All Saints, Brenchley, Kent
The final call on a short four church crawl.
Brenchley is where Jools' Nan grew up, and a place I had not been to, but is a chocolate box pretty place, damning it with feint praise, but the village pub, The Bull, look inviting, though we had already had lunch and a pint, so best not.
The church lay opposite the village square with its water fountain, and access to the church was down a fine tree-lined path to the porch.
I have reviewed my shots, and All Saints is a fine church, just not outstanding. It has some fine monuments, some good Victorian glass and nice painted ceiling and roof beams, but it is the setting that makes the church.
Nice turret staircase in the south chapel, unusual to an interior one rather than exterior.
--------------------------------------------
All Saints is an interesting church standing in a beautifully kept churchyard. The crownpost roof incorporates a canopy of honour over the eastern bay, where it would have emphasised the position of the rood figures. The lower part of the rood screen survives and is dated 1536 - making it (with Lullingstone) one of the last to be built in Kent before the Reformation. The sedilia and piscina survive in the chancel and date from the fourteenth century, even though this part of the church was rebuilt in the nineteenth century. The east window is by Morris and Co., and dates from 1910, whilst the windows to north and south of the sanctuary are also of twentieth century date and are by the well known artist Robert Anning Bell who is not usually associated with stained glass. There is a fine memorial in the north transept to Barbara and Walter Roberts, showing the two figures holding hands. It dates from 1652. One of the bells in the tower carries the inscription, 'Untouched I am a silent thing, But strike me and I sweetly sing.'
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brenchley
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BRENCHLEY
WRITTEN in old deeds BRANCHESLE, and in the Textus Roffensis, BTÆNCESLE, lies the next parish eastward from Pembury. The village of it is, almost all of it, within this hundred, though the hundred of Twyford extends itself over a narrow district of the northeast part of this parish into the town of Brenchley, some of the houses of which on the eastern side are within the jurisdiction of it.
The boroughs of Stoberfield and Roeden, in this parish, are within the manors of East Farleigh and East Peckham, of which the lands in them are held in free socage tenure. (fn. 1)
THIS PARISH is of large extent, being upwards of four miles from north to south, and about three in width. It consists of hill and dale, the soil is various, on the hill on which the village stands, it is a sand, intermixed with much of the rock or sand stone, which soil continues mostly over the northern part of it, and towards Horsemonden green, the rest of it is a stiff miry clay in winter, excepting the high road, hardly passable, and in summer has a cakey surface, as hard as iron.
This parish is very woody, especially on the skirts of it, the whole of it has a dreary gloomy aspect, as well from that as from the quantities of large spreading oaks throughout it. The houses, which are mostly old-fashioned timbered buildings, are situated in general round the different small greens or sostals; the bye roads here are broad, and covered on each side with green swerd, and in wet weather, as well as the country round them very deep and miry; the farms are but small, and of moderate rents, and there are several plantations of hop-ground belonging to them.
¶The village, or town of Brenchley, as it is frequently stiled in antient writings, is situated pleasant enough on a hill, the turnpike road leading through it towards Horsemonden, Goudhurst, and the southern parts of the Weald. The houses in it are mostly large well-timbered buildings, and of antient date; at the south end of it is the church and parsonage; at a small distance eastward is a seat called BROADOAK, which was in queen Elizabeth's reign purchased of several persons, by George Paine, citizen of London, whose heirs in 1698 alienated it to Mr. John Hooker, of West-Peckham, younger brother of Thomas, the grandfather of Thomas Hooker, esq. late of Tunbridge, his son of the same name, died in 1717, whose third son Stephen at length became possessed of it, and left one son, John Hooker, esq. now of Broadoak, which he rebuilt. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Cooke, of the county of Salop, by whom he has one son Stephen, and now resides in it.
About a mile westward of the village, among others round Matfield-green, is a modern house belonging to Mr. Bowls Merchant, whose father Thomas Merchant, built it about sixty years ago, and he resides here as his ancestors have done for some generations. At no great distance eastward from Broadoak, at Castle-hill, just at the point of the eminence, stands the remarkable toll of trees, called Brenchley toll, which from their high situation, are a remarkable object for many miles round.
In the adjoining wood there are the remains of a square mote, containing between three and four acres of ground, probably the scite of some manor. This wood, and the farm belonging to it, are the property of Mr. John Monckton, they have now no particular name, but have the reputation of having had a very extensive manor once belonging to them.
There are the remains of another mote or intrenchment in this parish, of great width and depth, undoubtedly inclosing a building of considerable strength; the area of which is, I think, not quite so large as that above-mentioned. There is no name used either to the wood or farm adjoining to it. The family of Daffy, of Rumford, in Essex, were formerly owners of it, and continued so till one of them alienated it to Mr. Thomas Outeridge, the present possessor of it.
