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Early
History
There have been people living in this
area for many years, as archaeological remains show.
Flint tools dating from c.2000 BC have been found, in
Lousyberry Wood are the remains of three Bronze Age
bowl barrows (1800-550 BC), and there have also been
Roman finds in the area. The written history of River
is a little more sketchy. The Domesday Monarchorum,
a survey of Saxon churches prepared just after the Norman
Conquest, lists the nearby village of Aewellan (Temple
Ewell) as having two churches. It seems likely that
River and Ewell were listed together, and the presence
of a church would suggest a Saxon settlement.
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River
Church
The first concrete evidence of the
church at River comes from a manuscript dating from
1208, in which King John granted the church of St Peter
the Apostle at Ryveris (River) to the Abbot of St
Radigund's Abbey. The dedication of the church has
been changed a number of times, first to the dual dedication
of St Peter and St Paul, the name of St Paul later being
dropped only to be reinstated again in 1876. Little
is known of the original church, records form 1665-6
show that the building had deteriorated and had partially
fallen down and was no longer fit for services. It was
repaired during the 1680s.
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Old River church, c.1800.
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River church, c.1900.
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By the early 19th century the old church had become
too small for the growing parish and enlargement was
first suggested in 1822. The original idea did not
get off the ground but the subject was raised again
1829, and this time found favour. Work began in 1831,
the old church was demolished and the new one built
on the same site. The new church was consecrated in
September 1833. It was restored in 1876, when an apsidal
chancel was added. In the 1990s the church was further
enlarged and the old church hall replaced.
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Nineteenth Century
Expansion
During the 19th century the village
began to attract some of the wealthier citizens of Dover
who wanted to live outside the town. With the arrival
of the London
Chatham and Dover Railway in 1861 and the opening
of Kearsney Station, the way was cleared for early commuters.
The village continued to expand from
its old centre until it included the adjacent areas
of Crabble and Kearsney. In 1903 the greater part of
the parish was absorbed into the Borough of Dover, and
in 1905 the Corporation
Tramway was extended to a terminus at Minnis Lane.
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Cottage on the corner of Minnis Lane and River Street,
c.1910.
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River, c.1900 |
Crabble, looking downstream from Crabble Corn Mill.
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Common Lane.
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Lower Road.
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Corn Mills in River
There is some evidence of corn milling
being carried out in the village as early as 1227, although
the location of the mills is by no means certain. A
document dating from 1472 refers to the leasing of two
mills in River. Kearsney Mill in the grounds of Kearsney
Manor was probably built on the foundations of the mills
referred to in 1472. Another mill was built in the mid
19th century near to Kearsney Abbey, which used the
branch of the Dour which flows in from the Alkham Valley.
River Paper Mill was a substantial corn mill in the
mid 17th century. The present Crabble
Corn Mill is known to stand on the site of at least
two earlier structures.
Crabble Paper Mill
The first mention of this mill is in
the Universal British Directory of 1791 which describes
it as "lately erected", this was confirmed during modernisation
work which uncovered a keystone inscribed 1788. In 1895
the mill was taken over by Wiggins Teape & Co, the owners
of Buckland Paper Mill.
Damaged by a shell during World War 2, the mill was
repaired but after the war was only used as a storage
depot. It has now been devloped for residential purposes
with some individual houses and loft-style appartments
in the old mill buildings.
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River, c.1900. Behind the church can be seen the chimney
of River Paper Mill.
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River Paper Mill
This mill, which stood at the bottom
of Minnis Lane, below the church, is first mentioned
as a paper mill in a sale document of 1689. The mill
continued in operation until it was finally closed down
and scrapped in 1918. The river Dour now flows through
the ruins of the old mill, making a picturesque entrance
to Kearsney
Abbey from Minnis Lane.
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Brick-making
As Dover and the surrounding villages
began to expand at the beginning of the 19th Century,
the need for bricks increased, this need prompted the
start of the brick industry in the village. The earliest
reference to brick making comes from the parish registers,
which list occupations in the baptism and marriage entries.
Philip Awles is identified as a brick maker in 1814.
The last references from the same source are William
Brockman and John Lawerence, both listed as brick makers
in 1903. The brickfields have now been totally levelled
and houses stand where clay was dug and bricks were
fired, this was in what is now the Lewisham Road area.
River
Today
The village has expanded well beyond
its original centre and now forms one continuous built-up
area with Dover. In the 1930s what had been the old
tram track, running across open fields to the village,
was developed and became Lewisham Road. Since the Second
World War expansion has continued apace with large
new housing developments stretching up the hills from
Lewisham Road.
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