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It is easy to think the church on the main road as you near Brenzett is that village's church, but that is Snargate.
St Eanswith is in the village, down a side lane, and then down a track. Not on Church Lane at all, which runs parallel, just to confuse the visitor.
It was a grim and drizzly day when I returned, and straight away I was reminded of my first visit here, where John Vigar took me on a tour of the Romney Marsh churches, sharing with me his knowledge, and Brenzett was one I was unfamiliar with.
As with many churches, the light switches were elusive, so some of the shots are dark and/or grainy.
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One of the few churches in the county dedicated to a local saint: St Eanswyth came from Folkestone in the seventh century (see separate entry). The church is Norman with thirteenth- and fourteenth-century additions. The south wall of the chancel contains some of the fine herringbone masonry so typical of early Norman work in Kent. Like most churches on Romney Marsh there is an abundance of clear glass at Brenzett, allowing a greater appreciation of the superb tracery of the decorated style windows, especially that in the south nave wall. When the little spire was built in the fourteenth century a wooden frame had to be erected at the west end to support it, and enormous buttresses had to be built outside. The church was somewhat over-restored in the nineteenth century when the east window by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake was installed. The north chapel contains a good monument in alabaster to Sir John Fagge who died in 1639. Father and son lie side by side, one propped on his elbow, the other with his hand on his chest. Their armorial bearings on the front of the tomb chest add a welcome splash of red and white.
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BRENSET
LIES the next parish north-eastward from Brookland, almost all of it on the other or eastern side of the Rhee-wall, in the level of Romney Marsh; so much therefore as is upon that wall is within the li berty of the town and port of New Romney, and division of the justices of it, the liberty of which, and of the cinque ports, claim over it. The rest of it is in the hundred of Aloesbridge, over part of which, that is, so much as is within the level of Romney Marsh, the liberty and jurisdiction of that corporation claims; and the remaining, being the north-west part, in Walland Marsh, is within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county.
THIS PARISH is not so fertile as the last-described parish of Brookland, nor so well sheltered with trees and hedges. The greatest part of it is open marshes, the arable land in it not being more than fifty acres. There is no village, most of the houses in it standing at straggling distances on each side of the road, leading from the church to Snave-green; in other respects it is much the same as the other parishes adjoining to it. There is a fair on Whit-Monday, for toys and pedlary.
The MANOR OF BRENSET, called likewise the manor of Newington Brenset, from its having been for some time accounted a limb of that of Newington near Hyth, had always the same owners, and as such in king Henry VIII.'s reign it was become part of the possessions of Thomas, lord Cromwell, earl of Essex, before whose attainder, in the 32d year of that reign, it came by purchase from him into the king's hands, together with the manor of Newington above-mentioned. After which it continued in the crown, in like manner, till the first year of queen Mary, when she granted it to Edward, lord Clinton and Saye, from whom it passed, with the manor of Newington, to which this of Brenset has ever since been accounted an appendage, in a like succession of ownership, down to James Drake Brockman, esq. of Beechborough, the present owner of it. A court leet is held for this manor.
THERE WAS a manor of Brenset, which most probably related to this parish, which was the property of the Scotts, of Scotts-hall, and afterwards of the Botelers, from whom it came by will to the family of Bouverie, and now belongs, with the manors of Orlestone and others, to the hon. William-Henry Bouverie, some mention of which has been made before, but only the name of this manor remains, for there are no rents or profits received from it, nor is even the situation of it at present known.
BRENSET-PLACE is an antient mansion in the southern part of this parish, which was the residence for many years of the family of Edolph, before they removed to Hinxhill, and wrote their name in old deedsEdulf, in which manner it appears in a commission directed to Stephen Edulf and others, collectors for the cinque ports in the 6th year of Richard II. At length, Robert Edolph removing to Hinxhill in queen Elizabeth's reign, this seat was afterwards alienated to Mr. John Fagge, gent. who resided here in the next reign of king James I. In whose descendants it continued down to Sir Robert Fagge, bart. who dying in 1740, s. p. his sisters became his heirs, one of whom married Gawen Harris Nash, esq. of Petworth, and Elizabeth married Sir Charles Mathews Goring, bart. of that county, by whose heirs, about the year 1777, this seat, with the estate belonging to it, was sold to Mr. Henry Read, of Brookland, who died possessed of it about a year afterwards, upon which it came to his only daughter and heir Anne, the wife of Thomas Kempe, esq. of Barcombe in Sussex, and M. P. for Lewes, who in her right became entitled to it, and is the present owner of it. The mansion has been for many years made use of only as a farm-house.
DEAN, alias DANE-COURT, is an estate in the western part of this parish, which was once accounted a manor. It was antiently part of the possessions of a family, who took their name from it. Ansfridus de Dene appears, by a chartularie belonging to the priory of Christ-church, to have been owner of it in king Edward I.'s reign. How long it continued in his descendants, I do not find, but it not long afterwards came into the possession of the family of Apledore, so called from the neighbouring town of Apledore, whose arms were, Or, a pile, gules, surmounted with a fefs; but before the latter end of king Edward III.'s reign, Thomas de Apledore dying s. p. Elnith, his only sister and heir, entitled her husband Thomas Roper to this manor, among the rest of his estates in these parts, (fn. 1) which continued in the younger branch of his descendants down to John Roper, esq. of Linsted lodge, afterwards knighted, and created lord Teynham. At length his descendant Henry, lord Teynham, succeeding to it, passed it away in 1705, to Sir Henry Furnese, bart. of Waldershare, who died possessed of it in 1712. His grandson Sir Henry Furnese, bart. dying in 1735, under age and unmarried, this, on the partition of his estates among his three sisters and coheirs, was allotted, among others, to Selina, the youngest; she married Edward Dering, esq. afterwards Sir Edward Dering, bart. who in her right became entitled to it, and his son of the same name, now of Surrenden, bart. is the present owner of it.
There are no parochial charities. The poor constantly relieved are more than thirty, casually not more than two or three.
BRENSET is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Eanswith, consists of two isles and two chancels, having a spire steeple shingled at the west end, in which hang three bells. In the north chancel is a monument, having the effigies of two men, lying at full length, for John Fagge, son of John Fagge, gent. of Rye, obt. 1639; and for John Fagge, gent. of Rye, his son, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Bandard Hodson, of Frantfield, in Sussex, obt. 1646. There are burials of the Fagges in the parish register till very lately. In the north isle, a memorial for the Rev. Mr. John Wentworth, rector of Snargate six years, and vicar of Brenset, obt. May 26, 1770.
¶The church of Brenset antiently belonged to the abbey of Guysnes, in Artois, in Flanders, to which it was appropriated before the 8th year of Richard II. (fn. 2) and it remained so till the reign of king Henry V. when it came into the king's hands by escheat, on the death of Katherine, the late abbess of it, and remained in the crown till king Henry VI. in his 17th year, granted it with the advowson of the vicarage, to John Kempe, archbishop of York, with licence to settle the same on his new-founded college of Wye, to hold in free, pure and perpetual alms, in augmentation of the revenues of it, and to appropriate it to the members of it and their successors for ever. In which situation it remained till the suppression of that college, anno 36 Henry VIII. when it was surrendered, with all its possessions, into the king's hands, who that year granted this church, with the advowson of the vicarage, among other premises, to Walter Bucler, esq. to hold in capite, with certain provisoes for the maintenance of the curates and schoolmaster of Wye, as may be further feen in the account before of the parlonage of Newington, contained in the same grant, (fn. 3) with which it has continued down in like manner to James Drake Brockman, esq. of Beechborough, the present owner of the parsonage and advowson of the vicarage of this church.
Besides the stipends paid to Wye college and curates, as may be seen before, (fn. 4) there is a stipend paid from it of ten guineas yearly to Christ-church college, in Cambridge, which altogether is much more than the annual profit of this parsonage, which arises from only about fifty acres of land ploughed, bringing in about twenty guineas per annum, and no more.
The vicarage of Brenset is valued in the king's books at 7l. 18s. 11½d. and the yearly tenths at 15s. 10¾d. In 1640 it was valued at eighty pounds per annum, It is now of the yearly certified value of 71l. 6s. 0¼d. There is a glebe of two acres of marsh land.
In the petition of the clergy, beneficed in Romney Marsh, in 1635, for setting aside the custom of twopence an acre, in lieu of tithe-wool and pasturage, a full account of which has been given before, under Burmarsh, the vicar of Brenset was one of those who met on this occasion; when it was agreed on all sides, that no wool in the Marsh had ever been known to have been paid in specie, other tithes being compounded for. But no evidence was produced on this head, in regard to the vicar of Brenset.
There is a modus of one shilling an acre on all grass lands in this parish.
Brenzett is a small village lying in the centre of the Romney Marshes , built up around a ancient cross-road. The old Roman road from Appledore to New Romney runs through the village. This was a causeway known as the Rivi Vellum or Rhee Wall, which was built to hold back the river Rother.
The Domesday Book records that in 1086 the land at 'Brensete' was held by three monks from St Martins Dover.
In 1381 Brenzett was the rallying place for the followers of Wat Tyler . Peasants gathered here from all over Romney Marsh reputedly armed with pitchforks.
During the reign of Henry VIII the Manor of Brenzett was part of the possessions of Thomas Cromwell . In 1541 it passed into the hands of of the King, and stayed with the crown until 1555, when Queen Mary granted it to Lord Saye . Later the manor was held by several East Kent families, however no trace remains of this manor now, and even its site is unknown.
The church here is set back from the road, and surrounded by trees - an unusual feature for Romney Marsh. It is a small church, dedicated to St Eanswyth, a Saxon princess, granddaughter of Ethelbert the first Christian King of Kent, who founded a nunnery at Folkestone . She served her noviciate in Normandy, and became the founder and Abbess of the nunnery of Peter and Paul, which was built in 630.
The church belonged to the Abbey of Gynes in Artois Flanders in the 13th century, and passed into the hands of Henry V c 1415.
It was heavily restored in 1876, but by 1902 had fallen into a state of bad repair. The chancel and bell-turret had to be dismantled and rebuilt. It does however retail a 13th century priest's door and some Norman herring-bone masonry.
A 17th century alabaster monument to John Fagge and his son may be found in the Lady Chapel. On the wall of the north arcade hang the royal arms of King George III and behind the altar are 18th century commandment boards.
St Eanswith at Brenzett is one of those churches supported by the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust .
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
Ss Peter and Paul is a church that eluded my lenses for many, many years. At least inside.
Our old home on Crabble Hill used to overlook the River river valley, and very pleasant the view was. The town along the valley floor and downs rising steeply on both sides.
And inside River, its almost as pleasant, well, the road along Lower Road so narrow they had to make it one way, then along beside Crabble Mill being separated from the mill race by a flimsy wooden fence. It was also home to three good pubs, only one of which is open now. We used the Co-Op and the vegetable shop.
And it was in River that Nan went into care and faded from this world.
THe church sits at the end of Lewisham Road, near to where the trams used to terminate, and has been subjected to several rounds of "improvements". Somewhere under it there is an ancient church, but the signs are rare. The west doorway, now usually inaccessible as it lies beyond the door to the modern church centre was pretty much all I saw. Well, that and the Norman font, looking very out of place in the heavily Victorianised interior, which has been further brought up to date by the current parishioners.
In general, the church works, with its modern seating it can be used for many different types of events, concerts as well as services, and is clearly a lively and friendly place.
Many thanks to the vicar for allowing me to come along yesterday to take shots and add another church to the growing list of ones visited.
It is a modernised church, that suits it's location and parish.
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RIVER
LIES the next parish eastward from Ewell, being written in Domesday, both Ripa and ad Ripam; in other Latin records, Ripa and Riparia; and in English ones, River, taking its name from the river which flows through it.
A borsholder is chosen for this parish at the hundred court, and another for that part of the manor of Archers-court, which is in the parish of Whitfield, at the court leet of that manor.
RIVER is pleasantly situated about two miles from Dover, in a variety of country of high hills and deep extensive valleys; the high London road goes through it, on the left side of which the uniclosed down hills rise very sudden and high. On the other side, the slope of the value is as sudden for two or three fields, at the bottom of which the river Dour meanders its little silver stream; on the further bank, among a narrow range of meadows, is a long straggling row of pretty neat-built houses, among which are three papermills, a corn, and a seed mill, comprehending the village of River, having the church in the midst of them, beyond which the hills rise again very high, being frequently arable, interspersed with small coppices and clumps of wood wildly placed among them. The view of this from the London road forms a most romantic and picturesque scene, when at the same time straight forward, through the opening of the valley, there is a view of the town of Dover and its churches, and beyond, the British channel and the high hills of Bologne on the coast of France, and on the height of the hills to the left, the stately buildings of Dover castle.
The soil, in the northern part of this parish on the hills, is mostly chalk, and on those on the other side of it the same, but interspersed with a red earth, intermixed with quantities of sharp flints; a barren and hungry soil. In the vale near the river the meadows are rich and fertile. Upon the hill, on the left side of the London road, near the lime kiln, are several tumuli, some of which were lately opened, and in each of them was found a skeleton, a sword of about three feet long and two inches broad, and the head of a spear.
IT APPEARS by the Testa de Nevill, that this parish in the latter end of king John's reign was an escheat of the crown, and held in three parts; one of which, the castle of Dover held; another part, the canons of St. Radigund's held; and the third part was held by Soloman de Dover, of the gift of king John, and the whole was worth xxx pounds. The former of these afterwards came into the possession of the hospital of St. Mary, otherwise called the Maison Dieu, of Dover; the other part, belonging to St. Radigund's, will be further mentioned below in the ecclesiastical account of this parish; and the third part was, what is now called, the manor of Archers court, situated likewise within the bounds of this parish.
THE MANOR OF RIVER, which was comprehended in that third part of this parish first above-mentioned, seems to have been in the reign of the Conqueror part of the possessions of Hugh de Montfort, and perhaps described among those lands mentioned in the survey of Domesday before, under the parish of Ewell. His lands, on the exile of his grandson Robert de Montfort, in king Henry I.'s reign, escheated to the crown, whence great part of them in this neighbourhood were afterwards granted to Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort; after which these possessions came to Henry de Essex, who was constable likewise of England, from his succession to which as well as from other circumstances, it should seem that he became entitled to them by inheritance. Henry de Essex was baron of Raleigh, in Essex, and hereditary standard-bearer of England, but for his cowardice in a battle against the Welsh, in the 10th year of that reign, he forfeited all his possessions, which became escheats to the crown; among them was this manor of River, held of the king as above-mentioned, and it appears to have continued in the crown during king John's and the beginning of king Henry III.'s reign, who in the 13th year of it, at the petition of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, confirmed it to the hospital of St. Mary, at Dover, (afterwards called the Maison Dieu) which Hubert had founded, to hold in pure and perpetual alms; (fn. 1) after which, in the 21st year of king Edward I. upon a quo warranto, the master of the Maison Dieu was allowed the usual privileges of a manor in this parish, and king Henry VI. in his 2d year again confirmed it to the hospital, part of the possessions of which it continued till the reign of king Henry VIII. when on the suppression of it this manor came into the king's hands, where it seems to have remained without interruption till Charles II.'s reign, when it was alienated by the crown to the dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom it remains at this time. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
ARCHERS-COURT is a manor situated in the northern part of this parish, on the hills adjoining to that of Whitfield, in which parish, as well as in those of Guston and Waldershare, some parts of it lie.
In the time of king John this manor was in the possession of Soloman de Dovere, as appears by the Testa de Nevill mentioned before, and it seems as if this person was the same as is mentioned in the pleas of the crown, anno 21 Edward I. by the name of Soloman de Champs, or Chauns, who might from his residence there be likewise called de Dovere; in which pleas, as well as by the inquisition taken after his death in the 31st year of that reign, he is said to hold certain lands, called Coperland and Atterton, (part of this manor, as will appear by the records mentioned hereafter) of the king in capite, by the sergeantry and service of holding the king's head between Dover and Whitsond, as often as it should happen for him to pass the sea between those ports, and there should be occasion for it. He died possessed of this manor and land above-mentioned, in the 31st year of king Edward I. and was succeeded by his son and heir Gregory de Dovere; but I find no more mention of this name afterwards, but that it became the possessions of a family named Archer, and sometimes I'Archer, from whom it acquired the name of Archers-court, one of whom, Nicholas Archer, held it in the 1st year of king Edward II. as did William Archer in the 20th year of king Edward III. then holding it in sergeantry. At length, after this name was become extinct here, this manor was alienated to Bandred, or Brandred, in which it continued for several years, till at length the manor itself, with the court-lodge, and part of the demesne lands, together with Coperland, were sold by one of them, in the 1st year of king Edward IV. to Thomas Doilie, esq. and the other part of the demesne lands, since known by the name of Little Archers-court, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle; a further account of which will be given hereafter.
From one of the descendants of the above-mentioned Thomas Doilie, this manor was in king Henry VIII.'s reign exchanged with the crown, and that king in his 36th year granted it to Sir James Hales, in whose family it continued till it was sold to Lee, who passed it away to Sir Hardress Waller, of Dublin, and he with others, in 1657, alienated this manor to Mr. Thomas Broom, of London, one of whose descendants of the same name sold it to Richards Rouse, of Dover, whose arms were Sable, a fess dancette, or, between three crescents, argent, and his daughter carried it in marriage to Phineas Stringer, esq. of Dover, who is the present owner of it.
A court leet and court baron is held for this manor. A borsholder is chosen at this court for the borough of Archers-court only, but this is merely nominal, as he has never been known to act as such.
THE OTHER PART of Archers-court, which was sold in king Edward IV.'s reign, as has been mentioned before, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle, was afterwards known by the name of LITTLE ARCHERS COURT. Sir George Browne was sheriff in the 21st year of the above reign, but was attainted anno I Richard III. and restored again in the first year of king Henry VII. His son Sir Matt. Browne died anno 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, possessed of this estate, with lands in River, alias Archers-court, called Copland, held in capiteby sergeantry, and the service mentioned before, as was found by inquisition taken after his death that year. His grandson Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth-castle, who has his landsdisgavelled by the two acts of the 1st and 8th years of queen Elizabeth, afterwards passed away this estate to Capt. Isaac Honywood, who was slain at the battle of Newport, and dying s.p. devised it by his will to his nephew, Col. Henry Honeywood, who died in 1662, and was buried in the cathedral of Canterbury, the register of which says, he was a colonel sometime under that grand rebel Oliver Cromwell.
After his death, this estate seems to have come into the possession of his first-cousin Sir Thomas Honywood, of Marks-hall, in Essex; since whose death, in 1666, it has descended down in like manner as Marks-hall, and his other estates in this county, to Filmer Honywood, esq. now of Marks-hall, late knight of the shire for this county, who is the present owner of it.
CASTNEY-COURT, as it is commonly called, but properly Kersoney, is another manor, situated partly in the western part of this parish, adjoining to the river, and partly in the parishes of Ewell and Whitfield. It was antiently accounted part of the barony of Saye, being held of Dover castle, and at the latter end of king Edward I.'s reign was in the possession of the family of Paganel, or Painall, as they were usually called. John Paganel died possessed of it anno 12 Edward II. leaving a daughter and heir Maud; after which, I find it held by Elias de Bocton, by knight's service, by the description of lands at La Kersony. After this the family of Norwood became possessed of it, and in later times the Ropers, of St. Dunstan's; for John Roper, esq. of St. Dunstan's, died possessed of it in the 5th year of king Henry VII. holding it by knight's service. In his descendants this manor continued till the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it was conveyed by sale to Best, of Canterbury; the last of which name who held it was George Best, who alienated it to Capt. Nicholas Toke, who after the death of king Charles I. conveyed his interest in it to Charles Fotherbye, esq. and he dying s.p. it came to his brother Thomas Fotherbye, esq. of Crixall, in Staple, whose only son of the same name alienated it to William Richards, of Dover, and he in 1701 devised it to his nephew. John Sladden, merchant, of Dover, who devised it to his sister Mary, who married Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover. Her trustees, after his death, disposed of it to fulfill the purpose of her will, to Mr. William Andrews, of London, who in 1788 devised it to Thomas Biggs, esq. of Dover, who bears for his arms, Argent, on a fess, between three martlets, sable, as many annulets, or, and he is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
There are no parochial charities; the poor have a right to commoning on the Minnis, which is a large common or heath of three hundred actres, called River Minnis, lying on the hills at the southern boundary of this parish, next to Polton. A new workhouse is built in this parish, for the united parishes of Alkham, Capel, Hougham, River, Buckland, Charlton, and Whitfield. The poor constantly relieved are about twelve, casually the same.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building, consisting of a nave and a chancel, without any steeple, and has nothing worth notice in it.
¶King John, in his 9th year, granted to the abbot and canons of St. Radigund of Bradsole, this church of St. Peter of River, and his place and court of the manor, to hold in pure and perpetual alms, for the building of their abbey there, which was then at Bradesole. (fn. 2) After which the king, in his 17th year, granted licence to them to appropriate this church. Notwithstanding the grant for the removal of the abbey hither, it never took place, but continued at Bradesole, in the adjoining parish of Polton, to the time of its dissolution, which happened in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when this appropriation, with the advowson of the vicarage, and the lands and possessions of the abbot and convent in this parish, as well as elsewhere, came into the king's hands, who granted them to the archbishop in exchange, and he soon afterwards reconveyed them to the crown, by an act specially passed for this purpose; but in it, among other exceptions was one of this church, appropriate of River, with the advowson of the vicarage, which have ever since continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to them.—The parsonage, with two pieces of land, is demised on a beneficial lease, to Mr. Tho. Lamb, of Crabble.
In the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, the vicarage, on account of it smallness, was not taxed to the tenth. It is valued in the king's books at 7l. 1s. 0½d. and is now of about the clear yearly value of eighteen pounds. In 1588 and 1640, here were fifty-eight communicants. The archbishop still pays the pension of 2l. 13s. 4d. formerly paid by the abbot and convent of St. Radigund's, to the vicar of this church.
First of all, I see from the Church of England website, the dedication is Laurence rather than Lawrence, so will correct my previous shots.
And with St Laurence, I have completed the listed churches in the Dover Deanery, a task that has taken some seven and a half years, and in which I have been frustrated by three churches that remained locked to me. But thanks to the internet and requesting access, I did finally get inside Whitfield, Preston and Betteshanger and cross them off the list.
I did see inside Hougham too, about 15 months ago during the Heritage Weekend, but found that the parish had arranged a festival to take place art the same time, and the inside was covered in quilts and carpets.
Of course.
St Laurence is situated on a down between Dover and Capel, and the village is dominated by the TV mast which beams us all TV and radio in the area. You approach the village up steep and narrow lanes from the Old Folkestone Road, or from River in Dover, and the church itself is in the middle of Church Hougham, down a dead end lane.