The poor who receive constant relief yearly are in number about eighty, those casually 180.
BRENCHLEY is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester and deanry of Malling.
The church is dedicated to All Saints. In it there are monuments and inscriptions for the families of Roberts and Courthope, and an inscription for Elizabeth, wife of George Fane, esq. of Tudeley, in 1566.
This church seems antiently to have been esteemed but as a chapel to the adjoining parish church of Yalding; Richard de Clare, earl of Hertford, gave that church, with this chapel, and all its appurtenances, in pure and perpetual alms, to the priory of Tunbridge, lately founded by him there.
After which I find it no longer mentioned as a chapel, but as an independent parochial church. Bishop Henry de Sandford, who came to the see of Rochester in 1227, confirmed the church of Brenchley to the prior and canons before mentioned, to be possessed by them as an appropriation for ever; saving, a perpetual vicarage for a priest, to be presented to it by them, who should for the time being personally serve in it; and that he should, in the name of a perpetual vicarage, have the whole altarage, and all small tithes, obventions of the altar, and tithes of curtilages, and all the tithes of corn and pulse, and hay of Westroterindenne, (now called Witherenden) which was of the fee of the abbess of Malling, and lay between the way which leads from Yalding towards Condingebery and the land of Hamon de la Downe, and extended itself in length from Badeshulle to Matefeld; and that he should have, in the name of a glebe, four acres of land, which lay adjoining to the messuage of Simon de Wahull, towards the north, between the road which leads to the house of the parson of Brenchley and the house of Fulk; and that he should have yearly from the barns of the prior and canons of Brenchesle, two seams of oats, and two seams of crowe for his palfry, paying yearly to the prior and canons from the vicarage, two wax tapers of four pounds each; but that the vicar should sustain all episcopal burthens, and all others due and accustomed. As to the two seams of crowe as above-mentioned, in the Latin deed it is, duas Summas de Crowe, the meaning of which, I own, I do not understand, but think it is most probably a mistake of the transcriber. At present the payment is made to the vicar in two seams of oats.
In which state this rectory, with the advowson of the vicarage, and THE MANOR OF BARNES likewise appendant to the rectory of Brenchley, remained till the dissolution of the priory of Tunbridge in the reign of king Henry VIII. who in the 17th year of it, granted that priory, with all its possessions, among which was this church and the manor of Barnes, with the land and appurtenances belonging to them, to cardinal Wolsey, for the better endowment of his college, commonly called Cardinal's college, in Oxford. (fn. 6) But that great prelate being cast in a prœmunire, all the estates of the above-mentioned college, which had not been firmly settled on it, were forfeited, and came into the king's hands, where this rectory, manor, and advowson remained, till the 31st year of that reign, when the king granted them to Paul Sydnor, gent. to hold in capite by knights service. His son, William Sydnor, esq. succeeded to these premises in the 5th year of queen Elizabeth, and not long afterwards alienated them to William Waller, esq. of Groombridge, who married Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Sir Walter Hendley, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. She survived him, and appears to have possessed these premises in Brenchley, and afterwards married George Fane, esq. of Badsell.
Her eldest son, by her first husband Sir Walter Waller, succeeded her here, and his son Sir Thomas Waller, of Groombridge, alienated the manor of Barnes, and the rectory of Brenchley, with the advowson of the vicarage, to John Courthope, esq. afterwards of Brenchley, youngest brother of Sir George Courthope, of Whileigh, in Suffex, who died possessed of them in 1649, in whose family they have continued down to George Courthope, esq. now of Uckfield, in Sussex, the present owner of them.
¶This family is supposed by some to have been originally seated at Courthope-street, commonly written Court-at-street, near Limne, in this county. One branch of them settled at Goddards green, in Cranbrook, whence descended those of Danny, in Sussex, and of Horsemonden, in this county, both now extinct. Another branch settled at Stodmarsh, near Canterbury, now likewise extinct; and another at Whileigh, in Sussex, the only one now remaining of it, who now reside at Uckfield, in Sussex; of which branch is George Courthope, esq. the present possessor of this rectory, whose father and grandfather, both of the name of George, intermarried into the family of Campion, of Danny, in Sussex. The present Mr. George Courthope, (whose younger brother Henry was vicar of this parish, and died unmarried), married Francis Barbara, daughter of William Campion, esq. of Danny, and has two sons, George; and William now vicar of this parish, and a daughter Frances. They bear for their arms, Argent, a fess between three estoils azure.
The vicarage is valued in the king's books at 12l. 18s. 9d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 5s. 10½d.
In 1608 there were 664 communicants.
