BOXLEY, a parish in the hundred of MAIDSTONE
lathe of AYLESFORD, county of KENT, 2 miles (N. E. by N.)
from Maidstone, containing 1166 inhabitants. The living,
is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Canterbury,
rated in the king's books at £ 12. 19. 2., and in
the patronage of the King and the Dean and Chapter ot
Rochester alternately. The church is dedicated to AU
Saints. This parish is noted for the manufacture or
paper of a superior quality; two of the mills, called trie,
old Turkey mills, are remarkable for the extent of tne
buildings, the machinery, and the excellence and
clarity of the arrangements: prior to the decay of
clothing trade they were used as fulling-mills, but in
1739 were purchased by Mr. James Whatman, and have
ever since been appropriated to their present purpose.
An abbey for Cistercian monks was founded, in ll01
by William d'Ipres, Earl of Kent, who subsequent assumed
the cowl at Laon in France. Henry I.
granted to the society the privilege of holding a weekly
market, and the abbot was summoned to parliament in
the reign of Edward I. Edward II. resided here during
the siege of Leeds castle, at which time he signed a
charter for the citizens of London. At the dissolution,
the revenue was estimated at £218. 19. 10.; and the
site, with a portion of the estates, was granted to Sir
Thomas Wyatt, the poet. The abbey contained a celebrated
rood, which, together with the image of St. Rumbald,
was taken away, and publicly destroyed at St.
Paul's cross, in 1538: there are still some remains of the
buildings. An extensive rabbit-warren, part of the possessions
of the abbey, lies beneath the chalk hill; and
there was another near Penenden heath (about half of
which is in this parish), but it has been brought into
cultivation. A small stream, which rises just below the
church, runs through the village, and is stated to petrify
wood with an incrustation resembling brown unpolished
marble.