Cobham, Kent

Cobham is a village and civil parish in the Gravesham District of Kent, England. It is located south of Watling Street, the old road from Dover to London, six miles south-east of Gravesend. The hamlet of Sole Street lies within the parish, which covers an area of 1,240 ha and has a population of 1,328. (2001 census), increasing to 1,469 at the 2011 census.The village is in a Conservation Area and as such remains relatively unspoilt. The parish church is 13th century and is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, and has monumental brasses which are reputedly the finest in England. Thirteen of the brasses belong to the years 1320–1529 and commemorate members of the Brooke and Cobham families. The church in Luddesdown, part of the ecclesiastical parish, is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. Next to the church in the village is Cobham College, a one-time home for secular priests, and now acting as almshouses.Cobham does not appear as a separate manor in the Domesday Book, so the village and parish were probably established later than 1086. The Cobham family was established here before the reign of King John (who reigned from 1199). Cobham Parish was originally in the ancient hundred of Shamwell.