A ship is shown on this sign, signifying that Tenterden is one of the Cinque Ports (actually a Limb of Rye). Tenterden lies some 10 miles from the coast now, but was once an important port, primarily for the shipping of wool.

The broad tree-lined High Street offers a selection of shopping facilities, and is dominated by the pinnacled tower of St. Mildred’s Church. A large folk music festival is held each October, and the Kent and East Sussex Steam Railway has a terminus in the town.

The Land of the Cinque Ports
Branch Line to Tenterden (Branch Lines)
Bygone Tenterden (Pictorial History Series)

Tenterden Town web site
Tenterden: Wikipedia entry
Kent & East Sussex Railway
Tenterden Folk Festival

Tenterden, OS Grid Ref: TQ 885 335

Fordcombe is a small village on the River Medway which here forms part of the county boundary between Kent and Sussex. The village church is that of St Peter (hence the keys motif?)

The village used to have a paper mill (Chafford Mill), but it went out of use in 1913 and was demolished in the 1930s. At least two local cottages have been used as prototypes for Lilliput Lane models.

St Peter’s, Fordcombe

Fordcombe, OS Grid Ref: TQ 526 402

A difficult sign to photograph, bounded by high bushes during my visit!

Charles Dickens is thought to have based the opening of “Great Expectations” in the local churchyard here. 13 small graves there, known as “Pip’s Graves” relate to the graves Pip’s brother is visiting when he has his terrifying encounter with the escaped convict Magwitch. Hence the Dickens reference on the sign.

The most notable feature of the village is Cooling Castle, built on the edge of the marshes during the 12th century to defend the neighbouring port of Cliffe from the threat of French raiders.

Cooling: Wikipedia entry
Dickens’ Great Expectations summary

Cooling, OS Grid Ref: TQ 757 759

An all-metal sign, depicting the twin brother Saints of the village church: Cosmus and Damian.

The Blean is an area of ancient woodland around Canterbury, Faversham, Whitstable and Herne Bay. Blean village lies in the heart of this area.

The Blean web site produes an interesting series of newsletters about events and facilities in the area.

The Blean web site
St. Cosmus and St. Damian in the Blean

Blean, OS Grid Ref: TR 122 607

The sign shows the ‘Biddenden Maids’, Mary and Eliza.

According to tradition, these twin sisters were born in 1100, joined at the shoulders and hips. The story describes how Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst lived in this condition for 34 years, until one of them died. The other, refusing seperation (was such surgery possible in the 12th Century?), died shortly afterwards.

The Chulkhurst Estate (some 20 acres) was donated to the church on their death, and the sisters were commemorated by the baking of Biddenden cakes, made in their image and distributed to the poor every Easter Sunday.

Variations of the story can be found here.

Biddenden Village web site

Biddenden, OS Grid Ref: TQ 850 383

This sign seemed in dire need of renovation when I visited, being simply painted onto a wooden background (and no varnish?)

The sign depicts St Lawrence Church,which is one of the oldest in the area. Although little is known of the church’s exact origins, part of the present building dates back to the 10th century, when the church was originally a small rectangular building made of stone quarried out of the hill on which it stands.

Bidborough Parish Council
Bidborough Parish Online
St Lawrence Church

Bidborough, OS Grid Ref: TQ 564 435