•  Cobham, Kent

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Cobham like this:

COBHAM, a village and a parish in North Aylesford district, Kent. The village stands on Watling-street, 1¼ mile NE of Sole-street r. station, and 4 SSE of Gravesend; has a post office under Gravesend; was the scene of Pickwick's ludicrous antiquarian discovery; possesses still the "clean and commodious ale-house, " to which Mr. ...

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Tupman retired from the world; is much frequented by visitors from London; was once a market-town, and still has a fair on 2 Aug. The parish comprises 3, 096 acres. Real property, £5, 839. Pop., 864. Houses, 170. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged, from early times, to the great family of De cobham; passed by marriage, toward the end of the 14^th century, to Sir John Oldcastle, who assumed the title of Lord Cobham in right of his wife; passed again by marriage, soon afterwards, to the Brookes, who also bore the title of Lords Cobham; went, by attainder, in the first year of James I., to the Crown; was granted to the Stewarts, Earls of Lennox; and descended, in the early part of last century, to John Bligh, Esq., who was created Earl of Darnley. Cobham Hall, the Earl of Darnley's seat, consists of a centre and two wings; is partly a Tudor brick structure of 1582-94, and partly a renovation and addition by Inigo Jones; gave entertainment to Elizabeth and Charles I.; and contains a very rich collection of pictures, and a large antique bath of r ed oriental granite. The yard contains-chariot, alleged to have been that in which Elizabeth travelled, but really not older than the time of William III. The park is 7 miles in circuit; has much diversity of hill and dale; contains a heronry and a large stock of deer; and includes an elevation, called William's hill, commanding a fine view, and crowned by a mausoleum, built in 1783, at a cost of £9, 000, but never used. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £391. Patron, the Earl of Darnley. The church is partly early English, partly late decorated; and contains a remarkable assemblage of brasses and other monuments. A chantry for seven priests was founded, contiguous to the churchyard, in 1387, by Sir John de Cobham; and some fragments of it still exist. An alms-house, called a college, was founded, on the site of the chantry, in 1598, by the executors of Sir William Brooke, Lord Cobham; forms a quadrangle, containing twenty lodging-rooms and a chapel; and has an endowed income of £220.

Cobham through time

Cobham is now part of Gravesham district. Click here for graphs and data of how Gravesham has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Cobham itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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