Upper Hardres is a 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...

 and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 near Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

 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...

, South East England

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

.

The name of the Hardres family is perpetuated in the twin villages of Upper Hardres and Lower Hardres

Lower Hardres

Lower Hardres is a village and civil parish near Canterbury in Kent, South East England.The name of the Hardres family is perpetuated in the twin villages of Upper Hardres and Lower Hardres , on the Roman road, Stone Street, south-west of the city of Canterbury. The family owned this area for...

 , on the Roman road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

, Stone Street, south-west of the city of Canterbury

City of Canterbury

The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...

. The family owned this area for 700 years after the Norman Conquest

Norman conquest of England

The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...

. It is a said that Thomas Hardres, who was knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

ed for his valour

Courage

Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation...

 at the Siege of Boulogne

Siege of Boulogne

There were two sieges of Boulogne, in the Pas-de-Calais, during the Italian War of 1542–1546. Boulogne was fortified and defended as an English possession on the French mainland between 14 September 1544 and March 1550.- First siege :...

 in 1544, brought back the town gates and erected them at Upper Hardres, though there is little evidence of their existence today.