Wye

The village's name comes from the Old English "Wēoh" meaning idol or shrine. Wye may have been used for worship by the pre-Christian Angles. Wye became an important communications centre because of a ford across the River Great Stour connecting with ancient trackways across the North Downs. Romans constructed a road between Canterbury and Hastings using the gap through the North Downs and there have been suggestions the straight Olantigh Road may have been built by them as a separate route from Wye to Canterbury on the east of the River Stour. Remains of an ironworks at the west bank of the river, from that period, have been found. By medieval times, Wye had a market and hosted the local…