Unlike on previous visits, the door was unlocked so I dd not have to find a keyholder. The lightswitch beside the door lit just a single bulb above the doorway to the porch, but on a bright winter day, the church was full enough with light.
It was clear that the south wall of the chancel is leaning out at an alarming angle, but in fairly recent times, a buttress has been built to save it from falling.
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In its day this must have been a magnificent church. Its day would have been during the period 1100 to 1150, for a large building was constructed at this time. Even today the remains are impressive. As in many east Kent churches there is no chancel arch. There is a tremendous lean to the south chancel wall. It also shows the blocked arcade to a former south chapel. The north chapel has an impressive east window in Early English style which was copied by the Victorians when they replaced the chancel east window, and for once it is possible to compare the Victorian and medieval work almost side by side. While nineteenth-century windows are fine elsewhere in the church this juxta-position at Hougham clearly demonstrates the superiority of the medieval work. By far the most interesting feature at Hougham is the tower. The arch from the nave is particularly lofty and leads into an extremely tall and spacious chamber which can best be described as cavern-like.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Hougham
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OR Huffam, as it is called, and frequently written in Domesday, Hicham, being so denominated from its high situation, lies the next parish eastward from Polton. Part of it only is within this hundred of Bewsborough; another part is within the hundred of Folkestone; and the residue is within the jurisdiction of the cinque ports, and of the corporation of the town and port of Dover. A borsholder, for that part of this parish which is within the hundred of Bewsborough, is chosen at the court leet of the hundred.
THE PARISH of Hougham lies among the high eastern hills of Kent, in a healthy though a very rude and wild country. In the midst of it are two streets, called Church Hougham, and East Hougham; in the former of which the church stands, and at the south-west part of it, a hamlet called West Hougham. Great part of this parish is full of small inclosures, interspersed with frequent coppice wood, and much rough ground. The soil is but poor and barren, consisting of either chalk or a red earth, covered with a rotten slint stone, with which the narrow roads here abound. Towards the eastern part of it the ground lies high, being an open uninclosed down, across which the high road leads from Folkestone to Dover, quite to the sea-shore, over which the chalk cliffs here rise to a great height; from hence there is a most beautiful prospect over the channel, and the Bologne hills on the coast of France. Near the bottom of these cliffs are three holes, called Lydden Spouts, through which the subterraneous waters empty themselves continually on the beach of the shore; and the belief of the country is, that the waters of the Nailborne, at Drelingore, in Alkham, at least four miles distant, communicate subterraneously with these spouts, which increase as the springs heighten by wind and weather. Over these spouts, in the middle of the cliff, are two large square rooms cut out of the chalk, one within the other; they are called the Coining-house, and have a very difficult way to come at them, the cliff here being upwards of four hundred feet high.
When the plague raged in London in the year 1665, it was brought to Dover, and great numbers died there of the pestilence in that and the following years, for the burial of whom a piece of ground was bought in this parish, on the side of the hill fronting the pier fort, and consecrated for that purpose. It is computed that upwards of nine hundred of those who died of this pestilence were buried in it, since which it has been constantly known by the name of the Graves.
Henry Benger, gent. was of Hougham, and resided here anno 1619, and descended from John Benger, of Maningford, in Wiltshire. They bore for their arms, Or, a cross vert, surmounted by a bendlet, gules. (fn. 1)
THE PARISH OF HOUGHAM was part of those lands which were given to Fulbert de Dover, for the desence of Dover castle, (fn. 2) which made up together the barony of Fulbert, or Fobert, as it was usually called, being held in capite by barony, of which Chilham became the chief seat, or caput baroniæof which this place, as appears by the book of Dover castle, was afterwards held by knight's service. Among these lands was included THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM, otherwise called THE ELMES, at times called by the names of Great Hougham, alias Chilverton; and likewise Southcourt, from its situation in regard to the manor of Northcourt, alias Little Hougham, in this parish.
This manor was held in manner as above-mentioned by a family who took their surname of Hougham from it. This family bore for their arms, Argent, five chevronels, sable; which Philipott (fn. 3) says they bore in allusion to those of their superior lords, of whom they held lands, the Averenches, or Albrincis, lords of the barony of Folkestone, whose arms were, Or, five chevronels, gulesFrom this family of Hougham descended those of Weddington, in Ash, near Sandwich, now extinct; and from the latter collaterally, those now of St. Paul's near Canterbury. One of the above mentioned family, Robert de Hougham, held it in king Richard I.'s reign, and was present with that king at the siege of Acon, in Palestine. At length his descendant Robert de Hougham, leaving two daughters his coheirs, of whom Benedicta was married to John de Shelving, and the other to Waretius de Valoignes, the latter became entitled to this manor, on the share of his wife's inheritance; and in the 14th year of king Edward III. obtained a charter of free-warren for this manor of Hougham. He left two daughters his coheirs, one of whom married Sir Francis Fogge; the other Maud, married Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, who in her right became possessed of this manor.
Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, as the name was afterwards written, died possessed of this manor in the 35th year of the above reign; but it should seem that he had no further interest in it but for his life, for Maud his wife before her death had infeoffed William Tapaline and others in this manor, and they passed it away to Stephen, Richard, and John de Combe, the latter of whom was of Hastingligh, and afterwards became sole possessor of it. He conveyed this manor in the 10th year of king Richard II. in trust to sell it; after which it came into the name of Heron, in which it remained at the end of king Henry IV.'s reign, and from which it was after some interval alienated to William Fineux, gent. of Swingfield, who had three sons; Sir John Fineux, chief justice of the king's bench, who purchased Haw-house, in Herne, under which, an account of him and his descendants may be seen; William, to whom his father gave this manor of Southcourt; and Richard, who was of Dover. (fn. 4)
William Fineux, who had this manor of Southcourt by gift of his father, resided at Hougham, and dying possessed of it in 1534, s.p. he by his will gave it to William, the eldest son of his brother Richard deceased, who afterwards resided here, and in his direct descendants it continued down to Thomas Fineux, gent. of Dover, who in king Charles II.'s reign passed away this manor to Robert Breton, gent. who resided at the mansion, called the Elmes, in this parish, formerly the residence of the Nepueus, several of whom lie buried in this church, which seat he had purchased of William Nepueu, esq. of Twickenham, the grandson of Peter, the first builder of it, who was a native of France, and came over to England upon the edict of Nantes, and brought with him a considerable property. He died in 1658, and lies buried in Hougham church. They bore for their arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Robert Breton above-mentioned was descended from the Bretons, of Barwell, and on the mother's side from the Bassingtons, of Temple Rothley, in Leicestershire, being the son > of Nich. Breton, of Norton, near Daventry. He died possessed of this estate, and was buried in this church. His great-grandson M. Breton, esq. afterwards of Kennington-house, (fn. 5) alienated both manor and seat to Robert Lacy, esq. who resided at Elmes, where he served the office of sheriff in the year 1739, and he died possessed of them about the year 1746; upon which they came to his son-in-law Granado Piggott, esq. who in 1749 passed them away to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, who died in 1757, leaving two sons, Phineas, of whom hereafter; and George, of Canterbury. Phineas, the eldest son, is of Dover, and married the daughter of Mr. Richard Rouse, of Dover, by whom he has an only daughter and heir, married to Mr. Edward Broadrip, gent. of Dover. He bears for his arms, Per chevron, or, and sable, in chief, two eagles displayed of the second; in base, a fleur de lis of the first. He succeeded his father in this manor and seat, and is the present owner of them.
A court baron is held for this manor, the boundaries of which, as I am informed, begin at High-cliff, from whence they extend along the coast, to a place called Jews-gut, and there leaving the cliff, on towards Capel, whence including West Hougham, they go down to the Elmes, and the land of Dover priory.
THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM-COURT, alias NORTHCOURT, which latter name it took from its situation in regard to the former described manor of South court, was comprehended as part of those lands which, as has been mentioned before, were given to Fulbert de Dover, and with other lands made up the barony of Fobert, of which it was held afterwards by knight's service, by the family of Basing, of eminent account in the city of London during the reigns of king John and king Henry III. for the high offices of trust which they bore in it. At length Sir Thomas de Basing succeeding to this manor, he alienated it to Adam Sare, whose heirs were in the possession of it in the 20th year of king Edward III. How it passed afterwards, I have not found, till the beginning of king Henry VI.'s reign, when it was alienated to Clive, commonly called Cliffe, a family of good account in the counties of Salop and and Essex; from whence, at the latter end of that reign, it passed by sale to William Hextal, esq. of East Peckham. One of his daughters and coheirs Margaret, entitled her husband Wm. Whetenhall, esq. commonly called Whetnall, citizen and alderman of London, to it. (fn. 6) His descendant William Whetenhall about the middle of king Henry VIII.'s reign sold it to John Boys, esq. of Fredville, in whose descendants it continued down to Major John Boys, of Fredville, who possessed it in 1656.
Before his death he alienated this manor; but now it passed afterwards I have not learned, only that it became vested in the name of Woodroofe; and in the year 1720, William Woodroofe, clerk, of Cambridgeshire, sold one moiety of it to John Walker, citizen and draper, of London, who passed it away to Francis Cabot, and he, at his death in 1753, devised it to his widow Barbara, as she did to her father Mr. Robert Cooper, of Salisbury, and her brother in law William Barnes. In 1786, this moiety was in possession of Robert, son of the above-mentioned Robert Cooper, and of Anne Barnes, and they joined in the sale of it to Mr. Michael Becker, of Dover, who in 1792 sold it to Mr. Philip Leman, of Dover castle, the present owner of it.
The other moiety continued afterwards in the descendants of William Woodroofe above-mentioned down to the Rev. Mr. Woodroofe, of Shoreham, in this county, the present possessor of it; so that this manor remains in undivided moieties at this time.
There is no court held for this manor; to it is annexed the right to wreck of the sea along the coast, from High cliff to Archcliff fort.
SIBERTON, alias SIBERSTON, is a manor in the north-east part of this parish, which made likewise part of the barony of Fobert before-mentioned, of which it was held by knight's service. John de Herste held this manor in the 2d year of king John, and in the 20th year of king Edward III. the heirs of another John de Herst held it by the description of lands in Siberston, of the barony of Chilham, by the like service, and the payment of ward to Dover castle; not long after which it appears to have been in the possession of a family who took their surname from it, one of whom, Richard de Siberston, as appeared by an old dateless deed of that time, demised it to John Monins, in whose descendants it continued down to Edward Monins, esq. of Waldershare, whose lands were disgavelled by the act of the 2d and 3d Edward VI. He died possessed of it in the 6th year of that reign, and by his will gave this manor of Seberston, to his second son George Monins, and he sold it to Thomas Pepper, jurat of Dover, who dying in the 17th year of queen Elizabeth, gave it to Thomas, son of Richard Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign alienated it to Moulton, of Redriff, in whose descendants it remained at the time of the restoration of king Charles II. 1660, after which it was alienated, after some intermediate owners, to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, whose son, of the same name, is the present possessor of it.
But this manor, by unity of possessionhas for some year since been so blended with that of Hougham, otherwise called the Elmes, above described, that it is now accounted one and the same manor.
THE TITHES of the manor of Siberston, lying in Elms bottom, in this parish, were part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, in Dover, and continued so till the dissolution of it in the 27th year of Henry VIII. when this portion of tithes, among the rest of the possessions of the priory, came into the king's hands, who granted it with the scite and other possessions of the priory, in his 29th year, to the archbishop in exchange, in manner as has been already frequently mentioned before, in which state it has continued ever since, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of it. John Monins, esq. of Canterbury, is the present lessee of it.
FARTHINGLOE, alias VENSON DANE, is another manor in this parish, which was antiently part of the possessions of the canons of St. Martin, under the general title of whose possessions it is thus entered in the survey of Domesday:
In Beusberg hundred. In Ferlingelai, William the son of Ganfrid holds one suling, and there he has in demesne one carucate, and four villeins, with one carucate. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, six pounds. Sired held it as a prebend.
And immediately following, under the title of the same possessions:
In Hicham, Balduin holds one suling, and there he has four villeins, and five borderers, with two carucates. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, one hundred shillings. Eduuin holds it.
As the canons of St. Martin's priory had other possessions in this parish, besides the manor of Farthingloe, the latter entry no doubt contains the description of them, and includes their estate here, called Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, mentioned below, which together with the manor of Farthingloe, remained parcel of the possessions of the above priory, till the final suppression of it in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when they both came into the king's hands, who granted them in his 29th year to the archbishop in exchange, as has been already more particularly mentioned before; since which this manor of Farthingloe, with the estate of Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, has remained parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of them. The interest of the present lease is vested in the widow of Mr. Nath. Walker, deceased, and Mr. John Marsh (the present occupier); the former possessing the lands, and the latter the great tithes, for their respective shares.
This estate is exempted from the payment of the great or corn tithes. There is not any court held for this manor.
The manor of Farthingloe was held of the prior and canons in king Henry III.'s time, by a family, who from their residence at it, took their surname from it. One of them, Matilda de Farthingloe, is mentioned by Prynne, anno 44 Henry III.
MAXTON, or Maxton court, is another manor situated in this parish, at no great distance from Farthingloe, which in king Henry III.'s reign, as appears by the book of knights fees kept in the king's remembrancer's office, was in the possession of Stephen Manekyn, who held it by knight's service of the barony of Fobert, and together with other lands elsewhere made up that barony, and were given for the desence of Dover castle. After this it seems to have been divided into moieties, and to have been held by Richard Walsham, and Alice, daughter of Stephen Manekin, who alienated the whole of it to William, son of Nicholas Archer, of Dover, whose seal was, A stag's head, caboshed, as appears by a deed in the Surrenden library, dated anno 17 Edward III. His son William Archer, in the 21st year of the next reign of king Richard II. passed it away by sale to John Alkham, of Alkham, a family of good estate in this neighbourhood, in the descendants of which this manor remained for some time; but at the latter end of king Edward IV. it was become the property of Roger Appleton, from whom it passed to Hobday, and thence to Harman, of Crayford, from which name it was sold by Thomas Harman to Sir James Hales, who at or about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign alienated it to Andrews, of Dover, who some few years afterwards sold it to Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign conveyed it to Sir Thomas Wilford, of IIden, who in king Charles I.'s reign passed it away to Mr. William Richards, of Dover, whose descendant of the same name, devised it to his nephew John Sladden, of Dover, merchant, as he did to his sister Mary, who carried it in marriage to Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover, whose trustees, after his death, to perform the uses of her will, sold it in 1783 to Tho. Biggs, esq. of Dover, the present owner of it, who has much improved the mansion of this manor, by making several additional buildings to it. A court baron is held for this manor.
Charities.
THOMAS PEPPER, jurat of Dover, by his will in 1574, de vised to the poor within the parishes of our Lady of Dover and Hougham, one annuity of 40s to be distributed equally between them, issuing out of his manor of Syberstone, and the lands belonging to it, with power to distrain, &c. now vested in Phineas Stringer, esq. and the money is distributed to such as do not receive weekly allowance of the parish.
There is a house divided into two small dwellings, inhabited by two persons placed there by the churchwardens and overseers of the poor; but how it came to the parish is not known.
The poor constantly maintained are about twenty-five, casually fifteen.
HOUGHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Laurence, is an ancient building, but small, consisting of two small isles and a chancel, having neither tower nor steeple, but it has a place for three small bells. In the chancel lie buried several of the families of Hougham and Malmaines; the brasses of whose stones have been long since torn off, though the lines of their portraitures still remain. In the chancel is a monument for Wm. Fyneux, esq. son of Robert. He died in 1587; arms, Vert, a chevron, between three eagles displayed, or, crowned, gules, impaling Warren, azure, a cross, or; in the first and fourth quarters, a martlet; in the second and third, a chaplet of the second. Another for Peter Nepeau, gent. who lies buried in a vault underneath; he built and resided at the Elmes, in this parish, still continuing the trade of a merchant; he died in 1658. William, his only surviving son, married Sarah, daughter of Mr. Bulteel, of Tournay, in Flanders, who was also buried in this chancel. His youngest son William succeeded to the Elmes, which he sold, and settled at Twickenham; he died in 1710; arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Another for Robert Breton, esq he died in 1707; arms, Azure, a bend between six mullets, pierced, or. And for William Hannington, esq. who married a daughter of William Monings, lieutenant-governor of Dover-castle; he died in 1607.
¶This church was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, to which it was appropriated by archbishop Stratford, in 1345, and a vicarage endowed in it, (fn. 7) both which were at the suppression, in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. granted with the scite of the priory and other possessions of it in the exchange to the archbishop, with a reservation of the antient pension from the prior of forty shillings to the vicar, in manner as has been frequently more particularly mentioned before. In which state they now continue, his grace the archbishop being possessed of the appropriation of this church, with the advowson of the vicarage of it. The parsonage is called Little Hougham court, which with the tithes are held under the archbishop by Mr. Thomas Walker, of Dover. The glebe land is ninety acres.
In 1588 here were one hundred and twenty communicants, and it was valued at forty pounds per annum. This vicarage is valued in the king's books at 6l. 13s. 4d. Archbishop Juxon, anno 14 Charles II. augmented this vicarage with twenty-five pounds, to be paid by the lessee of the great tithes, which was again confirmed anno 22 of that reign. The vicar still receives the antient pension of forty shillings from the archbishop. It is now a discharged living of about the clear yearly value of forty-six pounds.
Posting shots of churches we have visited has shown me that my photography has improved now I don't use the ultrawide angle lenses, so many churches need a revisit.
And with the orchid season now at an end, nearly, it is time to turn to churchcrawling.
And the easiest non-Kent church to revisit was Winchelsea, just over the border in East Sussex, also gave us the chance to call in at the fishmongers in Rye for some smoked haddock.
After the early morning coffee and then the rush round Tesco, back home to pack it all away and for me to make bacon butties and another brew.
And then: go west.
Traffic is not so mad now, so it was easy to drive to Folkestone then up the motorway to Ashford, before turning off, past the inland border facility, then out onto the Marsh past Hamstreet.
West of Brookland, the road meanders about, bend after bend, crossing and recrossing the railway until we reach Rye.
We stop to buy the fish, then round the river, over the bridge and out the other side, five miles to Winchelsea, turning off to go up the hill under the old town gate, parking near the village shop.
Whereas Rye was already busy, Winchelsea was quiet, and just past ten meaning the church had just opened.
We walk across the large churchyard through the ruins of the tower and into the church, where the triple wide nave was lines on the north and south walls with fine wall tombs.
I photograph each on in turn, and the corbel heads on each too.
I rephotograph the fine windows too, as despite being modern, they really are on another level.
One or two people come in, a family of three last 30 seconds before the mother and teenage son leave.
After completing the shots, I go out to meet up with Jools so we can walk to the shop to have ice cream, and sit to eat them on a bench looking at the north wall of the church.
After we had finished our ice creams, we climbed back in the car. It wasn't yet half ten. Time for some more churches!
So, after driving back through Rye and into Kent, we call into Brookland so I could check if the tower was open, as I have never found it open. The church was, but the candlesnuff tower was locked.
No worries, there's always New Romney.
I first came here with my friend, Simon, in 2014 when there was a formal dinner being prepared, and a year ago, we arrived just after one to find the building being locked for the day.
We parked opposite and I see the sign advertising a craft and record fair, along with refreshments.
Inside there were stall set up, and people in the Chancel drinking tea and eating cake.
I was able to get shots of some of the memorials and details, which is why I came back, really.
The fair happens on only one Saturday per month, just my luck to pick a day when it was on.
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The font as two tiers:
Top tier depicts the zodiac and the lower tiew shows the months.
January: Two faced Janus.
February: A man seated warming himself by a fire out of doors.
March: A man pruning a vine.
April: A bareheaded figure in a long robe, holding in each hand a sprouting branch.
May: A knight on a palfrey with a hawk on his left arm.
June: A man mowing with a long-bladed scythe.
July: A man working with a rake.
August: A man reaping with a sickle.
September: A man threshing corn with a flail.
October: Wine pressing.
November: A swineherd holding aloft a hooked stick.
December: A man with uplifted axe killing a pig, no doubt for Christmas cheer.
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A long low church with the most famous spire in Kent. This three-stage 'candle-snuffer' erection which stand son the ground instead of on a tower is the result of several enlargements of a thirteenth-century bell cage and its subsequent weatherproofing with cedar shingles. It contains a peal of six bells, the oldest of which is mid-fifteenth century in date. The spire is surmounted by a winged dragon weathervane, dating from 1797. The monster has a prominent forked tongue. The reason for the bells being hung in a cage rather than a tower is shown inside the church where the pillars of the nave have sunk into the soft ground and splayed out to north and south. The tie-beams of the roof came away from the walls and have had to be lengthened by the addition of new timber supports. The outstanding Norman font in cast lead has been fully described in Part 1. To the south of the church is a headstone incorporating the only 'Harmer Plaque' in Kent - a terracotta panel made in East Sussex where they are a common feature.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brookland
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BROOKLAND,
SO called from the several brooks and waterings within the bounds of it, lies the next parish southeastward, mostly within the level of Walland Marsh, and within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county; but there are some lands, which are reputed to be within this parish, containing altogether about 124 acres, which lie in detached pieces at some distance south-eastward from the rest of it, mostly near Ivychurch, some other parishes intervening, which lands are within the level of Romney Marsh, and within the liberty and jurisdiction of the justices of it.
The PARISH of Brookland lies on higher ground than either Snargate or Fairfield last described, and consequently much drier. It is more sheltered with trees, and inclosed with hedges, than any of the neighbouring parishes. The village is neat and rather pleasant, considering the situation, and the houses, as well as inhabitants, of a better sort than are usually seen in the Marsh. The church stands in the middle of it. The lands towards the south are by far the most fertile, for towards Snargate they are very poor and wet, and much covered with rushes and thistles. It consists in general of marsh-land, there not being above thirty acres of land ploughed throughout the parish, which altogether contains about 1730 acres of land.
A fair is held here yearly on the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, or Lammas-day, being August I, for toys and pedlary.
