Launched 09/04/2011
Latest update
Elham beat off stiff competition for the title of Kent Village of the year 2011 organised by Action with Communities in Rural Kent.
Censuses for outlying communities in the parish will be rolled out gradually. Check out the stats page for interesting facts and
trivia about the village. We still need your help so please send us any information relating to Elham that may be of interest.
Elham resident Les Ames in action for England against the West Indies in 1939. He was one of the finer wicketkeeper - batsmen and played for Kent CCC.
The Abbot's Fireside is one of the older buildings in the village and probably dates back to the mid fifteenth century.
Audrey Hepburn (neé Rushton) lived in Orchard Cottage (Five Bells) for five years in her childhood (1935-1940) and attended the local village schools. She took ballet lessons and dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina. I wonder what became of her?
Dave Lee opens Elham's brand new playground with a sensory garden and a pretty flower meadow created by the Play for Elham charity. 21st November 2010
The machine breaking that led to the riots of August 1830 onwards started in the Elham Parish, writes our historian Derek Boughton, who has made a lifetime's study of the subject.
Elham residents were prominent in the gangs that sought out the new fangled threshing machines and destroyed them. Some of them cost the not inconsiderable sum for the day of £100. Full Story
The first bus service started to run from Folkestone Harbour to Canterbury. The service was started by Sergeant Brothers with open-top charabancs with solid rubber tyres. They ran for a few years, then the East Kent Road Car Company took over and bought them out. "They never minded how many stood in the gangway as long as you could get on. Sometimes, when it was fully loaded, they had a job getting up Grace Hill in Folkestone. When it rained the driver had to stop and pull a canvas hood over. I think when the buses started, the railways began losing passengers, because going by bus you could go right into the towns, whereas you had quite a walk from Canterbury South or Folkestone Central Stations." Memoires of Bill Watson
The first bus service started to run from Folkestone Harbour to Canterbury. The service was started by Sergeant Brothers with open-top charabancs with solid rubber tyres. They ran for a few years, then the East Kent Road Car Company took over and bought them out.
"They never minded how many stood in the gangway as long as you could get on. Sometimes, when it was fully loaded, they had a job getting up Grace Hill in Folkestone. When it rained the driver had to stop and pull a canvas hood over. I think when the buses started, the railways began losing passengers, because going by bus you could go right into the towns, whereas you had quite a walk from Canterbury South or Folkestone Central Stations."
ELHAM. TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION, By Mr GEORGE FINNIS, at the THREE TUNS INN, in ELHAM, on ..24th May 1824, all that FREEHOLD MESSUAGE or TENEMENT, (In two dwellings,) with the large brick building formerly used as a Wine Vault, but now converted into stables; fifty perches .. of garden ground .. situate in Middle-Row, in Elham, and now in the occupation of James Rootes and Henry Crouch, as yearly tenants. K.G., 21 May 1824, 1c K.G., 15 June 1824, 4a
Elham resident Derek Ufton won 39 games out of 111 in his three year stay. When Malcolm Allison left Home Park for Manchester City in 1965, Derek was appointed manager and immediately embarked on a policy of transforming the team. One of his policies was to sell off the players who would command the highest transfer fees and replace them with cheaper equivalents. This paid off financially as the club made a net profit of nearly £50,000, but it made little difference to Argyle's fortunes on the pitch. Derek was well-liked by the Argyle faithful, but in his first two seasons at the helm the Pilgrims failed to progress, finishing in the bottom half of the Second Division. Early in 1967-1968 things became even worse. By February 1968, relegation seemed certain: Argyle were out of both Cup competitions and had won just three games in 25. Derek was sacked, and never managed a football team again. Greens on Screen