All Saints, Brenchley, Kent
The final call on a short four church crawl.
Brenchley is where Jools' Nan grew up, and a place I had not been to, but is a chocolate box pretty place, damning it with feint praise, but the village pub, The Bull, look inviting, though we had already had lunch and a pint, so best not.
The church lay opposite the village square with its water fountain, and access to the church was down a fine tree-lined path to the porch.
I have reviewed my shots, and All Saints is a fine church, just not outstanding. It has some fine monuments, some good Victorian glass and nice painted ceiling and roof beams, but it is the setting that makes the church.
Nice turret staircase in the south chapel, unusual to an interior one rather than exterior.
--------------------------------------------
All Saints is an interesting church standing in a beautifully kept churchyard. The crownpost roof incorporates a canopy of honour over the eastern bay, where it would have emphasised the position of the rood figures. The lower part of the rood screen survives and is dated 1536 - making it (with Lullingstone) one of the last to be built in Kent before the Reformation. The sedilia and piscina survive in the chancel and date from the fourteenth century, even though this part of the church was rebuilt in the nineteenth century. The east window is by Morris and Co., and dates from 1910, whilst the windows to north and south of the sanctuary are also of twentieth century date and are by the well known artist Robert Anning Bell who is not usually associated with stained glass. There is a fine memorial in the north transept to Barbara and Walter Roberts, showing the two figures holding hands. It dates from 1652. One of the bells in the tower carries the inscription, 'Untouched I am a silent thing, But strike me and I sweetly sing.'
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brenchley
-------------------------------------------
BRENCHLEY
WRITTEN in old deeds BRANCHESLE, and in the Textus Roffensis, BTÆNCESLE, lies the next parish eastward from Pembury. The village of it is, almost all of it, within this hundred, though the hundred of Twyford extends itself over a narrow district of the northeast part of this parish into the town of Brenchley, some of the houses of which on the eastern side are within the jurisdiction of it.
The boroughs of Stoberfield and Roeden, in this parish, are within the manors of East Farleigh and East Peckham, of which the lands in them are held in free socage tenure. (fn. 1)
THIS PARISH is of large extent, being upwards of four miles from north to south, and about three in width. It consists of hill and dale, the soil is various, on the hill on which the village stands, it is a sand, intermixed with much of the rock or sand stone, which soil continues mostly over the northern part of it, and towards Horsemonden green, the rest of it is a stiff miry clay in winter, excepting the high road, hardly passable, and in summer has a cakey surface, as hard as iron.
This parish is very woody, especially on the skirts of it, the whole of it has a dreary gloomy aspect, as well from that as from the quantities of large spreading oaks throughout it. The houses, which are mostly old-fashioned timbered buildings, are situated in general round the different small greens or sostals; the bye roads here are broad, and covered on each side with green swerd, and in wet weather, as well as the country round them very deep and miry; the farms are but small, and of moderate rents, and there are several plantations of hop-ground belonging to them.
¶The village, or town of Brenchley, as it is frequently stiled in antient writings, is situated pleasant enough on a hill, the turnpike road leading through it towards Horsemonden, Goudhurst, and the southern parts of the Weald. The houses in it are mostly large well-timbered buildings, and of antient date; at the south end of it is the church and parsonage; at a small distance eastward is a seat called BROADOAK, which was in queen Elizabeth's reign purchased of several persons, by George Paine, citizen of London, whose heirs in 1698 alienated it to Mr. John Hooker, of West-Peckham, younger brother of Thomas, the grandfather of Thomas Hooker, esq. late of Tunbridge, his son of the same name, died in 1717, whose third son Stephen at length became possessed of it, and left one son, John Hooker, esq. now of Broadoak, which he rebuilt. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Cooke, of the county of Salop, by whom he has one son Stephen, and now resides in it.
About a mile westward of the village, among others round Matfield-green, is a modern house belonging to Mr. Bowls Merchant, whose father Thomas Merchant, built it about sixty years ago, and he resides here as his ancestors have done for some generations. At no great distance eastward from Broadoak, at Castle-hill, just at the point of the eminence, stands the remarkable toll of trees, called Brenchley toll, which from their high situation, are a remarkable object for many miles round.
In the adjoining wood there are the remains of a square mote, containing between three and four acres of ground, probably the scite of some manor. This wood, and the farm belonging to it, are the property of Mr. John Monckton, they have now no particular name, but have the reputation of having had a very extensive manor once belonging to them.
There are the remains of another mote or intrenchment in this parish, of great width and depth, undoubtedly inclosing a building of considerable strength; the area of which is, I think, not quite so large as that above-mentioned. There is no name used either to the wood or farm adjoining to it. The family of Daffy, of Rumford, in Essex, were formerly owners of it, and continued so till one of them alienated it to Mr. Thomas Outeridge, the present possessor of it.
