Petham

Petham
Garlinge Green, the village green with old style telephone box Petham village hall
Petham
Location within Kent
Area13.61 km2 (5.25 sq mi)
Population708 (Civil Parish 2011)
 Density52/km2 (130/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTR127515
Civil parish
  • Petham
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCANTERBURY
Postcode districtCT4
Dialling code01227
PoliceKent
FireKent
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament

Petham is a rural village and civil parish in the North Downs, five miles south of Canterbury in Kent, South East England.

The village church is All Saints, Petham and is Grade I listed. It was built in the 13th century but suffered from a fire in 1922 and had to be reconstructed. The village hall was rebuilt in the early 21st century next to Marble pond on relatively low meadows deemed unsuitable for housing and insurance.

Petham has rolling hills within its bounds, including ancient forested slopes and thatched medieval and Tudor period cottages.

It now incorporates Swarling to the north, which had "33.5" households in the Domesday Book, and is one of the type sites for British Iron Age Aylesford-Swarling pottery. The excavation, by J. P. Bushe-Fox, to publication took place in 1921–1925.