a Royalist under Charles I. He was executed in London after being reported as being 'too dangerous to live'. His body lies in the Vane family vault area of the crypt of Shipbourne church in an anthropoid (body shaped) lead shell coffin with many members of the Vane family. His ghost is said to wander the village. The son of one employee of the Vane family on the estate wrote a 700 verse blank poem about hop-growing. The poet Christopher Smart was born in 1722 at Fairlawne, where his father was steward. Cazalet Family: The Vane family were followed by the Cazalets. In 1880, Edward Cazalet built the church, dedicated to St Giles, plus a public house, originally named "The New Inn" and later renamed The Chaser, and several of the cottages which surround The Common. Major Peter Cazalet was the trainer of horses owned by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Many members of the Cazalet family are commemorated in the church. The Village St Giles Church: Originally the regarded as a chapel to Tonbridge Parish Church by 1314 the Church belonged to the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. The dedication of the church to St Giles, the patron saint of lepers, beggars and disabled people dates from this period. Jane Austen's father, George Austen held the curacy of St Giles church until 1758. The current church building was commissioned by Edward Cazalet in 1879 to replace a much loved but crumbling older building dating from 1722. The new church was built by a local builder, William Allcorn, who used pinnacles from the old church as gateposts for his new house on School Lane. St Giles' Church continues to serve as a place of worship, but nowadays also doubles up, every Thursday morning, as the venue for the local farmers' market. Dene Park: Dene Park woods is 250 acres of mixed woodland stretching from Shipbourne Common towards Tonbridge. Now looked after by the forestry commission, it originally formed part of the 650 acre Dene Park Estate; a sporting estate and country house on the outskirts of the village. The equestrian and canine artist F.M. Hollams spent her early years at Dene Park. Shipbourne Cricket Club: Established in 1880, Shipbourne CC are one of the oldest village cricket clubs in the county. Originally playing on Shipbourne Common in 1939 the Common was turned over to Agricultural use by the