Kentish Express Ashford & District
Crowning glories
Standing proudly on the county’s rolling green hills, Kent’s manmade chalk landmarks have caught the eye for generations, but not everyone knows the history behind them. Dan Wright takes a look at their stories...
Nestling at the foot of the North Downs, Wye lies under the crown, a huge emblem cut into the chalk hillside by students of Wye College in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII.
The carving - which was lit up at night to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day last month - can be seen for miles.
Its story started when Lord Abergavenny, Lord Lieutenant of Kent, called for the county to respond with lively patriotic support after it was announced the coronation of the new monarch would be on June 26, 1902.
It was suggested that on Coronation Day a ring of bonfires should line the crest of the North Downs.
In Wye, a parish meeting to decide how to mark the occasion was held in the Board School.
The college principal suggested an ambitious and permanent reminder of the occasion. It involved digging out a large design of a crown above a chalk pit to serve as a landmark for miles around.
The Kentish Express of that year observed ‘one of the most suitable commemorations in the county’.
The work, contrary to the principal’s original notions, occupied a team of volunteers comprising 35 college students. It took them almost a week but the huge task was finished on time.
A few days before June 26, the King became gravely ill with appendicitis and the coronation ceremony could not be held until August.
But the King asked for events planned for June to go ahead.
Not many students who had created the crown were still at Wye College when the King saw across the valley a second bonfire on the crown on July 4, 1904, which was named in his honour and illuminated.
During the last 100 years, the crown has been a focal point for the celebration of other royal occasions.
At about 180ft tall, it underwent a major restoration between 1991 and 1995 and is still white-washed when it gets grubby, ensuring the bright white landmark continues to stand out.
Folkestone White Horse
The controversial Folkestone White Horse was finally completed in the summer of 2003 despite opposition from environmentalists.
Originally it was hoped the figure would mark the millennium, but the plans proved divisive and were delayed by a public inquiry.
Although the landmark was given planning permission by Shepway District Council, an inquiry was held as the government advisory body English Nature - now Natural England - objected.
Friends of the Earth and a Welsh MP then took the case to the EU, claiming the white horse contravened European laws which sought to protect the environment.
Opponents claimed the area of rare chalk grassland should have been left alone, raising fears tourists might flock to the horse and damage the flora and fauna. But in March 2002, then transport and local government secretary Stephen Byers approved the project.
The following summer, the figure was completed on
Cheriton Hill when the final chalk pieces were put into place to form the animal’s eye.
Gurkha soldiers helped build most of the image and spent seven days working on the hill, which overlooks the Channel Tunnel’s UK terminal.
As the hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the horse was not cut into the land because carving into the chalk grassland was a bone of contention with English Nature. Instead chalk blocks were laid on the ground to form the figure, which is based on the tradition of chalk carvings dating back to ancient Celtic times.
A time capsule featuring articles from the Kentish Express about the battle to create it was positioned at the heart of the horse 100ft into the hill.
Farmer Richard Beaugie, from Ashford and artist Charles Newington, of Lympne, were behind the bold project, which bosses said would help regenerate Folkestone by attracting people to the area.
One supporter of the scheme was comic Spike Milligan, who died in 2002 aged 83 and was a friend of Mr Newington.
The pair had been close friends since Mr Newington bumped into The Goon Show star in Rye and they had chatted about the piece just a few days before the comic died.
Lenham Cross
The cross at Lenham has held a special place in the hearts of residents ever since it was first cut into the chalk downs in 1921 as a memorial to the fallen of the Great War.
Yet until recent years, it had never had any official recognition. That changed in December 2017 when Historic England registered the cross as a National Monument and War Memorial thanks to the work of parish councillor Mike Cockett.
The monument, measuring 61m by 21m, was once supported by a memorial stone surrounded by iron railings at the base, recording the names of the 42 Lenham villagers who died in the First World War.
A second stone, with the names of the 14 killed in the Second World War was added later, but in 1960 both were moved to the north entrance of St Mary’s Church to make it easier for mourners to visit them.
During the Second World War, the cross was covered over to prevent it being a marker for enemy aircraft.
It 1983, it underwent a major renovation with 40 tonnes of chalk added.
Mr Cockett realised the site’s lack of official recognition when the village prepared its Neighbourhood Plan in 2014, describing it as “virtually unknown outside of Lenham”.
He said: “The cross is always one of the first places we show visitors, so it was a shock to find it was totally unregistered.”
He went about sending Historic England pictures of the cross, testimony from villagers and a copy of the book Lenham and the Great War by historian Amy Myers to convince the organisation of its importance.
The site is now Grade
II-listed and Historic England’s citation states: “The memorial is rather unusual when compared with other war memorials as it was carved by hand directly into the chalk of the North Downs as a hillfigure cross and prominent landmark by Freddie Baldock, with help from volunteers.”
Shoreham Cross
Like the cross in Lenham, a similar example in Shoreham - a village five miles north of Sevenoaks - is dedicated to those who were lost in the First World War.
May 24 marked 100 years since the first turf was dug out to make the landmark, which remembers the 50 people from the village killed in the Great War.
Villager Samuel Cheeseman who had lost two of his sons in the conflict - came up with the idea and it took 16 months to complete.
Due to the curve of the hill, one arm of the cross had to be longer than the other so the perspective looked correct from the opposite side of the village.
The construction of the landmark - which is 100ft in length and 58ft wide - was completed in September 1921.
Thanks to its sheer size, it was hidden by branches and old trees during the Second World War to protect it from enemy aircraft.
For decades, Remembrance services have been conducted at the cross each year. The tradition comes from Mr Cheeseman himself, who remembered his lost sons by pulling a small cannon up the hill to the cross every year, then fired it to signal both the start and the end of the twominute silence.
In later years, the original sightline from the village war memorial to the cross had become completely obscured by trees. But in 2010 when trees were cut back to recreate the original view.
The same had to be done in 2018 as the village prepared to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War.
Shoreham parish council clerk Sarah Moon says the cross is an important part of the village’s history.
“Everybody knows about it as it’s the most iconic aspect of the village.”