Appledore | |
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Appledore shown within Kent | |
Area | 12.46 km2 (4.81 sq mi) |
Population | 749 (Civil Parish 2011) |
• Density | 60/km2 (160/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | TQ956295 |
Civil parish |
|
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | ASHFORD |
Postcode district | TN26 |
Dialling code | 01233 |
Police | Kent |
Fire | Kent |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
EU Parliament | South East England |
UK Parliament | |
Appledore is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village centre is on the northern edge of the Romney Marsh, 12 miles (19 km) south-west of Ashford town. The northerly part of this village is Appledore Heath.
The name Appledore comes from the Old English apuldre (meaning apple tree) and is first recorded in the 10th century. Although a Brythonic origin is more likely (given the widespread survival of Brythonic names in Kent) e.g. from or connected with "dwr/dor" meaning water.
Appledore was once a port on the estuary of the River Rother. Famously, the greater part of the Danish army (280 ships - 5000 men) wintered at Appledore in 892-893, before moving into Wessex and suffering defeat at the hands of the Saxons led by King Alfred's son Edward the Elder at Farnham in Surrey. The defeated Danes fell back to Benfleet in Essex where they were again defeated in battle. The importance of Appledore as a port diminished suddenly in the 13th-century when great storms caused the river Rother to change its course; the village street now leads down to the Royal Military Canal. A French raid in 1380 resulted in the burning of the church: it was later rebuilt. The village was permitted to hold a market in the main street by Edward II. In 1804, when there was threat of invasion by Napoleon the Royal Military Canal was built: Appledore stands on its northern bank. The Rhee Wall, a 13th-century waterway, was built to carry silt away from the eastern part of the Romney Marsh; it runs from Appledore to New Romney.