Chattenden

For the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, see RFA Chattenden.

Chattenden
View of Chattenden from the A228
Chattenden Location within Kent
OS grid reference	TQ758722
Civil parish	Hoo St Werburgh
Unitary authority	Medway
Ceremonial county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ROCHESTER
Postcode district	ME3
Dialling code	01634
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Rochester and Strood

Chattenden is a village within the civil parish of Hoo, which is within the unitary authority of Medway, Kent, England. It was, until 1998,^[1] part of Kent and is still ceremonially associated via the Lieutenancies Act.^[2] The A228 goes through the village.

Etymology

The first datable attestation of the name Chattenden is in 1281, as Chattindone, alongside other early spellings such as Chetindunam, Chatendune, and Chetyndone. Scholars agree that the final syllable comes from the Old English word dūn ("hill"), but the origin of the rest of the name is debated. A personal name, *Ceatta, followed by the Old English place-name-forming suffix -ing, has been suggested, in which case the name meant "hill at Ceatta's place". Since the people of nearby Chatham were known as the Cēthǣmas, *Cēthǣmadūn ("the hill of the people of Chatham") is possible.^[3] But twenty-first-century scholars have tended to prefer to guess that the first element of the word (as in Chatham itself) is the Common Brittonic word whose modern Welsh reflex is coed ("woodland"), referring to Great Chattenden Wood, followed by Old English ing. This wood-name may also be attested in the names of Upchat Road and Lochat Road. If so, the Old English name meant "hill at [the place called] Chat".^{[4][5]: 316 [6]}

Geography and ecology

Turning left on the A228 on the brow of Four Elms Hill, leads onto Kitchener Road, that eventually leads itself to Chattenden Woods and Lodge Hill, designated as an SSSI, due to the diversity of insects, birds, plants and trees found there. To the south of Chattenden is Towerhill Wood, also known as Coxham Wood, with has Public Footpaths that lead into Lower Upnor, where the Arethusa Venture Centre and the Medway Yacht Club (MYC) are located. Along the A228, (which becomes the Ratcliffe Highway in Chattenden), was once a pub known as 'The Old George'.

Military history

In 1875, the War Office built five magazines on a hillside at Chattenden. This facility expanded and a nearby site at Lodge Hill was established in 1899. These sites, which became known as Chattenden and Lodge Hill Military Camps, were put up for sale in 2016.^[7]

See also

• Chattenden and Upnor Railway

Notes

References

1. "Medway Council – Local history: Medway in the 20th century 1901 – 2000". 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
2. "Lieutenancies Act 1997". legislation.gov.uk. 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
3. Watts, Victor, ed. (2004). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521168557., s.v. Chattenden.
4. The Place Names Of Kent, Judith Glover, 1976, Batsford. ISBN 0-905270-61-4
5. Coates, Richard; Breeze, Andrew (2000). Celtic Voices, English Places: Studies of the Celtic Impact on Place-Names in Britain. Stamford: Tyas. ISBN 1900289415..
6. Stoodley, Nick; Cosh, Stephen R. (2021). The Romano-British villa and Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Eccles, Kent: a summary of the excavations by Alex Detsicas with a consideration of the archaeological, historical and linguistic content. Oxford (GB): Archaeopress Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78969-587-8., p. 209.
7. "MoD to sell Lodge Hill near Chattenden". Kent Business. Retrieved 3 September 2016.

Sources

• Heritage, English; Saunders, A. D. (1 January 1985). Upnor Castle: Kent. English Heritage. ISBN 978-1-85074-039-1.

External links

• Hoo St Werburgh Parish Council