page_title: Edenbridge, Kent
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Edenbridge, Kent / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A photograph of the old town of edenbridge taken in 2018
context_page_description: Edenbridge is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. Its name derives from Old English Eadhelmsbrigge. It is located on the Kent /Surrey border on the upper floodplain of the River Medway and gives its name to the latter's tributary, the River Eden. The town has a population of around 9,000.
context_section_description: The old part of the town grew along a section of the otherwise disused Roman road, the London to Lewes Way at the point where it crossed the river. Iron slag from iron smelting in the surrounding area was used in building the road. In the Middle Ages it became a centre of the Wealden iron industry. There are many mediaeval timber buildings in the town, one of which houses the Eden Valley Museum.
  With the coming of the railways the town expanded and the community of Marlpit Hill, north of the original settlement, is now part of the town.
  Owing to its position on the River Eden floodplain, the centre of the town is prone to severe flooding. The worst flood occurred in 1958, before any flood defences were built, and led to enormous damage to Edenbridge High Street. Ten years later in 1968, despite the Eden having been dredged to prevent the same occurrence, the town was once again flooded after heavy storms. Although there were no fatalities, a helicopter was needed to save a man from his flooded home. Local legend has it that he hadn't noticed the flood waters rising, having been too engrossed in The Forsyte Saga on television. More adequate flood defences have been built since then, with the local community now well prepared to deal with possible flooding.
caption: The old town of Edenbridge in 2018
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "3968", "Image ImageLength": "2976", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image ImageDescription": "bdr", "Image Make": "HUAWEI", "Image Model": "PRA-LX1", "Image Orientation": "0", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "PRA-LX1C432B191", "Image DateTime": "2018:09:09 10:43:58", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "268", "Image DeviceSettingDescription": "[105, 112, 112, 0]", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "512", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "384", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "0", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8572", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "32993", "EXIF DocumentName": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "117/100000", "EXIF FNumber": "11/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:09:09 10:43:58", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:09:09 10:43:58", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "298973/10000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "227/100", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "0", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Daylight", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "383/100", "EXIF SubSecTime": "480778", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "480778", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "480778", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3968", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2976", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8412", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "26", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}