The MANORS of Fairfield, Apledore, Bilsington, and Court at Wick, extend over this parish, subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF BROOKLAND, which has long since lost even the reputation of having been a manor. It was in early times the patrimony of the family of Passele, or Pashley, as they were afterwards called, whose seat was at Evegate, in Smeeth, (fn. 1) of whom Edward de Passeley is the first that is discovered in public records to have been possessed of this manor, and this appears by the inquisition taken after his death, anno 19 Edward II. Soon after which it was alienated to Reginald de Cobham, a younger branch of the Cobhams, of Cobham, whose descendants were seated at Sterborough castle, in Surry, whence they were called Cobhams, of Sterborough, and they had afterwards summons to parliament among the barons of this realm. At length Sir Thomas Cobham died possessed of it in the 11th year of king Edward IV. leaving an only daughter and sole heir, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edward Borough, of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, whose son and heir Thomas was summoned to parliament as lord Burgh, or as it is usually pronounced, Borough, anno 21 king Henry VIII. and left a son and heir Thomas, lord Burgh, whose lands were disgavelled by the act anno 31 Henry VIII. His son William, lord Burgh, about the 12th year of queen Elizabeth's reign, passed it away to Eversfield, of Suffex, from whom it was alienated soon afterwards to Godfrey, of Lid, at which time this estate seems to have lost its name of having been a manor. He, before the end of that reign, sold it to Wood, by whom it was again alienated in the beginning of king James I.'s reign to Mr. John Fagge, of Rye, whose descendant John Fagge, esq. of Wiston, in Suffex, was created a baronet in 1660. He had a numerous issue, of which only three sons and two daughters survived. Of the former, Sir Robert, the eldest, was his successor in title; Charles was ancestor of the present baronet, the Rev. Sir John Fagge, of Chartham; and the third son Thomas Fagge, esq. succeeded by his father's will to this estate at Brookland. His son John Meres Fagge, esq. of Glynely, in Sussex, left surviving an only daughter Elizabeth, who on his death in 1769, entitled her husband Sir John Peachy, bart-of West Dean, in Sussex, to the possession of it. He died s. p. and she surviving him, again became entitled to it in her own right, and is at this time the present owner of it.
There are noparochial charities.
BROOKLAND is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Augustine, is a very large handsome building, consisting of three isles and three chancels. The steeple stands on the north side, and at some small distance from it, in which are five bells. The church is kept exceedingly neat and clean. It is cieled throughout, and handsomely pewed. In the high chancel there is a confessionary, and a nich for holy water within the altar-rails. There are several memorials in it, but none of any account worth mentioning. At the west end is a gallery, lately erected at the charge of the parish. The font is very curious, made of cast lead, having on it two ranges of emblematical figures, twenty in each range. The steeple is framed of remarkable large timber. It is built entirely of wood, of an octagon form, perpendicular about five feet from the bottom, and from thence leffening to a spire at top, in which it has three different copartments or stories, the two uppermost larger at the bottom, and projecting over those underneath them. Although there are but five bells in it, yet it has frames for several more. The whole is much out of the perpendicular leaning towards the church. In the church-yard are several tombs and gravestones for the Reads.
¶The church of Brookland was part of the antient possessions of the monastery of St. Augustine, to which it was appropriated by pope Clement V. at the request of Ralph Bourne, the abbot of it, in king Edward II.'s reign, but the abbot declined putting the bull for this purpose in force, till a more favourable opportunity. At length John, abbot of St. Augustine, in 1347, obtained another bull from pope Clement VI for the appropriation of it, and having three years afterwards obtained the king's licence for this purpose, (fn. 2) the same was confirmed by archbishop Islip in 1359, who next year endowed the vicarage of this church by his decree, by which he assigned, with the consent of the abbot and convent, and of the vicar, of the rents and profits of the church, to John de Hoghton, priest, then admitted perpetual vicar to the vicarage of it, and canonically instituted, and to his successors in future in it, a fit portion from which they might be fitly maintained and support the undermentioned burthens. In the first place he decreed and ordained, that the religious should build on the soil of the endowment of the church, at their own costs and expences, a competent mansion, with a sufficient close and garden, for the vicar and his successors, free from all rent and secular service, to be repaired and maintained from that time by the vicar for the time being; who on the presentation of the religious to be admitted and instituted by him or his successors, into the vicarage, should likewise have the great tithes of the lands lying on the other side of le Re, towards Dover, viz. beyond the bridge called Brynsete, and towards the parish churches of Brynsete, Snaves, and Ivercherche, belonging to the church of Brokelande, and likewise the tithes arising from the sheaves of gardens or orchards dug with the foot, and also all oblations made in the church or parish, and all tithes of hay, calves, chicken, lambs, pigs, geese, hens, eggs, ducks, pidgeons, bees, honey, wax, swans, wool, milkmeats, pasture, flax, hemp, garden-herbs, apples, vetches, merchandizes, fishings, fowlings, and all manner of small tithes arising from all things whatsoever. And he taxed and estimated the said portion at the annual value of eight marcs sterling, at which sum he decreed the vicar ought to contribute in future, to the payment of the tenth and all other impositions happening, of whatsoever sort. Not intending that the vicar of this church should be entitled to, or take of the issues and rents of it, any thing further than is expressed before, but that he should undergo the burthen of officiating in the same, either by himself or some other sit priest, in divine offices, and in the finding of lights in the chancel, and of bread and wine for the celebration of masses, the washing of vestments, and the reparation of the books of the church, and should nevertheless pay the procuration due to the archbishop, on his visitation. But the rest of the burthens incumbent on the church, and no ways here expressed, should belong to the abbot and convent, &c. (fn. 3) After this, the church and advowson of the vicarage of Brookland remained part of the possessions of the above monastery till the final dissolution of it, anno 30 Henry VIII. when it was, with all its revenues, surrendered into the king's hands, where this rectory and advowson staid but a short time, for the king, by his dotation charter, settled them on his newerected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions they continue at this time.
On the abolition of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in 1650, when it appeared that it consisted of a close of land of one acre, on which stood the parsonage barne, and other outhouses, with the tithe of corn and other profits belonging to it, estimated coibs annis at twenty four pounds, all which were by indenture, in 1635, demised for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of eight pounds, but were worth, over and above the said rent, sixteen pounds per annum, and that the lessee was to repair the premises, and the chancel of the parish church.
In 1384 this church or rectory appropriate was valued at 13l. 6s. 8d. but anno 31 Henry VIII. it was demised to ferme at only 8l. 3s. 4d. It is now demised on a beneficial lease by the dean and chapter, at the yearly rent of eight pounds to Mrs. Woodman, the present lessee of it. The vicarage of this church is valued in the king's books at 17l. 12s. 8½d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 15s. 3¼d. In 1587 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants one hundred and sixtysix, and in 1640 the same, and it is now of about the same value.
There is a modus of one shilling per acre on all the grass-lands in this parish. The vicar is entitled to all the small tithes, subject to this modus, throughout the parish, and to the tithes of corn of those lands, being one hundred and twenty-four acres, which lie in detached pieces beyond Brenset bridge, in Romney Marsh, as mentioned before, in the endowment of this vicarage.
There is a school here, for teaching reading and writing, supported by contribution, at which fifty children are usually taught.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
4th visit to Brookland, this time to see of the unique tower was open.
It wasn't.
Sadly.
But the church was, as it always is.
Then I remembered the font. The lead font. And the chuch has seen fit to have an educational form near the font explaining it.
Wonderful work.
Brookland is large. And yet only the second largest church we visited that day of three.
The pub next door has closed, which is very sad, as it is when any pub closes.
The church is large, and rustic, and yet has tombs, memorials and much of interest. The glory though is the font:
The font as two tiers:
Top tier depicts the zodiac and the lower tiew shows the months.
January: Two faced Janus.
February: A man seated warming himself by a fire out of doors.
March: A man pruning a vine.
April: A bareheaded figure in a long robe, holding in each hand a sprouting branch.
May: A knight on a palfrey with a hawk on his left arm.
June: A man mowing with a long-bladed scythe.
July: A man working with a rake.
August: A man reaping with a sickle.
September: A man threshing corn with a flail.
October: Wine pressing.
November: A swineherd holding aloft a hooked stick.
December: A man with uplifted axe killing a pig, no doubt for Christmas cheer.
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A long low church with the most famous spire in Kent. This three-stage 'candle-snuffer' erection which stand son the ground instead of on a tower is the result of several enlargements of a thirteenth-century bell cage and its subsequent weatherproofing with cedar shingles. It contains a peal of six bells, the oldest of which is mid-fifteenth century in date. The spire is surmounted by a winged dragon weathervane, dating from 1797. The monster has a prominent forked tongue. The reason for the bells being hung in a cage rather than a tower is shown inside the church where the pillars of the nave have sunk into the soft ground and splayed out to north and south. The tie-beams of the roof came away from the walls and have had to be lengthened by the addition of new timber supports. The outstanding Norman font in cast lead has been fully described in Part 1. To the south of the church is a headstone incorporating the only 'Harmer Plaque' in Kent - a terracotta panel made in East Sussex where they are a common feature.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brookland
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BROOKLAND,
SO called from the several brooks and waterings within the bounds of it, lies the next parish southeastward, mostly within the level of Walland Marsh, and within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county; but there are some lands, which are reputed to be within this parish, containing altogether about 124 acres, which lie in detached pieces at some distance south-eastward from the rest of it, mostly near Ivychurch, some other parishes intervening, which lands are within the level of Romney Marsh, and within the liberty and jurisdiction of the justices of it.
The PARISH of Brookland lies on higher ground than either Snargate or Fairfield last described, and consequently much drier. It is more sheltered with trees, and inclosed with hedges, than any of the neighbouring parishes. The village is neat and rather pleasant, considering the situation, and the houses, as well as inhabitants, of a better sort than are usually seen in the Marsh. The church stands in the middle of it. The lands towards the south are by far the most fertile, for towards Snargate they are very poor and wet, and much covered with rushes and thistles. It consists in general of marsh-land, there not being above thirty acres of land ploughed throughout the parish, which altogether contains about 1730 acres of land.
A fair is held here yearly on the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, or Lammas-day, being August I, for toys and pedlary.
The MANORS of Fairfield, Apledore, Bilsington, and Court at Wick, extend over this parish, subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF BROOKLAND, which has long since lost even the reputation of having been a manor. It was in early times the patrimony of the family of Passele, or Pashley, as they were afterwards called, whose seat was at Evegate, in Smeeth, (fn. 1) of whom Edward de Passeley is the first that is discovered in public records to have been possessed of this manor, and this appears by the inquisition taken after his death, anno 19 Edward II. Soon after which it was alienated to Reginald de Cobham, a younger branch of the Cobhams, of Cobham, whose descendants were seated at Sterborough castle, in Surry, whence they were called Cobhams, of Sterborough, and they had afterwards summons to parliament among the barons of this realm. At length Sir Thomas Cobham died possessed of it in the 11th year of king Edward IV. leaving an only daughter and sole heir, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edward Borough, of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, whose son and heir Thomas was summoned to parliament as lord Burgh, or as it is usually pronounced, Borough, anno 21 king Henry VIII. and left a son and heir Thomas, lord Burgh, whose lands were disgavelled by the act anno 31 Henry VIII. His son William, lord Burgh, about the 12th year of queen Elizabeth's reign, passed it away to Eversfield, of Suffex, from whom it was alienated soon afterwards to Godfrey, of Lid, at which time this estate seems to have lost its name of having been a manor. He, before the end of that reign, sold it to Wood, by whom it was again alienated in the beginning of king James I.'s reign to Mr. John Fagge, of Rye, whose descendant John Fagge, esq. of Wiston, in Suffex, was created a baronet in 1660. He had a numerous issue, of which only three sons and two daughters survived. Of the former, Sir Robert, the eldest, was his successor in title; Charles was ancestor of the present baronet, the Rev. Sir John Fagge, of Chartham; and the third son Thomas Fagge, esq. succeeded by his father's will to this estate at Brookland. His son John Meres Fagge, esq. of Glynely, in Sussex, left surviving an only daughter Elizabeth, who on his death in 1769, entitled her husband Sir John Peachy, bart-of West Dean, in Sussex, to the possession of it. He died s. p. and she surviving him, again became entitled to it in her own right, and is at this time the present owner of it.
There are noparochial charities.
BROOKLAND is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Augustine, is a very large handsome building, consisting of three isles and three chancels. The steeple stands on the north side, and at some small distance from it, in which are five bells. The church is kept exceedingly neat and clean. It is cieled throughout, and handsomely pewed. In the high chancel there is a confessionary, and a nich for holy water within the altar-rails. There are several memorials in it, but none of any account worth mentioning. At the west end is a gallery, lately erected at the charge of the parish. The font is very curious, made of cast lead, having on it two ranges of emblematical figures, twenty in each range. The steeple is framed of remarkable large timber. It is built entirely of wood, of an octagon form, perpendicular about five feet from the bottom, and from thence leffening to a spire at top, in which it has three different copartments or stories, the two uppermost larger at the bottom, and projecting over those underneath them. Although there are but five bells in it, yet it has frames for several more. The whole is much out of the perpendicular leaning towards the church. In the church-yard are several tombs and gravestones for the Reads.
¶The church of Brookland was part of the antient possessions of the monastery of St. Augustine, to which it was appropriated by pope Clement V. at the request of Ralph Bourne, the abbot of it, in king Edward II.'s reign, but the abbot declined putting the bull for this purpose in force, till a more favourable opportunity. At length John, abbot of St. Augustine, in 1347, obtained another bull from pope Clement VI for the appropriation of it, and having three years afterwards obtained the king's licence for this purpose, (fn. 2) the same was confirmed by archbishop Islip in 1359, who next year endowed the vicarage of this church by his decree, by which he assigned, with the consent of the abbot and convent, and of the vicar, of the rents and profits of the church, to John de Hoghton, priest, then admitted perpetual vicar to the vicarage of it, and canonically instituted, and to his successors in future in it, a fit portion from which they might be fitly maintained and support the undermentioned burthens. In the first place he decreed and ordained, that the religious should build on the soil of the endowment of the church, at their own costs and expences, a competent mansion, with a sufficient close and garden, for the vicar and his successors, free from all rent and secular service, to be repaired and maintained from that time by the vicar for the time being; who on the presentation of the religious to be admitted and instituted by him or his successors, into the vicarage, should likewise have the great tithes of the lands lying on the other side of le Re, towards Dover, viz. beyond the bridge called Brynsete, and towards the parish churches of Brynsete, Snaves, and Ivercherche, belonging to the church of Brokelande, and likewise the tithes arising from the sheaves of gardens or orchards dug with the foot, and also all oblations made in the church or parish, and all tithes of hay, calves, chicken, lambs, pigs, geese, hens, eggs, ducks, pidgeons, bees, honey, wax, swans, wool, milkmeats, pasture, flax, hemp, garden-herbs, apples, vetches, merchandizes, fishings, fowlings, and all manner of small tithes arising from all things whatsoever. And he taxed and estimated the said portion at the annual value of eight marcs sterling, at which sum he decreed the vicar ought to contribute in future, to the payment of the tenth and all other impositions happening, of whatsoever sort. Not intending that the vicar of this church should be entitled to, or take of the issues and rents of it, any thing further than is expressed before, but that he should undergo the burthen of officiating in the same, either by himself or some other sit priest, in divine offices, and in the finding of lights in the chancel, and of bread and wine for the celebration of masses, the washing of vestments, and the reparation of the books of the church, and should nevertheless pay the procuration due to the archbishop, on his visitation. But the rest of the burthens incumbent on the church, and no ways here expressed, should belong to the abbot and convent, &c. (fn. 3) After this, the church and advowson of the vicarage of Brookland remained part of the possessions of the above monastery till the final dissolution of it, anno 30 Henry VIII. when it was, with all its revenues, surrendered into the king's hands, where this rectory and advowson staid but a short time, for the king, by his dotation charter, settled them on his newerected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions they continue at this time.
On the abolition of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in 1650, when it appeared that it consisted of a close of land of one acre, on which stood the parsonage barne, and other outhouses, with the tithe of corn and other profits belonging to it, estimated coibs annis at twenty four pounds, all which were by indenture, in 1635, demised for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of eight pounds, but were worth, over and above the said rent, sixteen pounds per annum, and that the lessee was to repair the premises, and the chancel of the parish church.
In 1384 this church or rectory appropriate was valued at 13l. 6s. 8d. but anno 31 Henry VIII. it was demised to ferme at only 8l. 3s. 4d. It is now demised on a beneficial lease by the dean and chapter, at the yearly rent of eight pounds to Mrs. Woodman, the present lessee of it. The vicarage of this church is valued in the king's books at 17l. 12s. 8½d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 15s. 3¼d. In 1587 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants one hundred and sixtysix, and in 1640 the same, and it is now of about the same value.
There is a modus of one shilling per acre on all the grass-lands in this parish. The vicar is entitled to all the small tithes, subject to this modus, throughout the parish, and to the tithes of corn of those lands, being one hundred and twenty-four acres, which lie in detached pieces beyond Brenset bridge, in Romney Marsh, as mentioned before, in the endowment of this vicarage.
There is a school here, for teaching reading and writing, supported by contribution, at which fifty children are usually taught.
Ss Peter and Paul is a church that eluded my lenses for many, many years. At least inside.
Our old home on Crabble Hill used to overlook the River river valley, and very pleasant the view was. The town along the valley floor and downs rising steeply on both sides.
And inside River, its almost as pleasant, well, the road along Lower Road so narrow they had to make it one way, then along beside Crabble Mill being separated from the mill race by a flimsy wooden fence. It was also home to three good pubs, only one of which is open now. We used the Co-Op and the vegetable shop.
And it was in River that Nan went into care and faded from this world.
THe church sits at the end of Lewisham Road, near to where the trams used to terminate, and has been subjected to several rounds of "improvements". Somewhere under it there is an ancient church, but the signs are rare. The west doorway, now usually inaccessible as it lies beyond the door to the modern church centre was pretty much all I saw. Well, that and the Norman font, looking very out of place in the heavily Victorianised interior, which has been further brought up to date by the current parishioners.
In general, the church works, with its modern seating it can be used for many different types of events, concerts as well as services, and is clearly a lively and friendly place.
Many thanks to the vicar for allowing me to come along yesterday to take shots and add another church to the growing list of ones visited.
It is a modernised church, that suits it's location and parish.
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RIVER
LIES the next parish eastward from Ewell, being written in Domesday, both Ripa and ad Ripam; in other Latin records, Ripa and Riparia; and in English ones, River, taking its name from the river which flows through it.
A borsholder is chosen for this parish at the hundred court, and another for that part of the manor of Archers-court, which is in the parish of Whitfield, at the court leet of that manor.
RIVER is pleasantly situated about two miles from Dover, in a variety of country of high hills and deep extensive valleys; the high London road goes through it, on the left side of which the uniclosed down hills rise very sudden and high. On the other side, the slope of the value is as sudden for two or three fields, at the bottom of which the river Dour meanders its little silver stream; on the further bank, among a narrow range of meadows, is a long straggling row of pretty neat-built houses, among which are three papermills, a corn, and a seed mill, comprehending the village of River, having the church in the midst of them, beyond which the hills rise again very high, being frequently arable, interspersed with small coppices and clumps of wood wildly placed among them. The view of this from the London road forms a most romantic and picturesque scene, when at the same time straight forward, through the opening of the valley, there is a view of the town of Dover and its churches, and beyond, the British channel and the high hills of Bologne on the coast of France, and on the height of the hills to the left, the stately buildings of Dover castle.
The soil, in the northern part of this parish on the hills, is mostly chalk, and on those on the other side of it the same, but interspersed with a red earth, intermixed with quantities of sharp flints; a barren and hungry soil. In the vale near the river the meadows are rich and fertile. Upon the hill, on the left side of the London road, near the lime kiln, are several tumuli, some of which were lately opened, and in each of them was found a skeleton, a sword of about three feet long and two inches broad, and the head of a spear.
IT APPEARS by the Testa de Nevill, that this parish in the latter end of king John's reign was an escheat of the crown, and held in three parts; one of which, the castle of Dover held; another part, the canons of St. Radigund's held; and the third part was held by Soloman de Dover, of the gift of king John, and the whole was worth xxx pounds. The former of these afterwards came into the possession of the hospital of St. Mary, otherwise called the Maison Dieu, of Dover; the other part, belonging to St. Radigund's, will be further mentioned below in the ecclesiastical account of this parish; and the third part was, what is now called, the manor of Archers court, situated likewise within the bounds of this parish.
THE MANOR OF RIVER, which was comprehended in that third part of this parish first above-mentioned, seems to have been in the reign of the Conqueror part of the possessions of Hugh de Montfort, and perhaps described among those lands mentioned in the survey of Domesday before, under the parish of Ewell. His lands, on the exile of his grandson Robert de Montfort, in king Henry I.'s reign, escheated to the crown, whence great part of them in this neighbourhood were afterwards granted to Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort; after which these possessions came to Henry de Essex, who was constable likewise of England, from his succession to which as well as from other circumstances, it should seem that he became entitled to them by inheritance. Henry de Essex was baron of Raleigh, in Essex, and hereditary standard-bearer of England, but for his cowardice in a battle against the Welsh, in the 10th year of that reign, he forfeited all his possessions, which became escheats to the crown; among them was this manor of River, held of the king as above-mentioned, and it appears to have continued in the crown during king John's and the beginning of king Henry III.'s reign, who in the 13th year of it, at the petition of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, confirmed it to the hospital of St. Mary, at Dover, (afterwards called the Maison Dieu) which Hubert had founded, to hold in pure and perpetual alms; (fn. 1) after which, in the 21st year of king Edward I. upon a quo warranto, the master of the Maison Dieu was allowed the usual privileges of a manor in this parish, and king Henry VI. in his 2d year again confirmed it to the hospital, part of the possessions of which it continued till the reign of king Henry VIII. when on the suppression of it this manor came into the king's hands, where it seems to have remained without interruption till Charles II.'s reign, when it was alienated by the crown to the dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom it remains at this time. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
ARCHERS-COURT is a manor situated in the northern part of this parish, on the hills adjoining to that of Whitfield, in which parish, as well as in those of Guston and Waldershare, some parts of it lie.
In the time of king John this manor was in the possession of Soloman de Dovere, as appears by the Testa de Nevill mentioned before, and it seems as if this person was the same as is mentioned in the pleas of the crown, anno 21 Edward I. by the name of Soloman de Champs, or Chauns, who might from his residence there be likewise called de Dovere; in which pleas, as well as by the inquisition taken after his death in the 31st year of that reign, he is said to hold certain lands, called Coperland and Atterton, (part of this manor, as will appear by the records mentioned hereafter) of the king in capite, by the sergeantry and service of holding the king's head between Dover and Whitsond, as often as it should happen for him to pass the sea between those ports, and there should be occasion for it. He died possessed of this manor and land above-mentioned, in the 31st year of king Edward I. and was succeeded by his son and heir Gregory de Dovere; but I find no more mention of this name afterwards, but that it became the possessions of a family named Archer, and sometimes I'Archer, from whom it acquired the name of Archers-court, one of whom, Nicholas Archer, held it in the 1st year of king Edward II. as did William Archer in the 20th year of king Edward III. then holding it in sergeantry. At length, after this name was become extinct here, this manor was alienated to Bandred, or Brandred, in which it continued for several years, till at length the manor itself, with the court-lodge, and part of the demesne lands, together with Coperland, were sold by one of them, in the 1st year of king Edward IV. to Thomas Doilie, esq. and the other part of the demesne lands, since known by the name of Little Archers-court, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle; a further account of which will be given hereafter.
