West Kingsdown
| West Kingsdown | |
|---|---|
 West Kingsdown Windmill |
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 West Kingsdown
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| West Kingsdown shown within Kent | |
| Population | 6,062 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | TQ575635 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SEVENOAKS |
| Postcode district | TN15 |
| Dialling code | 01474 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
West Kingsdown is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. It is located on the A20, around 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Swanley and around 5.5 miles (9 km) northeast of the town of Sevenoaks.
The parish was part of Axstane Hundred and later Dartford Rural District. The village, because of its situation near London, grew considerably after the First World War from a relatively small farming community to a commuter village of around 5000 residents, expanding mainly on the northeast side of the A20. To the southwest of the main village are the rural housing developments of Knatts Valley and East Hill. To the north of the village lies the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit. There are four churches in the village: the parish church of St Edmund King and Martyr; West Kingsdown Baptist Church; the Roman Catholic church of St Bernadette; and Kings Church, an Evangelical church established in 1996.
Kingsdown, the former name of West Kingsdown village, traces its origins back to Anglo-Saxon settlements in the woods above the Darenth Valley. Farmers carved out pockets of land for arable farming. The Saxons also provided the name – 'the King's own hill pasture'. There is evidence that the parish church, St Edmund King and Martyr, was originally of Saxon construction. It appears that Edward the Confessor owned Kingsdown and the property passed into the ownership of William I following the Norman Conquest in 1066.
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