Staple, Kent

Staple is a village and civil parish in east Kent, England. The village lies southwest of the nearby village of Ash and the town of Sandwich, and east of Canterbury.HistoryThe village is 3mi west of the Bronze Age site at Ringlemere and east of the Roman and Mesolithic sites at Wingham. The village church, dedicated to St James the Great, dates to the Saxon period but there have been Bronze Age finds in the land surrounding the village. Staple is one of the few places in Kent that does not appear in the 1086 Domesday Book, because it was appendant to Adisham, which lies to its southwest but is separated from it by the hundred and parish of Wingham. Together Adisham and Staple formed the Hundred of Downhamford. Staple is situated near the end of an arm of the Wantsum Channel, all that survives of which is the Durlock stream (possibly derived from the Celtic *duro- "settlement" and *loccu- "lake, pool", attesting the presence of the former channel). In prehistoric times this channel provided access to the sea; one reason that Staple was chosen as an export location.Staple is a Middle English word, signifying an official market for purchase of goods for export; it derives from Anglo-Norman estaple, "market-place", The "staple" of Staple was wool, exported to the Low Countries. The 'Statute of Acton Burnell' (1283) removed the Staple from Calais to fifteen appointed places in England, Ireland and Wales. The royal appointment decreed that 'All wool for export should be gathered at the Staple, if not the selling there.' In the reign of Edward III, the Staple was removed to Queensborough on the Isle of Sheppey; its return nine years later was occasioned by the greater ease with which export to Calais was effected by Staple's proximity to Sandwich. The Staple system suffered a long slow decline, and was abolished in 1617. Other export products from Staple included leather and vellum.