# Brook, Kent

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**Brook** is a small village and [civil parish](/source/Civil_parish) in the [borough of Ashford](/source/Borough_of_Ashford) in [Kent](/source/Kent), England, centred 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east-northeast of the town of [Ashford](/source/Ashford,_Kent).

## Geography

Brook is in a gently rolling valley top immediately south of the [North Downs](/source/North_Downs). The brook referred to rises here and flows east to join the combined East and West Stour, that is, the [River Great Stour](/source/River_Great_Stour). The south-east fifth of the parish is woodland. The human population of this area rose by 3 during the 10 years to the [United Kingdom Census 2011](/source/United_Kingdom_Census_2011).

## Brook Rural Museum

The Brook Rural Museum conserves and exhibits the agricultural and rural history of East Kent. Its collections date from the 18th century and tell the story of farming and rural life in the Garden of England from the age of the horse through to the Industrial Revolution and beyond. It is housed in a magnificent 14th-century grange barn and a 19th-century [oast house](/source/Oast_house) and managed by the Wye Rural Museum Trust.[1]

## History

The 11th century [Grade I listed](/source/Grade_I_listed) parish church is dedicated to St Mary.[2] There is also a [Baptist](/source/Baptist) chapel. The church of St. Mary, erected about 1075, is of stone, in the Early Norman style, and has a tower containing 3 bells: the tower was struck by lightning in 1896, and the northwest corner destroyed, but was restored in 1899: there are 160 sittings. John Betjeman described the church as "unaltered early Norman church ... a massive church which carries its longevity more convincingly than many older and tidier churches".[3]

## See also

- [Listed buildings in Brook](/source/Listed_buildings_in_Brook,_Kent)

## References

1. [https://brookruralmuseum.org.uk/](https://brookruralmuseum.org.uk/)

1. Betjeman, J. (ed.) (1968) *Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the South*. London: Collins; p. 247

## External links

- [Brook Parish Council](https://web.archive.org/web/20041225124611/http://www.saxonshore-kent.gov.uk/brook-community.html)
- [Brook St Mary's church](http://www.achurchnearyou.com/brook-st-mary/)
- [Brook Baptist Chapel](https://web.archive.org/web/20060503215054/http://www.wye.org/churches/brookchap.htm)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Brook, Kent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brook%2C_Kent) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brook%2C_Kent?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.