From one of the descendants of the above-mentioned Thomas Doilie, this manor was in king Henry VIII.'s reign exchanged with the crown, and that king in his 36th year granted it to Sir James Hales, in whose family it continued till it was sold to Lee, who passed it away to Sir Hardress Waller, of Dublin, and he with others, in 1657, alienated this manor to Mr. Thomas Broom, of London, one of whose descendants of the same name sold it to Richards Rouse, of Dover, whose arms were Sable, a fess dancette, or, between three crescents, argent, and his daughter carried it in marriage to Phineas Stringer, esq. of Dover, who is the present owner of it.
A court leet and court baron is held for this manor. A borsholder is chosen at this court for the borough of Archers-court only, but this is merely nominal, as he has never been known to act as such.
THE OTHER PART of Archers-court, which was sold in king Edward IV.'s reign, as has been mentioned before, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle, was afterwards known by the name of LITTLE ARCHERS COURT. Sir George Browne was sheriff in the 21st year of the above reign, but was attainted anno I Richard III. and restored again in the first year of king Henry VII. His son Sir Matt. Browne died anno 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, possessed of this estate, with lands in River, alias Archers-court, called Copland, held in capiteby sergeantry, and the service mentioned before, as was found by inquisition taken after his death that year. His grandson Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth-castle, who has his landsdisgavelled by the two acts of the 1st and 8th years of queen Elizabeth, afterwards passed away this estate to Capt. Isaac Honywood, who was slain at the battle of Newport, and dying s.p. devised it by his will to his nephew, Col. Henry Honeywood, who died in 1662, and was buried in the cathedral of Canterbury, the register of which says, he was a colonel sometime under that grand rebel Oliver Cromwell.
After his death, this estate seems to have come into the possession of his first-cousin Sir Thomas Honywood, of Marks-hall, in Essex; since whose death, in 1666, it has descended down in like manner as Marks-hall, and his other estates in this county, to Filmer Honywood, esq. now of Marks-hall, late knight of the shire for this county, who is the present owner of it.
CASTNEY-COURT, as it is commonly called, but properly Kersoney, is another manor, situated partly in the western part of this parish, adjoining to the river, and partly in the parishes of Ewell and Whitfield. It was antiently accounted part of the barony of Saye, being held of Dover castle, and at the latter end of king Edward I.'s reign was in the possession of the family of Paganel, or Painall, as they were usually called. John Paganel died possessed of it anno 12 Edward II. leaving a daughter and heir Maud; after which, I find it held by Elias de Bocton, by knight's service, by the description of lands at La Kersony. After this the family of Norwood became possessed of it, and in later times the Ropers, of St. Dunstan's; for John Roper, esq. of St. Dunstan's, died possessed of it in the 5th year of king Henry VII. holding it by knight's service. In his descendants this manor continued till the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it was conveyed by sale to Best, of Canterbury; the last of which name who held it was George Best, who alienated it to Capt. Nicholas Toke, who after the death of king Charles I. conveyed his interest in it to Charles Fotherbye, esq. and he dying s.p. it came to his brother Thomas Fotherbye, esq. of Crixall, in Staple, whose only son of the same name alienated it to William Richards, of Dover, and he in 1701 devised it to his nephew. John Sladden, merchant, of Dover, who devised it to his sister Mary, who married Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover. Her trustees, after his death, disposed of it to fulfill the purpose of her will, to Mr. William Andrews, of London, who in 1788 devised it to Thomas Biggs, esq. of Dover, who bears for his arms, Argent, on a fess, between three martlets, sable, as many annulets, or, and he is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
There are no parochial charities; the poor have a right to commoning on the Minnis, which is a large common or heath of three hundred actres, called River Minnis, lying on the hills at the southern boundary of this parish, next to Polton. A new workhouse is built in this parish, for the united parishes of Alkham, Capel, Hougham, River, Buckland, Charlton, and Whitfield. The poor constantly relieved are about twelve, casually the same.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building, consisting of a nave and a chancel, without any steeple, and has nothing worth notice in it.
¶King John, in his 9th year, granted to the abbot and canons of St. Radigund of Bradsole, this church of St. Peter of River, and his place and court of the manor, to hold in pure and perpetual alms, for the building of their abbey there, which was then at Bradesole. (fn. 2) After which the king, in his 17th year, granted licence to them to appropriate this church. Notwithstanding the grant for the removal of the abbey hither, it never took place, but continued at Bradesole, in the adjoining parish of Polton, to the time of its dissolution, which happened in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when this appropriation, with the advowson of the vicarage, and the lands and possessions of the abbot and convent in this parish, as well as elsewhere, came into the king's hands, who granted them to the archbishop in exchange, and he soon afterwards reconveyed them to the crown, by an act specially passed for this purpose; but in it, among other exceptions was one of this church, appropriate of River, with the advowson of the vicarage, which have ever since continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to them.—The parsonage, with two pieces of land, is demised on a beneficial lease, to Mr. Tho. Lamb, of Crabble.
In the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, the vicarage, on account of it smallness, was not taxed to the tenth. It is valued in the king's books at 7l. 1s. 0½d. and is now of about the clear yearly value of eighteen pounds. In 1588 and 1640, here were fifty-eight communicants. The archbishop still pays the pension of 2l. 13s. 4d. formerly paid by the abbot and convent of St. Radigund's, to the vicar of this church.
Ss Peter and Paul is a church that eluded my lenses for many, many years. At least inside.
Our old home on Crabble Hill used to overlook the River river valley, and very pleasant the view was. The town along the valley floor and downs rising steeply on both sides.
And inside River, its almost as pleasant, well, the road along Lower Road so narrow they had to make it one way, then along beside Crabble Mill being separated from the mill race by a flimsy wooden fence. It was also home to three good pubs, only one of which is open now. We used the Co-Op and the vegetable shop.
And it was in River that Nan went into care and faded from this world.
THe church sits at the end of Lewisham Road, near to where the trams used to terminate, and has been subjected to several rounds of "improvements". Somewhere under it there is an ancient church, but the signs are rare. The west doorway, now usually inaccessible as it lies beyond the door to the modern church centre was pretty much all I saw. Well, that and the Norman font, looking very out of place in the heavily Victorianised interior, which has been further brought up to date by the current parishioners.
In general, the church works, with its modern seating it can be used for many different types of events, concerts as well as services, and is clearly a lively and friendly place.
Many thanks to the vicar for allowing me to come along yesterday to take shots and add another church to the growing list of ones visited.
It is a modernised church, that suits it's location and parish.
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RIVER
LIES the next parish eastward from Ewell, being written in Domesday, both Ripa and ad Ripam; in other Latin records, Ripa and Riparia; and in English ones, River, taking its name from the river which flows through it.
A borsholder is chosen for this parish at the hundred court, and another for that part of the manor of Archers-court, which is in the parish of Whitfield, at the court leet of that manor.
RIVER is pleasantly situated about two miles from Dover, in a variety of country of high hills and deep extensive valleys; the high London road goes through it, on the left side of which the uniclosed down hills rise very sudden and high. On the other side, the slope of the value is as sudden for two or three fields, at the bottom of which the river Dour meanders its little silver stream; on the further bank, among a narrow range of meadows, is a long straggling row of pretty neat-built houses, among which are three papermills, a corn, and a seed mill, comprehending the village of River, having the church in the midst of them, beyond which the hills rise again very high, being frequently arable, interspersed with small coppices and clumps of wood wildly placed among them. The view of this from the London road forms a most romantic and picturesque scene, when at the same time straight forward, through the opening of the valley, there is a view of the town of Dover and its churches, and beyond, the British channel and the high hills of Bologne on the coast of France, and on the height of the hills to the left, the stately buildings of Dover castle.
The soil, in the northern part of this parish on the hills, is mostly chalk, and on those on the other side of it the same, but interspersed with a red earth, intermixed with quantities of sharp flints; a barren and hungry soil. In the vale near the river the meadows are rich and fertile. Upon the hill, on the left side of the London road, near the lime kiln, are several tumuli, some of which were lately opened, and in each of them was found a skeleton, a sword of about three feet long and two inches broad, and the head of a spear.
IT APPEARS by the Testa de Nevill, that this parish in the latter end of king John's reign was an escheat of the crown, and held in three parts; one of which, the castle of Dover held; another part, the canons of St. Radigund's held; and the third part was held by Soloman de Dover, of the gift of king John, and the whole was worth xxx pounds. The former of these afterwards came into the possession of the hospital of St. Mary, otherwise called the Maison Dieu, of Dover; the other part, belonging to St. Radigund's, will be further mentioned below in the ecclesiastical account of this parish; and the third part was, what is now called, the manor of Archers court, situated likewise within the bounds of this parish.
THE MANOR OF RIVER, which was comprehended in that third part of this parish first above-mentioned, seems to have been in the reign of the Conqueror part of the possessions of Hugh de Montfort, and perhaps described among those lands mentioned in the survey of Domesday before, under the parish of Ewell. His lands, on the exile of his grandson Robert de Montfort, in king Henry I.'s reign, escheated to the crown, whence great part of them in this neighbourhood were afterwards granted to Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort; after which these possessions came to Henry de Essex, who was constable likewise of England, from his succession to which as well as from other circumstances, it should seem that he became entitled to them by inheritance. Henry de Essex was baron of Raleigh, in Essex, and hereditary standard-bearer of England, but for his cowardice in a battle against the Welsh, in the 10th year of that reign, he forfeited all his possessions, which became escheats to the crown; among them was this manor of River, held of the king as above-mentioned, and it appears to have continued in the crown during king John's and the beginning of king Henry III.'s reign, who in the 13th year of it, at the petition of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, confirmed it to the hospital of St. Mary, at Dover, (afterwards called the Maison Dieu) which Hubert had founded, to hold in pure and perpetual alms; (fn. 1) after which, in the 21st year of king Edward I. upon a quo warranto, the master of the Maison Dieu was allowed the usual privileges of a manor in this parish, and king Henry VI. in his 2d year again confirmed it to the hospital, part of the possessions of which it continued till the reign of king Henry VIII. when on the suppression of it this manor came into the king's hands, where it seems to have remained without interruption till Charles II.'s reign, when it was alienated by the crown to the dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom it remains at this time. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
ARCHERS-COURT is a manor situated in the northern part of this parish, on the hills adjoining to that of Whitfield, in which parish, as well as in those of Guston and Waldershare, some parts of it lie.
In the time of king John this manor was in the possession of Soloman de Dovere, as appears by the Testa de Nevill mentioned before, and it seems as if this person was the same as is mentioned in the pleas of the crown, anno 21 Edward I. by the name of Soloman de Champs, or Chauns, who might from his residence there be likewise called de Dovere; in which pleas, as well as by the inquisition taken after his death in the 31st year of that reign, he is said to hold certain lands, called Coperland and Atterton, (part of this manor, as will appear by the records mentioned hereafter) of the king in capite, by the sergeantry and service of holding the king's head between Dover and Whitsond, as often as it should happen for him to pass the sea between those ports, and there should be occasion for it. He died possessed of this manor and land above-mentioned, in the 31st year of king Edward I. and was succeeded by his son and heir Gregory de Dovere; but I find no more mention of this name afterwards, but that it became the possessions of a family named Archer, and sometimes I'Archer, from whom it acquired the name of Archers-court, one of whom, Nicholas Archer, held it in the 1st year of king Edward II. as did William Archer in the 20th year of king Edward III. then holding it in sergeantry. At length, after this name was become extinct here, this manor was alienated to Bandred, or Brandred, in which it continued for several years, till at length the manor itself, with the court-lodge, and part of the demesne lands, together with Coperland, were sold by one of them, in the 1st year of king Edward IV. to Thomas Doilie, esq. and the other part of the demesne lands, since known by the name of Little Archers-court, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle; a further account of which will be given hereafter.
From one of the descendants of the above-mentioned Thomas Doilie, this manor was in king Henry VIII.'s reign exchanged with the crown, and that king in his 36th year granted it to Sir James Hales, in whose family it continued till it was sold to Lee, who passed it away to Sir Hardress Waller, of Dublin, and he with others, in 1657, alienated this manor to Mr. Thomas Broom, of London, one of whose descendants of the same name sold it to Richards Rouse, of Dover, whose arms were Sable, a fess dancette, or, between three crescents, argent, and his daughter carried it in marriage to Phineas Stringer, esq. of Dover, who is the present owner of it.
A court leet and court baron is held for this manor. A borsholder is chosen at this court for the borough of Archers-court only, but this is merely nominal, as he has never been known to act as such.
THE OTHER PART of Archers-court, which was sold in king Edward IV.'s reign, as has been mentioned before, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle, was afterwards known by the name of LITTLE ARCHERS COURT. Sir George Browne was sheriff in the 21st year of the above reign, but was attainted anno I Richard III. and restored again in the first year of king Henry VII. His son Sir Matt. Browne died anno 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, possessed of this estate, with lands in River, alias Archers-court, called Copland, held in capiteby sergeantry, and the service mentioned before, as was found by inquisition taken after his death that year. His grandson Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth-castle, who has his landsdisgavelled by the two acts of the 1st and 8th years of queen Elizabeth, afterwards passed away this estate to Capt. Isaac Honywood, who was slain at the battle of Newport, and dying s.p. devised it by his will to his nephew, Col. Henry Honeywood, who died in 1662, and was buried in the cathedral of Canterbury, the register of which says, he was a colonel sometime under that grand rebel Oliver Cromwell.
After his death, this estate seems to have come into the possession of his first-cousin Sir Thomas Honywood, of Marks-hall, in Essex; since whose death, in 1666, it has descended down in like manner as Marks-hall, and his other estates in this county, to Filmer Honywood, esq. now of Marks-hall, late knight of the shire for this county, who is the present owner of it.
CASTNEY-COURT, as it is commonly called, but properly Kersoney, is another manor, situated partly in the western part of this parish, adjoining to the river, and partly in the parishes of Ewell and Whitfield. It was antiently accounted part of the barony of Saye, being held of Dover castle, and at the latter end of king Edward I.'s reign was in the possession of the family of Paganel, or Painall, as they were usually called. John Paganel died possessed of it anno 12 Edward II. leaving a daughter and heir Maud; after which, I find it held by Elias de Bocton, by knight's service, by the description of lands at La Kersony. After this the family of Norwood became possessed of it, and in later times the Ropers, of St. Dunstan's; for John Roper, esq. of St. Dunstan's, died possessed of it in the 5th year of king Henry VII. holding it by knight's service. In his descendants this manor continued till the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it was conveyed by sale to Best, of Canterbury; the last of which name who held it was George Best, who alienated it to Capt. Nicholas Toke, who after the death of king Charles I. conveyed his interest in it to Charles Fotherbye, esq. and he dying s.p. it came to his brother Thomas Fotherbye, esq. of Crixall, in Staple, whose only son of the same name alienated it to William Richards, of Dover, and he in 1701 devised it to his nephew. John Sladden, merchant, of Dover, who devised it to his sister Mary, who married Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover. Her trustees, after his death, disposed of it to fulfill the purpose of her will, to Mr. William Andrews, of London, who in 1788 devised it to Thomas Biggs, esq. of Dover, who bears for his arms, Argent, on a fess, between three martlets, sable, as many annulets, or, and he is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
There are no parochial charities; the poor have a right to commoning on the Minnis, which is a large common or heath of three hundred actres, called River Minnis, lying on the hills at the southern boundary of this parish, next to Polton. A new workhouse is built in this parish, for the united parishes of Alkham, Capel, Hougham, River, Buckland, Charlton, and Whitfield. The poor constantly relieved are about twelve, casually the same.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building, consisting of a nave and a chancel, without any steeple, and has nothing worth notice in it.
¶King John, in his 9th year, granted to the abbot and canons of St. Radigund of Bradsole, this church of St. Peter of River, and his place and court of the manor, to hold in pure and perpetual alms, for the building of their abbey there, which was then at Bradesole. (fn. 2) After which the king, in his 17th year, granted licence to them to appropriate this church. Notwithstanding the grant for the removal of the abbey hither, it never took place, but continued at Bradesole, in the adjoining parish of Polton, to the time of its dissolution, which happened in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when this appropriation, with the advowson of the vicarage, and the lands and possessions of the abbot and convent in this parish, as well as elsewhere, came into the king's hands, who granted them to the archbishop in exchange, and he soon afterwards reconveyed them to the crown, by an act specially passed for this purpose; but in it, among other exceptions was one of this church, appropriate of River, with the advowson of the vicarage, which have ever since continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to them.—The parsonage, with two pieces of land, is demised on a beneficial lease, to Mr. Tho. Lamb, of Crabble.
In the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, the vicarage, on account of it smallness, was not taxed to the tenth. It is valued in the king's books at 7l. 1s. 0½d. and is now of about the clear yearly value of eighteen pounds. In 1588 and 1640, here were fifty-eight communicants. The archbishop still pays the pension of 2l. 13s. 4d. formerly paid by the abbot and convent of St. Radigund's, to the vicar of this church.
Ss Peter and Paul is a church that eluded my lenses for many, many years. At least inside.
Our old home on Crabble Hill used to overlook the River river valley, and very pleasant the view was. The town along the valley floor and downs rising steeply on both sides.
And inside River, its almost as pleasant, well, the road along Lower Road so narrow they had to make it one way, then along beside Crabble Mill being separated from the mill race by a flimsy wooden fence. It was also home to three good pubs, only one of which is open now. We used the Co-Op and the vegetable shop.
And it was in River that Nan went into care and faded from this world.
THe church sits at the end of Lewisham Road, near to where the trams used to terminate, and has been subjected to several rounds of "improvements". Somewhere under it there is an ancient church, but the signs are rare. The west doorway, now usually inaccessible as it lies beyond the door to the modern church centre was pretty much all I saw. Well, that and the Norman font, looking very out of place in the heavily Victorianised interior, which has been further brought up to date by the current parishioners.
In general, the church works, with its modern seating it can be used for many different types of events, concerts as well as services, and is clearly a lively and friendly place.
Many thanks to the vicar for allowing me to come along yesterday to take shots and add another church to the growing list of ones visited.
It is a modernised church, that suits it's location and parish.
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RIVER
LIES the next parish eastward from Ewell, being written in Domesday, both Ripa and ad Ripam; in other Latin records, Ripa and Riparia; and in English ones, River, taking its name from the river which flows through it.
A borsholder is chosen for this parish at the hundred court, and another for that part of the manor of Archers-court, which is in the parish of Whitfield, at the court leet of that manor.
RIVER is pleasantly situated about two miles from Dover, in a variety of country of high hills and deep extensive valleys; the high London road goes through it, on the left side of which the uniclosed down hills rise very sudden and high. On the other side, the slope of the value is as sudden for two or three fields, at the bottom of which the river Dour meanders its little silver stream; on the further bank, among a narrow range of meadows, is a long straggling row of pretty neat-built houses, among which are three papermills, a corn, and a seed mill, comprehending the village of River, having the church in the midst of them, beyond which the hills rise again very high, being frequently arable, interspersed with small coppices and clumps of wood wildly placed among them. The view of this from the London road forms a most romantic and picturesque scene, when at the same time straight forward, through the opening of the valley, there is a view of the town of Dover and its churches, and beyond, the British channel and the high hills of Bologne on the coast of France, and on the height of the hills to the left, the stately buildings of Dover castle.
The soil, in the northern part of this parish on the hills, is mostly chalk, and on those on the other side of it the same, but interspersed with a red earth, intermixed with quantities of sharp flints; a barren and hungry soil. In the vale near the river the meadows are rich and fertile. Upon the hill, on the left side of the London road, near the lime kiln, are several tumuli, some of which were lately opened, and in each of them was found a skeleton, a sword of about three feet long and two inches broad, and the head of a spear.
IT APPEARS by the Testa de Nevill, that this parish in the latter end of king John's reign was an escheat of the crown, and held in three parts; one of which, the castle of Dover held; another part, the canons of St. Radigund's held; and the third part was held by Soloman de Dover, of the gift of king John, and the whole was worth xxx pounds. The former of these afterwards came into the possession of the hospital of St. Mary, otherwise called the Maison Dieu, of Dover; the other part, belonging to St. Radigund's, will be further mentioned below in the ecclesiastical account of this parish; and the third part was, what is now called, the manor of Archers court, situated likewise within the bounds of this parish.
THE MANOR OF RIVER, which was comprehended in that third part of this parish first above-mentioned, seems to have been in the reign of the Conqueror part of the possessions of Hugh de Montfort, and perhaps described among those lands mentioned in the survey of Domesday before, under the parish of Ewell. His lands, on the exile of his grandson Robert de Montfort, in king Henry I.'s reign, escheated to the crown, whence great part of them in this neighbourhood were afterwards granted to Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort; after which these possessions came to Henry de Essex, who was constable likewise of England, from his succession to which as well as from other circumstances, it should seem that he became entitled to them by inheritance. Henry de Essex was baron of Raleigh, in Essex, and hereditary standard-bearer of England, but for his cowardice in a battle against the Welsh, in the 10th year of that reign, he forfeited all his possessions, which became escheats to the crown; among them was this manor of River, held of the king as above-mentioned, and it appears to have continued in the crown during king John's and the beginning of king Henry III.'s reign, who in the 13th year of it, at the petition of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, confirmed it to the hospital of St. Mary, at Dover, (afterwards called the Maison Dieu) which Hubert had founded, to hold in pure and perpetual alms; (fn. 1) after which, in the 21st year of king Edward I. upon a quo warranto, the master of the Maison Dieu was allowed the usual privileges of a manor in this parish, and king Henry VI. in his 2d year again confirmed it to the hospital, part of the possessions of which it continued till the reign of king Henry VIII. when on the suppression of it this manor came into the king's hands, where it seems to have remained without interruption till Charles II.'s reign, when it was alienated by the crown to the dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom it remains at this time. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
ARCHERS-COURT is a manor situated in the northern part of this parish, on the hills adjoining to that of Whitfield, in which parish, as well as in those of Guston and Waldershare, some parts of it lie.
