Kings, cricket and villainy

It should come as no surprise that the homes of the ‘Garden of England’ hold such rich histories

- James Fisher

BACK in 1100, the myth suggests, twins Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst were born. As well as being joined at the hip, Mary and Eliza were joined at the shoulder and went on to be known as the Biddenden Maids after the village in which they were born. In what was surely an impressive feat for those living in the 12th century, they were said to have survived for 34 years and, upon their deaths in 1134, bequeathed five plots of land to the village, which became known as the ‘Bread and Cheese Lands’. The income from these parcels of land went on to provide food and drink to those in need every Easter, a tradition that continues in some form to the less fortunate residents of Biddenden to this very day.

The rich tradition of providing sanctuary to those in need seems to have made Biddenden an attractive place to live, especially to those in exile. Sir John Kotelawala was once Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) and, upon his electoral defeat in 1956, retired from politics and moved to the village in self-imposed exile.

An exile that was slightly less ‘selfimposed’ was that of Prajadhipok, otherwise known as Rama VII, King of Thailand (then known as Siam). After his abdication in 1935, Rama VII moved to the UK—first to Surrey and then, in 1937, to Vane Court in Biddenden, believed to be the oldest house in the village.