The poor who receive constant relief yearly are in number about eighty, those casually 180.
BRENCHLEY is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester and deanry of Malling.
The church is dedicated to All Saints. In it there are monuments and inscriptions for the families of Roberts and Courthope, and an inscription for Elizabeth, wife of George Fane, esq. of Tudeley, in 1566.
This church seems antiently to have been esteemed but as a chapel to the adjoining parish church of Yalding; Richard de Clare, earl of Hertford, gave that church, with this chapel, and all its appurtenances, in pure and perpetual alms, to the priory of Tunbridge, lately founded by him there.
After which I find it no longer mentioned as a chapel, but as an independent parochial church. Bishop Henry de Sandford, who came to the see of Rochester in 1227, confirmed the church of Brenchley to the prior and canons before mentioned, to be possessed by them as an appropriation for ever; saving, a perpetual vicarage for a priest, to be presented to it by them, who should for the time being personally serve in it; and that he should, in the name of a perpetual vicarage, have the whole altarage, and all small tithes, obventions of the altar, and tithes of curtilages, and all the tithes of corn and pulse, and hay of Westroterindenne, (now called Witherenden) which was of the fee of the abbess of Malling, and lay between the way which leads from Yalding towards Condingebery and the land of Hamon de la Downe, and extended itself in length from Badeshulle to Matefeld; and that he should have, in the name of a glebe, four acres of land, which lay adjoining to the messuage of Simon de Wahull, towards the north, between the road which leads to the house of the parson of Brenchley and the house of Fulk; and that he should have yearly from the barns of the prior and canons of Brenchesle, two seams of oats, and two seams of crowe for his palfry, paying yearly to the prior and canons from the vicarage, two wax tapers of four pounds each; but that the vicar should sustain all episcopal burthens, and all others due and accustomed. As to the two seams of crowe as above-mentioned, in the Latin deed it is, duas Summas de Crowe, the meaning of which, I own, I do not understand, but think it is most probably a mistake of the transcriber. At present the payment is made to the vicar in two seams of oats.
In which state this rectory, with the advowson of the vicarage, and THE MANOR OF BARNES likewise appendant to the rectory of Brenchley, remained till the dissolution of the priory of Tunbridge in the reign of king Henry VIII. who in the 17th year of it, granted that priory, with all its possessions, among which was this church and the manor of Barnes, with the land and appurtenances belonging to them, to cardinal Wolsey, for the better endowment of his college, commonly called Cardinal's college, in Oxford. (fn. 6) But that great prelate being cast in a prœmunire, all the estates of the above-mentioned college, which had not been firmly settled on it, were forfeited, and came into the king's hands, where this rectory, manor, and advowson remained, till the 31st year of that reign, when the king granted them to Paul Sydnor, gent. to hold in capite by knights service. His son, William Sydnor, esq. succeeded to these premises in the 5th year of queen Elizabeth, and not long afterwards alienated them to William Waller, esq. of Groombridge, who married Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Sir Walter Hendley, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. She survived him, and appears to have possessed these premises in Brenchley, and afterwards married George Fane, esq. of Badsell.
Her eldest son, by her first husband Sir Walter Waller, succeeded her here, and his son Sir Thomas Waller, of Groombridge, alienated the manor of Barnes, and the rectory of Brenchley, with the advowson of the vicarage, to John Courthope, esq. afterwards of Brenchley, youngest brother of Sir George Courthope, of Whileigh, in Suffex, who died possessed of them in 1649, in whose family they have continued down to George Courthope, esq. now of Uckfield, in Sussex, the present owner of them.
¶This family is supposed by some to have been originally seated at Courthope-street, commonly written Court-at-street, near Limne, in this county. One branch of them settled at Goddards green, in Cranbrook, whence descended those of Danny, in Sussex, and of Horsemonden, in this county, both now extinct. Another branch settled at Stodmarsh, near Canterbury, now likewise extinct; and another at Whileigh, in Sussex, the only one now remaining of it, who now reside at Uckfield, in Sussex; of which branch is George Courthope, esq. the present possessor of this rectory, whose father and grandfather, both of the name of George, intermarried into the family of Campion, of Danny, in Sussex. The present Mr. George Courthope, (whose younger brother Henry was vicar of this parish, and died unmarried), married Francis Barbara, daughter of William Campion, esq. of Danny, and has two sons, George; and William now vicar of this parish, and a daughter Frances. They bear for their arms, Argent, a fess between three estoils azure.
The vicarage is valued in the king's books at 12l. 18s. 9d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 5s. 10½d.
In 1608 there were 664 communicants.