Westerham in 1836
Westerham is in the hundred of Westerham, in the lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, 21 miles from London, through Bromley. It is near the source of the Darent, and in the valley of Holmesdale, between the chalk and the ragstone hills. The parish has an area of 5740 acres, and the population in 1831 was 1985, about two fifths agricultural. The town is on a declivity; the principal street runs east and west on the road which runs from Maidstone along the valley of Holmesdale into Surrey. The church is a neat and tolerably spacious building, chiefly in the perpendicular style: it contains a neat cenotaph to the memory of General Wolfe. There are one or two dissenting places of worship. The market is on Wednesday, and there is a yearly cattle-fair.
The living is a vicarage united with the parochial chapelry of Edenbridge; they are in the diocese and archdeaconry of Rochester; their joint annual value is £608, with a glebe-house. There were in 1833 a national school with 46 girls, and five other day-schools with 144 children; two boarding-schools with 45 children; and two Sunday-schools with 96 children.
General Wolfe and Bishop Hoadley were natives of Westerham.
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