Place:Ospringe, Kent, England

Watchers
NameOspringe
Alt namesOspringessource: Domesday Book (1985) p 149
Brogdalesource: settlement in parish
Painters Forstalsource: settlement in parish
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates51.317°N 0.883°E
Located inKent, England
See alsoFaversham Hundred, Kent, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Faversham Rural, Kent, Englandrural district in which it was situated 1894-1935
Swale Rural, Kent, Englandrural district in which it was situated 1935-1974
Swale District, Kent, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Ospringe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Kent. It had a population of 715 in the 2001 UK census, increasing to 771 at the 2011 census. Located south of Faversham, Ospringe forms part of the Borough of Swale. It lies on the Roman road Watling Street (nowadays the A2 road), called Ospringe Street in the village. This part of the village includes the historic Maison Dieu. South of the village is the hamlet of Painters Forstal. Brogdale is another hamlet in the parish. The remains of substantial Roman buildings have been found to its northwest; the ruins of the abandoned Stone Chapel lie nearby.

Ospringe was once separate from the Hundred of Faversham, and had its own constable. In 1935 part of the parish (including Ospringe Street) was absorbed into the Municipal Borough of Faversham.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Ospringe. Includes short sketches of all the manors in the parish and some of their owners between the Norman Conquest and the 19th century.

Ospringe was part of the Faversham Hundred. Between 1894 and 1935 it was part of the Faversham Rural District. In 1935 Faversham Rural District was abolished and parishes were transferred to Swale Rural District. Since 1974 the area is covered by the non-metropolitan Swale District.

Research Tips

  • Kent County Council Archive, Local Studies and Museums Service. James Whatman Way, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1LQ. This incorporates the Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone and the East Kent Archives Centre near Dover.
  • Canterbury Cathedral Archives see the Archives web pages on the Canterbury Catherdral site.
  • For information on the area around the Medway Towns, have a look at Medway Council's CityArk site.
  • Ordnance Survey Maps of England and Wales - Revised: Kent illustrates the parish boundaries of Kent when rural districts were still in existence and before Greater London came into being. The map publication year is 1931. An earlier map of 1900 may also be useful. The maps blow up to show all the parishes and many of the small villages and hamlets. Maps in this series are now downloadable for personal use.
  • Census records for Kent are available on FamilySearch, Ancestry and FindMyPast. The first site is free; the other two are pay sites but have access to microfilmed images. Steve Archer produced a very useful round-up of the available sources, but this information may not be up to date.
  • Registration Districts in Kent for the period 1837 to the present. By drilling down through the links you can follow any parish through the registration districts to which it was attached.
  • England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911 The full database from Kent Archives Office, Maidstone, has been available online from FamilySearch since June 2016.
  • Kent had five family history societies (now only four):
  • Volume 2 of the Victoria County History of Kent (published 1926) is available online through the auspices of British History Online. It includes accounts of the early history of Canterbury and Rochester cathedrals, and of several sites now within the conurbation of London.
  • Volume 3 of the Victoria County History of Kent (published 1932) This includes the text of, and the index to, the Kent Domesday survey. It has been provided by the Kent Archaeological Society.
  • In place of the other volumes of the Victoria County History, British History Online has transcriptions of the numerous volumes of The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent by Edward Hasted (originally published 1797)
  • English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, is particularly helpful in locating parishes in large ancient towns and cities like Canterbury.
  • Kent Probate Records Numerous links provided by Maureen Rawson
  • GENUKI lists other possible sources, however, it does not serve Kent so well as it does some other counties.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Ospringe. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.