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The Ancient Parish of East Farleigh, East Farleigh. Kent by Jelltex

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I have always thought that Elmstone was the only Kent church without dedication to a Saint/King or Martyr, but it seems East Farleigh has has St Mary foisted upon it.

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Many churches that one spends years trying to see inside of, turn out to be disappointments.

But not so of the Farleighs, East and West.

With West being open and being a delight, what then of East, hidden as it is behind the village hall and old schoolhouse?

I went down the alleyway, round the corner and through the gate and saw that the porch was open, and in the inner door was too.

Again, I was greeted warmly, and once inside I saw a large and impressive church that stay almost hidden from the road above it.

I have always arrived at East Farleigh from West Farleigh, meaning that I arrive at the car park, and then go through the narrow passage way between the old school and village hall.

But looking on GSV, there are fine views from the crossroads opposite the Bull Inn, through the lych gave and down the sunken path to the church.

I am usually speeding away to my next destination at this point, so don't look in my rear view mirror.

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Who would have thought that 150 years ago the picturesque church perched high above the River Medway was the scene of fierce dissent over ritualistic practices? The church was one of the first in the country to have a robed choir. The sunken path from the south shows how much the ground level has risen over the centuries and leads to a porch with a fine parvise. Although the church has been rather heavily restored it contains much of interest. Of special note is the Tudor font cover which sits on a fourteenth century font. The chancel and south chapel were both embellished by the firm of Powell's and much glass and wall decoration is by them. They created a rich focus for Eucharistic worship as a contrast to the rather plain nave and aisles. The south chancel window, with WW1 scenes is a fine example of their work.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=East+Farleigh

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EAST FARLEIGH.

NORTH-WESTWARD from Linton, on the opposite side of Cocks-heath, and on the southern bank of the river Medway lies the parish of East Farleigh, so called to distinguish it from the adjoining parish of West Farleigh, in Twyford hundred. It is called by Leland, in his Itinerary, Great Farleigh.

In the record of Domesday it is written Ferlaga, and in the Textus Roffensis, FEARNLEGA, and most probably took its name, as well as the parish of West Farleigh, from the passage over the river Medway at one or both of these places, fare in Saxon signifying a journey or passage, and lega, a place, i. e. the place of the way or passage.

THE PARISH of East Farleigh is situated about two miles from Maidstone, it lies on high ground, the soil a loam, covering but very slightly a bed of quarry stone. It is exceeding fertile, especially for fruit trees and the hop-plant, of which, especially about the village, there are many plantations. Its extent is about two miles each way; the river Medway is its northern boundary, over which here is an old gothic stone bridge of five arches, which is repaired at the county charge. The tide, in memory of some now living, flowed up as high as this bridge, but since the locks have been erected on this river to promote the navi gation, it has stopped from flowing higher than that just above Maidstone bridge. From the river the ground rises suddenly and steep southward, forming a beautiful combination of objects to the sight, having the village and church on the height, intersected with large spreading oaks and plantations of fruit, and the luxuriant hop, whilst the river Medway gliding its silver stream below, reflects the varied landscape. The village, through which the road leads from Tovill to West Farleigh, stands on the knole of the hill, about a quarter of a mile from the river, having the church and vicarage in it; eastward lies the hamlet of Danestreet, and further on Pimpes-court, at the extremity of this parish next to Loose, in which part of the lands belonging to it lie. At a small distance westward of the village of East Farleigh, is a genteel house, formerly belonging to a family of the name of Darby, some of whom are mentioned in the parish register as inhabitants of it, as far back as the year 1653. Mr. John Darby, the last of them, died in 1755, and by will gave this house to his widow, (Mary, daughter of Captain Elmstone, of Egerton) who re-married Mr. James Drury, of Maidstone, by whom she had one daughter, Mary. Since his death in 1764, she again became possessed of it, and resides in it; from hence the ground keeps still rising southward to Cocksheath, between which and the village is the manor of Gallants, part of the heath is within this parish, which reaches within a quarter of a mile of the house called Boughton Cock, part of Loose parish intervening, and separating the eastern extremity of it entirely from the rest. In this part of the parish are some quarries of Kentish rag stone, commonly called the Boughton quarries, from their lying mostly in that parish, and on the banks of the Medway there are more of the same fort, wholly in this of Farleigh.

A younger branch of the clerks of Ford, in Wrotham, resided here in the reigns of queen Elizabeth and king James I. as appears by the parish register. Dr. Plot mentions in his natural history of Oxfordshire, some large teeth having been dug up here, one of which was seven inches round, and weighed five ounces and an eighth, but I can gain no further information of them.

THIS PLACE was given by queen Ediva, or as she is called by some Edgiva, the mother of king Edmund and Eadred, in the year 961, to Christ-church, in Canterbury, free from all secular service, excepting the repairing of bridges, and the building of castles; (fn. 1) and it continued in the possession of that church at the time of the taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1080, being the 15th of the Conqueror's reign, in which it is thus described, under the general title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, or lands of Christ-church, in Canterbury.

The archbishop himself holds Ferlaga. It was taxed at six sulings. The arable land is 26 carucates. In demesne there are four, and 35 villeins, with 56 borderers, having 30 carucates. There is a church and three mills of twenty-seven shillings and eight pence. There are 8 servants, and 6 fisheries, of one thousand two hundred eels. There are 12 acres of pasture. Wood for the pannage of 115 hogs.

Of the land of this manor Godefrid held in fee half a suling, and has there two carucates, and seven villeins with 10 borderers having three carucates, and four servants, and one mill of twenty pence, and four acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of 30 hogs.

The whole manor, in the time of king Edward the Confessor was worth sixteen pounds, and afterwards as much, and now twenty-two pounds. What Abel now holds is worth six pounds, what Godefrid nine pounds, what Richard in his lowy, four pounds.

In the time of king Edward I. the manor of East Farleigh, together with the estate belonging to Christchurch, in the neighbouring parish of Hunton, was valued at forty-two pounds per annum.

