TENTERDEN, a market-town and municipal borough of England, in the county of Kent, 19 miles S.E. of Maidstone and 55 S.E. of London. It stands on a hill in the midst of a rich country, occupied chiefly by hop plantations. The church is large and handsome, chiefly in the perpendicular style. At the west end is a lofty tower, to which a beacon was formerly attached. The old saying that "Tenterden steeple was the cause of the Goodwin Sands," according to a story related by Bishop Latimer in one of his sermons, originated on an occasion when Sir Thomas
Tenterden More was sent with a commission to investigate the cause of the formation of the Goodwin Sands, and obstruction of Sandwich harbour, when this sage opinion was propounded by one of the oldest inhabitants. But a different explanation of the saying is also given. There are in Tenterden places of worship for Wesleyan Methodists, Baptists, and Unitarians; national, British, and commercial schools, and an atheneum. Weekly markets for corn, and an annual fair for cattle, wool, &c., are held here. Pop. 3901.