Draw a circle of 7 miles radius with the centre just west of Tenterden, Kent and within that
     circle can be found 12 place names with a very distinctive sound and with an ancient name
     origin. Biddenden, Bethersden, Benenden and Rolvenden, to name a few of such places, are
     known today not only for the ancient people who lived there but also for the work they did to
     sustain themselves. Many other areas and woodlands have the den suffix.

                The Jutes who colonised Kent soon after the Romans left were probably Frankish people
       who got the name Jutes purely because they left Europe on their way to England from Jutland.
      They settled along the north coast of Kent from the Isle of Thanet up to the river Medway.
      They were known as the Kentings or the "Men of Kent".

                The Saxons who had settled in Essex, Sussex, Middlesex and Wessex also had land west
      of the river Medway and were known as "Kentish Men".

                The old Celtic inhabitants of this area were either killed, retained as slaves or they fled west
      across England to the mountainous area of Wales. It is interesting to note that the Saxons
      regarded the Celts as foreigners, mainly because they spoke a different language. The OE walh
      meant generally "foreigner" and later to mean a slave. Wales takes its name from walh as the
      land of the foreigners and Walmer is the lake of the Walh's, in this case the Celts.

                 At this time most of Kent was an impenetrable forest and very thinly populated. The Jutes
      preferred to farm open ground and generally kept to the northern strip of land along the
      coastal area. It required a great deal of effort to fell sufficient trees to enable the land to be
      cultivated but it was found easier to use these forest lands as pig pastures where the acorns
      from the great oaks provided pannage.

                  The Old English word denn is a woodland pasture, especially a pasture for pigs.
      The "er" part of the place name is the OE ware or wara meaning the dwellers. So Tenterden
       is derived from Tenet Wara Denn meaning the swine pasture of the Thanet dwellers.
       Newenden down on the Sussex border is "the new woodland pasture" and is not associated
      with any particular dwellers, as is Standen, a  woodland pasture where the ground is stony
     . Biddenden, Bethersden, Rolvenden and Haffenden however   refer directly to the settlers who
       lived there which were Bidda's, Beaduric's, Hrodwulf's and Herefrid's woodland pastures.

                   Interestingly the parish register for Tenterden records some surnames with the "enden"
       suffix such as Chittenden, Brickenden, Haffenden, Asshenden, Lackenden and Pickenden
       not forgetting my own surname which becomes Bisshoppenden. This must surely be descriptive
       of where they lived or came from. The Bisshoppenden name continued to be used till 1639 but
       the surname Bishop also appears in the register starting at 1558, so the two surnames existed
       side by side in the same area for 80 years or so. The index of wills held at Maidstone CKS also
       has 5 records of the name Bishoppynden, the first one in 1499. Trying to explain to relatives that
       my early ancestors lived in a pig pasture certainly does not impress them.

John Bishop
Dec 1997.