Audrey Hepburn, the future Hollywood star, spent part of her childhood in the Kent village of Elham, near Canterbury. Local historians state that her love of performing was encouraged during three formative years in the village before the outbreak of World War Two.
Hepburn, then known as Audrey Ruston-Hepburn, lived in Orchard Cottage between 1936 and 1939 after her parents separated. Brian Badham of Elham Historical Society said it was decided she should continue her English education in Kent, where family friends resided. She attended Rigden School in the centre of Elham, where one of the sisters encouraged her involvement with music and dance.
Dilys Webb, a fellow historian, noted that Elham offered a busy social life for a young girl in the late 1930s, with shops, coffee houses, and pubs. Although historians are unaware of her ever returning to Elham, residents are reportedly "incredibly proud" that Hepburn once called their community home. A blue plaque on a cottage near the King's Arms pub now marks the place where she lived.