519:"In the out-of-the-way villages on the borders of Romney marsh, the former home of shepherds and smugglers, the light of civilisation has not long shone, and many rites and superstitions connected with the worship of the oak are still persisted in by the inhabitants. A special sacredness appertains to the vows of lovers exchanged beneath the Bonnington oak, and its leaves, gathered with a certain formula at a certain time of night, are still sought by childless women and made into a medicinal draught, with the same intention as in Druidical days."
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513:, if not before, an old oak tree known as the Law-Day Oak, has played a significant role in the governance of Bonnington parish. In earlier times, the Law-Day Oak provided the setting for Courts held to hear local pleas, and to this day the Bonnington Annual Parish Meeting is held under the branches of this ancient oak.
461:"Bonnington was in a scattered, little-populated village of the South of England. The village stood on what had formerly been common land; running all down the side of a range of hills. But this common land had been long since squatted on, so that it was a maze of little hawthorn hedges surrounding little closes."
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The small parish of
Bonnington in the English county of Kent lies between the town of Ashford to the west (5 miles distant) and the coastal town of Hythe to the east (6 miles distant). To the north, the parish is bordered by the parish of Aldington, to the west, it borders the parish of
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The parish of
Bonnington is home to about 100 people living in around 45 houses. Only a small percentage of the parish's population is under 80 years of age. The population is widely scattered but mainly related, with clusters around the village green and the picturesque Cherry Orchard Lane.
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As in
Aldington, agriculture is the only significant indigenous economic activities, albeit an insignificant source of employment. However, the predominance of agriculture in Bonnington is more noticeable than in Aldington parish because of the absence of any village centre and the absence of any
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A particularly striking feature of
Bonnington's landscape is the low elevation above sea level of much of the land to the north of the Royal Military Canal – on average only 10 ft (3 m) to 100 ft (31 m) above sea level. This very low-lying area once lay directly on the English
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Bilsington and to the south, the parish stretches into the low-lying coastal region of Romney Marsh. The parish covers an area of around 1,200 acres (490 ha), of which about 40% forms part of Romney Marsh.
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The writer Ford Madox Ford lived at
Bloomfield Villa (now Fir Trees Villa) from 1894 for two years. He described some of the local characters in his books and recalled the village in
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infrastructure provided by shops, schools, pubs or post office. As with
Aldington, the majority of Bonnington parishioners work in nearby towns or in London.
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In landscape terms, the parish of
Bonnington has much in common with its neighbour Aldington. Thus, parts of the parish are designated, and protected, as an
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Channel, and the Royal
Military Canal, which separates the low-lying area from the even lower Romney Marsh, marks the English Channel's former shoreline.
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There has never been a village of
Bonnington, and thus the parish has no obvious centre. The description of "scattered" given to Bonnington by
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403:(The Oak) located nearly two miles southeast of the village. The parish church, dedicated to
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Bonnington has under 100 inhabitants and has historic connections with
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The parish council is now linked with the larger village of
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Although
Bonnington is mentioned in the 11th-century
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574:"Towns and Villages Around Ashford | Bonnington"
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1086:Villages in the Borough of Ashford
428:Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
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1091:Civil parishes in Ashford, Kent
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368:on the northern edge of the
364:is a dispersed village and
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25:Human settlement in England
18:Bonnington (disambiguation)
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693:Towns and villages in the
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615:British listed buildings
541:15 November 2010 at the
536:Ashford Borough Council
1062:List of places in Kent
617:retrieved 20 July 2013
511:Elizabeth I of England
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418:Location and landscape
219:Postcode district
466:Industry and commerce
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560:27 July 2007 at the
344:51.08028°N 0.93222°E
197:Sovereign state
16:For other uses, see
601:Return To Yesterday
504:Knights Hospitaller
455:Return to Yesterday
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43:St Rumwold's Church
695:Borough of Ashford
598:Ford, Ford Madox.
285:UK Parliament
231:Dialling code
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831:Chilmington Green
578:www.visitoruk.com
488:Church of England
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147:Shire county
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581:. Retrieved
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376:District of
370:Romney Marsh
366:civil parish
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113:Civil parish
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981:Small Hythe
976:Shadoxhurst
966:St Michaels
906:Leigh Green
881:High Halden
866:Great Chart
637:28 December
545:Census 2001
347: /
1075:Categories
1041:Woodchurch
1036:Wittersham
901:Kingsnorth
896:Kennington
861:Godmersham
771:Bonnington
761:Bockhanger
751:Bilsington
741:Bethersden
523:References
475:Facilities
405:St Rumwold
362:Bonnington
173:South East
120:Bonnington
88:Population
70:Bonnington
31:Bonnington
1016:Warehorne
1011:Tenterden
971:Sevington
951:Rolvenden
936:Orlestone
886:Hothfield
871:Hamstreet
791:Brabourne
746:Biddenden
721:Appledore
711:Aldington
701:, England
412:Aldington
397:smuggling
386:Hamstreet
335:0°55′56″E
332:51°4′49″N
269:Ambulance
212:TONBRIDGE
207:Post town
1021:Westwell
996:Stanhope
961:Ruckinge
941:Pluckley
926:Newenden
856:Godinton
841:Eastwell
836:Crundale
816:Challock
558:Archived
539:Archived
129:District
104:TR057352
986:Smarden
931:Newtown
916:Mersham
851:Egerton
826:Chilham
821:Charing
801:Brattle
766:Bodsham
756:Bilting
731:Ashford
494:History
392:road).
382:Ashford
374:Ashford
316:England
293:Ashford
189:England
183:Country
137:Ashford
991:Smeeth
921:Molash
736:Bagham
658:Church
445:People
245:Police
165:Region
846:Ebony
811:Brook
390:Hythe
235:01233
699:Kent
639:2016
585:2021
483:, a
378:Kent
321:Kent
262:Kent
257:Fire
250:Kent
224:TN25
155:Kent
78:Kent
1051:Wye
388:to
372:in
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311:UK
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