Eddington was a village in Kent, South East England to the south-east of Herne Bay, to the west of Beltinge and to the north of Herne. It is now a suburb of Herne Bay, in Greenhill and Eddington Ward, one of the five wards of Herne Bay. Its main landmark for over 100 years until 2010 was Herne Bay Court, a former school which once possessed one of the largest and best-equipped school engineering workshops in England; it later became a Christian conference centre.
Geography
Eddington was a village and is now a suburb in the south of Herne Bay, on what is now the Canterbury Road or A291. It is in Greenhill and Eddington ward, and forms part of Herne and Broomfield parish.
Geology and topography
Eddington is approximately 13 metres above sea level, lying above mainly London Clay with some head Brickearth next to Plenty Brook; however to the east this changes to Tertiary deposits of the Thanet, Oldhaven and Woolwich beds. Its northern boundary is the railway line, and its southern edge includes the Thanet Way and Herne Bay cemetery. At its western limit is Eddington Business Park and its eastern sector contains part of Eddington Conservation Area. This conservation area includes a small portion of the north-west of Herne and Broomfield parish, known locally as the Links. Herne Bay Golf Club is in the south of Eddington. Herne Bay Golf Club closed sometime during between 2011 and 2016 and has since been transformed into yet another housing estate. Eddington Business Park contains Herne Bay Delivery Office for the Royal Mail. Herne bay delivery and sorting office closed in 2016 and is now a children's soft play area. In the past, parts of Eddington have been susceptible to flooding from Plenty Brook and the Council has recommended the construction of upstream storage lagoons near Herne Bay Golf Course besides other measures.
Local government
As of January 2010 the local councillors for Greenhill and Eddington Ward were Roger Matthews and Margaret Flaherty, both representing the Liberal Democrats. Herne Bay councillor Roger Matthews was charged in March 2009 alongside Herne Bay Golf Club owner Julian in respect of corruption. Matthews represented Greenhill and Eddington ward on Canterbury City Council, and was suspended from the local Liberal Democrats group. The councillor denied the charge and was later cleared, but the businessman was convicted. Previously in 2008, Greenhill and Eddington ward representative Margaret Flaherty was taking on local council work herself, clearing shrubbery from road signs at Eddington. At times the council has chosen to remove travelling families from this area. Kent Enterprise House at Eddington hosts the annual parish meetings.
History
Much of the history of the layout and buildings of Eddington is described in the Eddington Conservation Appraisal of 2009.
Archaeology
Between August and September 1998, an archaeological dig by Houliston found evidence of early occupation in the vicinity of Eddington Farm, and a follow-up investigation by Crispin Jarman and Grant Shand found signs of occupation, farming and burial which had occurred from the later Neolithic period, around 3,500 BCE. The evidence for this was a polished stone axe found near the present Thanet Way. A late Bronze Age enclosure was found near a possibly earlier monument with a ring ditch. It is thought that late Bronze Age tree-clearance and consequent soil erosion may explain a subsequent period of abandonment of this farmland. The Romans and Romano-British then laid out a field system and made cremation burials. There is some evidence of local habitation occurring at the end of the Roman occupation. At the north of the Eddington Farm site in the early- or mid-Saxon period, a farmstead was built.
In October 2003 Crispin Jarman investigated apparent concentrations of early to middle Iron Age activity and medieval activity on land adjacent to the old Thanet Way at Underdown Lane. It is thought that the 4–8 Iron Age roundhouses there are part of a larger settlement, along with a possible cremation burial. A possible northern edge of a medieval farmstead was discovered in the south-west corner of the site, along with pottery from the 13th and 14th centuries.
In April 2007 there were archaeological investigations at Talmead House, Mill Lane, and on land to the west of Mill Lane, Eddington. Features including Roman cremation burials were found, including one adjacent to Talmead Pond.