COWDEN, a parish in the hundred of SOMERDEN,
lathe of SUTTON at HOVE, county of KENT, 9 miles (W.)
from Tonbridge-Wells, containing 683 inhabitants. The
living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of
Rochester, rated in the king's books at £9. 18. 11%-.,
and in the patronage of the Rev. T. Harvey. The church,
dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, is a small building,
with a handsome spire. One of the four principal hea'ds
of the Medway, which rises at Gravelley hill, in Sussex^
directs its course eastward along the southern side of
this parish, and separates it from the county of Sussex.
Iron-ore is found in the parish.. A fair is held on the
2nd of August, for oxen and pedlary. There is a trifling
endowment for the support of five almshouses.