In the time of king John this manor was in the possession of Soloman de Dovere, as appears by the Testa de Nevill mentioned before, and it seems as if this person was the same as is mentioned in the pleas of the crown, anno 21 Edward I. by the name of Soloman de Champs, or Chauns, who might from his residence there be likewise called de Dovere; in which pleas, as well as by the inquisition taken after his death in the 31st year of that reign, he is said to hold certain lands, called Coperland and Atterton, (part of this manor, as will appear by the records mentioned hereafter) of the king in capite, by the sergeantry and service of holding the king's head between Dover and Whitsond, as often as it should happen for him to pass the sea between those ports, and there should be occasion for it. He died possessed of this manor and land above-mentioned, in the 31st year of king Edward I. and was succeeded by his son and heir Gregory de Dovere; but I find no more mention of this name afterwards, but that it became the possessions of a family named Archer, and sometimes I'Archer, from whom it acquired the name of Archers-court, one of whom, Nicholas Archer, held it in the 1st year of king Edward II. as did William Archer in the 20th year of king Edward III. then holding it in sergeantry. At length, after this name was become extinct here, this manor was alienated to Bandred, or Brandred, in which it continued for several years, till at length the manor itself, with the court-lodge, and part of the demesne lands, together with Coperland, were sold by one of them, in the 1st year of king Edward IV. to Thomas Doilie, esq. and the other part of the demesne lands, since known by the name of Little Archers-court, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle; a further account of which will be given hereafter.
From one of the descendants of the above-mentioned Thomas Doilie, this manor was in king Henry VIII.'s reign exchanged with the crown, and that king in his 36th year granted it to Sir James Hales, in whose family it continued till it was sold to Lee, who passed it away to Sir Hardress Waller, of Dublin, and he with others, in 1657, alienated this manor to Mr. Thomas Broom, of London, one of whose descendants of the same name sold it to Richards Rouse, of Dover, whose arms were Sable, a fess dancette, or, between three crescents, argent, and his daughter carried it in marriage to Phineas Stringer, esq. of Dover, who is the present owner of it.
A court leet and court baron is held for this manor. A borsholder is chosen at this court for the borough of Archers-court only, but this is merely nominal, as he has never been known to act as such.
THE OTHER PART of Archers-court, which was sold in king Edward IV.'s reign, as has been mentioned before, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle, was afterwards known by the name of LITTLE ARCHERS COURT. Sir George Browne was sheriff in the 21st year of the above reign, but was attainted anno I Richard III. and restored again in the first year of king Henry VII. His son Sir Matt. Browne died anno 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, possessed of this estate, with lands in River, alias Archers-court, called Copland, held in capiteby sergeantry, and the service mentioned before, as was found by inquisition taken after his death that year. His grandson Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth-castle, who has his landsdisgavelled by the two acts of the 1st and 8th years of queen Elizabeth, afterwards passed away this estate to Capt. Isaac Honywood, who was slain at the battle of Newport, and dying s.p. devised it by his will to his nephew, Col. Henry Honeywood, who died in 1662, and was buried in the cathedral of Canterbury, the register of which says, he was a colonel sometime under that grand rebel Oliver Cromwell.
After his death, this estate seems to have come into the possession of his first-cousin Sir Thomas Honywood, of Marks-hall, in Essex; since whose death, in 1666, it has descended down in like manner as Marks-hall, and his other estates in this county, to Filmer Honywood, esq. now of Marks-hall, late knight of the shire for this county, who is the present owner of it.
CASTNEY-COURT, as it is commonly called, but properly Kersoney, is another manor, situated partly in the western part of this parish, adjoining to the river, and partly in the parishes of Ewell and Whitfield. It was antiently accounted part of the barony of Saye, being held of Dover castle, and at the latter end of king Edward I.'s reign was in the possession of the family of Paganel, or Painall, as they were usually called. John Paganel died possessed of it anno 12 Edward II. leaving a daughter and heir Maud; after which, I find it held by Elias de Bocton, by knight's service, by the description of lands at La Kersony. After this the family of Norwood became possessed of it, and in later times the Ropers, of St. Dunstan's; for John Roper, esq. of St. Dunstan's, died possessed of it in the 5th year of king Henry VII. holding it by knight's service. In his descendants this manor continued till the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it was conveyed by sale to Best, of Canterbury; the last of which name who held it was George Best, who alienated it to Capt. Nicholas Toke, who after the death of king Charles I. conveyed his interest in it to Charles Fotherbye, esq. and he dying s.p. it came to his brother Thomas Fotherbye, esq. of Crixall, in Staple, whose only son of the same name alienated it to William Richards, of Dover, and he in 1701 devised it to his nephew. John Sladden, merchant, of Dover, who devised it to his sister Mary, who married Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover. Her trustees, after his death, disposed of it to fulfill the purpose of her will, to Mr. William Andrews, of London, who in 1788 devised it to Thomas Biggs, esq. of Dover, who bears for his arms, Argent, on a fess, between three martlets, sable, as many annulets, or, and he is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
There are no parochial charities; the poor have a right to commoning on the Minnis, which is a large common or heath of three hundred actres, called River Minnis, lying on the hills at the southern boundary of this parish, next to Polton. A new workhouse is built in this parish, for the united parishes of Alkham, Capel, Hougham, River, Buckland, Charlton, and Whitfield. The poor constantly relieved are about twelve, casually the same.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building, consisting of a nave and a chancel, without any steeple, and has nothing worth notice in it.
¶King John, in his 9th year, granted to the abbot and canons of St. Radigund of Bradsole, this church of St. Peter of River, and his place and court of the manor, to hold in pure and perpetual alms, for the building of their abbey there, which was then at Bradesole. (fn. 2) After which the king, in his 17th year, granted licence to them to appropriate this church. Notwithstanding the grant for the removal of the abbey hither, it never took place, but continued at Bradesole, in the adjoining parish of Polton, to the time of its dissolution, which happened in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when this appropriation, with the advowson of the vicarage, and the lands and possessions of the abbot and convent in this parish, as well as elsewhere, came into the king's hands, who granted them to the archbishop in exchange, and he soon afterwards reconveyed them to the crown, by an act specially passed for this purpose; but in it, among other exceptions was one of this church, appropriate of River, with the advowson of the vicarage, which have ever since continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to them.—The parsonage, with two pieces of land, is demised on a beneficial lease, to Mr. Tho. Lamb, of Crabble.
In the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, the vicarage, on account of it smallness, was not taxed to the tenth. It is valued in the king's books at 7l. 1s. 0½d. and is now of about the clear yearly value of eighteen pounds. In 1588 and 1640, here were fifty-eight communicants. The archbishop still pays the pension of 2l. 13s. 4d. formerly paid by the abbot and convent of St. Radigund's, to the vicar of this church.
Ss Peter and Paul is a church that eluded my lenses for many, many years. At least inside.
Our old home on Crabble Hill used to overlook the River river valley, and very pleasant the view was. The town along the valley floor and downs rising steeply on both sides.
And inside River, its almost as pleasant, well, the road along Lower Road so narrow they had to make it one way, then along beside Crabble Mill being separated from the mill race by a flimsy wooden fence. It was also home to three good pubs, only one of which is open now. We used the Co-Op and the vegetable shop.
And it was in River that Nan went into care and faded from this world.
THe church sits at the end of Lewisham Road, near to where the trams used to terminate, and has been subjected to several rounds of "improvements". Somewhere under it there is an ancient church, but the signs are rare. The west doorway, now usually inaccessible as it lies beyond the door to the modern church centre was pretty much all I saw. Well, that and the Norman font, looking very out of place in the heavily Victorianised interior, which has been further brought up to date by the current parishioners.
In general, the church works, with its modern seating it can be used for many different types of events, concerts as well as services, and is clearly a lively and friendly place.
Many thanks to the vicar for allowing me to come along yesterday to take shots and add another church to the growing list of ones visited.
It is a modernised church, that suits it's location and parish.
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RIVER
LIES the next parish eastward from Ewell, being written in Domesday, both Ripa and ad Ripam; in other Latin records, Ripa and Riparia; and in English ones, River, taking its name from the river which flows through it.
A borsholder is chosen for this parish at the hundred court, and another for that part of the manor of Archers-court, which is in the parish of Whitfield, at the court leet of that manor.
RIVER is pleasantly situated about two miles from Dover, in a variety of country of high hills and deep extensive valleys; the high London road goes through it, on the left side of which the uniclosed down hills rise very sudden and high. On the other side, the slope of the value is as sudden for two or three fields, at the bottom of which the river Dour meanders its little silver stream; on the further bank, among a narrow range of meadows, is a long straggling row of pretty neat-built houses, among which are three papermills, a corn, and a seed mill, comprehending the village of River, having the church in the midst of them, beyond which the hills rise again very high, being frequently arable, interspersed with small coppices and clumps of wood wildly placed among them. The view of this from the London road forms a most romantic and picturesque scene, when at the same time straight forward, through the opening of the valley, there is a view of the town of Dover and its churches, and beyond, the British channel and the high hills of Bologne on the coast of France, and on the height of the hills to the left, the stately buildings of Dover castle.
The soil, in the northern part of this parish on the hills, is mostly chalk, and on those on the other side of it the same, but interspersed with a red earth, intermixed with quantities of sharp flints; a barren and hungry soil. In the vale near the river the meadows are rich and fertile. Upon the hill, on the left side of the London road, near the lime kiln, are several tumuli, some of which were lately opened, and in each of them was found a skeleton, a sword of about three feet long and two inches broad, and the head of a spear.
IT APPEARS by the Testa de Nevill, that this parish in the latter end of king John's reign was an escheat of the crown, and held in three parts; one of which, the castle of Dover held; another part, the canons of St. Radigund's held; and the third part was held by Soloman de Dover, of the gift of king John, and the whole was worth xxx pounds. The former of these afterwards came into the possession of the hospital of St. Mary, otherwise called the Maison Dieu, of Dover; the other part, belonging to St. Radigund's, will be further mentioned below in the ecclesiastical account of this parish; and the third part was, what is now called, the manor of Archers court, situated likewise within the bounds of this parish.
THE MANOR OF RIVER, which was comprehended in that third part of this parish first above-mentioned, seems to have been in the reign of the Conqueror part of the possessions of Hugh de Montfort, and perhaps described among those lands mentioned in the survey of Domesday before, under the parish of Ewell. His lands, on the exile of his grandson Robert de Montfort, in king Henry I.'s reign, escheated to the crown, whence great part of them in this neighbourhood were afterwards granted to Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort; after which these possessions came to Henry de Essex, who was constable likewise of England, from his succession to which as well as from other circumstances, it should seem that he became entitled to them by inheritance. Henry de Essex was baron of Raleigh, in Essex, and hereditary standard-bearer of England, but for his cowardice in a battle against the Welsh, in the 10th year of that reign, he forfeited all his possessions, which became escheats to the crown; among them was this manor of River, held of the king as above-mentioned, and it appears to have continued in the crown during king John's and the beginning of king Henry III.'s reign, who in the 13th year of it, at the petition of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, confirmed it to the hospital of St. Mary, at Dover, (afterwards called the Maison Dieu) which Hubert had founded, to hold in pure and perpetual alms; (fn. 1) after which, in the 21st year of king Edward I. upon a quo warranto, the master of the Maison Dieu was allowed the usual privileges of a manor in this parish, and king Henry VI. in his 2d year again confirmed it to the hospital, part of the possessions of which it continued till the reign of king Henry VIII. when on the suppression of it this manor came into the king's hands, where it seems to have remained without interruption till Charles II.'s reign, when it was alienated by the crown to the dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom it remains at this time. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
ARCHERS-COURT is a manor situated in the northern part of this parish, on the hills adjoining to that of Whitfield, in which parish, as well as in those of Guston and Waldershare, some parts of it lie.
In the time of king John this manor was in the possession of Soloman de Dovere, as appears by the Testa de Nevill mentioned before, and it seems as if this person was the same as is mentioned in the pleas of the crown, anno 21 Edward I. by the name of Soloman de Champs, or Chauns, who might from his residence there be likewise called de Dovere; in which pleas, as well as by the inquisition taken after his death in the 31st year of that reign, he is said to hold certain lands, called Coperland and Atterton, (part of this manor, as will appear by the records mentioned hereafter) of the king in capite, by the sergeantry and service of holding the king's head between Dover and Whitsond, as often as it should happen for him to pass the sea between those ports, and there should be occasion for it. He died possessed of this manor and land above-mentioned, in the 31st year of king Edward I. and was succeeded by his son and heir Gregory de Dovere; but I find no more mention of this name afterwards, but that it became the possessions of a family named Archer, and sometimes I'Archer, from whom it acquired the name of Archers-court, one of whom, Nicholas Archer, held it in the 1st year of king Edward II. as did William Archer in the 20th year of king Edward III. then holding it in sergeantry. At length, after this name was become extinct here, this manor was alienated to Bandred, or Brandred, in which it continued for several years, till at length the manor itself, with the court-lodge, and part of the demesne lands, together with Coperland, were sold by one of them, in the 1st year of king Edward IV. to Thomas Doilie, esq. and the other part of the demesne lands, since known by the name of Little Archers-court, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle; a further account of which will be given hereafter.
From one of the descendants of the above-mentioned Thomas Doilie, this manor was in king Henry VIII.'s reign exchanged with the crown, and that king in his 36th year granted it to Sir James Hales, in whose family it continued till it was sold to Lee, who passed it away to Sir Hardress Waller, of Dublin, and he with others, in 1657, alienated this manor to Mr. Thomas Broom, of London, one of whose descendants of the same name sold it to Richards Rouse, of Dover, whose arms were Sable, a fess dancette, or, between three crescents, argent, and his daughter carried it in marriage to Phineas Stringer, esq. of Dover, who is the present owner of it.
A court leet and court baron is held for this manor. A borsholder is chosen at this court for the borough of Archers-court only, but this is merely nominal, as he has never been known to act as such.
THE OTHER PART of Archers-court, which was sold in king Edward IV.'s reign, as has been mentioned before, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle, was afterwards known by the name of LITTLE ARCHERS COURT. Sir George Browne was sheriff in the 21st year of the above reign, but was attainted anno I Richard III. and restored again in the first year of king Henry VII. His son Sir Matt. Browne died anno 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, possessed of this estate, with lands in River, alias Archers-court, called Copland, held in capiteby sergeantry, and the service mentioned before, as was found by inquisition taken after his death that year. His grandson Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth-castle, who has his landsdisgavelled by the two acts of the 1st and 8th years of queen Elizabeth, afterwards passed away this estate to Capt. Isaac Honywood, who was slain at the battle of Newport, and dying s.p. devised it by his will to his nephew, Col. Henry Honeywood, who died in 1662, and was buried in the cathedral of Canterbury, the register of which says, he was a colonel sometime under that grand rebel Oliver Cromwell.
After his death, this estate seems to have come into the possession of his first-cousin Sir Thomas Honywood, of Marks-hall, in Essex; since whose death, in 1666, it has descended down in like manner as Marks-hall, and his other estates in this county, to Filmer Honywood, esq. now of Marks-hall, late knight of the shire for this county, who is the present owner of it.
CASTNEY-COURT, as it is commonly called, but properly Kersoney, is another manor, situated partly in the western part of this parish, adjoining to the river, and partly in the parishes of Ewell and Whitfield. It was antiently accounted part of the barony of Saye, being held of Dover castle, and at the latter end of king Edward I.'s reign was in the possession of the family of Paganel, or Painall, as they were usually called. John Paganel died possessed of it anno 12 Edward II. leaving a daughter and heir Maud; after which, I find it held by Elias de Bocton, by knight's service, by the description of lands at La Kersony. After this the family of Norwood became possessed of it, and in later times the Ropers, of St. Dunstan's; for John Roper, esq. of St. Dunstan's, died possessed of it in the 5th year of king Henry VII. holding it by knight's service. In his descendants this manor continued till the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it was conveyed by sale to Best, of Canterbury; the last of which name who held it was George Best, who alienated it to Capt. Nicholas Toke, who after the death of king Charles I. conveyed his interest in it to Charles Fotherbye, esq. and he dying s.p. it came to his brother Thomas Fotherbye, esq. of Crixall, in Staple, whose only son of the same name alienated it to William Richards, of Dover, and he in 1701 devised it to his nephew. John Sladden, merchant, of Dover, who devised it to his sister Mary, who married Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover. Her trustees, after his death, disposed of it to fulfill the purpose of her will, to Mr. William Andrews, of London, who in 1788 devised it to Thomas Biggs, esq. of Dover, who bears for his arms, Argent, on a fess, between three martlets, sable, as many annulets, or, and he is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
There are no parochial charities; the poor have a right to commoning on the Minnis, which is a large common or heath of three hundred actres, called River Minnis, lying on the hills at the southern boundary of this parish, next to Polton. A new workhouse is built in this parish, for the united parishes of Alkham, Capel, Hougham, River, Buckland, Charlton, and Whitfield. The poor constantly relieved are about twelve, casually the same.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building, consisting of a nave and a chancel, without any steeple, and has nothing worth notice in it.
¶King John, in his 9th year, granted to the abbot and canons of St. Radigund of Bradsole, this church of St. Peter of River, and his place and court of the manor, to hold in pure and perpetual alms, for the building of their abbey there, which was then at Bradesole. (fn. 2) After which the king, in his 17th year, granted licence to them to appropriate this church. Notwithstanding the grant for the removal of the abbey hither, it never took place, but continued at Bradesole, in the adjoining parish of Polton, to the time of its dissolution, which happened in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when this appropriation, with the advowson of the vicarage, and the lands and possessions of the abbot and convent in this parish, as well as elsewhere, came into the king's hands, who granted them to the archbishop in exchange, and he soon afterwards reconveyed them to the crown, by an act specially passed for this purpose; but in it, among other exceptions was one of this church, appropriate of River, with the advowson of the vicarage, which have ever since continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to them.—The parsonage, with two pieces of land, is demised on a beneficial lease, to Mr. Tho. Lamb, of Crabble.
In the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, the vicarage, on account of it smallness, was not taxed to the tenth. It is valued in the king's books at 7l. 1s. 0½d. and is now of about the clear yearly value of eighteen pounds. In 1588 and 1640, here were fifty-eight communicants. The archbishop still pays the pension of 2l. 13s. 4d. formerly paid by the abbot and convent of St. Radigund's, to the vicar of this church.
Wiston House beneath a starllit open night sky veiled with wisps of thin cirrus cloud.
Home to the world renowned Wilton Park conference organisation since 1951, hosting events on key international policy challenges. It was created in 1946 to help re-establish peace and democracy in Europe as part of an initiative inspired by Winston Churchill.
Visitors come from all over the world: They include leading figures from Government, Parliaments, business, international institutions, universities, the media, and from non-governmental institutions.
The present build dates from c.1575 â in particular the Great Hall, with a splendid double hammer beam roof. During the English Civil War, Wiston House was occupied, first by forces loyal to King Charles I, then by parliamentarian soldiers.
John Fagge purchased the estate in 1649 and his great-grand-daughter, Elizabeth, became heiress to the Estate in 1740. She married Sir Charles Goring, a neighbouring landowner in 1743 and the house has been owned by the Goring family ever since.
all copyrights reserved ©2014 Art Hutchins ~ Art's Eye photographic©.http://artseyephotographic.zenfolio.com/
Faggens Inn
Around 1700 this was a site for a large horticulture maintained by Petter Fagge Sr.
The building is named after Petter Fagge Jr. who established an inn on the site in 1731, later mentioned by the famous poet Carl Michael Bellman.
The present buildings date from 1769 an 1802, the latter originally built as a clothing factory.
Today, both buildings are private dwellings.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
Posting shots of churches we have visited has shown me that my photography has improved now I don't use the ultrawide angle lenses, so many churches need a revisit.
And with the orchid season now at an end, nearly, it is time to turn to churchcrawling.
And the easiest non-Kent church to revisit was Winchelsea, just over the border in East Sussex, also gave us the chance to call in at the fishmongers in Rye for some smoked haddock.
After the early morning coffee and then the rush round Tesco, back home to pack it all away and for me to make bacon butties and another brew.
And then: go west.
Traffic is not so mad now, so it was easy to drive to Folkestone then up the motorway to Ashford, before turning off, past the inland border facility, then out onto the Marsh past Hamstreet.
West of Brookland, the road meanders about, bend after bend, crossing and recrossing the railway until we reach Rye.
We stop to buy the fish, then round the river, over the bridge and out the other side, five miles to Winchelsea, turning off to go up the hill under the old town gate, parking near the village shop.
Whereas Rye was already busy, Winchelsea was quiet, and just past ten meaning the church had just opened.
We walk across the large churchyard through the ruins of the tower and into the church, where the triple wide nave was lines on the north and south walls with fine wall tombs.
I photograph each on in turn, and the corbel heads on each too.
I rephotograph the fine windows too, as despite being modern, they really are on another level.
One or two people come in, a family of three last 30 seconds before the mother and teenage son leave.
After completing the shots, I go out to meet up with Jools so we can walk to the shop to have ice cream, and sit to eat them on a bench looking at the north wall of the church.
After we had finished our ice creams, we climbed back in the car. It wasn't yet half ten. Time for some more churches!
So, after driving back through Rye and into Kent, we call into Brookland so I could check if the tower was open, as I have never found it open. The church was, but the candlesnuff tower was locked.
No worries, there's always New Romney.
I first came here with my friend, Simon, in 2014 when there was a formal dinner being prepared, and a year ago, we arrived just after one to find the building being locked for the day.
We parked opposite and I see the sign advertising a craft and record fair, along with refreshments.
Inside there were stall set up, and people in the Chancel drinking tea and eating cake.
I was able to get shots of some of the memorials and details, which is why I came back, really.
The fair happens on only one Saturday per month, just my luck to pick a day when it was on.
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The font as two tiers:
Top tier depicts the zodiac and the lower tiew shows the months.
January: Two faced Janus.
February: A man seated warming himself by a fire out of doors.
March: A man pruning a vine.
April: A bareheaded figure in a long robe, holding in each hand a sprouting branch.
May: A knight on a palfrey with a hawk on his left arm.
June: A man mowing with a long-bladed scythe.
July: A man working with a rake.
August: A man reaping with a sickle.
September: A man threshing corn with a flail.
October: Wine pressing.
November: A swineherd holding aloft a hooked stick.
December: A man with uplifted axe killing a pig, no doubt for Christmas cheer.
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A long low church with the most famous spire in Kent. This three-stage 'candle-snuffer' erection which stand son the ground instead of on a tower is the result of several enlargements of a thirteenth-century bell cage and its subsequent weatherproofing with cedar shingles. It contains a peal of six bells, the oldest of which is mid-fifteenth century in date. The spire is surmounted by a winged dragon weathervane, dating from 1797. The monster has a prominent forked tongue. The reason for the bells being hung in a cage rather than a tower is shown inside the church where the pillars of the nave have sunk into the soft ground and splayed out to north and south. The tie-beams of the roof came away from the walls and have had to be lengthened by the addition of new timber supports. The outstanding Norman font in cast lead has been fully described in Part 1. To the south of the church is a headstone incorporating the only 'Harmer Plaque' in Kent - a terracotta panel made in East Sussex where they are a common feature.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brookland
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BROOKLAND,
SO called from the several brooks and waterings within the bounds of it, lies the next parish southeastward, mostly within the level of Walland Marsh, and within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county; but there are some lands, which are reputed to be within this parish, containing altogether about 124 acres, which lie in detached pieces at some distance south-eastward from the rest of it, mostly near Ivychurch, some other parishes intervening, which lands are within the level of Romney Marsh, and within the liberty and jurisdiction of the justices of it.
