The parish of
Boughton, or Boughton under Blean to give it its proper name, is about 3 miles east of Faversham, next to Blean Woods.
Boughton has a very long village street, with scores of old buildings, which was on the Pilgrims' route to Canterbury. This is a designated conservation area.
The other main settlements in the parish are at Hickmans Green and Horselees (both partly in Dunkirk parish), Oversland, and South Street (with North Lane).
Church of St Peter & St Paul
The Street, Boughton
Boughton
Oversland,
former Methodist Chapel |
Shops and Services
For a list of shops and services available in Boughton please click here.
Boughton Community
- Blean Woods area ideal for a peaceful walk amongst the trees and wildflowers.
- Boughton and Dunkirk Community Magazine keeps you in touch with all the latest news and events in Boughton and Dunkirk.There are 10 issues of the magazine each year at a cost of 60 pence per issue. (£6 per year plus p&p). We are also able to send issues on line using the PDF format. We accept business advertisements, subject to space being available. The magazine circulation is approximately 500 per month and current advertisers report a good response.
If you would like to keep in touch and become a regular subscriber, or advertise your business, please contact:
Sue Owen
1 Thread Lane
Dunkirk Kent ME13 9LD
01227 750203 
sue.owen@tiscali.co.uk - Boughton Golf Club welcomes all standards of golfer. 01227 752277
- Church of St Peter & St Paul
- Church of St Barnabas 01227 751410 available for hire 01227 750054 Barbara King
- Farming World - an unbeatable day out for all the family
- Library at Boughton Village Hall
Tuesday 10am -1pm and 2pm - 5pm
Friday 2pm - 6pm.
01227 751860 - Mobile Library
- Mount Ephraim - gardens open to the public
- Parish Clerk
Mr T A D Covell-Roberts
16 Field End Place
Boughton-under-Blean
Faversham
Kent ME13 9TB
01227 750422 - Primary School
Boughton-under-Blean and Dunkirk Primary School
01227 751431
Directgov information
www.bad.kent.sch.uk - Shops and Services
- Travel Search - bus services, timetables etc serving Boughton
- Village Hall - available for hire
History
Boughton (originally 'Bocton') means 'land held by book, or charter', so not surprisingly the place-name is a common one. There are 13 Boughtons in England, and 4 in Kent alone. So Boughton-under-Blean is so-called to distinguish it from its three Kentish namesakes - Boughton Aluph (near Ashford), Boughton Malherbe (near Lenham), and Boughton Monchelsea (near Maidstone). The Blean is the ancient forest which overlooks the parish on the east.
It is pronounced 'bought-on', unlike at least one of its namesakes, in Northamptonshire, which is pronounced 'bough-ton'.
As is common in Kent the parish's main street takes its name from the parish, so is known as Boughton Street. It forms part of the old Roman road ('Watling Street') from London to Canterbury and Dover, in the 20th century known as the A2. Through motor traffic has now been diverted to a new dual carriageway south of the Street.
"What a street!", said Arthur Mee in book Kent in his King's England series. "It lies between grassy banks, with trees and old cottages everywhere". Indeed it boasts scores of historic buildings, and is a conservation area. It's not hard to visualise the scene when tens of thousands of pilgrims passed this way on their way to Becket's shrine at Canterbury.
The other main settlements in the parish are at Hickmans Green and Horselees (both partly in Dunkirk parish), Oversland, and South Street (with North Lane). At South Street, another designated conservation area, are some very fine medieval timber-framed buildings. There are over 100 listed buildings in the parish as a whole
In a lovely setting overlooking fine countryside, the village's fine medieval church of St Peter and St Paul lies about a mile south of Boughton Street. Its greatest treasure is the fine monument, by Ephanius Evesham, to Sir Thomas Hawkins, who died in 1612. As well as featuring Sir Thomas himself, this also includes sculptures of his six sons, three of whom have entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. One was a Jesuit priest who (cheekily in the Protestant era, when his presence in England was illegal) is depicted raising his hand in blessing.
Further Information
For more information about Boughton and the area, please refer to the relative Faversham Paper.