BOUGHTON-MALHERB, a parish in the hundred
of EYHORNE, lathe of AYLESFORD, county of KENT, 1?
mile (S. W. by S.) from Lenham, containing 475 inhabitants.
The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Canterbury, rated in the king's booksa*
£ 13. 15., and in the patronage of Earl Cornwallis. The
church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a handsome edifice,
with a square western tower: it stands on the summit
of a ridge of hills, which divides the parish into two
districts, Boughton Upland and Boughton Weald (tne
latter being so called from its situation within the Weala
of Kent), and contains several interesting monuments
to the memory of deceased members of the family °
Wotton, among which is a splendid marble monument
to that of Sir Thomas, and a costly one to that ol
Sir Edward Wotton. This family resided here tor a
considerable period, and this was the birthplace or
its most accomplished member. Sir Henry Wotton,
who was employed by James I. in several foreign embassies,
and whose biography is written, in his peculiar
quaintness of style, by Izaak Walton. The remains
of the mansion, on a sunken pannel in which is inscribed
the date 1579, have been converted into a barn.