King Edward II. in his 10th year, confirmed to the prior of Christ-church free warren, in all the demesne lands which he possessed here in the time of his grandfather, or at any time since. (fn. 2) This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory, till its dissolution in the 31st year of king Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, who that year granted it, among other premises, to Sir Thomas Wyatt, and his heirs male, to hold in capite by knight's service, but his son, Sir Thomas Wyatt, having raised a rebellion in the 1st year of queen Mary was attainted, and his estates became forfeited to the crown, and were together with the reversion of them, assured to the queen and her heirs, by an act passed for that purpose. After which, though the queen made a grant of the scite and capital messuage of this manor, to Sir John Baker, as will be further mentioned hereafter, yet the manor itself continued in the crown, and remained so at the death of king Charles I. in 1648. After which the powers then in being, passed an ordinance to vest the royal estates in trustees, in order for sale, to supply the necessities of the state, when on a survey taken of this manor it appeared, that there were quit-rents due to the lord from freeholders, in free socage tenure in this parish, and within the townships of Linton and East Peckham, and from several dens in the Weald; that there were common fines from the borsholders of Stokenburie, in East Peckham, and of Badmonden, Stoberfield and Rocden, the produce of all which yearly, with the fines, profits, &c. of courts, coibus annis, amounted in the total to 56l. 7s. 7½d. That there was a court ba ron and court leet; that the freeholders paid a heriot on demise, or death of the best living thing of any such tenant, or in want of it, 3s. 4d. (fn. 3)

Soon after which this manor was sold by the state to colonel Robert Gibbon, with whom it continued till the restoration of king Charles II. when it again became part of the revenues of the crown.

The grant of it has been many years in the family of his Grace the duke of Leeds, who now holds it at the yearly fee farm rent of ten shillings.

BUT THE SCITE and capital messuage of the manor of East Farleigh, now called the COURT LODGE, with all the demesne lands of the manor, about two hundred acres, in East Farleigh and Linton, was granted, anno 1st and 2d Philip and Mary, to Sir John Baker, one of the queen's privy council, (fn. 4) to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 5) He died in the 5th and 6th years of that reign, and by will devised it to his second son, Mr. John Baker, of London; whose son, Sir Richard Baker, the chronicler, about the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, alienated it to Sir Thomas Fane, of Burston, in Hunton; who died in 1606, without issue, and bequeathed this among the rest of his estates to Sir George Fane, second son of Sir Thomas Fane, of Badsell, by Mary his wife, baroness le Despenser; he was succeeded in 1640, by his eldest son, colonel Thomas Fane, of Burston, who in the reign of king Charles II. alienated it to Mr. John Amhurst, who then resided at the court lodge as tenant under him.

He was the grandson of Nicholas Amerst, for so he spelt his name, who was of East Farleigh, in 1616, to whom William Camden, clarencieux, in 1607, assigned this coat of arms, Gules, three tilting spears, two and one, erected in pale or, headed argent, who dying in 1692, was buried in this church, as were his several descendants. His eldest son, Nicholas Amherst, for so he wrote his name, became his heir, and resided as tenant at the Court lodge, and died in 1679.

John Amhurst, gent. his eldest son, resided at the Court lodge, which he afterwards purchased of Col. Fane above mentioned; he served the office of sheriff in 1699, and kept his shrievalty here; though married, he died in 1711, s. p. and by will gave this estate to his brother, captain Nicholas Amhurst, of Barnjet, who died in 1715.

He married Susannah Evering, by whom he had issue fifteen children; John, who resided at the Court lodge, and died in his life time, whose grandson, John Amhurst, esq. is now of Boxley abbey; and George, the second son, who was twice married, but left issue only by his second wife, Susan, the eldest of whose sons was John Amhurst, esq. late of Rochester. Nicholas, the next son, died in 1736, unmarried. Stephen, another of the sons, was of West Farleigh, and dying in 1760, was buried at West Farleigh, leaving three sons; John Amhurst, esq. now of Barnjet; Edward, who was of Barnjet, and died in 1762, aged 20, and was buried near his father; and Stephen Amhurst, esq. now of West Farleigh, and four daughters. Edward, another son, was of Barnjet, and died in 1756, without issue, and was buried at Barming.

Of the daughters, Susan married Edward Walsingham, of Callis court, in Ryarsh, who left by her two daughters; Susan, married to Sir Edw. Austen, bart. of Boxley abbey; and Mary, married to John Miller. Jane, married to James Allen, by whom she had two sons, James, now deceased; and William, devisees in the will of Sir Edward Austen; and a daughter, married to Nicholas Amhurst, father of John, of Boxley abbey.

George Amhurst, gent. above mentioned, the second but eldest surviving son of Nicholas, by Susan nah Evering, had the Court lodge by his father's will, who having neglected to cut off an entail of it, his three other sons, Nicholas, Stephen, and Edward, claimed their respective shares in it; the entire fee of which, after much dispute, partly by purchase, and partly by agreement, became vested in Edward Amhurst, gent. the youngest son, who died, s. p. in 1756, and devised it by will to his next elder brother, Stephen Amhurst, esq. gent. of West Farleigh; who, at his death, in 1760, gave it to his eldest son, John Amhurst, esq. now of Barnjet, the present possessor of the Court lodge, and the estate belonging to it.

The mansion of the court lodge is situated adjoining to the west side of the church yard; it has not been inhabited but by cottagers for many years; great part of it seems to have been pulled down, and the remains make but a very mean appearance.

GALLANT'S is a manor in this parish, which seems to have been in early times the estate of a branch of the eminent family of Colepeper, whose arms yet remain in the windows of this church, and in which there is an ancient arched tomb, under which one of them was buried.

