"scrubbing" of most of the cherry and other fruit orchards. Borden also had a bell foundry and small ironmongers. Today Borden is growing with new houses and has greater ties with Sittingbourne. Many residents now commute to major towns or London to work. Demography At the 2001 UK census, the Borden electoral ward had a population of 2,154. The ethnicity was 99.1% white, 0.3% mixed race, 0.5% Asian, 0% black and 0.1% other. The place of birth of residents was 96.9% United Kingdom, 0.4% Republic of Ireland, 0.7% other Western European countries, and 2% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 79.9% Christian, 0.1% Buddhist, 0.3% Hindu, 0% Sikh, 0% Jewish, and 0.4% Muslim. 13.4% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 5.5% did not state their religion. The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 43.7% in full-time employment, 11.5% in part-time employment, 12.2% self-employed, 2.5% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 2.6% students without jobs, 13.4% retired, 7% looking after home or family, 2.7% permanently sick or disabled and 2.1% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 17.1% retail, 16.3% manufacturing, 10.1% construction, 13.3% real estate, 7.7% health and social work, 6.8% education, 6.3% transport and communications, 5.1% public administration, 3.6% hotels and restaurants, 5.2% finance, 2.9% agriculture and 5.6% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in agriculture and construction. There were a relatively low proportion in health and social work, hotels and restaurants. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 16.7% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide. People Robert Plot Violet McNaughton (née Jackson; 1879 – 1968), journalist and women's rights activist See also Borden Grammar School References External links [ Borden Parish Heritage] Borden Parish Church 1066 establishments in England Populated places established in the 11th century Villages in Kent Borough of Swale