Staplehurst Kent - (Charles Dickens train crash)

Staplehurst lies on the A229 Maidstone to Hawkhurst road, this stretch is Roman and lead from Beauport near Battle to Rochester.

The name is derived from the Saxon a Staple meaning Post and hurst a wood.

The church was built around 1150 and attracted a few people who were either farmers or foresters.

In 1331 the export of unwashed wool was prohibited by King Edward III . He encouraged weavers from Flanders to settle at nearby Cranbrook where they proceeded to teach the English to turn wool into broadcloth. The weavers spread all around the area and some settled in Staplehurst , the wealth from this industry can be seen in the timber framed houses in the area near the church .

The 1500's brought the reign of Queen Mary , and the terror brought to the villagers by her religious zeal. Three women from Staplehurst were convicted because of their Protestant beliefs and burnt at the stake.

During the 1650's the woollen industry collapsed in the south of england and though threadmaking and linen weaving took over, the prosperity of the village never reached its original heights.

In the early 1800's like similar villages nearby, many poor farming families emigrating to America, Australia and New Zealand.

During the mid 1800's the South Eastern Railway’s track was built through the village to provide a link from London to Dover. This gave the villagers access to work in the Capital, the first commuter of note was Henry Hoare a Fleet Street banker, who settled at Iden in the 1840’s.

On the 9th of June in 1865 the 2:38 train from Folkestone to London approached the viaduct over the river Beult just before Staplehurst. The train travelling at about fifty miles an hour came upon a flagman with a red flag the driver applied the brakes, but the flagman had not been in the right position to warn the driver. The train fell off the bridge carrying the first 6 first class carriages with it, the 7th carrying the author Charles Dickens(53 at the time), hung by its couplings off the track. Dickens helped the survivors to escape, but it is felt that the shock of this experience shortened his life, as he died 5 years later.