By inquisition, taken after the death of Walter Colepeper, at Tunbridge, anno 1 Edward III. it was found that he held in gavelkind in fee, certain tenements in East Farleigh, of the prior of Christ church, by service, and making suit at the court of the prior of East Farleigh, that there were there one capital messuage, with lands, and rents in money and in hens, by which it appears to have been a manor, and that his sons, Thomas, Jeffry, and John, were his next heirs. The above premises seem very probably to have been what is now called the manor of Gallant's, which afterwards passed into the family of Roper, who held it for some length of time, this branch of them, who possessed this manor, being created by king James I. barons of Teynham, one of whom, John Roper, the third lord Teynham, died possessed of it in 1627, as appears by the inquisition then taken. His grandson, Christopher lord Teynham, gave it in marriage with his daughter Catharine, to Wm. Sheldon, esq. whose descendant, Richard Sheldon, esq. of Aldington, in Thurnham, gave it by will to his widow, who soon afterwards, in 1738, carried it in marriage to Wm. Jones, M. D. who died in 1780, leaving his two daughters his coheirs; Mary, married to Lock Rollinson, esq. of Oxfordshire, and Anne to Tho. Russel, esq. and they, in right of their wives, are at this time respectively entitled to this manor.

The manor house has an antient appearance, both within and without, the doors being arched, and as well as the windows, cased with ashlar stone, and much of the walls built with flint.

PIMPE'S-COURT is a manor and antient seat in this parish, the mansion of which is situated at the southern extremity of it next to Loose. It was formerly part of the possessions of the family of Pimpe, being one of the seats of their residence, whence it acquired their name in process of time, among other of their possessions in this neighbourhood and else where in this county. It appears to have been antiently held of the family of Clare, earls of Gloucester; of whom, as chief lords of the fee, it was again held by this eminent family of Pimpe, from whom though it acquired its name of Pimpe'scourt, yet their principal habitation seems to have been in the parish of Nettlested, not far distant. Rich. de Pimpe of Nettlested held it in the reigns of Edward I. and III. as did his descendant, Sir Philip de Pimpe, in the begining of that of Edward I. being at that time a man of great repute. His widow, Joane, married John de Coloigne, who together with her son, Thomas de Pimpe, paid aid for this manor in the 20th year of king Edward III. Philipott says, Margaret de Cobham, wife of Sir William de Pimpe, died in 1337, and was buried in this church. Her tomb is yet remaining, but the inscription, then visible, is gone. Wil liam, son of Thomas de Pimpe, of Nettlested, died in the time of his shrievalty, anno 49 Edward III. and his son, Reginald, who then resided here at East Farleigh, served out the remainder of the year. His descendant of the same name resided here at the time of his shrievalty, in the 10th year of king Henry IV. to whose son, John, two years afterwards, John de Fremingham, of Loose, gave by will his estate there and elsewhere, in this county, in tail mail, remainder to Roger Isle, as being of the nearest blood to him. His descendant, John Pimpe, esq. kept his shrievalty here in the 2d year of king Henry VII. whose only daughter and heir, Winifrid, carried this seat in marriage to Sir John Rainsford, who passed it away to Sir Henry Isley, who by the act of the 2d and 3d of king Edward VI. procured his lands in this county to be disgavelled.

Soon after which he seems to have settled this manor on his son, William Isley, esq. but being both concerned in the rebellion raised by Sir Thomas Wyatt, in the 1st year of queen Mary, they were then attainted, and Sir Henry was executed at Sevenoke, and the lands of both became forfeited to the crown; after which, queen Mary that year granted this manor, by the name of Lose, alias Pimpe's court, with its appurtenances, in Lose, East Farleigh, Linton, &c. to Sir John Baker, her attorney general, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 6) In his descendants the manor of Pimpe's court continued till Sir John Baker, bart, about of the end of king Charles I.'s reign, alienated it to Thomas Fsloyd, esq. of Gore court in Otham; one of whose descendants alienated it to Browne, in which name it remained till, by the daughter and heir of Tho. Browne, esq. it went in marriage to Holden; and their son, Richard Holden, of Coptford hall, in Essex, died without issue, in 1772, and by will gave it to his widow, whose maiden name was Anne Blackenbury; and after her decease, to his sister's daughter's son, a minor, by Mr. William Vechell, of Cambridgeshire.

The present house of this manor is a modern building; the ruins of the antient mansion are still to be seen about the present house; the south-west end is still remaining, and by tradition was called the Old chapel. Further towards the north is a room with a very large chimney, and an oven in it, no doubt the old kitchen. The gateway, with a room over it, was taken down within memory; by the remains, it seems as if the house and offices belonging to it, when intire, formed a quadrangle. There is a court baron held for this manor.

CHARITIES.

JOHN FRANCKELDEN, citizen of London, in 1610, left 100l. to build six cottages for poor people to live in, rent free, vested in the parish officers.

THE REV. ARTHUR HARRIS gave, by will, in 1727, 2l. 10s. per annum for ever, to be paid out of Half Yoke farm, to be distributed in linen.

THOMAS HARRIS, esq. who died in 1769, left 5l. per ann. for fifty years, to be given to the poor in bread, 2s. every Sunday, excepting Easter and Whitsunday, vested in the executors of John Mumford, esq.

Mr. THOMAS FOSTER, in 1776, gave by will 130l. the interest of it to be laid out in linen and woollen, and to be given to the poor who do not receive alms at Christmas; from which money, 225l. confol. 3 per cent. Bank ann. was bought in the name of trustees, now of the annual produce of 6l. 15s.

EAST FARLEIGH is within the ECCLESTASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and being a peculiar of the archbishop, is as such within the deanry of Shoreham.

The church, which is a handsome building, with a spire steeple at the west end, stands at the east end of the village, and consists of two isles and two chancels; that on the south side belongs to Pimpe's-court. It was repaired in 1704, by Dr. Griffith Hatley, who had married the widow of Mr. Browne, and possessed that estate in her right. The whole was, through the laudable care of the late vicar, Mr. De la Douespe, new pewed and handsomely ornamented.

In the rector's chancel are several memorials of the family of Amhurst, and within the altar rails two of Goldsmith. On the north side of this chancel is a very antient altar tomb for one of the family of Colepeper, having their shield, a bend engrailed, at one corner of it, most probably for Sir T. Colepeper, who lived in the reign of king Edward III. and is reputed to have been the founder of this church. His arms, quartered with those of Joane Hadrreshull, his mother, Argent, a chevron gules between nine martlets, are still remaining in the east window of the south chancel, called Pimpe's chancel, in which is an antient plain altar tomb, probably for one of either that or of the Pimpe family. There seems once to have been a chapel dependent on this church, called in the Textus Roffensis, Liuituna capella Anfridi.

