking over his garden wall, and the defendant and some other person, were talking together. Defendant spoke loud enough for him to hear, disparingly of the way complainant treated his boarders. Defendant usd very abusive language to complainant and threatened to strike his head off. He left his garden and went to a policeman. On his way he met defendant, who lifted his hand to strike him, but he did not do so. Defendant was the worse for liquor, but not drunk. The Bench fined defendant 2s. 6d. And 4s. 6d. costs, in default seven days' imprisonment. Kentish Gazette - Tuesday 31 July 1866

Snowfall 1986

Heavy snow caused roads that were usually kept open for the milk tankers to get through to be completely blocked and electricity supplies were interrupted for days. This was not the end of the world though as there were local shops, a camping stove complete with kettle and there was always a welcome at any of our three pubs. Eventually money supplies ran out in the village and IOUs were exchanged to keep everyone fed and watered. EHS

Inquest 1875

ELHAM. INQUEST,—An inquest was held on Wednesday by T. T. Delasaux, Esq., county coroner, on the body of Thomas White, who met his death by being knocked down by the rod of a cart. It appeared that a horse and cart was heard to be going very fast along the road on Saturday evening, and upon Mr. Roots, farmer, going in the direction he found the deceased lying in the road. A surgeon was sent for, and upon Mr. Bishop arriving, he discovered that the deceased had received a lacerated wound from the left ear to the left eye down the bone. His blade-bone was fractured, and several of his ribs were found to be broken, and had been driven into the deceased's lungs, which caused his death. The deceased told the surgeon that he thought he should die, and made a statement to the effect that the horses were frightened and ran away. He tried to catch hold of the reins, when the point of one of the rods struck him in the back and knocked him down insensible. The jury returned a verdict of “Accidental death." Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald 16 October 1875

EHS Database

Swing Riots of 1830 recounted by Derek Boughton our local expert historian.

Les Ames for England v West Indies at Kingston, Jamaica 1930 or 1935. WK Ivan Barrow watches on.

Audrey Hepburn attended private schools in the village and dreamed of being a ballerina. I wonder what became of her?

What's in the database? Find the latest additions here.

1935 Audrey Hepburn-Ruston

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Les Ames (1905 - 1990)

Former Elham resident Leslie Ethelbert George Ames CBE; who died suddenly at his home in Canterbury on February 26 1990 - aged 84 - was without a doubt the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman the game has so far produced; and yet - at the time he was playing - it used to be said there were better wicketkeepers than Ames - and that he was in the England team because of his batting. If this was so would Jardine - for example - have preferred him to Duckworth in Australia in 1932-33?

Surely not. When fully fit - Ames was England's first-choice wicketkeeper from 1931 to 1939 - when he virtually gave up the job. For Kent - he was an integral part of their Championship side from 1927 to the first match of 1951 - when a sharp recurrence of back trouble - which had dogged him for so long - brought his career to an end while he was actually at the crease. By this time he had amassed 37248 runs - average 43.51 - made 102 hundreds - including nine double-hundreds - and passed 1000 runs in a season seventeen times - going on to 3000 once and 2000 on five occasions. He had had a direct interest in 1121 dismissals - of which more than 1000 were effected when he was keeping wicket. His total of 418 stumpings is easily a record.

In Test cricket - Ames played 47 matches - scoring 2434 runs with a batting average of 40.56 - and taking 74 catches - and 23 stumpings. Record 8th wicket partnership in all tests of 246 with GO Allen :Made 123 in the pre-lunch session of the 1923 test against South Africa (a record for runs in a session): Scored centuries against every first-class county apart from Kent. Unusually for a wicket-keeper - he also bowled over 200 overs - taking 24 first-class wickets with a bowling average of 33.37.

Ames was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1929. He was a pupil at the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone and he also played five times for Gillingham FC.

EHS Database

Swing Riots of 1830 recounted by Derek Boughton our local expert historian.

Les Ames for England v West Indies at Kingston, Jamaica 1930 or 1935. WK Ivan Barrow watches on.

Audrey Hepburn attended private schools in the village and dreamed of being a ballerina. I wonder what became of her?

What's in the database? Find the latest additions here.

1935 Audrey Hepburn-Ruston

EHS Database

Swing Riots

Les Ames (1905 - 1990)

Audrey Hepburn (1929 - 1993)

She came to village with her mother Dutch Baroness Ella van Heemstra. She lived at Orchard Cottage (now the Five Bells) and attended the private schools in the village square.

Stats

1935 Audrey Hepburn-Ruston

She came to village with her mother Dutch Baroness Ella van Heemstra. She lived at Orchard Cottage (now the Five Bells) and attended the private schools in the village square.