View source for Ruckinge

{{Short description|Village in Kent, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|official_name= Ruckinge
|coordinates = {{coord|51.0656|0.8626|display=inline,title}}
|civil_parish= Ruckinge
|population=767	
|area_total_km2=13.91	
|population_ref=(Civil Parish 2021)<ref name=ons>[https://citypopulation.de/en/uk/southeastengland/admin/E07000105__ashford/ Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] [[United Kingdom Census 2021]] ''[[Office for National Statistics]]''</ref>
|shire_district= [[Ashford (borough)|Ashford]]
|shire_county= [[Kent]]
|region= South East England
|constituency_westminster= [[Weald of Kent (UK Parliament constituency)|Weald of Kent]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Location of Weald of Kent |url= https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4385/location |website=parliament.uk|access-date=10 February 2025}}</ref>
|post_town= Ashford
|postcode_district = TN26
|postcode_area= TN
|dial_code= 01233
|os_grid_reference= TR025335
}}
'''Ruckinge''' {{IPAc-en|r|ʌ|k|ɪ|n|dʒ}} <!--please confirm if not current on talk-->is a village and [[civil parish]] in south Kent centred {{convert|5.5|mi}} south of [[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]] on the B2067 [[Hamstreet]] to [[Hythe, Kent|Hythe]] road, with two settled neighbourhoods. It is, broadly defined, a narrow, fairly large rural parish of land which is about one quarter woodland.

==Geography==
Almost three miles long, this is a mostly rural area in south to south-east Kent centred {{convert|6|mi}} south-by-southeast of [[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]] on the B2067 [[Hamstreet]] to [[Hythe, Kent|Hythe]] road, with two settled neighbourhoods.Ruckinge's main neighbourhood is a [[linear settlement]] with a few [[cul de sac]]s.

It is in the mid-south of a [[civil parish]] which also includes the scattered community of Bromley Green which has about half of the area's woodland. The two halves (Upper and Lower or North and South) are split by a belt of woodland but a road links them, with the other roads being two east–west and two to the north-east and north-west. A source of the fast-flowing, steep headwaters of the [[East Stour, Kent|East Stour]] rises a mile west of the northern half of the parish in an area of [[Sandstone]] hills. In terms of vegetation patchy remains are preserved here of [[The Weald]], the forest between the [[Greensand Ridge]] and the [[South Downs]], and to the south of the Royal Military Canal the area has long been grassed, being just above marsh level since the [[Roman Britain]] period.

==Amenities and voluntary organisations==
The village no longer has a [[pub]], ''The Blue Anchor'' is now an office building. There is a [[Methodist]] chapel. The [[Royal Military Canal]] runs to the immediate south of the neighbourhood of Ruckinge in the parish.

The nearest shops and railway station are in nearby Hamstreet (in [[Orlestone]]).

Ruckinge has the HQs and groups of Scout and Guide associations for the neighbouring parishes.

==St Mary Magdalene church==
[[File:St Mary Magdalene Church Ruckinge.jpg|thumb|St Mary Magdalene's Church]]
The [[Anglican]] [[Church of England parish church|parish church]] of St Mary Magdalene is a grade I listed building.{{sfn|Historic England|1185079}} A church was mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]], but the present building dates from the 12th century.{{efn|Immediately before the main entry for Ruckinge is that for Orlestone. Domesday says that there are 2 churches, where the second one was is unclear. Hussey suggests that this might be Ruckinge.{{sfn|Hussey|1852|p=123}}}} It is thought probable that the church was built on top of an earlier Saxon building.{{sfn|Church of England|2017}}

The main building is 12th century with the upper part of the tower being rebuilt in the 13th century. The church has 14th and 15th century alterations. The south doorway and the western door are in [[Norman architecture|Norman]] style dating from the original 12th-century build.{{sfn|Church of England|2017}} The north porch sheltered a reputed 14th-century door (described as "fine" by English Heritage). The southern choir stalls are medieval with poppy-head bench ends.{{sfn|Church of England|2017}}

The tower houses a [[Peal|ring]] of 5 bells (tenor {{long ton||11|1|4}} in A).{{sfn|Love}} The earliest mention of the bells was in 1521 when Roger Hawkyns left 2/- (two [[shilling]]s or 10p in decimal currency) in his will to repair them. Thirty years later there were three bells and in 1721 at least four bells were there. In 1740 the tenor was either supplied or recast giving the five bells which exist today.{{sfn|Love}}

