PECKHAM (West), a parish in Malling district, Kent; 3 miles W of Wateringbury r. station, and 6 N W of Tunbridge. Post-town, Mereworth, under Maidstone. Acres, 1, 583. Real property, £3, 273. Pop. in 1851, 545; in 1861, 446. Houses, 87. The property is sub-divided. The manor belongs to the Baroness Le De-spencer. Oxenhoath is the seat of Sir W. R. P. Geary, Bart.; and Hamptons, of M. D. D. Dalison, Esq. Apreceptory of Knights Hospitallers was founded here in 1408, by Sir John Colepeper, then proprietor of Oxenhoath. There is a paper mill. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £250.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. The church is oldbut good; and consists of nave, aisle, chancel, and private chapel, with a tower. Charities, £16.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))