COBHAM, a village of Kent, England, 4m. W. of Rochester. Pop. of parish (1921) 955. The church (Early English and later restored) is rich in ancient brasses (132o-1529), commemorating thirteen Brooke and Cobham families, and for its fine oak stalls. Cobham college, containing 20 almshouses, after the dissolution took the place of a college for priests, founded by Sir John de Cobham in the 14th century. The present Cobham hall is mainly Elizabethan.
The Cobham family was established here before the reign of King John. In 1313 Henry de Cobham was created Baron Cob ham. From 1417 the barony lay dormant till revived in 1445• In 1603 Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham, was arraigned for participa tion in the Raleigh conspiracy, and spent the remainder of his life in prison, where he died in 1618. With him the title expired, and Cobham hall was granted to Lodowick Stewart, duke of Len nox, passing subsequently by descent and marriage to the earls of Darnley. The present Viscount Cobham (cr. 1718) belongs to the Lyttelton family (see LYTTELTON, IST BARON).