Wye is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wye with Hinxhill, in the Ashford district, in Kent, England, from Ashford and from Canterbury. It is the main settlement in the parish of Wye with Hinxhill. Hop varieties including Wye Challenger were bred at Wye College and named for the village.
In 2013, Sunday Times readers voted Wye the third best place to live in the UK.
History
The village's name comes from the Old English "Wēoh" meaning idol or shrine. Wye may have been used for worship by the pre-Christian Angles.
right|thumb|Bridge Street, 2009
Wye became an important communications centre because of a ford across the River Great Stour connecting with ancient trackways across the North Downs. Romans constructed a road between Canterbury and Hastings using the gap through the North Downs and there have been suggestions the straight Olantigh Road may have been built by them as a separate route from Wye to Canterbury on the east of the River Stour. Remains of an ironworks at the west bank of the river, from that period, have been found. By medieval times, Wye had a market and hosted the local hundred court.
RAF Wye
thumb|right|Church Street, 2008
During World War I the Royal Flying Corps established an unpaved aerodrome off Bramble Lane near Wye Railway Station. It became RAF Wye in 1918 but closed the following year. , it is farmland.
thumb|right|The Great Stour, 2009
Wye Racecourse
Wye Racecourse's inaugural 1849 meeting was held in Fanscombe Valley, an isolated coombe and natural amphitheatre directly north of Wye Crown, and as the crow flies from Wye village. Flat racing took place annually on Oak Leaf Day, 29 May coinciding with Wye Fair.
Wye Court
As early as the 6th century, Wye was a royal vill, and the royal court would have resided in the vicinity of Wye Court for part of the year. In the 13th century it was a Royal Manor whose Liberty extended as far as Hawkhurst. The Palace complex by then was at Wye Court.
The Manor House at Wye Court was a large building, with a circular dungeon that was extant as late as the 19th century and known locally as the Lollard's Hole.
A 1648 Civil War skirmish involving Rich's men and cavaliers took place at the entrance to Wye Court on Olantigh Road.
By 1732, Wye Court, along with other land near Wye at Harville, Coldharbour, Wye Downs and Naccolt had fallen into the ownership of miser, John "Vulture" Hopkins. Once his affairs had been unravelled the properties were inherited by Benjamin Bond Hopkins (1745–1794). He sold them to John Sawbridge of Olantigh whose son owned Wye Court by 1798. In 1917, Wye Church agreed to purchase a parcel of Wye Court, to extend its graveyard, from Wanley Elias Sawbridge Erle-Drax, a descendant of John Sawbridge. The Long family purchased their present Wye Court farm and former racecourse on Harville Road in 1925.
Entomologist Frederick Theobald lived at Wye Court until he died in 1930. He had moved to Wye to teach at the South Eastern Agricultural College when it opened in 1894. Apart from his work at the college he spent much of his time curating economic zoology and mosquito collections at the British Museum, and ceased lecturing from 1920 in favour of agricultural extension. Theobald's research on mosquitos and tropical sanitation earned him international recognition including the Order of Osmanieh and Mary Kingsley Medal.
Imperial College scheme
right|thumb|Bridge Street, 2009
In 2005, Imperial College promoted a controversial scheme to develop Wye College as a centre for renewable fuel research / production, and to build 4,000 house in the Kent Downs.The plan was seen as a test case for other attempts to build on Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In 2006, Ashford Borough Council withdrew support, and Imperial College abandoned its plans. Campaigners hailed the decision to preserve the status of protected areas, and Wye village.
Landscape
Wye stands in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the Great Stour at the point where it cuts through the North Downs between Ashford and Canterbury. The village is overlooked by the Wye Downs, an area of chalk downland and woodland within the Wye and Crundale Downs SSSI that includes the Devil's Kneading Trough and other coombes formed by periglacial action.
Culture and community
thumb|Wye Crown
Wye Farmers Market
A farmers' market, founded by former Wye College student and environmentalist Richard Boden, is held by The Green in Wye on the first and third Saturday of every month. There are typically 15 vendors. During COVID-19 restrictions the market operated a virtual shop.
