Everything about Sevenoaks England totally explained
Sevenoaks is a
commuter town in the
Sevenoaks district of
Kent in
South East England and forms part of the
London commuter belt. It is situated 21.5 miles (34.6 km) south east of
Charing Cross in
London.
The town's name is derived from the
Saxon word "Seouenaca", the name given to a small chapel near seven oak trees in
Knole Park around 800 A.D.. Contrary to popular myth, the town is
not named after the seven
oak trees that lined the boundary of the
Vine Cricket Ground, six of which were destroyed in the
Great Storm of 1987. Those trees were one of several sets of seven oaks around the town and date from 1902 when they were planted to commemorate the Coronation of
King Edward VII. It is near two large lakes, one of which (the East Lake) is the location for
Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve. It is very close to the M25 motorway.
History
Medieval
In the
Middle Ages two hospitals were provided here by religious orders, for the care of old or sick people, especially those going on
pilgrimage.
Early Schools
Sevenoaks School, at the south end of the High Street and whose grounds penetrate into Knole, is the oldest secular school in England. It was founded by Sir William Sevenoke, a wealthy London merchant, in 1432. Sevenoke, an orphan, had been brought up in the town. In later life he became a wealthy merchant and Lord Mayor. Founding the school and adjacent almshouses was his thanks to the town. In 1560 it was ordered by
Queen Elizabeth I that it should be called
The Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth. It was "for the education of boys and youths in grammar and learning".
By the early 18th century there were no fewer than seven
grammar schools in the town.
Communications
Roads
Sevenoaks is located at the junction of two ancient roads heading south from London and
Dartford to the
Weald.
In 1710 part of one of the roads - from Sevenoaks through
Tonbridge and
Pembury to
Tunbridge Wells- was the first in Kent to be
turnpiked, and others followed within the century.
The town is now by-passed by the
A21 dual carriageway road, and is connected to the
M25 London Orbital motorway at Junction 5.
Railways
Railways were relatively late arriving at Sevenoaks. The previous main line of the
South Eastern Railway (SER) had been through
Redhill and it was in the nature of a "cutoff" to reduce the length of that journey that the line between
Lewisham and
Tonbridge was built. The line had huge construction difficulties, including two tunnels (it took three years to complete the final dozen miles): the Sevenoaks Tunnel is the longest in the south of England at 3,156 metres (about 2 miles) long.
The main station -
Sevenoaks (formerly known as
"Tub's Hill", after the adjacent area) - was opened on
2 March 1868. There is a second station, on the branch to
Swanley Junction, serving the north end of the town, opened earlier (
2 June 1862). This station, named
Bat & Ball is named after the local inn (now closed).
Sevenoaks was the scene of a horrific railway accident on
24 August 1927, when a passenger train derailed because the "K" or "River" Class
2-6-4 tank locomotive hauling the train became unstable at high speed. Thirteen people were killed. The accident led to the entire "River" class of locomotives being rebuilt as
SR U Class 2-6-0 tender locomotives.
The line to Sevenoaks was electrified in 1935. It was the first station in Britain to be re-built with the later well-known
British Rail red, white and blue colouring.
Sevenoaks is part of the rail franchise which, post-
privatisation, was served by
Connex South Eastern. Following their 'sacking' in 2003 due to poor performance, services were operated by
South Eastern Trains (SET) - a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). This arrangement continued until
1 April 2006, when
Govia took over the Integrated Kent Franchise for 8 years, operating under the name
Southeastern.
Knole
(Main article
Knole Park)
To the east of the town is Knole Park, a 1000-acre (4 km²) park inhabited by
deer and several million trees. In its centre is
Knole House, the home of the Sackville family (the
Earls of Dorset) since it was given to them by Queen Elizabeth I in 1577. The estate is owned and maintained by the
National Trust, although the
Sackvilles still live there.
In January 1967
The Beatles made promotional films for '
Strawberry Fields Forever' and '
Penny Lane' in Knole Park. In a Sevenoaks antiques shop
John Lennon bought a Victorian circus advertisement which provided the inspiration for '
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!', on the famous
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album released later that year.
Cricket
The
Vine Cricket Ground is one of the oldest
cricket grounds in England, with the first recorded match having been played in 1734. It was given to the town in 1773 by
John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, owner of Knole House at the time. It is notable for being the first place in England to play cricket with three stumps. In 1777 an "all-England" team played
Hambledon at the Ground.
Population
The
2001 Census counts approximately 18,588 residents within the Sevenoaks
civil parish authority, compared to the 1801 town population of 2,600. The Built up area of the Town has o population of about 25,000.
Modern Sevenoaks
Given its proximity to London a large proportion of residents are commuters. However the largest employer in the district is the
Dstl (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory) research facility at
Fort Halstead.
(External Link
) The town centre contains a number of small and medium sized shops, a theatre, and a recently enlarged outdoor shopping centre.
During the
Great Storm of 1987, six of the seven
oak trees around The Vine were blown down. Following this, a further seven small oak trees were planted in a local ceremony involving celebrities from television shows such as
Blue Peter, including locals
Gloria Hunniford and
Caron Keating.
Sadly the trees were located right outside the pub named after the cricket ground, "The Vine" (now a restaurant), and six of the seven saplings were vandalised one night. This left one of the original trees, and one of the new ones.
Sevenoaks District Council decided that a more rugged set of replacements were required, and hence seven further, more mature trees were planted, leaving the Vine with a total of nine trees in a row.
Sevenoaks has a surprisingly low crime rate, and The District Chief Inspector of Sevenoaks District said that'll continue cutting down crime and anti-social behaviour. The Police Office is located in Akehurst Lane and West Kent Magistrates' Court in Morewood Close. However, a police shooting in the High Street in
July 2007, killing an unarmed woman, made national news and shocked the Sevenoaks residents. More reccently, in
December 2007 a man, supposedly with a machine gun, was also shot dead.
In the 21st Century there are a number of
Primary Schools and two single-sex
Secondary Schools. The number of
Preparatory schools is above average for a town of Sevenoaks' size and includes
The New Beacon Preparatory School and
Sevenoaks Prep School.
Greatness
Greatness is an area in the north east of the town. It was owned by
Lord Greatness until the
1920s, when it was given to the
Town Council. It mostly consists of
Council Housing and
Housing Estates. It is generally considered to be the area between and including St Johns Hill and Seal Hollow Road, above Hollybush Park. It is the location of
Greatness Mill,
Greatness Cemetery and
Greatness Park.
Notable natives
Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, colonial governor of Massachusetts.
H. G. Wells, writer.
Mike Conway, 2006 British Formula Three champion.
Andy Titterrell, England rugby union international.
Gloria Hunniford, radio and television personality.
Peter Sissons, newsreader.
John Humphrys, radio broadcaster.
Orbital (band), trance music duo.
Bill Bruford, Drummer for bands such as Yes and King Crimson
Vita Sackville-West, modernist author and member of the Bloomsbury group.
James Sharman, host for The Footy Show on The Score
GoodBooks, indie pop band
Cathy Gilliat-Smith, England and Great Britain field hockey player
Diana, Princess of Wales, went to West Heath School in Sevenoaks
Daniel Day-Lewis, actor, attended Sevenoaks School in his early teens
Tilda Swinton, actress, attended West Heath School in Sevenoaks
Twinnings
Pontoise, France;
Rheinbach, Germany
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sevenoaks England'.
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