Strange Place Name Pronunciations in Kent

It's called a typewriter!
Quite recently, I was reading an article written by Jerry Dowlen in which he highlighted the strange pronunciation of a place quite near to where I live. The article was printed in Issue 3 of 'The Jocelyn Brooke Journal', a newsletter-style booklet created and published by Phil Babbs every quarter about the author Jocelyn Brooke. 

The place in question that Jerry mentions is Elham. I can agree with Jerry's recollection for Elham being pronounced as Eel-ham, as it is still said this way today, and his article did get me thinking.

There are many towns and villages throughout the UK where the spelling does not match the pronunciation. We have a fair few of them here in Kent. In fact, including Elham, I have rounded up thirty such places, all of which I have listed below with their actual spelling and how they are commonly pronounced. The hyphens within the words are included to break up the syllables of each name. They are not listed in alphabetical order, as I think that would be quite a boring read, so let's just dive in... 

Meopham - not Mee-o-fam but Mep-pam

Wrotham - not Roff-ham but Root-um (thus Wrotham Hill is Rootum Hill)

Chatham - not Chafe-ham but Chat-ham

Lympne - not Limp-knee but Lim (without a 'p')

Mongeham - not Monj-ham but Mun-jam

Wickhambreaux - not Wick-ham-brow or Wick-ham-bro but Wick-ham-brew (it's a lovely village near Canterbury)

Ightham - not Eye-fam but I-tam

Teynham - not Tayn-ham but Ten-um

Hougham - not How-am but Huff-am (between Folkestone and Dover)

Leigh - not Lee but Lie

Womenswold - not Womens-wold but Wimmins-wold

Erith - not Air-if but Ee-rif (Air-if is quite a common mistake made by 'out-of-towners')

Tonbridge - not Ton-bridge but Tun-bridge (as in Tunbridge Wells; I know, funnily strange, isn't it)

Elham - not Ell-ham but Eel-ham

Goudhurst - not Good-hurst but Gowd-hurst

Barham - not Bar-ham but Bar-rum (as in The Pink Panther tune... Barrum, Barrum, Barrum, Barrum, Barrum...)

Mersham - not Mersh-ham but Mers-am (the 'h' is silent)

Westbere - not West-bear but West-beer

Horsemonden - not Horse-mon-den but Horse-mn-dn (without the 'o' or 'e')

Hardres - not Hard-res but Hards

Dymchurch - not Dime-church but Dim-church

Lyminge - not Lie-minge or Lee-minge but limminj (oh, do stop giggling at the last part of the name!)

Twydall - not Twy-dall but Twiddle (yes, I thought it was funny, too) 

Otham - not Off-ham but Ottam

Brasted - not Brass-ted but Bray-sted (yep, a 'y' is somehow added)

Eythorne - not Eye-thorn but Ay-thorn

Iwade - pronounce it as it looks - Eye-wade

Trottiscliffe - not Trot-is-cliffe but Trosley, said as Troz-lee (honestly, I am not making this up)

Kit's Coty - not Kit's Coaty but Kit's Cotty (rhyming with spotty)

Capel-le-Ferne - This appears to be a bit of a debating point. It is said by some that 'locals' here call it Capple-le-Ferne (as in apple) but, I have lived in Folkestone, which is just a stone's throw from Capel, for 40 years and have only ever heard the 'village up the hill' ever referred to as Capel-le-Ferne, as in Cape-el-le-Ferne, or just Capel (for short), never Capple.

There's bound to be one or two more Kent places that I have missed out and that readers are maybe jumping up and down just itching to tell me about them. Award yourself ten points for each additional one you can think of. The rules are simple: they must be in the county of Kent and must sound totally different to how they are traditionally spelt.

If you are interested in finding out more about author Jocelyn Brooke and his underrated works, please have a word with Phil Babbs at the next Cray Wanderers home game at Flamingo Park. He'll be in or around the club shop.

Trevor Mulligan