The patronage of the church of East Farleigh was part of the antient possessions of the crown, and remained so till it was given to the college or hospital for poor travellers, in Maidstone, founded by archbishop Boniface. Archbishop Walter Reynolds, about 1314, appropriated this church to the use and support of the hospital. In the 19th year of king Richard II. archbishop Courtney, on his making the church of Maidstone collegiate, obtained the king's licence to give and assign that hospital and its revenues, among which was the advowson and patronage of the church of Farleigh, among others appropriated to it, and then of the king's patronage, and held of the king in capite, to the master and chaplains of his new collegiate church, to hold in free, pure, and perpetual alms for ever, for their better maintenance; (fn. 7) to which appropriation Adam Mottrum, archdeacon of Canbury, gave his consent.

¶The collegiate church of Maidstone was dissolved by the act of the 1st of king Edward VI. anno 1546, and was surrendered into the king's hand accordingly with all its lands, possessions, &c. Since which the patronage and advowson of the vicarage of East Farleigh has remained in the hands of the crown; but the parsonage or great tithes was granted to one of the family of Vane, or Fane, in whom it continued down to John Fane, earl of Westmoreland, who at his death, in 1762, gave it by will, among the rest of his Kentish estates, to his nephew, Sir Francis Dashwood, lord Despencer; since which it has passed, in like manner as Mereworth and his other estates in this county, by the entail of the earl of Westmoreland's will, to Thomas Stapleton, lord Despencer, the present owner of it.

In the 15th year of king Edward I. the vicarage was valued at ten marcs; in the year 1589, it was estimated at 16l. 8s. yearly income. In the reign of king Richard II. the church of Ferleghe was valued at 13l. 16s. 8d. This vicarage is valued in the king's books at 6l. 16s. 8d. and the yearly tenths at 13s. 8d.

John, son of Sir Ralph de Fremingham, of Lose, 12 Henry IV. by his will gave certain lands therein mentioned to John Pympe, and his heirs male, to find a chaplain in this church, in the chapel of the Blessed Mary, newly built, to celebrate there, for twenty-four years, for the souls of himself, his wife, &c. and all of whom he then held lands, the said John Pympe, paying to the above chaplain the salary of ten marcs yearly, &c.

The vicar of East Farleigh is endowed with the tithes of corn growing on the lands belonging to the parsonage of East Farleigh, and of certain pieces of land, called garden spots, which lie dispersed in this parish. It is now of the clear yearly value of about one hundred and thirty guineas.

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol4/pp371-383

St James the Great, Elmsted, Kent by Jelltex

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It seems incredible to me that there are any churches in East Kent, at least parish churches, that I had yet to visit and photograph. Especially along Stone Street, which I thought that nks to churches and orchids I knew very well. And yet as I cross-referenced between John Vigar's book and the county A-Z, I saw more and more churches I had to visit.

And that brings us to Elmstead.

Elmstead is less a viallage and more a dog leg in a single track lane, and the church sits in the dog leg. Being a small place, surely it would have a small church? No, the church is large with two leat to chapels, and an extraordinary timber topped tower.

You reach Elmstone by taking tiny fork off Stone Street and following the narrowest of lanes, which has high banks and hedges both sides with few passing places. Down through woods, down steep hills crossing streams and up hills the other side, and all the while the road coated with a thick layer of mud, so that one hoped you were still on the road not having driven into a field.

In time I passed the village sign, and no missing the church, a large flint built church, and the triple gabled east end facing towards the road. Behind the tower was partially hidden, but I could already see the wooden upper part.

And it was open, and filled with much of interest, especially the stone altar in the south aisle.

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An extremely worthwhile church in remote countryside. The tower is an unusual shape, being almost twice as wide as it is deep and capped by a wooden upper storey with stumpy spire. The church consists of nave, aisles, chancel and equal length chapels. The nave is Norman: the original arch to the tower is still recognisable although a fourteenth-century replacement has been built inside it. At the same time the present arcade was built on the existing piers. In the north aisle is a medieval vestry screen, in front of which is a Norman font. There are very fine altar rails, each baluster looking like an eighteenth-century candlestick. Between the main altar and chapel is a simple thirteenth-century sedilia. The south chapel altar has a twelfth-century mensa which was discovered in the churchyard in 1956. The east window (1880) commemorates Arthur Honeywood who was killed in the Afghan war - only a dog survived and was given an award by Queen Victoria! Honeywood's ancestor, Sir John (d. 1781), is also remembered in the church by a splendid marble bust signed by Scheemakers

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Elmsted

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Parish Church. Late Cll or C12, C13 and C14, restored in 1877. Flint

with stone dressings. Plain tile roofs. West tower, nave with north

and south aisles, south porch, chancel with north and south chapels.

West tower: C13, with late Cll or C12 base: Medieval belfry. Single

stage, but north and south sides reduce in width about half way up

with plain-tile shoulders. Large stone north-west and south-west

quoins to lower half. Diagonal south-west buttress. Shingled timber-

framed belfry jettied to west. Splay-footed octagonal spire. Two

louvred three-light trefoil-headed windows to each face of belfry.

No tower windows to north or east. Broadly-pointed plain-chamfered

lancet towards top of west face, and another to south. Taller plain-

chamfered lancet West window. Plain-chamfered pointed-arched west doorway.

Nave: south elevation: continuous with south wall of tower base. C19

traceried three-light window. South aisle: C14 possibly with late Cll

or early C12 origins. Narrow and gabled, stopping short of west end nave.

Plinthless. Buttress towards east end. C14 or early C15 pointed west window

of two cinquefoil-headed lights, with tracery of vertical bars, and hoodmould.

