Tilmanstone is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, in the South East of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, near Eastry

Eastry

Eastry is a civil parish and remote, yet historically significant village four kilometres SW of Sandwich, in Kent, that was voted "Kent Village of the Year 2005".-Etymology:...

 a much bigger and more developed area. Tilmanstone has no schools, few shops and a church and town hall. The population of Tilmanstone often work for the nearby companies, such as Pfizer

Pfizer

Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...

 or Tilmanstone Salads, or in the Dover area. Tilmanstone has historically been famous for its colliery which operated from 1906–1986 as one of the four main pits of the Kent coalfield

Kent coalfield

The Kent Coalfield was a coalfield located in the eastern part of the English county of Kent.Coal was discovered in the area in 1890 while borings for an early Channel Tunnel project were taking place and the resultant Shakespeare colliery lasted until 1915...

.

The Yew tree in the churchyard has been dated to more than 1,200 years, so it is likely that it is older than anything else in the village. The manors of Dane Court, South Court, and North Court form the foundation of the ancient village. The Kent Archaeological Society transcription of 1922 included the North Court and South Court Manor Court Rolls held in the Library of Lambeth Palace. These Rolls cover the years 1753 - 1789. St. Andrew's Parish Church includes the famous Tilmanstone Brass, which recognized Richard Fogge circa 1482 and features a point perspective with three dimensional figures, something that at the time was only popular in Florence.

Mining

The Tilmanstone Colliery is actually located in the village of Eythorne, on the ridge to the west. Tilmanstone Colliery Halt railway station

Tilmanstone Colliery Halt railway station

Tilmanstone Colliery Halt was a station on the East Kent Light Railway. It opened on 16 October 1916 and was renamed Elvington in 1925. It closed to passenger traffic on 30 October 1948. The station served the pit village of Elvington. Part of the platform is still in situ hidden in...

served the pit between 1916 and 1948.