The PARISH of Brookland lies on higher ground than either Snargate or Fairfield last described, and consequently much drier. It is more sheltered with trees, and inclosed with hedges, than any of the neighbouring parishes. The village is neat and rather pleasant, considering the situation, and the houses, as well as inhabitants, of a better sort than are usually seen in the Marsh. The church stands in the middle of it. The lands towards the south are by far the most fertile, for towards Snargate they are very poor and wet, and much covered with rushes and thistles. It consists in general of marsh-land, there not being above thirty acres of land ploughed throughout the parish, which altogether contains about 1730 acres of land.
A fair is held here yearly on the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, or Lammas-day, being August I, for toys and pedlary.
The MANORS of Fairfield, Apledore, Bilsington, and Court at Wick, extend over this parish, subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF BROOKLAND, which has long since lost even the reputation of having been a manor. It was in early times the patrimony of the family of Passele, or Pashley, as they were afterwards called, whose seat was at Evegate, in Smeeth, (fn. 1) of whom Edward de Passeley is the first that is discovered in public records to have been possessed of this manor, and this appears by the inquisition taken after his death, anno 19 Edward II. Soon after which it was alienated to Reginald de Cobham, a younger branch of the Cobhams, of Cobham, whose descendants were seated at Sterborough castle, in Surry, whence they were called Cobhams, of Sterborough, and they had afterwards summons to parliament among the barons of this realm. At length Sir Thomas Cobham died possessed of it in the 11th year of king Edward IV. leaving an only daughter and sole heir, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edward Borough, of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, whose son and heir Thomas was summoned to parliament as lord Burgh, or as it is usually pronounced, Borough, anno 21 king Henry VIII. and left a son and heir Thomas, lord Burgh, whose lands were disgavelled by the act anno 31 Henry VIII. His son William, lord Burgh, about the 12th year of queen Elizabeth's reign, passed it away to Eversfield, of Suffex, from whom it was alienated soon afterwards to Godfrey, of Lid, at which time this estate seems to have lost its name of having been a manor. He, before the end of that reign, sold it to Wood, by whom it was again alienated in the beginning of king James I.'s reign to Mr. John Fagge, of Rye, whose descendant John Fagge, esq. of Wiston, in Suffex, was created a baronet in 1660. He had a numerous issue, of which only three sons and two daughters survived. Of the former, Sir Robert, the eldest, was his successor in title; Charles was ancestor of the present baronet, the Rev. Sir John Fagge, of Chartham; and the third son Thomas Fagge, esq. succeeded by his father's will to this estate at Brookland. His son John Meres Fagge, esq. of Glynely, in Sussex, left surviving an only daughter Elizabeth, who on his death in 1769, entitled her husband Sir John Peachy, bart-of West Dean, in Sussex, to the possession of it. He died s. p. and she surviving him, again became entitled to it in her own right, and is at this time the present owner of it.
There are noparochial charities.
BROOKLAND is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Augustine, is a very large handsome building, consisting of three isles and three chancels. The steeple stands on the north side, and at some small distance from it, in which are five bells. The church is kept exceedingly neat and clean. It is cieled throughout, and handsomely pewed. In the high chancel there is a confessionary, and a nich for holy water within the altar-rails. There are several memorials in it, but none of any account worth mentioning. At the west end is a gallery, lately erected at the charge of the parish. The font is very curious, made of cast lead, having on it two ranges of emblematical figures, twenty in each range. The steeple is framed of remarkable large timber. It is built entirely of wood, of an octagon form, perpendicular about five feet from the bottom, and from thence leffening to a spire at top, in which it has three different copartments or stories, the two uppermost larger at the bottom, and projecting over those underneath them. Although there are but five bells in it, yet it has frames for several more. The whole is much out of the perpendicular leaning towards the church. In the church-yard are several tombs and gravestones for the Reads.
¶The church of Brookland was part of the antient possessions of the monastery of St. Augustine, to which it was appropriated by pope Clement V. at the request of Ralph Bourne, the abbot of it, in king Edward II.'s reign, but the abbot declined putting the bull for this purpose in force, till a more favourable opportunity. At length John, abbot of St. Augustine, in 1347, obtained another bull from pope Clement VI for the appropriation of it, and having three years afterwards obtained the king's licence for this purpose, (fn. 2) the same was confirmed by archbishop Islip in 1359, who next year endowed the vicarage of this church by his decree, by which he assigned, with the consent of the abbot and convent, and of the vicar, of the rents and profits of the church, to John de Hoghton, priest, then admitted perpetual vicar to the vicarage of it, and canonically instituted, and to his successors in future in it, a fit portion from which they might be fitly maintained and support the undermentioned burthens. In the first place he decreed and ordained, that the religious should build on the soil of the endowment of the church, at their own costs and expences, a competent mansion, with a sufficient close and garden, for the vicar and his successors, free from all rent and secular service, to be repaired and maintained from that time by the vicar for the time being; who on the presentation of the religious to be admitted and instituted by him or his successors, into the vicarage, should likewise have the great tithes of the lands lying on the other side of le Re, towards Dover, viz. beyond the bridge called Brynsete, and towards the parish churches of Brynsete, Snaves, and Ivercherche, belonging to the church of Brokelande, and likewise the tithes arising from the sheaves of gardens or orchards dug with the foot, and also all oblations made in the church or parish, and all tithes of hay, calves, chicken, lambs, pigs, geese, hens, eggs, ducks, pidgeons, bees, honey, wax, swans, wool, milkmeats, pasture, flax, hemp, garden-herbs, apples, vetches, merchandizes, fishings, fowlings, and all manner of small tithes arising from all things whatsoever. And he taxed and estimated the said portion at the annual value of eight marcs sterling, at which sum he decreed the vicar ought to contribute in future, to the payment of the tenth and all other impositions happening, of whatsoever sort. Not intending that the vicar of this church should be entitled to, or take of the issues and rents of it, any thing further than is expressed before, but that he should undergo the burthen of officiating in the same, either by himself or some other sit priest, in divine offices, and in the finding of lights in the chancel, and of bread and wine for the celebration of masses, the washing of vestments, and the reparation of the books of the church, and should nevertheless pay the procuration due to the archbishop, on his visitation. But the rest of the burthens incumbent on the church, and no ways here expressed, should belong to the abbot and convent, &c. (fn. 3) After this, the church and advowson of the vicarage of Brookland remained part of the possessions of the above monastery till the final dissolution of it, anno 30 Henry VIII. when it was, with all its revenues, surrendered into the king's hands, where this rectory and advowson staid but a short time, for the king, by his dotation charter, settled them on his newerected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions they continue at this time.
On the abolition of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in 1650, when it appeared that it consisted of a close of land of one acre, on which stood the parsonage barne, and other outhouses, with the tithe of corn and other profits belonging to it, estimated coibs annis at twenty four pounds, all which were by indenture, in 1635, demised for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of eight pounds, but were worth, over and above the said rent, sixteen pounds per annum, and that the lessee was to repair the premises, and the chancel of the parish church.
In 1384 this church or rectory appropriate was valued at 13l. 6s. 8d. but anno 31 Henry VIII. it was demised to ferme at only 8l. 3s. 4d. It is now demised on a beneficial lease by the dean and chapter, at the yearly rent of eight pounds to Mrs. Woodman, the present lessee of it. The vicarage of this church is valued in the king's books at 17l. 12s. 8½d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 15s. 3¼d. In 1587 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants one hundred and sixtysix, and in 1640 the same, and it is now of about the same value.
There is a modus of one shilling per acre on all the grass-lands in this parish. The vicar is entitled to all the small tithes, subject to this modus, throughout the parish, and to the tithes of corn of those lands, being one hundred and twenty-four acres, which lie in detached pieces beyond Brenset bridge, in Romney Marsh, as mentioned before, in the endowment of this vicarage.
There is a school here, for teaching reading and writing, supported by contribution, at which fifty children are usually taught.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
Before Christmas I did a top 50 churches on Twitter for my followers there, and thought you might like to see the top 20 here at least.
Albums are linked on the right side of this page below the shot.
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Posting shots of churches we have visited has shown me that my photography has improved now I don't use the ultrawide angle lenses, so many churches need a revisit.
And with the orchid season now at an end, nearly, it is time to turn to churchcrawling.
And the easiest non-Kent church to revisit was Winchelsea, just over the border in East Sussex, also gave us the chance to call in at the fishmongers in Rye for some smoked haddock.
After the early morning coffee and then the rush round Tesco, back home to pack it all away and for me to make bacon butties and another brew.
And then: go west.
Traffic is not so mad now, so it was easy to drive to Folkestone then up the motorway to Ashford, before turning off, past the inland border facility, then out onto the Marsh past Hamstreet.
West of Brookland, the road meanders about, bend after bend, crossing and recrossing the railway until we reach Rye.
We stop to buy the fish, then round the river, over the bridge and out the other side, five miles to Winchelsea, turning off to go up the hill under the old town gate, parking near the village shop.
Whereas Rye was already busy, Winchelsea was quiet, and just past ten meaning the church had just opened.
We walk across the large churchyard through the ruins of the tower and into the church, where the triple wide nave was lines on the north and south walls with fine wall tombs.
I photograph each on in turn, and the corbel heads on each too.
I rephotograph the fine windows too, as despite being modern, they really are on another level.
One or two people come in, a family of three last 30 seconds before the mother and teenage son leave.
After completing the shots, I go out to meet up with Jools so we can walk to the shop to have ice cream, and sit to eat them on a bench looking at the north wall of the church.
After we had finished our ice creams, we climbed back in the car. It wasn't yet half ten. Time for some more churches!
So, after driving back through Rye and into Kent, we call into Brookland so I could check if the tower was open, as I have never found it open. The church was, but the candlesnuff tower was locked.
No worries, there's always New Romney.
I first came here with my friend, Simon, in 2014 when there was a formal dinner being prepared, and a year ago, we arrived just after one to find the building being locked for the day.
We parked opposite and I see the sign advertising a craft and record fair, along with refreshments.
Inside there were stall set up, and people in the Chancel drinking tea and eating cake.
I was able to get shots of some of the memorials and details, which is why I came back, really.
The fair happens on only one Saturday per month, just my luck to pick a day when it was on.
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The font as two tiers:
Top tier depicts the zodiac and the lower tiew shows the months.
January: Two faced Janus.
February: A man seated warming himself by a fire out of doors.
March: A man pruning a vine.
April: A bareheaded figure in a long robe, holding in each hand a sprouting branch.
May: A knight on a palfrey with a hawk on his left arm.
June: A man mowing with a long-bladed scythe.
July: A man working with a rake.
August: A man reaping with a sickle.
September: A man threshing corn with a flail.
October: Wine pressing.
November: A swineherd holding aloft a hooked stick.
December: A man with uplifted axe killing a pig, no doubt for Christmas cheer.
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A long low church with the most famous spire in Kent. This three-stage 'candle-snuffer' erection which stand son the ground instead of on a tower is the result of several enlargements of a thirteenth-century bell cage and its subsequent weatherproofing with cedar shingles. It contains a peal of six bells, the oldest of which is mid-fifteenth century in date. The spire is surmounted by a winged dragon weathervane, dating from 1797. The monster has a prominent forked tongue. The reason for the bells being hung in a cage rather than a tower is shown inside the church where the pillars of the nave have sunk into the soft ground and splayed out to north and south. The tie-beams of the roof came away from the walls and have had to be lengthened by the addition of new timber supports. The outstanding Norman font in cast lead has been fully described in Part 1. To the south of the church is a headstone incorporating the only 'Harmer Plaque' in Kent - a terracotta panel made in East Sussex where they are a common feature.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brookland
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BROOKLAND,
SO called from the several brooks and waterings within the bounds of it, lies the next parish southeastward, mostly within the level of Walland Marsh, and within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county; but there are some lands, which are reputed to be within this parish, containing altogether about 124 acres, which lie in detached pieces at some distance south-eastward from the rest of it, mostly near Ivychurch, some other parishes intervening, which lands are within the level of Romney Marsh, and within the liberty and jurisdiction of the justices of it.
The PARISH of Brookland lies on higher ground than either Snargate or Fairfield last described, and consequently much drier. It is more sheltered with trees, and inclosed with hedges, than any of the neighbouring parishes. The village is neat and rather pleasant, considering the situation, and the houses, as well as inhabitants, of a better sort than are usually seen in the Marsh. The church stands in the middle of it. The lands towards the south are by far the most fertile, for towards Snargate they are very poor and wet, and much covered with rushes and thistles. It consists in general of marsh-land, there not being above thirty acres of land ploughed throughout the parish, which altogether contains about 1730 acres of land.
A fair is held here yearly on the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, or Lammas-day, being August I, for toys and pedlary.
The MANORS of Fairfield, Apledore, Bilsington, and Court at Wick, extend over this parish, subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF BROOKLAND, which has long since lost even the reputation of having been a manor. It was in early times the patrimony of the family of Passele, or Pashley, as they were afterwards called, whose seat was at Evegate, in Smeeth, (fn. 1) of whom Edward de Passeley is the first that is discovered in public records to have been possessed of this manor, and this appears by the inquisition taken after his death, anno 19 Edward II. Soon after which it was alienated to Reginald de Cobham, a younger branch of the Cobhams, of Cobham, whose descendants were seated at Sterborough castle, in Surry, whence they were called Cobhams, of Sterborough, and they had afterwards summons to parliament among the barons of this realm. At length Sir Thomas Cobham died possessed of it in the 11th year of king Edward IV. leaving an only daughter and sole heir, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edward Borough, of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, whose son and heir Thomas was summoned to parliament as lord Burgh, or as it is usually pronounced, Borough, anno 21 king Henry VIII. and left a son and heir Thomas, lord Burgh, whose lands were disgavelled by the act anno 31 Henry VIII. His son William, lord Burgh, about the 12th year of queen Elizabeth's reign, passed it away to Eversfield, of Suffex, from whom it was alienated soon afterwards to Godfrey, of Lid, at which time this estate seems to have lost its name of having been a manor. He, before the end of that reign, sold it to Wood, by whom it was again alienated in the beginning of king James I.'s reign to Mr. John Fagge, of Rye, whose descendant John Fagge, esq. of Wiston, in Suffex, was created a baronet in 1660. He had a numerous issue, of which only three sons and two daughters survived. Of the former, Sir Robert, the eldest, was his successor in title; Charles was ancestor of the present baronet, the Rev. Sir John Fagge, of Chartham; and the third son Thomas Fagge, esq. succeeded by his father's will to this estate at Brookland. His son John Meres Fagge, esq. of Glynely, in Sussex, left surviving an only daughter Elizabeth, who on his death in 1769, entitled her husband Sir John Peachy, bart-of West Dean, in Sussex, to the possession of it. He died s. p. and she surviving him, again became entitled to it in her own right, and is at this time the present owner of it.
There are noparochial charities.
BROOKLAND is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Augustine, is a very large handsome building, consisting of three isles and three chancels. The steeple stands on the north side, and at some small distance from it, in which are five bells. The church is kept exceedingly neat and clean. It is cieled throughout, and handsomely pewed. In the high chancel there is a confessionary, and a nich for holy water within the altar-rails. There are several memorials in it, but none of any account worth mentioning. At the west end is a gallery, lately erected at the charge of the parish. The font is very curious, made of cast lead, having on it two ranges of emblematical figures, twenty in each range. The steeple is framed of remarkable large timber. It is built entirely of wood, of an octagon form, perpendicular about five feet from the bottom, and from thence leffening to a spire at top, in which it has three different copartments or stories, the two uppermost larger at the bottom, and projecting over those underneath them. Although there are but five bells in it, yet it has frames for several more. The whole is much out of the perpendicular leaning towards the church. In the church-yard are several tombs and gravestones for the Reads.
¶The church of Brookland was part of the antient possessions of the monastery of St. Augustine, to which it was appropriated by pope Clement V. at the request of Ralph Bourne, the abbot of it, in king Edward II.'s reign, but the abbot declined putting the bull for this purpose in force, till a more favourable opportunity. At length John, abbot of St. Augustine, in 1347, obtained another bull from pope Clement VI for the appropriation of it, and having three years afterwards obtained the king's licence for this purpose, (fn. 2) the same was confirmed by archbishop Islip in 1359, who next year endowed the vicarage of this church by his decree, by which he assigned, with the consent of the abbot and convent, and of the vicar, of the rents and profits of the church, to John de Hoghton, priest, then admitted perpetual vicar to the vicarage of it, and canonically instituted, and to his successors in future in it, a fit portion from which they might be fitly maintained and support the undermentioned burthens. In the first place he decreed and ordained, that the religious should build on the soil of the endowment of the church, at their own costs and expences, a competent mansion, with a sufficient close and garden, for the vicar and his successors, free from all rent and secular service, to be repaired and maintained from that time by the vicar for the time being; who on the presentation of the religious to be admitted and instituted by him or his successors, into the vicarage, should likewise have the great tithes of the lands lying on the other side of le Re, towards Dover, viz. beyond the bridge called Brynsete, and towards the parish churches of Brynsete, Snaves, and Ivercherche, belonging to the church of Brokelande, and likewise the tithes arising from the sheaves of gardens or orchards dug with the foot, and also all oblations made in the church or parish, and all tithes of hay, calves, chicken, lambs, pigs, geese, hens, eggs, ducks, pidgeons, bees, honey, wax, swans, wool, milkmeats, pasture, flax, hemp, garden-herbs, apples, vetches, merchandizes, fishings, fowlings, and all manner of small tithes arising from all things whatsoever. And he taxed and estimated the said portion at the annual value of eight marcs sterling, at which sum he decreed the vicar ought to contribute in future, to the payment of the tenth and all other impositions happening, of whatsoever sort. Not intending that the vicar of this church should be entitled to, or take of the issues and rents of it, any thing further than is expressed before, but that he should undergo the burthen of officiating in the same, either by himself or some other sit priest, in divine offices, and in the finding of lights in the chancel, and of bread and wine for the celebration of masses, the washing of vestments, and the reparation of the books of the church, and should nevertheless pay the procuration due to the archbishop, on his visitation. But the rest of the burthens incumbent on the church, and no ways here expressed, should belong to the abbot and convent, &c. (fn. 3) After this, the church and advowson of the vicarage of Brookland remained part of the possessions of the above monastery till the final dissolution of it, anno 30 Henry VIII. when it was, with all its revenues, surrendered into the king's hands, where this rectory and advowson staid but a short time, for the king, by his dotation charter, settled them on his newerected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions they continue at this time.
On the abolition of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in 1650, when it appeared that it consisted of a close of land of one acre, on which stood the parsonage barne, and other outhouses, with the tithe of corn and other profits belonging to it, estimated coibs annis at twenty four pounds, all which were by indenture, in 1635, demised for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of eight pounds, but were worth, over and above the said rent, sixteen pounds per annum, and that the lessee was to repair the premises, and the chancel of the parish church.
In 1384 this church or rectory appropriate was valued at 13l. 6s. 8d. but anno 31 Henry VIII. it was demised to ferme at only 8l. 3s. 4d. It is now demised on a beneficial lease by the dean and chapter, at the yearly rent of eight pounds to Mrs. Woodman, the present lessee of it. The vicarage of this church is valued in the king's books at 17l. 12s. 8½d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 15s. 3¼d. In 1587 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants one hundred and sixtysix, and in 1640 the same, and it is now of about the same value.
There is a modus of one shilling per acre on all the grass-lands in this parish. The vicar is entitled to all the small tithes, subject to this modus, throughout the parish, and to the tithes of corn of those lands, being one hundred and twenty-four acres, which lie in detached pieces beyond Brenset bridge, in Romney Marsh, as mentioned before, in the endowment of this vicarage.
There is a school here, for teaching reading and writing, supported by contribution, at which fifty children are usually taught.
Posting shots of churches we have visited has shown me that my photography has improved now I don't use the ultrawide angle lenses, so many churches need a revisit.
And with the orchid season now at an end, nearly, it is time to turn to churchcrawling.
And the easiest non-Kent church to revisit was Winchelsea, just over the border in East Sussex, also gave us the chance to call in at the fishmongers in Rye for some smoked haddock.
After the early morning coffee and then the rush round Tesco, back home to pack it all away and for me to make bacon butties and another brew.
And then: go west.
Traffic is not so mad now, so it was easy to drive to Folkestone then up the motorway to Ashford, before turning off, past the inland border facility, then out onto the Marsh past Hamstreet.
West of Brookland, the road meanders about, bend after bend, crossing and recrossing the railway until we reach Rye.
We stop to buy the fish, then round the river, over the bridge and out the other side, five miles to Winchelsea, turning off to go up the hill under the old town gate, parking near the village shop.
Whereas Rye was already busy, Winchelsea was quiet, and just past ten meaning the church had just opened.
We walk across the large churchyard through the ruins of the tower and into the church, where the triple wide nave was lines on the north and south walls with fine wall tombs.
I photograph each on in turn, and the corbel heads on each too.
I rephotograph the fine windows too, as despite being modern, they really are on another level.
One or two people come in, a family of three last 30 seconds before the mother and teenage son leave.
After completing the shots, I go out to meet up with Jools so we can walk to the shop to have ice cream, and sit to eat them on a bench looking at the north wall of the church.
After we had finished our ice creams, we climbed back in the car. It wasn't yet half ten. Time for some more churches!
So, after driving back through Rye and into Kent, we call into Brookland so I could check if the tower was open, as I have never found it open. The church was, but the candlesnuff tower was locked.
No worries, there's always New Romney.
I first came here with my friend, Simon, in 2014 when there was a formal dinner being prepared, and a year ago, we arrived just after one to find the building being locked for the day.
We parked opposite and I see the sign advertising a craft and record fair, along with refreshments.
Inside there were stall set up, and people in the Chancel drinking tea and eating cake.
I was able to get shots of some of the memorials and details, which is why I came back, really.
The fair happens on only one Saturday per month, just my luck to pick a day when it was on.
-------------------------------------------
The font as two tiers:
Top tier depicts the zodiac and the lower tiew shows the months.
January: Two faced Janus.
February: A man seated warming himself by a fire out of doors.
