Chart Sutton is, with Sutton Valence and East Sutton, one of the “Three Suttons” situated some five miles south east of Maidstone on the edge of the Greensand Ridge overlooking the Weald. It is a sparsely populated rural parish of some 885 hectares with an electoral roll of about 700.
Chart is the modern word for the Saxon “Caert” meaning heathland. The Saxon King Coenwulf gave a Charter to the Parish in AD 814. The area was on the route used by the North Kent tribes when they took their stock south to fatten on the rich forest lands. A settlement around a church provided shelter and rest for the travellers, but no trace remains. The Church was rebuilt in Norman times, but the surrounding village was probably abandoned after the plague of 1300. The present village was established much later.
In 1855 the upper part of the Parish was noted for producing superior golden hops, fruit and cob nuts, but sadly most fields now grow something different.
There are two principal residential areas – the “village centre” around Chart Corner, the Village Green and the Georgian House, and on Chart Road, near St Michael’s Church, adjoining Sutton Valence.