One straight-headed C15 or C16 south window to east of porch, with two

cinquefoil-headed lights and rectangular hoodmould. South porch: medieval,

restored in C19. Coursed knapped flint. Gabled plain-tile roof.

Window with cambered head, to each side. Crown-post roof; two outer crown

posts plain. Broadly-chamfered rectangular central crown post with broach

stops and head braces. Chamfered tie-beams. Pointed-arched plain-chamfered

inner doorway with broach stops. Unchamfered pointed-arched outer doorway.

South chancel chapel: early C14. Continuous with south aisle, but with

chamfered stone plinth and lower eaves and ridge. East end flush with

chancel. Diagonal south-east buttress. Large straight-headed south window

with three cinquefoil-headed lights and moulded hoodmould. Similar two-

light east window. Chancel: C13, probably with late Cll or C12 origins.

Slightly narrower than nave. No plinth. Two buttresses. C15 or C16

untraceried east window with cambered head, three cinquefoil-headed lights,

and hoodmould. North chancel chapel: early C14. Flush with east end

of chancel. Plinthless. Diagonal north-east buttress. C14 pointed-arched

east window with three cinquefoil-headed lights, tracery of cusped intersecting

glazing bars with trefoils and quatrefoils, and with hoodmould. Pointed-

arched C14 north window with Y tracery and trefoil, without hoodmould.

North aisle: C14. More stone mixed with flint. Continuous with north

chancel chapel, and slightly overlapping tower. Plinthless. One untraceried

C15 or C16 north window, with cambered head, three cinquefoil-headed lights,

and hoodmould. Straight-headed west window with two cinquefoil-headed

lights and hoodmould. Small blocked plain-chamfered pointed-arched north

doorway. Rainwater heads dated 1877. Interior: Structure: two-bay early

C14 south arcade to nave, with doubly plain-chamfered pointed arches and

octagonal columns with moulded capitals and bases. Two-bay C14 north

arcade, similar to south arcade, but extending further to west and with

more intricately-moulded capitals. East end of south arcade rests on

late Cll or C12 pier of large ashlar blocks on plain-chamfered plinth,

and with top heavily corbelled to south side. Footings for further structure

to east and south. Small, probably pre-C14, stone quoins to east pier

of north arcade, capped by single block from which arch springs. Doubly

plain-chamfered pointed early C14 chancel arch, springing from moulded

rectangular capitals which break forwards unusually. Plain-chamfered

piers with broach stops. Two-bay early C16 north and south arcades to

chancel, with doubly hollow-chamfered four-centred arches and octagonal

columns with moulded capitals and bases. Early C14 pointed arch between

south chancel chapel and south aisle, with plain-chamfered inner order

and slightly ovolo-moulded outer order. Moulded rectangular capitals

slightly different from chancel-arch capitals, but similarly breaking

forwards under inner order of arch, each on image corbel. Piers slightly

hollow chamfered, with cushion stops to base and undercut trefoil to tops.

Doubly plain-chamfered pointed arch between north chancel chapel and north

aisle, springing from chamfered imposts which break forwards to centre

with rounded corbel under. Low, pointed C14 tower arch, with plain-chamfered

inner order springing from moulded semi-octagonal piers, and hollow-chamfered

outer order descending to ground with cushion and broach stops. Above

arch, exposed voussoirs of taller, broader, blocked, round-headed late

Cll or C12 tower arch. Roof: C19 crown-post roof to nave and north aisle.

Chancel and north chancel chapel roofs boarded in five cants. Plastered

barrel vault to south chancel chapel. Medieval crown-post roof to south,

with three cambered plain-chamfered tie-beams, with moulded octagonal

crown posts, sous-laces and ashlar pieces. Fittings: piscina in rectangular

recess towards east end of south chancel chapel. C13 piscina in moulded

recess with trefoiled head and moulded hoodmould, towards east end of

south wall of chancel. Image corbel to north wall of north chancel chapel.

Late Cll or C12 font, low, deep, octagonal, with two panels of blind

arcading to each side, circular central pier and eight slender perimeter

columns. Small C17 altar table. Hexagonal C17 pulpit with sunk moulded

panels, strapwork, fleur-de-lys frieze, and enriched cornice. Medieval

screen, probably of domestic origin, with close-studded partition under

moulded and brattished beam, across west end of north aisle. Laudian

altar rails with turned balusters. Monuments: Cartouche on south wall

of south chancel chapel, to Sir William Honeywood, d. 1748. Monument

on same wall, to Thomas Honeywood, d. 1622; grey-painted chalk in form

of triptych. Central section has moulded and pulvinated base, scrolled

base-plate and shield, and raised and moulded inscription panel in eared

surround, flanked by Composite columns. Above it, a recessed panel

with inverted scrolls, and triangular pediment with cherubs head and

achievements. Recessed flanking sections, each carved with angel in

husked surround, and with scrolled base plate and corniced pediment

with shields. Tablet on same wall, to Mary Honeywood, d. 1708, lettered

on a shroud with gilded fringe, cherubs' heads, and shield surmounted

by urn. Brass of a lady, part of a brass to Christopher Gay, d. 1507.

Monument on north wall of north chancel chapel, to William Honeywood,

d. 1669. Black marble inscription panel in a frame which breaks forwards

twice. Each back panel eared, the outer with inverted scrolls to base

and festoon to return sides. Festooned rectangular panel flanked by

acanthus consoles and with scrolled acanthus base plate under inscription

panel. Moulded cornice over oak-leaf frieze, breaking forwards three

times. Segmental pediment with achievements over central break. Monument

by Thomas Scheemakers on same wall, to Sir John Honeywood, d. 1781.

White marble. Rectangular inscription panel, flanked by reeded pilasters

which curve out at top to form consoles under flower paterae. Shaped

base plate, also with inscription. Moulded cornice surmounted by -sarcophagus

with bust above it, against grey marble obelisk back plate. (J. Jewman,

Buildings of England Series, North-east and East Kent, 1983 edn.)

Listing NGR: TR1178645546

www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-440965-church-of-st-j...