March: A man pruning a vine.
April: A bareheaded figure in a long robe, holding in each hand a sprouting branch.
May: A knight on a palfrey with a hawk on his left arm.
June: A man mowing with a long-bladed scythe.
July: A man working with a rake.
August: A man reaping with a sickle.
September: A man threshing corn with a flail.
October: Wine pressing.
November: A swineherd holding aloft a hooked stick.
December: A man with uplifted axe killing a pig, no doubt for Christmas cheer.
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A long low church with the most famous spire in Kent. This three-stage 'candle-snuffer' erection which stand son the ground instead of on a tower is the result of several enlargements of a thirteenth-century bell cage and its subsequent weatherproofing with cedar shingles. It contains a peal of six bells, the oldest of which is mid-fifteenth century in date. The spire is surmounted by a winged dragon weathervane, dating from 1797. The monster has a prominent forked tongue. The reason for the bells being hung in a cage rather than a tower is shown inside the church where the pillars of the nave have sunk into the soft ground and splayed out to north and south. The tie-beams of the roof came away from the walls and have had to be lengthened by the addition of new timber supports. The outstanding Norman font in cast lead has been fully described in Part 1. To the south of the church is a headstone incorporating the only 'Harmer Plaque' in Kent - a terracotta panel made in East Sussex where they are a common feature.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brookland
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BROOKLAND,
SO called from the several brooks and waterings within the bounds of it, lies the next parish southeastward, mostly within the level of Walland Marsh, and within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county; but there are some lands, which are reputed to be within this parish, containing altogether about 124 acres, which lie in detached pieces at some distance south-eastward from the rest of it, mostly near Ivychurch, some other parishes intervening, which lands are within the level of Romney Marsh, and within the liberty and jurisdiction of the justices of it.
The PARISH of Brookland lies on higher ground than either Snargate or Fairfield last described, and consequently much drier. It is more sheltered with trees, and inclosed with hedges, than any of the neighbouring parishes. The village is neat and rather pleasant, considering the situation, and the houses, as well as inhabitants, of a better sort than are usually seen in the Marsh. The church stands in the middle of it. The lands towards the south are by far the most fertile, for towards Snargate they are very poor and wet, and much covered with rushes and thistles. It consists in general of marsh-land, there not being above thirty acres of land ploughed throughout the parish, which altogether contains about 1730 acres of land.
A fair is held here yearly on the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, or Lammas-day, being August I, for toys and pedlary.
The MANORS of Fairfield, Apledore, Bilsington, and Court at Wick, extend over this parish, subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF BROOKLAND, which has long since lost even the reputation of having been a manor. It was in early times the patrimony of the family of Passele, or Pashley, as they were afterwards called, whose seat was at Evegate, in Smeeth, (fn. 1) of whom Edward de Passeley is the first that is discovered in public records to have been possessed of this manor, and this appears by the inquisition taken after his death, anno 19 Edward II. Soon after which it was alienated to Reginald de Cobham, a younger branch of the Cobhams, of Cobham, whose descendants were seated at Sterborough castle, in Surry, whence they were called Cobhams, of Sterborough, and they had afterwards summons to parliament among the barons of this realm. At length Sir Thomas Cobham died possessed of it in the 11th year of king Edward IV. leaving an only daughter and sole heir, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edward Borough, of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, whose son and heir Thomas was summoned to parliament as lord Burgh, or as it is usually pronounced, Borough, anno 21 king Henry VIII. and left a son and heir Thomas, lord Burgh, whose lands were disgavelled by the act anno 31 Henry VIII. His son William, lord Burgh, about the 12th year of queen Elizabeth's reign, passed it away to Eversfield, of Suffex, from whom it was alienated soon afterwards to Godfrey, of Lid, at which time this estate seems to have lost its name of having been a manor. He, before the end of that reign, sold it to Wood, by whom it was again alienated in the beginning of king James I.'s reign to Mr. John Fagge, of Rye, whose descendant John Fagge, esq. of Wiston, in Suffex, was created a baronet in 1660. He had a numerous issue, of which only three sons and two daughters survived. Of the former, Sir Robert, the eldest, was his successor in title; Charles was ancestor of the present baronet, the Rev. Sir John Fagge, of Chartham; and the third son Thomas Fagge, esq. succeeded by his father's will to this estate at Brookland. His son John Meres Fagge, esq. of Glynely, in Sussex, left surviving an only daughter Elizabeth, who on his death in 1769, entitled her husband Sir John Peachy, bart-of West Dean, in Sussex, to the possession of it. He died s. p. and she surviving him, again became entitled to it in her own right, and is at this time the present owner of it.
There are noparochial charities.
BROOKLAND is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Augustine, is a very large handsome building, consisting of three isles and three chancels. The steeple stands on the north side, and at some small distance from it, in which are five bells. The church is kept exceedingly neat and clean. It is cieled throughout, and handsomely pewed. In the high chancel there is a confessionary, and a nich for holy water within the altar-rails. There are several memorials in it, but none of any account worth mentioning. At the west end is a gallery, lately erected at the charge of the parish. The font is very curious, made of cast lead, having on it two ranges of emblematical figures, twenty in each range. The steeple is framed of remarkable large timber. It is built entirely of wood, of an octagon form, perpendicular about five feet from the bottom, and from thence leffening to a spire at top, in which it has three different copartments or stories, the two uppermost larger at the bottom, and projecting over those underneath them. Although there are but five bells in it, yet it has frames for several more. The whole is much out of the perpendicular leaning towards the church. In the church-yard are several tombs and gravestones for the Reads.
¶The church of Brookland was part of the antient possessions of the monastery of St. Augustine, to which it was appropriated by pope Clement V. at the request of Ralph Bourne, the abbot of it, in king Edward II.'s reign, but the abbot declined putting the bull for this purpose in force, till a more favourable opportunity. At length John, abbot of St. Augustine, in 1347, obtained another bull from pope Clement VI for the appropriation of it, and having three years afterwards obtained the king's licence for this purpose, (fn. 2) the same was confirmed by archbishop Islip in 1359, who next year endowed the vicarage of this church by his decree, by which he assigned, with the consent of the abbot and convent, and of the vicar, of the rents and profits of the church, to John de Hoghton, priest, then admitted perpetual vicar to the vicarage of it, and canonically instituted, and to his successors in future in it, a fit portion from which they might be fitly maintained and support the undermentioned burthens. In the first place he decreed and ordained, that the religious should build on the soil of the endowment of the church, at their own costs and expences, a competent mansion, with a sufficient close and garden, for the vicar and his successors, free from all rent and secular service, to be repaired and maintained from that time by the vicar for the time being; who on the presentation of the religious to be admitted and instituted by him or his successors, into the vicarage, should likewise have the great tithes of the lands lying on the other side of le Re, towards Dover, viz. beyond the bridge called Brynsete, and towards the parish churches of Brynsete, Snaves, and Ivercherche, belonging to the church of Brokelande, and likewise the tithes arising from the sheaves of gardens or orchards dug with the foot, and also all oblations made in the church or parish, and all tithes of hay, calves, chicken, lambs, pigs, geese, hens, eggs, ducks, pidgeons, bees, honey, wax, swans, wool, milkmeats, pasture, flax, hemp, garden-herbs, apples, vetches, merchandizes, fishings, fowlings, and all manner of small tithes arising from all things whatsoever. And he taxed and estimated the said portion at the annual value of eight marcs sterling, at which sum he decreed the vicar ought to contribute in future, to the payment of the tenth and all other impositions happening, of whatsoever sort. Not intending that the vicar of this church should be entitled to, or take of the issues and rents of it, any thing further than is expressed before, but that he should undergo the burthen of officiating in the same, either by himself or some other sit priest, in divine offices, and in the finding of lights in the chancel, and of bread and wine for the celebration of masses, the washing of vestments, and the reparation of the books of the church, and should nevertheless pay the procuration due to the archbishop, on his visitation. But the rest of the burthens incumbent on the church, and no ways here expressed, should belong to the abbot and convent, &c. (fn. 3) After this, the church and advowson of the vicarage of Brookland remained part of the possessions of the above monastery till the final dissolution of it, anno 30 Henry VIII. when it was, with all its revenues, surrendered into the king's hands, where this rectory and advowson staid but a short time, for the king, by his dotation charter, settled them on his newerected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions they continue at this time.
On the abolition of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in 1650, when it appeared that it consisted of a close of land of one acre, on which stood the parsonage barne, and other outhouses, with the tithe of corn and other profits belonging to it, estimated coibs annis at twenty four pounds, all which were by indenture, in 1635, demised for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of eight pounds, but were worth, over and above the said rent, sixteen pounds per annum, and that the lessee was to repair the premises, and the chancel of the parish church.
In 1384 this church or rectory appropriate was valued at 13l. 6s. 8d. but anno 31 Henry VIII. it was demised to ferme at only 8l. 3s. 4d. It is now demised on a beneficial lease by the dean and chapter, at the yearly rent of eight pounds to Mrs. Woodman, the present lessee of it. The vicarage of this church is valued in the king's books at 17l. 12s. 8½d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 15s. 3¼d. In 1587 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants one hundred and sixtysix, and in 1640 the same, and it is now of about the same value.
There is a modus of one shilling per acre on all the grass-lands in this parish. The vicar is entitled to all the small tithes, subject to this modus, throughout the parish, and to the tithes of corn of those lands, being one hundred and twenty-four acres, which lie in detached pieces beyond Brenset bridge, in Romney Marsh, as mentioned before, in the endowment of this vicarage.
There is a school here, for teaching reading and writing, supported by contribution, at which fifty children are usually taught.
Ss Peter and Paul is a church that eluded my lenses for many, many years. At least inside.
Our old home on Crabble Hill used to overlook the River river valley, and very pleasant the view was. The town along the valley floor and downs rising steeply on both sides.
And inside River, its almost as pleasant, well, the road along Lower Road so narrow they had to make it one way, then along beside Crabble Mill being separated from the mill race by a flimsy wooden fence. It was also home to three good pubs, only one of which is open now. We used the Co-Op and the vegetable shop.
And it was in River that Nan went into care and faded from this world.
THe church sits at the end of Lewisham Road, near to where the trams used to terminate, and has been subjected to several rounds of "improvements". Somewhere under it there is an ancient church, but the signs are rare. The west doorway, now usually inaccessible as it lies beyond the door to the modern church centre was pretty much all I saw. Well, that and the Norman font, looking very out of place in the heavily Victorianised interior, which has been further brought up to date by the current parishioners.
In general, the church works, with its modern seating it can be used for many different types of events, concerts as well as services, and is clearly a lively and friendly place.
Many thanks to the vicar for allowing me to come along yesterday to take shots and add another church to the growing list of ones visited.
It is a modernised church, that suits it's location and parish.
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RIVER
LIES the next parish eastward from Ewell, being written in Domesday, both Ripa and ad Ripam; in other Latin records, Ripa and Riparia; and in English ones, River, taking its name from the river which flows through it.
A borsholder is chosen for this parish at the hundred court, and another for that part of the manor of Archers-court, which is in the parish of Whitfield, at the court leet of that manor.
RIVER is pleasantly situated about two miles from Dover, in a variety of country of high hills and deep extensive valleys; the high London road goes through it, on the left side of which the uniclosed down hills rise very sudden and high. On the other side, the slope of the value is as sudden for two or three fields, at the bottom of which the river Dour meanders its little silver stream; on the further bank, among a narrow range of meadows, is a long straggling row of pretty neat-built houses, among which are three papermills, a corn, and a seed mill, comprehending the village of River, having the church in the midst of them, beyond which the hills rise again very high, being frequently arable, interspersed with small coppices and clumps of wood wildly placed among them. The view of this from the London road forms a most romantic and picturesque scene, when at the same time straight forward, through the opening of the valley, there is a view of the town of Dover and its churches, and beyond, the British channel and the high hills of Bologne on the coast of France, and on the height of the hills to the left, the stately buildings of Dover castle.
The soil, in the northern part of this parish on the hills, is mostly chalk, and on those on the other side of it the same, but interspersed with a red earth, intermixed with quantities of sharp flints; a barren and hungry soil. In the vale near the river the meadows are rich and fertile. Upon the hill, on the left side of the London road, near the lime kiln, are several tumuli, some of which were lately opened, and in each of them was found a skeleton, a sword of about three feet long and two inches broad, and the head of a spear.
IT APPEARS by the Testa de Nevill, that this parish in the latter end of king John's reign was an escheat of the crown, and held in three parts; one of which, the castle of Dover held; another part, the canons of St. Radigund's held; and the third part was held by Soloman de Dover, of the gift of king John, and the whole was worth xxx pounds. The former of these afterwards came into the possession of the hospital of St. Mary, otherwise called the Maison Dieu, of Dover; the other part, belonging to St. Radigund's, will be further mentioned below in the ecclesiastical account of this parish; and the third part was, what is now called, the manor of Archers court, situated likewise within the bounds of this parish.
THE MANOR OF RIVER, which was comprehended in that third part of this parish first above-mentioned, seems to have been in the reign of the Conqueror part of the possessions of Hugh de Montfort, and perhaps described among those lands mentioned in the survey of Domesday before, under the parish of Ewell. His lands, on the exile of his grandson Robert de Montfort, in king Henry I.'s reign, escheated to the crown, whence great part of them in this neighbourhood were afterwards granted to Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort; after which these possessions came to Henry de Essex, who was constable likewise of England, from his succession to which as well as from other circumstances, it should seem that he became entitled to them by inheritance. Henry de Essex was baron of Raleigh, in Essex, and hereditary standard-bearer of England, but for his cowardice in a battle against the Welsh, in the 10th year of that reign, he forfeited all his possessions, which became escheats to the crown; among them was this manor of River, held of the king as above-mentioned, and it appears to have continued in the crown during king John's and the beginning of king Henry III.'s reign, who in the 13th year of it, at the petition of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, confirmed it to the hospital of St. Mary, at Dover, (afterwards called the Maison Dieu) which Hubert had founded, to hold in pure and perpetual alms; (fn. 1) after which, in the 21st year of king Edward I. upon a quo warranto, the master of the Maison Dieu was allowed the usual privileges of a manor in this parish, and king Henry VI. in his 2d year again confirmed it to the hospital, part of the possessions of which it continued till the reign of king Henry VIII. when on the suppression of it this manor came into the king's hands, where it seems to have remained without interruption till Charles II.'s reign, when it was alienated by the crown to the dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom it remains at this time. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
ARCHERS-COURT is a manor situated in the northern part of this parish, on the hills adjoining to that of Whitfield, in which parish, as well as in those of Guston and Waldershare, some parts of it lie.
In the time of king John this manor was in the possession of Soloman de Dovere, as appears by the Testa de Nevill mentioned before, and it seems as if this person was the same as is mentioned in the pleas of the crown, anno 21 Edward I. by the name of Soloman de Champs, or Chauns, who might from his residence there be likewise called de Dovere; in which pleas, as well as by the inquisition taken after his death in the 31st year of that reign, he is said to hold certain lands, called Coperland and Atterton, (part of this manor, as will appear by the records mentioned hereafter) of the king in capite, by the sergeantry and service of holding the king's head between Dover and Whitsond, as often as it should happen for him to pass the sea between those ports, and there should be occasion for it. He died possessed of this manor and land above-mentioned, in the 31st year of king Edward I. and was succeeded by his son and heir Gregory de Dovere; but I find no more mention of this name afterwards, but that it became the possessions of a family named Archer, and sometimes I'Archer, from whom it acquired the name of Archers-court, one of whom, Nicholas Archer, held it in the 1st year of king Edward II. as did William Archer in the 20th year of king Edward III. then holding it in sergeantry. At length, after this name was become extinct here, this manor was alienated to Bandred, or Brandred, in which it continued for several years, till at length the manor itself, with the court-lodge, and part of the demesne lands, together with Coperland, were sold by one of them, in the 1st year of king Edward IV. to Thomas Doilie, esq. and the other part of the demesne lands, since known by the name of Little Archers-court, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle; a further account of which will be given hereafter.
From one of the descendants of the above-mentioned Thomas Doilie, this manor was in king Henry VIII.'s reign exchanged with the crown, and that king in his 36th year granted it to Sir James Hales, in whose family it continued till it was sold to Lee, who passed it away to Sir Hardress Waller, of Dublin, and he with others, in 1657, alienated this manor to Mr. Thomas Broom, of London, one of whose descendants of the same name sold it to Richards Rouse, of Dover, whose arms were Sable, a fess dancette, or, between three crescents, argent, and his daughter carried it in marriage to Phineas Stringer, esq. of Dover, who is the present owner of it.
A court leet and court baron is held for this manor. A borsholder is chosen at this court for the borough of Archers-court only, but this is merely nominal, as he has never been known to act as such.
THE OTHER PART of Archers-court, which was sold in king Edward IV.'s reign, as has been mentioned before, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle, was afterwards known by the name of LITTLE ARCHERS COURT. Sir George Browne was sheriff in the 21st year of the above reign, but was attainted anno I Richard III. and restored again in the first year of king Henry VII. His son Sir Matt. Browne died anno 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, possessed of this estate, with lands in River, alias Archers-court, called Copland, held in capiteby sergeantry, and the service mentioned before, as was found by inquisition taken after his death that year. His grandson Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth-castle, who has his landsdisgavelled by the two acts of the 1st and 8th years of queen Elizabeth, afterwards passed away this estate to Capt. Isaac Honywood, who was slain at the battle of Newport, and dying s.p. devised it by his will to his nephew, Col. Henry Honeywood, who died in 1662, and was buried in the cathedral of Canterbury, the register of which says, he was a colonel sometime under that grand rebel Oliver Cromwell.
After his death, this estate seems to have come into the possession of his first-cousin Sir Thomas Honywood, of Marks-hall, in Essex; since whose death, in 1666, it has descended down in like manner as Marks-hall, and his other estates in this county, to Filmer Honywood, esq. now of Marks-hall, late knight of the shire for this county, who is the present owner of it.
CASTNEY-COURT, as it is commonly called, but properly Kersoney, is another manor, situated partly in the western part of this parish, adjoining to the river, and partly in the parishes of Ewell and Whitfield. It was antiently accounted part of the barony of Saye, being held of Dover castle, and at the latter end of king Edward I.'s reign was in the possession of the family of Paganel, or Painall, as they were usually called. John Paganel died possessed of it anno 12 Edward II. leaving a daughter and heir Maud; after which, I find it held by Elias de Bocton, by knight's service, by the description of lands at La Kersony. After this the family of Norwood became possessed of it, and in later times the Ropers, of St. Dunstan's; for John Roper, esq. of St. Dunstan's, died possessed of it in the 5th year of king Henry VII. holding it by knight's service. In his descendants this manor continued till the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it was conveyed by sale to Best, of Canterbury; the last of which name who held it was George Best, who alienated it to Capt. Nicholas Toke, who after the death of king Charles I. conveyed his interest in it to Charles Fotherbye, esq. and he dying s.p. it came to his brother Thomas Fotherbye, esq. of Crixall, in Staple, whose only son of the same name alienated it to William Richards, of Dover, and he in 1701 devised it to his nephew. John Sladden, merchant, of Dover, who devised it to his sister Mary, who married Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover. Her trustees, after his death, disposed of it to fulfill the purpose of her will, to Mr. William Andrews, of London, who in 1788 devised it to Thomas Biggs, esq. of Dover, who bears for his arms, Argent, on a fess, between three martlets, sable, as many annulets, or, and he is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
There are no parochial charities; the poor have a right to commoning on the Minnis, which is a large common or heath of three hundred actres, called River Minnis, lying on the hills at the southern boundary of this parish, next to Polton. A new workhouse is built in this parish, for the united parishes of Alkham, Capel, Hougham, River, Buckland, Charlton, and Whitfield. The poor constantly relieved are about twelve, casually the same.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building, consisting of a nave and a chancel, without any steeple, and has nothing worth notice in it.
¶King John, in his 9th year, granted to the abbot and canons of St. Radigund of Bradsole, this church of St. Peter of River, and his place and court of the manor, to hold in pure and perpetual alms, for the building of their abbey there, which was then at Bradesole. (fn. 2) After which the king, in his 17th year, granted licence to them to appropriate this church. Notwithstanding the grant for the removal of the abbey hither, it never took place, but continued at Bradesole, in the adjoining parish of Polton, to the time of its dissolution, which happened in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when this appropriation, with the advowson of the vicarage, and the lands and possessions of the abbot and convent in this parish, as well as elsewhere, came into the king's hands, who granted them to the archbishop in exchange, and he soon afterwards reconveyed them to the crown, by an act specially passed for this purpose; but in it, among other exceptions was one of this church, appropriate of River, with the advowson of the vicarage, which have ever since continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to them.—The parsonage, with two pieces of land, is demised on a beneficial lease, to Mr. Tho. Lamb, of Crabble.
In the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, the vicarage, on account of it smallness, was not taxed to the tenth. It is valued in the king's books at 7l. 1s. 0½d. and is now of about the clear yearly value of eighteen pounds. In 1588 and 1640, here were fifty-eight communicants. The archbishop still pays the pension of 2l. 13s. 4d. formerly paid by the abbot and convent of St. Radigund's, to the vicar of this church.
A brief visit before the arrival of Flying Scotsman, and the church was open!
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There are few churches in Kent that display transepts without a central tower. When in the fifteenth century a tower was built it was added to the west end of the existing nave. Two excellent hagioscopes are cut through either side of the chancel arch, whilst the south transept contains some eighteenth-century monuments by the celebrated sculptor Michael Rysbrack. The most famous memorial at Chartham is the brass to Sir Robert de Septvans (d. 1306), one of the oldest and largest memorial brasses in the country, showing the cross-legged knight with flowing locks. The chancel windows show excellent medieval tracery which has preserved much of its late thirteenth-century glass.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Chartham
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CHARTHAM,
CALLED in Domesday, Certeham, lies the next parish eastward from Chilham. The greatest part of it is in the hundred of Felborough, and some small part of it, viz. the manor of Horton, in the hundred of Bridge and Petham.
