a town of the hundred of Barclay, and Lathe of Soray, in the county of Kent, fifty-four miles from London, and fifteen from Maidstone. It was formerly one of the first places for the manufacture of woollen cloths, a trade introduced into this part of the kingdom by a colony of Flemings in the reign of Edward III. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 1151, in 1811 to 1295, and in 1821 to 1544.