Biddenden, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands 4 miles S of Headcorn station on the S.E.R., and 5 1/2 NE of Cranbrook; it has a fair on 8 November. The parish comprises 7191 acres; population, 1362. It has a post and money order office under Staplehurst; telegraph office, Smarden. The manor belonged in the time of Edward III. to Sir Walter Manney, and passed to the Hendens. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury; gross value, £150 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church has features from Early English to Late Perpendicular, and was restored in 1857. A curious charity furnishes a distribution of stamped cakes to all comers on Easter Sunday, as well as other charities. A Baptist chapel was erected in 1879.
