Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 5, 2026

Halstead, Kent

Halstead is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 4.7 miles south east of Orpington and & 6.1 miles north west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with Greater London. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,607.

Last revised
Jun 5, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
367 w
Citations
3
Source
Halstead
Church Road
Halstead
Location within Kent
Population1,607 (2011 Census)
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSevenoaks
Postcode districtTN14
PoliceKent
FireKent
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament

Halstead is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 4.7 miles south east of Orpington and & 6.1 miles north west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with Greater London. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,607.1

History

St Margaret's Church source ↗

The name Halstead is derived from the Old English hald (refuge, shelter) and stede (site, place), meaning 'safe place' or 'place of refuge'. The parish church is dedicated to St Margaret. Halstead Community Primary School is located in the village.

Botanist and photographer Anna Atkins lived since 1841 to her death at Halstead Place, where she is buried, Her father the gentleman and scientist John George Children also died at Halstead Place. Author Edith Nesbit spent some of her adolescence in Halstead during the 1870s and her book The Railway Children is thought to be based on her time living in a house, Halstead Hall, whose garden is about a mile and a half from the railway line.

The parish is adjacent to Fort Halstead, a government defence research centre that is thought to have developed Britain's first atomic bomb.

Sports Clubs

  • Chelsfield Football club
  • Halstead Cricket Club
  • Halstead Netball club
  • Orpington & District Amateur Boxing Club

Transport

Rail

The nearest National Rail station to Halstead is Knockholt, located 1.4 miles away.

Buses

Halstead bus stop source ↗

Halstead is served by London Buses routes R5 and R10 which provide connections to Orpington, Cudham and Knockholt.23

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  2. Transport for London. "R5 bus route". Transport for London. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  3. Transport for London. "R10 bus route". Transport for London. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  • Hasted, Edward - "The History of Kent" pp319–322 (1788, reprinted 1972).
  • Kitchener, Geoffrey - "Halstead in Kent - An Historical Guide" (1978).
External links

Media related to Halstead, Kent at Wikimedia Commons


51°20′N 0°8′E / 51.333°N 0.133°E / 51.333; 0.133