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ELMSTED

IS the next parish northward from Hastingligh lastdescribed, taking its name, as many other places do, which are recorded in the survey of Domesday, from the quantity of elms growing in it, elm signifying in Saxon, that tree, and stede, a place. The manor of Hastingligh claims over some part of this parish, which part is within the liberty of the duchy of Lancaster.

THIS PARISH is situated in a lonely unfrequented part of the country, above the down hills, in a healthy air. It lies mostly on high ground, having continued hill and dale throughout it. The soil is but poor, and in general chalk, and much covered with flints, especially in the dales, where some of the earth is of a reddish cast. The church stands on a hill in the middle of it, having a green, with the village near it, among which is the court-lodge: and at a small distance westward, Helchin-bouse, belonging to Sir John Honywood, but now and for some time past inhabited by the Lushingtons. Lower down in the bottom is Evington-court, in a dull ineligible situation, to which however the present Sir John Honywood has added much, and laid out some park-grounds round it. At a small distance is a small heath, called Evington-lees, with several houses round it. At the southern bounds of the parish lie Botsham, and Holt, both belonging to Sir John Honywood. At the north-east corner of it, near Stone-street, is a hamlet called Northlye, the principal farm in which belongs to Mr. Richard Warlee, gent. of Canterbury, about half a mile from which is Deane, or Dane manor-house; and still further Dowles-farm, belonging to Mr. John Rigden, of Faversham; near Stone-street is the manor of Southligh, now called Mizlings, by which name only it is now known here; and near the same street is Arundel farm, belonging to Thomas Watkinson Payler, esq. and at the southern extremity of the parish, the manor-house of Dunders, with the lands belonging to it, called the Park, formerly belonging to the Graydons, of Fordwich, of whom they were purchased, and are now the property of the right hon. Matthew Robinson Morris, lord Rokeby, who resides at Horton. There are but two small coppice woods in this parish, lying at some distance from each other, in the middle part of it.

There is a fair kept yearly in this parish on St. James's day, the 25th of July.

THE MANOR OF ELMSTED was in the year 811 bought by archbishop Wlfred, of Cenulf, king of Mercia, for the benefit of Christ-church, in Canterbury, L. S. A. which letters meant, that it should be free, and privileged with the same liberties that Adisham was, when given to that church. These privileges were, to be freed from all secular services, excepting the trinoda necessitas of repelling invasions, and the repairing of bridges and fortifications. (fn. 1)

There is no mention of this manor in the survey of Domesday, under the title of the archbishop's lands, and of those held of him by knight's service, and yet I find mention of its being held of him in several records subsequent to that time; for soon afterwards it appears to have been so held by a family who assumed their name from it, one of whom, Hamo de Elmested, held it of the archbishop, by knight's service. But they were extinct here before the middle of king Henry III,'s reign, when the Heringods were become possessed of it, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, bearing for their arms, Gules, three herrings erect, two and one, or; as they were formerly in the windows of Newington church, near Sittingborne. John de Heringod held it at his death in the 41st year of that reign. His grandson, of the same name, died in the next reign of king Edward I. without male issue, leaving three daughters his coheirs, of whom, Grace married Philip de Hardres, of Hardres, in this county; Christiana married William de Kirkby; and Jane married Thomas Burgate, of Suffolk: but he had before his death, by a deed, which bears the form of a Latin will, and, is without a date, settled this manor, with the other lands in this neighbourhood, on the former of them, Philip de Hardres, a man of eminent repute of that time, in whose successors the manor of Elmsted remained till the 13th year of King James I. when Sir Thomas Hardres sold the manor of Dane court, an appendage to this of Elmsted, in the north-east part of this parish, to Cloake, and the manor of Elmsted itself to Thomas Marsh, gent. of Canterbury, whose son ton, whose great-grandson of the same name, at his death left it to his two sons, Richard and John, the former of whom was of Faversham, and left an only daughter Elizabeth, married to Mr. James Taylor, of Rodmersham, who in right of his wife became possessed of his moiety of it, and having in 1787 purchased the other moiety of John Lushington, of Helchin, in this parish, (son of Richard above-mentioned) became possessed of the whole of this manor, and continues owner of it at this time.

THE MANOR OF DANE, now called Deane-court, above-mentioned, remained in the name of Cloake for some time afterwards, and in 1652 Mr. Samuel Cloake held it. It afterwards passed into the name of Elwes, in which it continued down to John Elwes, esq. of Marcham, in Berkshire, who died in 1789, and by will gave it to his nephew Thomas Timms, esq. the present owner of it.

THE YOKE OF EVINGTON is an estate and seat in the south-west part of this parish, over which the manor of Barton, near Canterbury, claims jurisdiction. The mansion of it, called Evington-court, was the inheritance of gentlemen of the same surname, who bore for their arms, Argent, a sess between three burganetts, or steel caps, azure; and in a book, copied out from antient deeds by William Glover, Somerset herald, afterwards in the possession of John Philipott, likewise Somerset, there was the copy of an old deed without date, in which William Fitzneal, called in Latin, Filius Nigelli, passed over some land to Ruallo de Valoigns, which is strengthened by the appendant testimony of one Robert de Evington, who was ancestor of the Evingtons, of Evington-court, of whom there is mention in the deeds of this place, both in the reigns of king Henry III. and king Edward I. After this family was extinct here, the Gays became possessed of it, a family originally descended out of France, where they were called Le Gay, and remained some time afterwards in the province of Normandy, from whence those of this name in Jersey and Guernsey descended, and from them again those of Hampshire, and one of them, before they had left off their French appellation, John le Gay, is mentioned in the leiger book of Horton priory, in this neighbourhood, as a benefactor to it. But to proceed; although Evington-court was not originally erected by the family of Gay, yet it was much improved by them with additional buildings, and in allusion to their name, both the wainscot and windows of it were adorned with nosegays. At length after the Gays, who bore for their arms, Gules, three lions rampant, argent, an orle of cross-croslets, fitchee, or. (fn. 2) had continued owners of this mansion till the beginning of the reign of king Henry VII. Humphry Gay, esq. alienated it to John Honywood, esq. of Sene, in Newington, near Hythe, and afterwards of St. Gregory's, Canterbury, where he died in 1557, and was buried in that cathedral.

