Doggetts Barn and Rickards Hall

Edenbridge and the Town Council

Introduction

Edenbridge is a medium sized Kentish market town, within a couple of miles of both the Surrey and Sussex county borders; it is also rather too close to the eastern end of the Gatwick airport flight path!

The first local settlement seems to have started life in the mists of time. There are the remains of a C1st BC Iron Age camp but the root of the current town is the old Roman road, which provided a crossing point across the Wealden marshes for corn etc to be taken from the South Downs to London as well as giving access to local iron.  In about the C10th a new bridge, probably still wooden, was built; this was 'Eadenhelm's Bridge' from which both the town and river derived their names.  The River Eden is a tributary of the Medway, gathering water from a large catchment area across the Surrey border and joining the main river at Penshurst.  The first stone bridge, with 5 arches, was built around 1500, being replaced in 1830 by the existing single arch bridge.  This single river crossing has been a source of problems, particularly with the build up of post war traffic, much related to the building boom of the 1960s.  A far-sighted Kent County Council announced in 1946 that an Inner Relief Road, with a second bridge, should be built to get the then 'heavy traffic' out of the historic High Street. Did they know that the old London County Council would decide to chose Edenbridge for Overspill development, bringing significant industry, and associated housing, from south London?

Some 4 years ago the second bridge was opened, but only as a spur road leading to new housing and a supermarket.  While building the roundabout for this the remains of the old Roman road were discovered about 3ft below the existing road surface.  Imminently, in February 2004, the remainder of that same Relief Road is now to be built, taking about 700 HGV movements a day out of the High Street, which still retains several of the old coaching inns. One of these, now Ye Old Crown Hotel, dates back to the C14th. 

The town is situated within the Metropolitan Greeen Belt, which constrains development outside the existing town envelope, as does the revised and extended Environment Agency's Flood Plain.  To the north lies the Greensand Ridge and to the south the High Weald.  It is the run-off from these as well as the catchement area across the Surrey border which has many times caused significant flooding.  In the late 1960s the town was cut in two for days.  Subsequently the course of the river was altered, the water table lowered and flood embankments built, based on a 1 in 30 years flood prediction.  Within the last two years those precautions have been severely tested with flood levels within 4" of the bund tops and the bridge unable to allow through the surge of flood water, creating backing-up flooding.

The town, in some ways, is in the middle of nowhere, being almost equidistant from the larger towns of Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.  Around it are a number of villages and smaller communities, including some across the county borders, which look to Edenbridge as a 'Rural Service Centre'.  For a parish covering only about 6,000 acres and a rising population of around 8,000 to have its own hospital and minor injuries unit, leisure centre, Police office, a reasonably healthy High Street with a blend of national and individual shops, supported by a full range of professional, medical and financial services, and with an innovative local museum, is unusual.  Add a significant commercial and industrial base, with several plc and multinational companies, largely linked to printing and support trades, high tech. fan and air conditioning design and construction and the oldest toy company in the country - House of Jaques (who introduced Ping Pong to the UK but are known world wide for their croquet sets) and you have a market town with a difference. 

It has however recently lost its small secondary school but has a thriving Primary School and a range of pre and play schools. Kent County Council is currently consulting about the provision of a new form of 'service centre' which may see statutory and voluntary bodies working side by side, perhaps with a one-stop local government function (County, District and Town?) and a new (replacement) primary school on the old secondary school site.

The Town Council

Established in 1895 as one of the first parish councils its name was changed to a 'Town' council in 1982, although it retained the role of Chairman.

The town is divided into two recently amended wards; the North/East ward elects 8 members and the South/West 7.  The 2003 elections were hotly contested although, for possibly the first time, every candidate had a party label.  Nevertheless the Council still runs on a broadly non-political basis.

Details of councillors and the various meetings are recorded elsewhere within this website.  At the moment meetings are held typically at 8pm on Mondays in the Council Chamber upstairs in Doggetts Barn.  This 350+ year old barn, a Listed Building, was bought by the Council some 20+ years ago and restored but because of the lack of disabled access meetings later in 2004 will switch to the adjacent Rickards Hall.  This, which is only about 90 years old, has recently been refurbished but forms a integral part of what was once the site of Doggetts Farm. Adjacent to it, and fronting the High Street, is Church House, the old farmhouse, which the Council restored with help from the Lottery and English Heritage and which is the home of the Eden Valley Museum, run by an independent trust.

The Council office is on the ground floor of Doggetts Barn, in the courtyard just off the High Street.  It is open from 9am till 5pm weekdays and the staff can provide information not only on Town Council matters but also help information about the services of Sevenoaks District Council and other authorities and organisations.

Administrative support is provided by full-time Town and Deputy Town Clerks, with a part time Responsible Finance Officer and a Committe Clerk.  The general amenity work, relating amongst other things to the 55 acres of the cemetery, playing fields, 5 play grounds, small skatepark, two parks, two large commons and greens, 2 allotment sites and a Millennium wood, is dealt with by a team of 4 full-time and 1 part-time ground staff. There is also a team of caretakers and cleaners. 

Partly arising from the Council's willingness to provide training for both its staff and its members, Edenbridge is the first local council in Kent to apply for Quality Parish status.