==History==
The village of Ruckinge is mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086, where it appears as ''Rochinges''. The name is first attested in an [[Anglo-Saxon charter]] of 786, where it appears as ''Hroching''. This is the [[Old English]] ''hrocing'' meaning '[[Rook (bird)|rook]] wood'.<ref>[[Eilert Ekwall]], ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p.395.</ref>

According to the Domesday Book, Hugh de Montfort held a lot of land in the area, including in Ham Hundred both [[Orlestone]] and Ruckinge. "Hugh fitzRichard holds of Hugh half a [[Yoke (unit of measurement)|sulung]]{{efn|usually taken as about 2 [[hide (unit)|hide]]s of around {{convert|120|acre|abbr=off}} each.}} in Ruckinge which Leofraed held of King Edward.{{efn|[[Edward the Confessor]]}} It is assessed at half a sulung. There is land for 2 ploughs. There 12 villans now have {{frac|1|1|2}} ploughs. For the woodland 1 pig. TRE{{efn|"Tempore Regis Edwardi" ie "in the time of King Edward [the Confessor]".}} it was worth 50s:{{efn|shillings, 1/20 of a pound}} and afterwards 30s: now 50s."{{sfn|Williams|Martin|1992|p=33}}

In 1629, Henry Cuffin, a curate at Ruckinge, was prosecuted by an Archdeacon's Court for playing [[cricket]] on Sunday evening after prayers. He claimed that several of his fellow players were "persons of repute and fashion".{{sfn|Bowen|1970|p=45}}{{sfn|Birley|1999|p=7}}

Ruckinge was an important sighting-point for the [[Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790)]], which calculated the precise distance between the [[Royal Greenwich Observatory]] and the [[Paris Observatory]], using [[trigonometry]]. The main cross-channel sightings were between [[Dover Castle]] and [[Fairlight, East Sussex]] in England, and [[Cap Blanc Nez]], [[Calais]] and [[Dunkirk]] in France. A grid of triangles was measured to link these viewpoints, which included two base-lines on [[Hounslow Heath]] and [[Romney Marsh]]. Ruckinge was the north-western point of the Romney Marsh base-line; the south-eastern end was at High Nook near [[Dymchurch]].

For a few centuries smuggling was rife on Romney Marsh, and it is rumoured that the notorious Ransley brothers were buried in Ruckinge churchyard after being hanged at [[Penenden Heath]], Maidstone.

Until the early 1990s Ruckinge had a village shop/post office.

==Transport==
The area is quickly connected to Ashford: the relatively large [[A2070 road]] cuts over/under minor roads and passes through the north of this area.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Birley |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Birley |title=A Social History of English Cricket |year=1999 |publisher=Aurum |isbn=1-85410-710-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowen |first=Rowland |author-link=Rowland Bowen |title=Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development |year=1970 |publisher=Eyre & Spottiswoode }}
* {{cite web|title = St Mary Magdalene, Ruckinge|date=2017|url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/ruckinge-st-mary-magdalene/|access-date=29 July 2017|website=The Church of England|ref={{sfnref|Church of England|2017}}}}
* {{NHLE  | num = 1185079  | desc = Church of St Mary Magdalene  | access-date = 29 July 2017 | mode=cs2 }}
* {{cite wikisource |chapter=Notes on the Churches O-R |wslink=Notes on the churches in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey/Kent |plaintitle=Notes on the churches in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey |last=Hussey |first=Arthur |publisher=John Russell Smith |year=1852}} 
* {{Cite web
  | last = Love
  | first = Dickon
  | title = Ruckinge, S Mary Magd
  | work = Love's Guide to the Church Bells of Kent
  | url = http://kent.lovesguide.com/tower.php?id=159
  | access-date = 30 July 2017}}
* {{ Cite book
  | editor1-last = Williams
  | editor1-first = Dr Ann
  | editor2-last = Martin
  | editor2-first = Professor G H
  | title = Domesday Book
  | year = 1992
  | orig-year = original Latin version compiled 1086
  | publisher = Penguin Classics
  | isbn = 0-141-43994-7
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Ruckinge}}
* [https://ruckinge-pc.gov.uk/ Ruckinge Parish Council]
* [https://ruckinge-pc.gov.uk/history/ruckinge-history Ruckinge History]
* [http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadAreaMetadata.do?areaId=11128075&metadataType=area Statistical civil parish overview - map]

{{Ashford, Kent}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Civil parishes in Ashford, Kent]]
[[Category:Cricket in Kent]]
[[Category:English cricket in the 14th to 17th centuries]]
[[Category:Villages in Kent]]
[[Category:Villages in the Borough of Ashford]]