A new housing development will give a nod to the area’s past, with a name linked to an ancient family.

Work has just started on the Bovis Homes development at Peters Village in Wouldham which is to be named Beuley View.

The Beuley family were Normans who came over with William the Conqueror, originally settling in Worcestershire, at a place now known as Bewdley, but later expanding across the country.

There are several variations of the spelling of the surname, including Bewley, Bewlay and Beauleu.

They came originally from Beaulieu, in Calvados, Normandy. The name means beautiful view, which means Bovis, part of the Vistry Group, has named its new development Beautiful View View.

A branch of the family lived in Wouldham at the main manor house in the 1600s, which was then known as Beuley Court. They sold up in 1693 and the building was later renamed Wouldham Hall.

That building was demolished and replaced with a “new” Wouldham Hall in the Regency period, which lasted until 1960, but some of the outbuildings were reused for Peters Wouldham Hall Cement Works, which in turn gave its name to Peters Village.

Within the Lady Chapel at All Saints in Wouldham there is a memorial to the Beuley family.

It reads: “Here lieth the body of William Bewley, gentleman, the secunde sonne of Nicholas Bewley, gentleman, who married Anne, the daughter of Barnarde Randolph, gentleman, who departed this world the 23rd of December 1613 in the hopes of a joyfull resurrection.

“Anne, his wife in the remembrance of her dear husband caused this small monument to be here set up.”

The new houses – 162 in total – are being built on a 10-acre site off Worrall Drive.

Candice McCabe, marketing manager for Vistry, said: “Construction work is progressing well at Beuley View and we are making preparations to release the first new homes onto the market and to open a sales office on site in the summer.”

“There will be a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments and two, three and four-bedroom houses.

“The name Beuley View was chosen to recognise the important role that the Beuley family played in the history of Wouldham and also reflects the location of the development, with views of the River Medway on one side and the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the other.”

When completed, the development will bring the total number of homes at Peters Village to 989.