Over the past 500 years some interesting men and women have lived in the parish, and first noteworthy person is Sir Thomas Smythe, whose tomb is in the Church, and he lived at Sutton Place.

Abraham Hill was a merchant who was one of the founding members of the Royal Society, and he lived at St John’s Jerusalem, and is buried in the Church.

Edward Hasted is the famous Historian of Kent, who also lived at St John’s Jerusalem.

Sir William Quiller Orchardson was a Scottish artist who rented Hawley Manor during the 1890s and 1900s.

Sir Stephen Tallents bought St John’s Jerusalem in the late 1920s, and is described as the founder of Public Relations.  Sir Stephen worked with the Empire Marketing Board, the GPO and the BBC, and gave St John’s Jersusalem to the National Trust in 1943.

Graeme Sutherland was briefly a resident at Sutton Place in the 1930s before eventually settling in Trosley.