Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley

I was elected to Kent County Council for Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley in May 2017; from 2005 to 2017 I represented the Darent Valley Division. Boundary changes meant that I ceased to represent the Christchurch and High Firs areas of Swanley, as well as Badgers Mount; however, the new Division adds the parishes of Otford, Kemsing and Seal. It is a beautiful area to represent, with much of it within the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. If you're not sure whether or not you live in the Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley Division, you can check through this link.

These are the communities that I represent:


Crockenhill

Crockenhill has a recorded history going back to 1388, with its name indicating that it was a centre of tile-making. Later it had a strong record in market gardening. With attractive open spaces and a thriving village school that celebrated its centenary in 2007, Crockenhill has succesfully seen off attempts at inappropriate and undesirable development.

Eynsford

Eynsford is at the heart of the Darent Valley, a picturesque village with its Norman castle, humpbacked bridge and ford over the River Darent. The village has many famous associations, including the artist Graham Sutherland, the composers E.J. Moeran and Peter Warlock and the aviation pioneer Percy Pilcher. Within the parish of Eynsford there are also the Lullingstone Roman villa and Lullingstone Castle. My children attended the Anthony Roper Primary School in the village.

Farningham

Just to the north of Eynsford, Farningham is another picturesque village on the Darent. Until the building of the A20 and M20, Farningham was on the major route from London to the Coast. The current Farningham Mill dates back to the eighteenth century, but there has been a Mill there since at least the time of the Domesday Book. Another distinctive landmark is the Ancient Cattle Screen next to the bridge over the Darent, which in its current form dates back to the eighteenth century.

Horton Kirby and South Darenth 

These two communities, which come under one parish council, have plentiful evidence of Roman and Saxon settlement. Horton Kirby is served by the medieval church of St. Mary's, where my mother-in-law, Fran Papantoniou, served as Rector from 2004 to 2012. South Darenth, previously a hamlet, developed as a result of the Victorian Paper Mill, now converted into housing. The parish also includes the older people's community of Southdowns. 

Kemsing

The village is centred on St Edith's well, commemorating the 10th century Saxon princess born in the village, the church (of Saxon origin) of St Mary the Virigin and Godfrey Pinkerton's 1911 St Edith's Hall. The parish includes the hamlets of Heaverham and Noah's Ark; the seventeenth century house and estate of St Clere (home to two Governors of the Bank of England, Sir Mark Wilks Collet and Montagu Norman); and the chalk grassland of Kemsing Down reserve.

Otford 

Otford has a long and remarkable history; the site of two battles (in 785 and 1016) and of the ruined Archbishop's Palace, once one of the greatest buildings in England and where Henry VIII stayed en route to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The village centres on The Green, with the palace ruins nearby, the listed duck pond and the church of St. Bartholomew. On the High Street, Otford's history is commemorated in the Millennium Mosaic on the side of the church hall, designed by Edward Lutyens.  

Seal

The village of Seal sits on the A25, the closest part of the Division to Sevenoaks Town (parts of the Wildernesse estate are in the parish, as is the golf course created on the park of Wildernesse House). The village settlement and church predate the Domesday Book, though the current church building of St Peter and St Paul dates from 1300, with its tower added in 1529. The parish stretches well to the south and is deeply rural, taking in Seal Chart, Underriver, Stone Street, Godden Green and Bitchet Green.

Shoreham

Sitting on the Darent in the south of the Division, Shoreham's landmarks include the white memorial cross in the hillside opposite the village church, created in 1920 to commemorate villagers who died in the Great War. In World War Two, Shoreham was cited in a BBC broadcast as the most bombed village in the country. Samuel Palmer's paintings were influenced by the Darent Valley landscape when he lived in the village in the 1820s and 1830s; other famous associations include the writers Lord Dunsany and Anthony Powell, the African explorer Verney Lovett Cameron and the geologist Joseph Prestwich. We live in the rural edge of the parish. 

Swanley Village

Known simply as Swanley before the growth of the town in the Victorian era, Swanley Village is largely a conservation area, reflecting its attractive and historic qualities. Its popular school recently celebrated its 150th anniversary.

Well Hill

Well Hill is in Shoreham Parish but is a distinctive community, high on the North Downs (with stunning views both to London and to the Darent Valley) and close to the London boundary. It is served by the Victorian Well Hill Mission Church.