Hoo St Werburgh

Hoo St Werburgh is one of several villages on the Hoo Peninsula to bear the name Hoo, meaning 'spur of land'. It constitutes a civil parish in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It was, until 1998, administered by Kent County Council, but is still part of Kent with which it is ceremonially associated via the Lieutenancies Act. It had a population of 7,356 at the 2001 census, increasing to 8,945 at the 2011 Census. To the west of Hoo St Werburgh is Chattenden village, which is part of the civil parish of Hoo St Werburgh.HistorySt. Werburgh was the daughter of King Wulfhere of Mercia, and niece of King Æthelred, his brother and successor. She was born between 640 and 650.The first church of Hoo St Werburgh may have been built in the reign of the 8th century King Æthelbald of Mercia, though presumably a monastery existed nearby at an earlier time. This, together with land at Hoo All Hallows, is likely to have been placed under the rule of the leading Mercian monastery of Medeshamstede, now known as Peterborough.