The family of Honywood, antiently written Henewood, take their name from the manor of Henewood, in Postling, where they resided as early as Henry III.'s reign, when Edmund de Henewood, or Honywood, as the name was afterwards spelt, of that parish, was a liberal benefactor to the priory of Horton, and is mentioned as such in the leiger book of it. After which, as appears by their wills in the Prerogative-office, in Canterbury, they resided at Hythe, for which port several of them served in parliament, bearing for their arms, Argent, a chevron, between three hawks heads erased, azure; one of them, Thomas Honywood, died in the reign of king Edward IV. leaving a son John, by whose first wife descended the elder branch of this family, settled at Evington, and baronets; and by his second wife descended the younger branch of the Honywoods, seated at Petts, in Charing, and at Markshall, in Effex, which branch is now extinct. (fn. 3) John Honywood, esq. the eldest son of John above-mentioned, by his first wife, was the purchaser of Evington, where his grandson Sir Thomas Honywood resided. He died in 1622, and was buried at Elmsted, the burial place of this family. (fn. 4) He left by his first wife several sons and daughters; of the former, John succeeded him at Evington and Sene, and Edward was ancestor of Frazer Honywood, banker, of London, and of Malling abbey, who died s. p. in 1764. (fn. 5) Sir John Honywood, the eldest son, resided during his father's time at Sene, in Newington, and on his death removed to Evington. He served the office of sheriff in the 18th, 19th, and 20th years of king Charles I. Sir Edward Honywood, his eldest son, resided likewise at Evington, and was created a baronet on July 19, 1660. His great grandson Sir John Honywood, bart. at length in 1748, succeeded to the title and family estates, and afterwards resided at Evington, where he kept his shrievalty in 1752. On the death of his relation Frazer Honywood, esq. banker, of London, in 1764, he succeeded by his will to his seats at Malling abbey, and at Hampsted, in Middlesex, besides a large personal estate; after which he resided at times both here and at Hampsted, at which latter he died in 1781, æt. 71, and was buried with his ancestors in this church. He had been twice married; first to Annabella, daughter of William Goodenough, esq. of Langford, in Berk shire, whose issue will be mentioned hereafter; and secondly to Dorothy, daughter of Sir Edward Filmer, bart. of East Sutton, by whom he had two sons, Filmer Honywood, esq. of Marks-hall, in Essex, to which as well as other large estates in that county, and in this of Kent, he succeeded by the will of his relation Gen. Philip Honywood, and lately was M. P. for this county, and is at present unmarried; and John, late of All Souls college, Oxford, who married Miss Wake, daughter of Dr. Charles Wake, late prebendary of Westminster; and Mary, married to Willshire Emmett, esq. late of Wiarton. By his first wife Sir John Honywood had two sons and four daughters; William the eldest, was of Malling abbey, esq. and died in his father's life time, having married Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Clack, of Wallingford, in Berkshire, by whom he had three sons and one daughter Annabella, married to R. G. D. Yate, esq of Gloucestershire; of the former, John was heir to his grandfather, and is the present baronet; William is now of Liminge, esq. and married Mary, sister of James Drake Brockman, esq. of Beechborough, and Edward married Sophia, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Long, of Suffolk. Edward, the second son, was in the army, and died without issue. The daughters were, Annabella, married to Edmund Filmer, rector of Crundal; and Thomasine, married to William Western Hugessen, esq. of Provenders, both since deceased. On Sir John Honywood's death in 1781, he was succeeded by his eldest grandson abovementioned, the present Sir John Honywood, bart. who resides at Evington, to which he has made great improvements and additions. He married Frances, one of the daughters of William, viscount Courtenay, by whom he has three daughters, Frances-Elizabeth, Charlotte-Dorothea, and Annabella-Christiana, and one son John, born in 1787. (fn. 6).

BOTTSHAM, antiently and more properly written Bodesham, is a manor in the western part of this parish. About the year 687 Swabert, king of Kent, gave among others, three plough-lands in a place called Bodesham, to Eabba, abbess of Minister, in Thanet, and in the reign of king Edward the Consessor, one Ælgeric Bigg gave another part of it to the abbey of St. Augustine, by the description of the lands called Bodesham, on condition that Wade, his knight, should possess them during his life. (fn. 7) The former of these continued in the monastery till the reign of king Canute, when it was plundered and burnt by the Danes. After which the church and lands of the monastery of Minster, and those of Bodesham among them, were granted to St. Augustine's monastery, and remained, together with those given as above-mentioned by Ælgeric Bigg, part of the possessions of it at the taking of the survey of Domesday, in which record it is thus described:

In Limowart left, in Stotinges hundred, Gaufrid holds Bodesham of the abbot. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is two carucates, and there are, with eight borderers, wood for the pannage of fifteen hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth four pounds, and afterwards twenty shillings, now four pounds, A certain villein held it.

Hugh, abbot of St. Augustine, and his chapter, in the year 1110, granted to Hamo, steward of the king's houshold, this land of Bodesham, upon condition that he should, if there should be occasion, advise and assist him and his successors in any pleas brought against him by any baron, either in the county or in the king's court.

Hamo above-mentioned, whose surname was Crevequer, had come over into this kingdom with the Conqueror, and was rewarded afterwards with much land in this county, and was made sheriff of it during his life, from whence he was frequently stiled Hamo Vicecomes, or the sheriff. He lived till the middle of king Henry I.'s reign; and in his descendants it most probably remained till it came into the possession of the family of Gay, or Le Gay as they were sometimes written, owners of the yoke of Evington likewise, in which it continued till it was at length sold with it, in the beginning of Henry VII.'s reign, to Honywood, as has been fully mentioned before; in whose descendants it still remains, being now the property of Sir John Honywood, bart. of Evington.

