Sheldwich

Sheldwich is a village and civil parish in the far south of the Borough of Swale in Kent, England.

==Geography== Sheldwich is a rural parish situated south of the market town of Faversham, north of Ashford and 12 miles west of Canterbury via the M2 and A2. It is fragmented into five parts, with North Street a distinct settlement on the A251, Sheldwich (including the Church and school) scattered further south on or close to the main road; Sheldwich Lees, a small village in its own right (and where the Village Hall and Village Green (known as the Lees) are situated) lying south-east of the junction of Lees Court Road and the Ashford Road (A251), and the hamlets of Gosmere and Copton to the north, the latter being transferred to the Parish in 2012. Other than North Street, Copton and part of Gosmere, the remainder of the parish lies within the Kent Downs, (the eastern part of the North Downs), a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The population of the parish in the 2021 census was 485, a fall of 6 from the 2011 Census and continuing the very slow decline in the number of residents. This reflects the almost complete lack of recent residential development in the village, owing to strict planning laws. The village name of Sheldwich is unique within the United Kingdom.