TONG, a parish in the hundred of MILTON, lathe
of SCRAY, county of KENT, 2 miles (E. by N.) from
Sittingbourne, containing 216 inhabitants. The living
is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of
Canterbury, rated in the king's books at £8. 6. 8,
W. Baldwin, Esq. was patron in 1803. The church,
dedicated to St. Giles, has a tower steeple on the south
side. The parish is bounded on the-north by the East
Swale. The ditch and keep mount of Tong castle
still remain in a wood at a short distance south from
the church. In this ancient fortress Hengist surprised
Vortigern and his nobles; he massacred the latter, and
kept the king a prisoner till he surrendered his kingdom.
William Housson, in 1779 bequeathed £200,
directing the interest to be applied in teaching poor
boys of Tong, Bapchild, and Murston. At Puckeshall,
in this parish, there was anciently an hospital, dedicated
to St. James.