Wye Village Hall
right|thumb|The Green, 2007
Wye Village Hall on Bridge Street was extensively refurbished between 2014 and 2019. There are three function rooms of which the largest can accommodate 180 people.
Wye Library
Wye Library is at the top of Bridge Street.
Wye Church
right|thumb|Wye Church, 2002
The present Anglican Church of Saint Gregory and Saint Martin at the junction of High Street, Church Street and Churchfield Way is grade I listed. Its original dedication was solely to Pope Gregory the Great. Saint Martin was added , possibly to recognise the role of Battle Abbey which was itself dedicated to Saint Martin and owned the Manor of Wye, and to be consistent with Wye College.
A church on the present site was first constructed in 1290, and considerably more extensive than the present building. There was a longer nave and much larger chancel. The Steeple had a tall wooden spire clad with lead. Of this church, only the outer nave walls, built of whole flints, survive. The original door and window openings have all been replaced.
In 1572, the steeple was struck by lightning and burned, melting the lead cladding of the spire. Extensive repairs were finally paid for by 1579, but the structure was reported to be in much ruin and decay again by 1581. That may have been caused by the 1580 Dover Straits earthquake. In any event, further repairs to the steeple were carried out in 1582 and 1584.
Saint Ambrose Catholic Church
right|thumb|New Flying Horse, 2007
Saint Ambrose Catholic Church, off Oxenturn Road, is a chapel of ease built in 1954 for the Parish of Saint Teresa of Avila, Ashford. Mass was celebrated in Wye for the first time since the reformation during World War II, when Wye College's dining hall was made available to Catholic servicemen and local residents. Subsequently, and before the present building was constructed, a former stable at the Old Vicarage on Bridge Street was used as a chapel.
The pews are from E. W. Pugin's original, demolished church of St Teresa in Ashford. Two possibly 18th century benches came from the chapel at Calehill House, Little Chart, itself demolished in 1952.
Sport
Wye Cricket Club plays at Horton Meadow off Cherry Garden Lane. In 2014, it received a £2,000 grant from the Wye Children's Playing Field Charity
Wye Tennis Club's five courts, and a Multi-Use Games Area are located at the Wye Village Hall recreation ground on Bridge Street. The club began in 1971 with two locally constructed courts and use of a football club's changing room. A 1980 Portacabin was replaced in 2008 with the present purpose built clubhouse, and by 2012, there were five floodlit courts.
Wye Juniors FC plays football from the former Wye College recreation ground off Cherry Garden Lane. A fire destroyed its pavilion in 2022. The pavilion ws rebuilt during 2024 and a football tournament was held at the ground in June 2025
Lady Joanna Thornhill School
thumb|right|Lady Joanna Thornhill School
Lady Joanna Thornhill Primary School, on Bridge Street, is named after the daughter (1635–1708) of Sir Bevil Grenville, second wife of Richard Thornhill of Olantigh, and Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Catherine of Braganza. Thornhill's will funded a charity school for Wye in 1708. She is buried at Wye Church.
Nevertheless, the situation was poor. In spite of the trust's "munificent" annual endowment income of £200, an inspector passed the facilities "but with the greatest reluctance". He observed the Old Hall used as boys' schoolroom "though a fine old room, is ill-adapted for a school and requires constant repair", and bemoaned that "as long as they are allowed to use this old room, the inhabitants of Wye will not lift a finger towards the
erection of new schools". His conclusion was that Wye "has about the worst schools in the neighbourhood".
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Headmasters of Lady Joanna Thornhill School
|Edward Vincer
Spring Grove School
Spring Grove School on Harville Road is an independent, fee paying nursery and preparatory school for boys and girls aged 2–11. Its site includes a forest school.
The 10-bedroom 17th century mansion was formerly home of author Joseph Conrad, politician Baroness Trumpington, and clergyman Thomas Brett.
Landmarks
Wye Bridge
right|thumb|Wye Bridge, 2014
The present grade II* listed bridge over the River Stour was built in 1638 to replace a wooden structure; repaired in 1684, and altered in 1881. It has five stone arches over the river, and secondary ones between the river and railway line. The stone parapet was removed in 1881 when an iron roadway was constructed to reinforce the original stone structure. A stone memorial plaque recording the 1683 construction and 1684 repairs is preserved in the Church of Saint Gregory and Saint Martin.
