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Coordinates: 51°16'21?N 1°13'02?E? / ?51.2724, 1.2171
Wingham (pronounced /'w???m/) is a civil parish and English Kent village situated along the ancient coastal road, now the A257, from Richborough to London and close to Canterbury. It has existed since the Stone Age but only became established as a village in Roman times. The Domesday book tells us that during Saxon times Wingham manor was in possession by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1286, Archbishop Peckham founded a college in Wingham; many other buildings in Wingham date back to this time, including the Red Lion Inn. St Mary the Virgin, the present church of Wingham, dates from the early 1200s with fabric dating from the Norman to Victorian eras.
Twin cities/towns
Modern Wingham
The East Kent Light Railway was built between 1911 and 1917 to serve the new coal mines which were being opened up in the area. The site of the former Wingham Colliery station forming what is now the Grain Harvester's site. Three stations were opened; Wingham Colliery, Wingham Town (now occupied by garages and a scout hut) and Wingham Canterbury Road [adjacent to the Station Farm Shop].
Wingham Colliery never opened into production and the line failed and completely closed to passengers in 1948 with the section north of Eythorne closed to freight in 1951. Plans and some advanced earthworks had been commenced in the 1920s to extend the line from Wingham Canterbury Road Station to Canterbury via Stodmarsh.
Today Wingham is an attractive village serving some light industry but mostly a dormitory town for Sandwich and Canterbury. There are three pubs, The Anchor, The Dog and The Red Lion.
Frequent bus services run between these two towns and a less frequent service to Aylesham and Plucks Gutter. The nearest National Rail Station is Adisham or Aylesham [Hourly off peak service on Dover-Faversham-London Victoria line]. Taxis can be obtained locally or from Canterbury, Sandwich or Aylesham.
Wingham was also the birthplace of the poet Herbert Kingsford.
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