Appledore is a pretty village with a pleasing mixture of ancient houses, farms, grand houses, cottages and modern properties 6.5 Miles from Rye.
APPLEDORE
History: In AD 892 ‘Apuldre’, then a port on an estuary, was invaded by a huge Danish army who sailed up the sea creeks. Having slaughtered most of the inhabitants, plundered and burnt the settlement and its half-built fort, they constructed an earthwork as a base for yet another campaign in their bid to seize and colonise England. King Alfred’s tactic to oppose the invasion was to build encampments between Appledore and Milton from where his men could engage the Danish patrols in battle, and in less than a year the Danes had moved on to Essex. The village was resettled under the protection of the church, and though the date is not known, a charter of 1032 (in the reign of King Canute) records the conveyance of the ‘manor of Apuldre’ to the convent of Christ Church Canterbury.
The record of Appledore in the Domesday Book of 1086 suggests that there was by then a population of about 300, while the Domesday Monachorum, listing the pre-Norman churches in Kent, mentions Appledore Church which was almost certainly built by the monks of Canterbury, but there is no trace of it today and the present Church was probably built in the early C13th by monks, soon after Archbishop Stephen Langton had given the patronage of the church to the prior and Monks of St. Martin’s, Dover. In this same century the gradual silting up of the main seaway, the Rhee channel, plus the great storm of 1286 ,that swept shingle across the mouth of the channel at Romney , closed it for navigation between there and Appledore. However, Appledore could still trade with Winchelsea and Rye via a sea creek and was able to navigate up river to beyond Smallhythe.
Today
Nowadays this pretty, well- kept village –population about 800, is a pleasing mixture of ancient houses, farms, grand houses, cottages and modern properties.
There is a strong sense of community here evidenced by the number of clubs and organisations which include a Good Neighbour Service that provides free transport for housebound villagers. A beautiful Flower Festival held in the 14th Century Church, a Village Show, the attractive gardens and neat grass verges of The Street, and walks along the banks of the Military Canal, all combine to make Appledore very attractive to visitors and would-be home buyers alike. The Village has a village store with post office, a flower shop, a high class tearoom, a flower shop, a bridal boutique, an antique emporium and a good traditional pub, the Black Lion.
In the surrounding area are the hamlets and villages of-
Ebony; Kenardington with a Church; Stone ,Snargate and Ivychurch each have a Church and a Pub; Wittersham has a Church, Pub and Primary School while Hamstreet (5 miles) and Woodchurch (3 miles) have Churches, Pubs, Shops and other facilities, including a Station on the Hastings to Ashford railway at Hamstreet.
http://appledorekent.co.uk