Wye Mill
thumb|right|Wye Mill, 1982
The 18th century brick built mill house; timber framed mill building, and mill race are grade II listed. It was originally a water mill for grinding corn. T Denne and Sons operated the premises from 1930 for the production of animal feed, and then as an agricultural merchant's depot through to . , it is a guest house.
Wye Crown
right|thumb|Wye Mill, c1910
To the east of the village, Wye Crown is a hill figure cut into the North Downs chalk, by Wye College students in 1902, to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII. It is part of the Wye and Crundale Downs Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Olantigh
Olantigh has been home to the Kempe, Thornhill, Sawbridge, Sawbridge-Erle-Drax and Loudon families.
Withersdane Hall
right|thumb|Withersdane Hall, 1983
In 2019, Imperial College sold the former Wye College Withersdane Hall to private, for profit, Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano who intend to accommodate approximately 250, mainly Italian and French, students there.
Other listed buildings
, there are 139 separately designated listed buildings in Wye with Hinxhill Parish, including:
{| class="wikitable"
!
!
! Listing
!
!
|-
| Old Swan House
| 134, Bridge Street
| II*
| 15th
|
|-
| Old Flying Horse
| 1, The Green
| II*
| 14th
|
|-
| Old Manor House
| 36, Church Street
| II*
| 16th
|
|-
| Yew Trees
| Scotton Street
| II*
| 17th
|
|-
|}
Transport
Railway
right|thumb|Wye railway station, 2009
Until 2022, the level crossing gates at Wye railway station had been manually operated. Road closures of typically 10–12 minutes, and sometimes up to 15 minutes, for trains to pass had been reported. One resident produced a telephone app to advise residents when the barrier was closed, and help them choose when to travel.
Walking
right|thumb|Kent [[long-distance footpaths in the United Kingdom|long-distance footpaths]]
Wye is on the southern route of the North Downs Way where it crosses the Stour Valley Walk and follows the path of the Pilgrims Way.
Cantii Way
The Cantii Way is a , circular cycling route that uses cycle paths, bridleways and quiet roads. It begins and ends in Wye where it links with National Cycle Route 18. Cycling UK inaugurated the Cantii Way in 2022, partly to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
The route also passes through Canterbury, Whitstable, Dungeness, Hythe, Tenterden, Folkestone and Dover – the former land of the Cantii for whom it is named.
People
In popular culture
right|thumb|Bridge Street, 2009
Riddley Walker
Author Russell Hoban repurposes Wye as "How" in his 1980, post apocalyptic novel Riddley Walker. Withersdane becomes "Widders Dump"; The Devil's Kneading Trough, "Mr Clevvers Roaling Place", and Pet Street, "Pig Sweet".
The Perfect Village
In 2006, Wye featured in the BBC Television show The Perfect Village.
The Darling Buds of May
In the 1992 Darling Buds of May episode Stranger at the Gates, Pop Larkin's visit to the Kent County Council's offices is filmed outside the former Imperial College at Wye buildings.
Cape Wrath
2007 television drama Cape Wrath includes scenes filmed at Wye College. The Old Lecture Theatre's steeply tiered oak benches masquerade as a London academic institution.
Gadget Man
Richard Ayoade and Phill Jupitus look out over the Weald to Romney Marsh during Channel 4's 2014 series of Gadget Man. The episode was filmed at the Devil's Kneading Trough in Wye's National Nature Reserve, as they test powered leg exoskeletons.
Female war artists
World War II British official war artists Evelyn Dunbar and Ethel Gabain also produced landscapes of the scenery around Wye.
Centennial
1978 American miniseries Centennial, and the 1974 book it is based upon, reference a fictional British aristocratic investor, Lord Venneford of Wye.
Civil parish
In 1961 the parish had a population of 1989. On 1 April 1987 the parish was abolished and merged with Hinxhill to form "Wye with Hinxhill".
References
External links
- Wye with Hinxhill Parish Council