Yalding | |
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Georgian buildings on the High Street |
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Yalding shown within Kent | |
Population | 2,236 (2001) 2,418 (2011 Census) |
OS grid reference | TQ6949 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Maidstone |
Postcode district | ME18 |
Dialling code | 01622 |
Police | Kent |
Fire | Kent |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
EU Parliament | South East England |
UK Parliament | |
Yalding is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The village is situated 6 miles (9.7 km) south west of Maidstone at a point where the Rivers Teise and Beult join the River Medway. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Benover and Laddingford, had a population of 2,236. increasing to 2,418 at the 2011 Census.
There are three bridges in the village; the Twyford Bridge (meaning twin ford, where there was originally a double crossing of the two rivers) is one of the finest medieval bridges in the south-east of England. Yalding was one of the principal shipment points on the River Medway for cannon, from villages of the Wealden iron industry. One iron master was John Browne from Horsmonden.
The wharf was later used for transporting fruit from the many orchards in the area.
The Saxon village was called Twyford and was close to the bridge. But the name was recorded in the Domesday Book as the Saxon manor of Hallinges owned by Aldret, though it was known as Ge-aeldinge (the old village). By 1642 this had mutated to Yaldinge.
The medieval records from Yalding are so complete that it was used in a History Case Study for Secondary Schools, called the The Yalding Project.
During the English Civil War in 1643, a battle took place at Town Bridge between the Roundheads and Cavaliers. The Cavaliers had advanced from Aylesford towards Tonbridge, but the Parliamentarian soldiers had marched to block their movements, bombarded them and forced their surrender, with the result that 300 were captured and 300 escaped.