IN THE REIGN of king Edward I. Thomas de Morines held half a knight's fee of the archbishop in Elmsted, which estate afterwards passed into the family of Haut, and in the reign of king Edward III. had acquired the name of the Manor Of Elmsted, alias SOUTHLIGH. In which family of Haut it continued down to Sir William Haut, of Bishopsborne, who lived in the reign of king Henry VIII. and left two daughters his coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Thomas Culpeper, of Bedgbury; and Jane, to Thomas Wyatt. The former of whom, in the division of their inheritance, (fn. 8) became possessed of it; from his heirs it passed by sale to Best, and from thence again to Rich. Hardres, esq. of Hardres, whose descendant Sir Tho. Hardres, possessed it in king James I.'s reign; at length, after some intermediate owners, it passed to Browning, whose descendant M. John Browning, of Yoklets, in Waltham, is the present owner of this manor.

There are no parochial charities. The poor constantly relieved are about thirty, casually seventeen.

Elmsted is within the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Elham.

The church, which is dedicated to St. James, is a handsome building, consisting of three isles and three chancels, having a low pointed wooden steeple at the west end, in which are six bells. The chancels are open, one towards the other, the spaces between the pillars not being filled up, which gives the whole a light and airy appearance. In the middle chancel, which is dedicated to St. James, are memorials for the Taylors, who intermarried with the Honywoods, and for the Lushingtons, of Helchin; one for John Cloke, gent. of Northlye, obt. 1617. In the east window is a shield of arms, first and fourth, A lion rampant, or; second, On a fess, argent, three eros-croslets; third, obliterated. In another compartment of the window is the figure of an antient man sitting, in robes lined with ermine, a large knotted staff in his left hand. The north chancel is called the parish chancel, in which is an elegant monument, of white marble, with the bust of the late Sir John Honywood, bart.(a gentleman whose worthy character is still remembered with the highest commendation and respect, by all who knew him). He died much lamented by his neighbours and the country in general in 1781; and on the pavement are numbers of gravestones for the family of Honywood and their relatives. The south chancel, dedicated to St. John, belongs to Evington, in which there are several monuments, and numbers of gravestones, the pavement being covered with them, for the Honywood family, some of which have inscriptions and figures on brasses remaining on them. Underneath this chancel is a large vault, in which the remains of the family lie deposited. On the north side of this chancel is a tomb, having had the figures on it of a man between his two wives: and at each corner a shield of arms in brass for Gay. On the capital of a pillar at the east end of this tomb is this legend, in old English letters, in gold, which have been lately repaired: Pray for the sowlys of Xtopher Gay, Agnes and Johan his wifes, ther chylder and all Xtian sowlys, on whose sowlys Jhu have mcy; by which it should seem that he was the founder, or at least the repairer of this chancel. Underneath is carved a shield of arms of Gay. In the east window are two shields of arms, of modern glass, for Honywood. In the south isle is a monument for Sir William Honywood, bart. of Evington, obt. 1748. In the middle isle are several old stones, coffin shaped. William Philpot, of Godmersham, by will anno 1475, ordered that the making of the new seats, calledle pewis, in this church, should be done at his expence, from the place where St. Christopher was painted, to the corner of the stone wall on the north side of the church.

The church of Elmsted belonged to the priory of St. Gregory, in Canterbury, perhaps part of its original endowment by archbishop Lanfranc, in the reign of the Conqueror. It was very early appropriated to it, and was confirmed to the priory by archbishop Hubert, among its other possessions, about the reign of king Richard I. at which time this church, with five acres of arable, and five acres of wood, and the chapel of Dene, appear to have been esteemed as chapels to the adjoining church of Waltham, and the appropriation of it continued part of the possessions of the priory till the dissolution of it in king Henry VIII.'s reign, when it was surrendered into the king's hands, where this appropriation remained but a small time, for an act passed that year, to enable the king and the archbishop to make an exchange of estates, by which means it became part of the revenues of the see of Canterbury, and was afterwards demised by the archbishop, among the rest of the revenues of the above-mentioned priory, which had come to him by the above-mentioned exchange, in one great lease; under which kind of demise it has continued from time to time ever since. Philip, earl of Chesterfield, as heir to the Wottons, was lessee of the above estates, in which this parsonage was included; since whose decease in 1773, his interest in the lease of them has been sold by his executors to Geo. Gipps, esq. of Canterbury, who is the present lessee, under the archbishop, for them.

But the vicarage of this church seems never to have belonged to the priory of St. Gregory, and in the 8th year of Richard II. anno 1384, appears to have been part of the possessions of the abbot of Pontiniac, at which time it was valued at four pounds. How long it staid there, I have not found; but it became afterwards part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, and remains so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.

¶The vicarage of Elmsted is endowed with the tenths of hay, silva cedua, mills, heifers, calves, chicken, pigs, lambs, wool, geese, ducks, eggs, bees, honey, wax, butter, cheese, milk-meats, flax, hemp, apples, pears, swans, pidgeons, merchandise, fish, onions, fowlings, also all other small tithes or obventions whatsoever within the parish; and also with all grass of gardens or other closes, vulgarly called homestalls, although they should be at any time reduced to arable; and the tithes of all and singular feedings and pastures, even if those lands so lot for feedings and pastures should be accustomed to be ploughed, as often and whensoever they should at any time be let for the use of pasture; which portion to the vicar was then valued at twelve marcs. (fn. 9)

It is valued in the king's books at 61. 13s. 4d. It is now a discharged living, of the clear yearly certified value of forty-five pounds. In 1587 it was valued at thirty pounds, communicants one hundred and eighty. In 1640 it was valued at ninety pounds, the same number of communicants. There was an antient stipend of ten pounds, payable from the parsonage to the vicar, which was augmented with the like sum by archbishop Juxon, anno 15 Charles II. to be paid by the lessee of the parsonage; which sum of twenty pounds continues at this time to be paid yearly by the lesse. There was a yearly pension of 1l. 6s. payable from the vicar of Elmsted to the priory of St. Gregory; which still continues to be paid by him to the archbishop's lessee here.

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol8/pp33-45

St James the Great, Elmsted, Kent by Jelltex

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