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There has been a settlement here in Chestfield since pre-historic times - beside the brook
which runs into the sea at Long Rock. We have relics of Neolithic, Iron Age and Roman occupation. The latter indicating a field system.
Our parish church of St John the Baptist records the names of rectors since 1296 and the Chestfield Manor farmhouse and adjacent barns are also of ancient origin, although much altered over the years. Probably the best known family to have owned the Manor were the Ropers of Canterbury. Margaret Roper married Thomas Moore who was beheaded upon the orders of King Henry V111 and later - much later - canonised.
The twentieth century found the parish little changed from Tudor days - a scattering of farms and workers cottages.
At the outbreak of the first World War the total population of the parish amounted to no more than 120 souls. Of these, twenty were lost in the conflict - a large proportion of the able bodied menfolk. Their names are recorded on a memorial in St Johns Church.
During the inter-war years a bungalow estate was developed at the Swalecliffe end of the parish and a mock Tudor housing estate was built in Chestfield. Meanwhile the railway and Coastal road tended to divide the community as never before.
At the beginning of World War 11 many families left the district fearing a German invasion of the coast. The Battle of Britain was fought in the skies above our heads. We lost to enemy action Max Williams our Air Raid Warden and Sidney Paget our Church sidesman. Most able bodied young men were called up. Some of the troops who were billeted here married local girls.
Although sharing with Swalecliffe, many institutions such as Church, Community Centre, Schools, Railway Station and Women's Institute Chestfield has developed as a separate entity. The Parish Council, Chestfield Society, Golf and Cricket Clubs etc tend to reinforce the distinctive 'feel' of the place.
Genuine historic landmarks have a habit of being overlooked among the mock tudor properties and converted 'tythe' barns; but they are there. The sheep dip in the Ridgeway, the Oast Houses, Reeves Green where the hunt once met and shephard cottages that were old when the earliest photographs were taken.
Road names give clues to their connections. The Drive and Polo Way are good examples. Gardeners digging below recently introduced topsoil may well find relics of former times: horse shoes, clay smoking pipes, wartime bullets, even ancient flint tools. Oh yes, Chestfield has a story to tell which goes back beyond the mists of time.
Tony Blake - June 2005
     
A bit more info about Chestfield courtesy of the Golf Club
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