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Welcome to the Brook Parish Council Website

Location and Landscape

The parish of Brook is tucked away at the foot of the North Downs, close by to Wye, just 4½ miles north east of Ashford and 13 miles from Canterbury. The village consists of a single street, 'The Street', running through its centre. There are two lanes off The Street, Nats Lane to the left and Troy Town Lane further along on the right. In all there are 133 houses and a population of approximately 312. It is a small parish of 588 acres – the village proper, with 488 acres, and a detached enclave a few hundred yards away to the east, with 100 acres.

 

"Time travellers from five centuries back would probably have no difficulty in recognising their native village and its surroundings. "Looking down from Spelders Hill they would still see the road running through the village with the Norman church and its massive tower standing four square on the right of the street, with Brook Wood, ancient even then, nearby, with, on the other side of the street, open fields stretching out to the River Stour two miles away to the west. "Facing our travellers across the valley would be the escarpment of the Downs cleft by the 'Devil's Kneading Trough' above the village, three miles from the point where they are pierced by the valley of the River Stour near the neighbouring village of Wye".

Extracted from 'A History of Brook' by Dr Ian Michie

 Dr Michie's description in his book, commissioned to celebrate the church's 900th anniversary in 1997, paints an evocative picture of Brook and its roots. Copies of 'A History of Brook' are available from Dr Michie at £4.95 ea (including post and packing) – 01233 812562. 

Farming Origins and Settlement

Farming has carried on in the area around Wye since Neolithic times. Traces of settlement and of cultivated land can be found on the Downs above Brook, near the Devil's Kneading Trough, dating from the Bronze Age and Celtic times. In early medieval times, farmers settled at the foot of the Downs in the heavy clay land of the aptly named village of Brook. Much of the woodland was cleared and open field cultivation began.At the time of Domesday, Brook was a small estate of about 250 acres of arable land comprising the demesne farm of 100 acres and three smaller farms let out to villeins. There were some 7 acres of meadow, a church, a mill and a small wood.