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| Name | Ashford District |
| Type | District municipality |
| Coordinates | 51.15°N 0.86°E |
| Located in | Kent, England (1974 - ) |
| See also | Tenterden, Kent, England | municipal borough from which it was formed in 1974 | | Ashford, Kent, England | urban district from which it was formed in 1974 | | East Ashford Rural, Kent, England | rural district from which it was formed in 1974 | | West Ashford Rural, Kent, England | rural district from which it was formed in 1974 | | Tenterden Rural, Kent, England | rural district from which it was formed in 1974 |
Type of Government: non-metropolitan district
Population 2011 (rounded): 118,400
- the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia
The Borough of Ashford is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England which takes up the mid-east and a southern portion of the county. Its council is in the town of Ashford.
The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Tenterden with Ashford urban district, and the East Ashford, West Ashford and Tenterden Rural Districts. In geographical size it is the largest district in Kent.
Most of the area of the borough is covered by fields and orchards, with a smaller portion of woodland, particularly on the fringes towards the North Downs and Greensand Ridge.
The Borough is divided into 39 civil parishes centred on villages, but the town of Ashford itself has experienced rapid urban growth leading to new suburbs such as Stanhope and Sevington. The corridor created by the M20 motorway and High Speed 1 and its railway station connecting with the Channel Tunnel has led to agricultural land, particularly where it borders the town, being turned to urban uses. Consequently, the second most populous settlement in the district today is Kennington, which is centred 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Ashford.
From the town centre, roads radiate to Charing and Maidstone (A20/M20), Faversham (A251), Wye and Canterbury (A28), Hythe and Folkestone (A20/M20), Hamstreet, Lydd and Hastings (A2070) and Tenterden (A28).
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):
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- 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.
- The Borough of Ashford has a section of its website devoted to the history of the area.
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