Wye: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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GBP 105 - 105 The Wife of Bath Restaurant with Rooms
 The Wife of Bath Restaurant with Rooms is set in the idyllic Kent village of Wye, 10 minutes´ drive from the M20 and Ashford International Stati… MoreGBP 55 - 70 New Flying Horse Inn
 The New Flying Horse Inn is a 17th century posting house with oak beams and gleaming brasses.
Romans, Saxons and the 17th century smugglers have all … More | ||||||||||||
Wye: Guide
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Wye is an historic village in Kent, England, located some 12 miles from Canterbury. It is part of the civil parish of Wye with Hinxhill.
Its modern population is about 2,300 (for the entire parish) but was expanded by an additional 600 students at Wye College, until 2005 an agricultural college and part of Imperial College London. In 2005 Imperial announced that Wye College would be converted into a research centre for non-food crops and biomass fuels, in association with Kent County Council and Ashford Borough Council. Funding for the project remains uncertain, and leaks of official documents to a local campaigning website, have shown that the principal aim of the plan appears to be to raise £100 million for Imperial projects in London by building thousands of houses and commercial developments on protected countryside with Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty status. The plan provoked bitter opposition both locally and nationally and is seen as a test case for other attempts to build on AONB land. On September 15, 2006, Imperial announced it was abandoning the plan altogether after support was withdrawn by Ashford Borough Council following widespread complaints from the public and the publication by save-wye of an Imperial masterplan for four thousand homes on the green AONB land. This was hailed by environmentalists as a key victory to preserve the status of Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Wye is located at an ancient ford of the River Great Stour, and a Roman camp and villa stood at the site. On the North Downs|Downs east of the village is a crown (hill figure) carved in the chalk by students in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII.
The college was founded in 1447 as a Latin school and seminary by John Kemp|John Cardinal Kempe, Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor. It has been part of London University since 1900.
There was once a racecourse here: the first race was run on 29 May 1849, the last 2 May 1974. It is described thus: "Less than one mile round, and more suited to a greyhound track than a racecourse, Wye could not be entirely classed as the ideal preparation for a tilt at the Champion Hurdle" .
Changing patterns of transport in the 19th century reduced its importance. The main A28 road between Canterbury and Ashford now runs some distance away, beyond the river, and somewhat isolated today's historic village and agricultural centre. There is a Wye railway station|railway station here, built when the line from Ashford, Kent|Ashford to Margate was opened on 1 December 1846 by the South Eastern Railway.
A Farmers' market|farmers market is held in Wye on the first and third Saturday of every month.
Walks
Wye is on the Pilgrims' Way and at a junction of the North Downs Way, a long distance walk from Farnham, Surrey|Farnham in Surrey east to Dover, England|Dover, and the Stour Valley Walk from Lenham via Ashford, Kent|Ashford and Canterbury to Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich and finally the English Channel.
Notable Residents
Aphra Behn, English Restoration|Restoration dramatist and spy.
John Kemp, 15th century English cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor|Chancellor.
Catherine Macaulay, 18th century English historian and republican.
See also
Ashford, Kent
Chalk figures in the United Kingdom
External links
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Wye". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.