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Launched 09/04/2011

Latest update 10/05/2012


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Elham is Kent Village of the Year for 2011
What's in the database
8,364 People
6,061 Demography entries
1,765 Events
886 Marriages
413 Properties
391 Photographs
Completed projects ...
  • Properties 1841-1911
  • Demography records 1841-1911 (village only)
  • Cemetery burials
Work in progress ...
  • Demography records 1841-1911 (parish)
  • Marriages within the Elham parish
  • Audio/verbal accounts by Elham residents
Coming soon ...
  • Memorial and graveyard inscriptions
  • Mapping of all properties within the Elham parish
  • List of artefacts
Future projects ...
  • Audio village tour
  • Complete list of shops - past and present
What's new!
STATS - Facts & Trivia
Windlass Cottage Title Deeds
Cemetery burials
Church Cottage history back to 1720
Anthony Eden Prime Minister and Elham resident
F.C.Eden Architect of St. Mary's church renovations
Mick Hogben Elham resident for almost 80 years
The Shepway village beat off stiff competition for a prestigious title organised by Action with Communities in Rural Kent. The competition selected winners over the four themes of social action, transport, economic development and environment.

The judges also paid consideration to the EHS database which now contains all the census info (1841-1911) for the village.

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
Les Ames in action

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
Abbot's Fireside

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

Audrey Hepburn (left) 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
Play for Elham

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
Swing Riots

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

King's Arms 1605

October 9th. Release from Thomas Bexlie of Whitstable, yeoman, to John Penvold of Elham, butcher, on payment by him of £7, of all his right, etc., in a stable and parcel of ground situate in the “Nether Market” in Elham. Boundaries: to the south and west, a house called “the sign of the Cock” [messuagium vocatum le signum galli]; north, house and lands of John Tibbold; east and south, the common way. (signed) Thomas Bexlie. Witnesses: Nich. Hotten (his mark), Nich. Ladd. CKS: U47

Cricket Club 2000

Elham Cricket Club play their first game at Holloway. The move was a major feat for the club bringing with it a new pavilion, playing and net facilities. The ground benefits from a naturally raised area providing visitors with an elevated view of the playing area from where you can sit and watch the action from the grassy bank or the comfort of your car, should the weather choose to be a little inclement! Elham Delights Elham Cricket Club

International rescue mission 2007

A man in Kent helped save the crew of a yacht as it sank thousand of miles away in Central America. Paul Wilkin, who lives near Folkestone, received an alert call from his friend Jack Crofton, who was sailing off Panama about 5,000 miles away. Mr Crofton had picked up a mayday call from another vessel but couldn't reach local coastguards.So he rang Mr Wilkin, of Ottinge, near Elham, who in turn contacted Dover Coastguard. That led to their Panama counterparts being scrambled.Mr Wilkin, an ex-Royal Navy diver, said: "I was obviously very surprised to get the call." But Jack gave me the longitude and latitude of the yacht in trouble so I was able to relay the message to our coastguards."The yacht got into distress off the Panama Canal on Saturday. The three-man crew clambered onto a reef but their vessel sank. Kent Online