STOCKBURY, a parish in the hundred of EYHORNE,
lathe of AYLESFORD, county of KENT, 4 miles (W. by
S.) from Milton, containing 594 inhabitants. The living
is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of
Canterbury, rated in the king's books at £9. 11. Of.,
and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester.
The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene,
is a spacious cruciform structure, in the early English
style, the columns and arches of which, on the
north side, are of Bethersdon marble, and peculiarly
elegant. There are several streets of straggling houses
in the parish, namely, Stockbury-street, Yelsted-street,
South-street, North-dean, and Hill Green, an eminence
commanding extensive views of the surrounding country,
with the sea in the distance. A fair for toys, Sac.,
is held on August 2nd. Mrs. Jane Bentley, in 1752, bequeathed
an annuity of £2. 10. a year, for teaching
three children of each sex, and £2 every fourth year
to purchase bibles and prayer-books for their use. A
dreadful tempest, attended with the most destructive
effects, happened here in 1746.