Wilmington is the name of a lordship or manor or reputed lordship or manor in Sellindge, in the Folkestone and Hythe borough of Kent, to which the feudal title Lady of Wilmington relates, which has some of the earliest examples of surviving Anglo-Saxon charters, and is particularly noted for the observation of changes to its placename during its early history.
In 700, the lands were described as Pleghelmestun, 'the tùn of Pleghelm', consisting of four ploughlands, between the three boundaries of Bereueg, Meguines paeth and Stretleg, said to be well-known at the time.
[1] This original, longer charter also included a grant of lands for the grazing of 300 sheep at Rumining seta, in Romney Marsh.
This remote marshland holding was argued by Gordon Ward to be Sellindge in the Marsh, latterly part of the parish of Dymchurch.
Here, the first two letters of Pleghelmestun, are crossed out and are replaced with the period's alternative spelling to 'Wi', qi, giving rise to Wieghelmestun, or 'the tun of Wieghelm', showing an attempt to tie the earlier name with its later version.