Kennington, Kent

Kennington is a suburb of Ashford and civil parish in Kent, England. It is about a mile northeast of the town centre and north of the M20 motorway, and contains the 13th-century church, St Mary's. The main A28 Canterbury Road and A2042 Faversham Road run through the village, and the A251 Trinity Road skirts the western edge. In recent years the village has expanded with the building of new housing estates in Little Burton, Trinity Road, Conningbrook Lakes, and planned for Conningbrook Park and Eureka Park.

The Great Stour river and the Kennington stream run through the area.

In 1798, Kennington was described as being situated in a predominantly gravelly yet fertile landscape. Hasted theorised that the name derived from the Saxon Cining-tune (king's town) due to it being owned by Saxon royalty during the heptarchy. Hasted also described two minor streams that watered the area: one originating at Sandyhurst and passing Bybrook, known locally as Bacon's Water, and the other rising near Eastwell Park, flowing through Clipmill and Frogbrook before joining the River Stour on the parish's eastern boundary. The village itself stood on elevated ground near the Canterbury road, with the church positioned at its far end, close to an open heath called Kennington Lees. An annual fair specializing in pedlary and toys was held yearly on July 5.

St Mary's Church was built in the 13th century, and contains stained glass windows designed by Charles Eamer Kempe. The church also contains a font, which, according to Mee, has been in continuous use since 1236. It was locked in medieval times to guard from witches.

Kennington was an ancient parish, and designated a civil parish under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866, able to set its own Poor Rate. This was reformed under the Local Government Act 1894. In 1934 the civil parish was abolished and absorbed into Ashford Urban District Council (later Ashford Borough Council).

Following a Community Governance Review, new Borough ward boundaries took effect from May 2019. Kennington gained representation through a new civil parish council formed on 1 April 2019, with the title Kennington Community Council. The new Borough and Community Council wards are as follows:

Elections to Kennington Community Council are held every four years, on the same date as elections to Ashford Borough Council. The next election is on 6 May 2027.

There is one secondary school in the village, the Towers School, with a local junior school, Kennington CE Academy, and an infants school, Downs View Infants School. Since the county still operates a grammar school system, those who pass the Kent Test (which replaced the 11+) are given the opportunity to attend the grammar school in Ashford, the Norton Knatchbull School or Highworth Grammar School.