CHART (GREAT), a parish (formerly a market
town) in the hundred of CHART-and-LONGBRIDGE, lathe
of SCRAY, county of KENT, 2 miles (W. by S,) from
Ashford, containing 659 inhabitants. The living is a
rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Canterbury,
rated in the king's books at £25. 6. 0., and in the patronage
of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church
is dedicated to St. Mary. There is a place of worship
for Wesleyan Methodists. This parish, called by the
Saxons Sybertes Chert, and in Domesday-book termed
Certh, lies chiefly on the Quarry hills, the southern
part being within the Weald, the boundary of which,
runs east and west, to the north of the church. Chart,
now a small village, was anciently of some importance,
having, had a weekly market, and a great fair on the
5th of April, for sheep and oxen; the market is disused,
but the remains of the market-house were formerly
visible in the field where the fair is still held: the
town was burnt by the Danes. From its elevated position,
the village commands an extensive and picturesque
view of the surrounding country. On the 1st of May,
1580, a violent earthquake was felt here.