OTHAM, a village and a parish in Maidstone district, Kent. The village stands near the river Len, 2½ miles E S E of Maidstone r. station; is called Otham-street; and has a postal letter-box under Maidstone. The parish comprises 947 acres. Real property, £2, 782 Pop. in 1851, 357; in 1861, 294. Houses, 71. The property is divided among a few. The manor and much of the land belong to the Earl of Romney. Hops and fruit are largely grown. The river Len traverses the parish, expands into considerable sheets of water, and turns extensive paper-mills. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £412.* Patron, Magdalen College, Oxford. The church includes Norman portions; consists of nave, N aisle, and chancel, with tower and small spire; was restored in 1865, at a cost ofabout £1,000; and contains several curious monuments of the Floods and others. There are a parochial schooland some charities. Bishop Horne was a native, and hisfather was rector.

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