THE PEOPLE OF CHIDDINGSTONE
The population of Chiddingstone Parish has remained remarkably stable for centuries when compared to nearby parishes, and particularly so in comparison with growing urban centres such as Sevenoaks and Tonbridge. It is a pocket of extraordinary ruralism in a surburban sprall.
It is not just the size of the population but also the names of the families that have changed little, another key indicator of a rural community. These families, long in contact with each other, have intermarried extensively. These interfamily relationships are explored in the family trees presented in the Family Index section, but the net result is that almost everyone is related to everyone else if you look back in history.
Some of the great yeoman families are prominent enough to deserve a section to themselves, as shown in the blue box on the right.
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