THE PARISH of Chartham is pleasantly situated, a great part of it in the sertile vale of pastures through which the river Stour takes its course, between a continued series or range of losty hills, over which this parish extends; the high road from Canterbury to Ashford leads through it, mostly on high ground, from which there is a most pleasing view of the vale and river beneath, as well as of the oppo site hills, whose summits are cloathed with the rich foliage of the contiguous woods. Though the soil in the valley is rich pasture, yet the hills are poor and barren, those rising from the vale are chalk, further on they are a cludgy red earth, mixed with slints, much covered with coppice woods, and a great deal of rough land, with broom and heath among it, bordering on a dreary country. The parish is large, and is supposed to be about twelve miles in circumterence. It contains about ninety-seven houses, and five hundred inhabitants. The village of Chartham is situated close on the side of the river Stour, the houses of it are mostly built round a green, called Charthamgreen, having the church and parsonage on the south side of it. On this green was till within these few years, a large mansion house most of which being burnt down, the remains have since been known by the name of Burnt house. It was formerly the residence of the Kingsfords, several of whom lie buried in this church, whose arms were, Two bends, ermine. At length William Kingsford, esq. in 1768, sold it to William Waller, who alienated it in 1786 to Mr. Robert Turner, as he did again to Allen Grebell, esq. who sold it in 1795 to Mr. John Gold, the present owner of it. Near it is a handsome modern-built house, formerly the property and residence of Dr. John-Maximilian Delangle, rector of this parish and prebendary of Canterbury, and from him usually named the Delangle house. He died possessed of it in 1729. It was late the property of John Wotton, esq. who died in August, 1798, and devised it to Mary, the wife of Benjamin Andrews, gent. of Stouting, for her life; and after her decease to Thomas Wotton, gent. of the Tile-lodge farm, in Sturry, and his heirs for ever. On the river Stour here, is a paper-mill, belonging to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. In 1763, William Pearson, the lessee by will, gave this leasehold estate to his wife Sarah for life, remainder to his son Thomas Pearson, his executors, &c. Sarah Pearson renewed the lease in her own name in 1765. In 1766 Thomas Pearson sold the lease to his brother James Pearson absolutely, after the death of their mother, and of the said Thomas pearson, and Elizabeth his wife, or any after-taken wife, without issue of the said Thomas. In 1767 the said Thomas Pearson and Elizabeth, sold all their interest in the premises to David Ogilvy. In the same year the said Thomas and James assigned the premises to the said Ogilvy, by way of mortgage, redeemable by James if Thomas died without issue. In 1768 James became a bankrupt. In 1789, Sarah and James being both dead, Ogilvy renewed the lease in his name. In 1792 Ogilvy, Thomas Pearson, and the surviving assigness, under James Pearson's commission, assigned the premises absolutely, to Edward Pain, paper-maker, of Chartham, (son of Leeds Pain, deceased) who now holds the lease, and occupies the estate.
That part of this village on the opposite side of the river Stour, is called Rattington, being in the borough of that name. The northern part of this parish is mostly high ground, and covered with woods, extending almost up to the high Boughton road to London, through which the boundaries of it are very uncertain, from the different growths of the high wood in them; and there have been several contests relating to the bounds in this part of the parish, on account of the payment of tithes to the rector of Chartham; the lands without the bounds of it on the north side being exempt from all tithes whatever, as being within the king's antient forest of Blean, now usually called the ville of Dunkirk. Among them are the two hamlets, called Chartham hatch and Bovehatch, vulgarly Bowhatch; and near the former a large hoath, the soil of which is sand and gravel, and, from the poorness of it, but of little value. This hoath, as well as the lands near it, called Highwood, both claim, as I am informed, an exemption from paying tithes, as part of the manor of Densted.
Among the woods at the north-west boundaries of the parish, is a house and grounds called the Fishponds, which, though now gone to ruin, were formerly made and kept at a large expence, by Samuel Parker, gent. the grandson of Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford, and rector of this church, who resided here. It is now in the joint possession of Mrs. Bridges, of Canterbury, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Alban's, in this county.
About a mile west from Densted, in the northwest part of this parish, is a stream of water, called the Cranburne, which is a strong chalybeate. It rises among the woods on the south side of the high London road, running through the fifth-ponds beforementioned, and thence into the river Stour, near Whitehall, a little below Tonford.
On the opposite side of the valley, close to the river Stour, is the hamlet of Shalmsford-street, built on the Ashford high road, and the bridge of the same name, of stone, with five arches, repaired at the expence of the hundred of Felborough, over which the abovementioned road leads; and at a small distance above it is a very antient corn-mill, called Shalmsford-mill, formerly belonging to the prior and convent of Christchurch, and now to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. There are two more hamlets on the hills of the southern parts of this parish, one at Mystole, and the other at Upperdowne, near it, behing which this parish reaches some distance among the woods, till it joins Godmersham and Petham.
There is a fair annually held at Chartham on St. Peter's day, June 29.
Plan of Chartham Downs
On the chalky downs, called Chartham Downs, adjoining the south side of the Ashford road, about four miles from Canterbury, being high and dry ground, with a declivity towards the river Stour; there are a great number of tumuli, or barrows near, one hundred perhaps of different sizes near each other, this spot being described in the antient deeds of the adjoining estates by the name of Danes banks. Several of them have at times been opened, and the remains of bodies, both male and female, with various articles of trainkets, &c. have been found in them. Beyond these, on the contiguous plain, called Swadling downs, still more southward, there are three or four lines of intrenchments which cross the whole downs from east to west, at different places, and there is a little intrenchment in the road, under Denge wood, a little eastward above Julliberies grave.
Various have been the conjectures of the origin of these barrows, some have supposed them to have been those of the Britons, slain in the decisive battle with Cæsar, under Cassivelawn, others that this place was the spot appropriated for the burial of the Roman garrison at Canterbury, whilst others suppose them to have belonged to the Danes, who might be opposed here in their attempts to pass the river Stour, in their further progress into this island.
In the year 1668, in the sinking of a new well at Chartham, there was found, about seventeen feet deep, a parcel of strange and monstrous bones, together with four teeth, perfect and sound, but in a manner petrified and turned into stone, each as big as the first of a man. These are supposed by learned and judicious persons, who have seen and considered them to be the bones of some large marine animal, which had perished there; and it has been by some conjectured, (fn. 1) that the long vale, of twenty miles or more, through which the river Stour runs, was formerly an arm of the sea (the river, as they conceive, being named Stour from astuarium); and lastly, that the sea having by degrees filled up this vale with earth, sand, and coze, and other matter, ceased to discharge itself this way when it broke through the isthmus between Dover and Calais. Others have an opinion, that they were the bones of elephants, abundance of which were brought over into Britain by the emperor Claudius, who landed near Sandwich, who therefore might probably come this way in his march to the Thames, the shape of these teeth agreeing with a late description of the grinders of an elephant, and their depth under ground being probably accounted for by the continual washing down of the earth from the hills.
IN THE YEAR 871, duke Elfred gave to archbishop Ethelred, and the monks of Christ-church, the parish of Chartham, towards their cloathing, as appears by his charter then made, or rather codicil; and this gift of it was confirmed to them in the year 1052, by king Edward the Confessor; and it continued in their possession at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishop, as all lands belonging to that monastery were.
In Feleberg hundred, the archbishop himself holds Certeham. It was taxed at four sulings. The arable land is fourteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty villeins, with fifteen cottagers, having fifteen carucates and an half. There is a church and one servant, and five mills and an half of seventy shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, and wood for the pannage of twenty-five bogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and when he received it, it was worth twelve pounds, now twenty pounds, and yet it pays thirty pounds.
The possessions of the priory here were after this augmented by Wibert, who became prior in 1153, who restored to it the great wood of Chartham, con taining forty acres, which the tenants had long withheld. After which, in the reign of king Edward I. THIS MANOR OF CHARTHAM, with its appurtenances, was valued at thirty-four pounds, (fn. 2) at which time there appears to have been a vincyard here, plentifully furnished with vines, belonging to the priory, as there were at several of their other manors; and in the 25th year of the same reign Robert Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, having fallen under the king's displeasure, dismissed most of his family, and lived privately here at Chartham with one or two priests, and went almost every Sunday and holiday to preach in several of the adjoining churches.
King Edward II. by his charter in his 10th year, granted and confirmed to the prior of Christ-church, free-warren in all his demesne lands in this manor among others, which he or any of his predecessors had acquired since the time of his grandfather, so that the same were not within the bounds of his forest.
The buildings on this manor were much augmented and repaired both by prior Chillenden, about the year 1400, and by prior Goldston, who about the year 1500 rebuilt the prior's stables here and his other apartments with brick. This manor continued part of the possessions of the priory till its dissolution in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, with whom this manor did not continue long, for the king settled it, among other premises, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose inheritance it still continues.
A court leet and court baron are regularly held for this manor by the dean and chapter, but the courtlodge and demesnes of the manor are demised by them on a beneficial lease. At the time of the dissolution, anno 30 Henry VIII. Thomas Thwayts was lessee of it. John Baker, esq. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, is the present lessee.
THE DEANRY is a large antient seat, situated adjoining to the court-lodge, being part of those possessions belonging to the late priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and was formerly the capital mansion of their manor here, being made use of most probably as a place of residence and retirement for the prior himself; and it was most probably to this house that archbishop Winchelsea retired, as has been mentioned before, in king Edward the 1st.'s reign, whilst under that king's displeasure. In which state it remained till the dissolution, when it came, with the adjoining meadows belonging to it, among the rest of the possessions of the priory in this parish, into the hands of the crown, and was next year settled by the king on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury; after which it seems to have been allotted to and made use of in like manner as it was by the priors before, by the deans of Canterbury, for their country residence; in particular dean Bargrave resided much at this mansion, in the windows of which his arms, with the quarterings of his family alliances, in several shields, remained till within these few years. The consusion of the times which immediately followed his death, preventing the residence of any dean here, this mansion seems to have fallen into the hands of the chapter, who soon afterwards leased it out, with a reservation of a part of the yearly rent to the dean and his successors; and it has continued under the like demises to the present time, though there have been several attempts made by succeeding deans to recover the possession of it to themselves. The Whitfields were for some length of time lessees of it, afterwards the Lefroys, then Mr. Lance, and after him Mr. Coast, who greatly augmented and improved this mansion, and resided in it till he sold his interest in it to John Thomson, esq. and he conveyed it in 1797 to William Gilbee, esq. the present lessee of it.
There was a large chapel belonging to this mansion, which was taken down in 1572.
DENSTED is a manor, situated among the woods in the northern part of this parish, next to Harbledown, in the ville of its own name, part of which extends into that parish likewise. It was antiently part of the estate of the family of Crevequer, and was given in the 47th year of Henry III. by Hamo de Crevequer, to the priory of Leeds, founded by one of his ancestors, which gift was confirmed, together with the tithes of Densted, to the priory at several different times, by the several archbishops, and by the priors and convent of Christ-church, (fn. 3) and the revenue of it was increased here in the 8th year of king Richard II. when Robert Bovehatch being convicted of felony, was found to have held some lands at Densted, which upon forfeiture, were granted by the king to it. The prior and convent continued owners of this manor, with those other lands here, and in king Henry the VIIIth.'s reign, demised it for ninety-nine years to Paul Sidnor, (fn. 4) in which state it remained till their dissolution in the 32d year of that reign, when it came, with the rest of their possessions, into the king's hands, who granted it in his 37th year, with all the tenements called Densted, belonging to this manor, to John Tufton, esq. to hold in capite by knight's service, who, about the 3d year of king Edward VI. alienated his interest in it to Richard Argall, whose descendant John Argall sold it, about the beginning of king James I.'s reign, to Sir John Collimore, of Canterbury, who in 1620, conveyed it to trustees, to be sold for the payment of his debts; and they conveyed it to Thomas Steed, esq. who in the reign of king Charles I. passed it away to Sir Thomas Swan, of Southfleet; in whose descendants it continued, till at length the widow of Sir William Swan, at her death, devised it, among his other estates, alike between his and her own relations, one of whom marrying John Comyns, esq. afterwards knighted, and chief baron of the exchequer, he became in her right possessed of this manor, being descended from the Comyns's, of Dagenham, in Essex, in which county he resided, and bore for his arms, Azure, a chevron, ermine, between three garbs, or. On his death in 1740, he devised it to his eldest nephew and heir John Comyns, esq. of Highlands, in Essex, (son of his brother Richard, serjeant-at law) who died possessed of it in 1760, leaving by his second wife, an only son, Richard-John Comyns, esq. whose heirs conveyed it by sale to Thomas Lane, esq. one of the masters of chancery, who died possessed of it in 1773, on which it descended to his two sons Thomas and William, and the former having purchased the latter's interest in it, died, leaving his widow surviving, who is now in the possession of this estate for her life; but the reversion of it in see, after her death, is vested in the younger brother above-mentioned, Mr. William Lane, gent. of London.
A court baron is held for this manor.
The lands belonging to this manor consist of about four hundred acres; the whole of which, excepting seven acres in Highwood which are titheable, is subject only to a composition yearly to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever.
HOWFIELD is a manor in this parish, lying in the north-east part of it, adjoining to Toniford. It was formerly spelt in antient records both Haghefelde and Hugeveld, and was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, most probably at its foundation in 1084. However that be, this manor was confirmed to it, among the rest of its possessions, by the name of Haghefelde, together with the mill of Toniford, by archbishop Hubert, who died in 1206; (fn. 5) and in this state it remained till the reign of Henry VIII. when, by the act passed in the 27th year of it, this priory was suppressed among other religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, Christopher Hales, esq. afterwards knighted, and attorney-general, being then lessee of this manor, under a lease for ninety-nine years, from the prior and convent; and he had that year a grant from the king of it in see, with all privileges and immunities belonging to it, to hold by fealty only. Sir Christopher Hales was likewise master of the rolls, being the son of Thomas Hales, A.M. second son of Henry Hales, of Hales-place, whose eldest son John was ancestor of the Hales's, of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, Tenterden, and other parts of this county. He left three daughters his coheirs, who became jointly entitled to this manor, with a tenement called Bovehoth, and other lands in Chartham. At length the whole interest of it, on a division of their estates, was assigned to the youngest daughter Mary, who entitled her husband Alexander Colepeper, esq. to it. He left an only daughter by her, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Sir John Culpeper, of Wigsell, and he alienated it to the family of Vane, or Fane, in which it was in the year 1638, and in the year following Mary, countess dowager of Westmoreland, widow of Sir Francis Fane, earl of Westmoreland, joined with her son Mildmay, earl of Westmoreland, in the sale of it to William Man, esq. of Canterbury, afterwards knighted, whose ancestors had been settled there from the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign. They bore for their arms, Or, a chevron, ermines, between three lions, rampant guardant, sable; and there were of this name of Man, who were aldermen of the ward of Westgate in that city, as early as king Edward III.'s reign. (fn. 6) He in 1688, with his son William Man, esq. conveyed it to John Denew, gent. of Canterbury, whose ancestors were antiently written De New, and bore for their arms, Or, five chevronels, azure; whose grandson John Denew, esq. dying in 1750, s.p. devised it by will to his wife Elizabeth, and she at her death in 1761, gave it to one of her late husband's sisters and coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Edward Roberts, of Christ's hospital, London; their eldest son Mr. Edward Roberts died possessed of it in 1779, leaving three sons, Edward, George, and William, when it devolved to his eldest son Edward-William Roberts, who sold it in 1796 to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury, who is the present owner of it.
The demesne lands of this manor claimed and enjoyed an exemption from all manner of tithes till almost within memory; but by degrees tithes have been taken from most of them, and at present there are not more than twenty acres from which none are taken.
SHALMSFORD-STREET is a hamlet in this parish, built on each side of the Ashford road, near the river Stour, and the bridge which takes its name from it, at the western boundary of this parish. It was antiently called Essamelesford, and in the time of the Saxons was the estate of one Alret, who seems to have lost the possession of it after the battle of Hastings; for the Conqueror gave it, among many other possessions, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his half brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the record of Domesday:
In Ferleberg hundred, Herfrid holds of the see of the bishop, Essamelesford. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate. In demesne there is one carucate, and three villeins, with one borderer having one carucate. There are three servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixty shillings, and afterwards forty shillings, now sixty shillings. Alret held it of king Edward.
Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his lands and possessions were confiscated to the king's use. Soon after which this estate seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which was called from its situation.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD-STREET, and afterwards, from its possessors, the mansion of Bolles, a family who had large possessions at Chilham and the adjoining parishes. At length, after they were become extinct here, which was not till about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, this manor came into the name of Cracknal, and from that in the reign of king James I. to Michel, one of whose descendants leaving two daughters and coheirs, one of them married Nicholas Page, and the other Thomas George; and they made a division of this estate, in which some houses and part of the lands were allotted to Thomas George, whose son Edward dying s.p. they came to Mr. John George, of Canterbury, who sold them to Mr. Wm. Baldock, of Canterbury, and he now owns them; but the manor, manor-house, and the rest of the demesne lands were allotted to Mr. Nicholas Page, and devolved to his son Mr. Thomas Page. He died in 1796, and devised them to Mr. Ralph Fox, who now owns them and resides here. The court baron for this manor has been long disused.
ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the road, about twenty rods from the bridge, stood an antient seat, which was taken down about thirty-five years ago, though there is a malt house remaining on the scite of it, which has evident marks of antiquity, and of its having been once made use of as part of the offices belonging to it. In the windows of the old house were several coats of arms, that most frequent being the coat and crest of Filmer, with a crescent for difference. This seat, with the lands belonging to it, was for a great length of time owned by the Mantles, and continued so till Mary Mantle carried it in marriage to Mr. Stephen Church, of Goodnestone, the present owner of it.
THE MANOR OF SHALMSFORD BRIDGE was the other part of the bishop of Baieux's estate here, described as above in Domesday, and was that part of it which was by far of the most eminent account, and was so called not only to distinguish it from that lastmentioned, but from its situation near the bridge of this name over the river Stour, on the opposite or west side of it next to Chilham, in which parish much of the lands belonging to it lie. It was antiently accounted a member of the manor of Throwley in this county, as appears by the inquisition taken after the death of Hamo de Gatton, owner of that manor in the 20th year of king Edward I. when Roger de Shamelesford was found to hold it as such of him by knight's service. His descendant William de Shalmelesford, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. leaving an only daughter and heir Anne, she carried it in marriage to John Petit, who resided here, and died before the 20th year of the next reign of king Edward III. bearing for his arms, Gules, a chevron, between three leopards faces, argent. In his descendants, who resided at Shalmesford, this manor continued down to Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1625, (fn. 7) leaving his three sisters his coheirs, who became entitled to this manor in undivided thirds. They were married afterwards, Catherine to Michael Belke; Elizabeth to Giles Master, of Woodchurch; and Dorothy first to William Master, secondly to John Merryweather, and thirdly to Parker, of Northfleet. Michael Belke above-mentioned, whose ancestors were originally of Coperham-Sole, in Sheldwich, having purchased another third of this manor, became entitled to two thirds of it, which continued in his descendants down to Dr. Thomas Belke, prebendary of Canterbury, who died in 1712, and his heirs sold them to Mr. Hatch, of that city, who was befor possessed of the other third part of this manor, which he had under his father Mr. John Hatch's will, who had purchased it of one of the descendants of Mr. Thomas Petyt, before-mentioned, and thus became entitled to the whole property of it. He died in 1761, and by will devised it to his great nephew, Mr. John Garling Hatch, of Chartham, who sold it to Mr. Joseph Saddleton. He died in 1795 intestate, leaving Elizabeth his widow, and Joseph their only son, who are the present owners of it.
Mystole is a handsome well-built seat, situated on the green of that name, in the south-west part of this parish, about a mile and an half from the church of Chartham. It was built by John Bungey, prebendary of Canterbury, who was rector of this church, and married Margaret Parker, the archbishop's niece, by whom he had several sons and daughters. He bore for his arms, Azure, a lion, passant-guardant, or, between three bezants, (fn. 8) and dying here possessed of it in 1596, was buried in this church. His eldest son Jonas Bungey succeeded him here, and in his descendants it continued till it was at length sold to Sir John Fagge, of Wiston, in Sussex, who was created a baronet on Dec. 11, 1660. But before this purchase, there were those of this name settled in this parish, as appears by their wills, and the marriage register-book in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, as early as the year 1534, in both which they are stiled gentlemen. He left a numerous family, of whom only three sons survived; Sir Robert, his successor in title; Charles, who will be mentioned hereaster; and Thomas, ancestor of John Meres Fagge, esq. late of Brenset. Sir John Fagge died in 1700, and by will devised this seat of Mystole, with his other estates in this and the adjoining parishes, to his second son Charles Fagge, esq. of Canterbury, before-mentioned, who continued to bear the family arms, being Gules, two bends, vaire. His only surviving son Charles Fagge, esq. resided here, and married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Turner, esq. of the White Friars, Canterbury. His son Sir William Fagge, bart. resided at Mystole, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Le Grand, gent. of Canterbury, who died in 1785. He died in 1791, having had one son John, and two daughters, Helen, married to the Rev. Mr. Williams, prebendary of Canterbury, but since removed to Winchester; and Sarah to Edwin Humphry Sandys, gent. of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his only son the Rev. Sir John Fagge, bart. who married in 1789 Anne, only daughter and heir of Daniel Newman, esq. of Canterbury, barrister-at law, and recorder of Maidstone. He now resides at Mystole, of which he is the present possessor.
HORTON MANOR, sometime written Horton Parva, to distinguish it from others of the same name in this county, is a manor in that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of Bridge and Petham. It has by some been supposed to have been once a parish of itself, but without any reason; for it was from the earliest times always esteemed as a part of the parish of Chartham.
At the time of taking the survey of Domesday, about the year 1080, this manor was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the Conqueror's half-brother, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it, being then accounted within the bounds of the adjoining hundred of Felborough:
In Ferleberge hundred, Ansfrid holds of the bishop, Hortone. It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucote. There is in demesne . . . . and thirteen villeins having half a carucate. There is one servant, and two mills of one marc of silver, and eight acres of mea dow, and one hundred acres of coppice wood. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth forty shillings, afterwards thirty shillings, now one hundred shillings, Godric held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, about four years afterwards, this manor, among the rest of his possessions, was confiscated to the crown, and was granted thence to the family of Crevequer, of whom it was held by that of Northwood, of Northwood, in this county. John de Northwood died possessed of it in the 14th year of Edward II. In whose descendants it continued down to Roger de Northwood, whose widow Agnes entitled her second husband Christopher Shuckborough, esq. of Warwickshire, to the possession of it, and they afterwards resided here. He bore for his arms, A chevron, between three mullets, pierced. She died in the 6th year of king Henry IV. anno 1404, and he alienated it three years afterwards to Gregory Ballard, whose descendant Thomas Ballard, kept his shrievalty here anno 31 Henry VI. and dying in 1465, lies buried in St. Catherine's church, near the Tower. Robert Ballard was found by inquisition anno 14 king Henry VII. to hold at his death this manor of the king, as of his honor of the castle of Dover, by the service of one sparrow-hawk yearly. They bore for their arms, Sable, a griffin rampant segreant, ermine, armed and membered, or. At length it descended down to Nicholas Ballard, who in the 4th year of Philip and Mary, passed it away to Roger Trollop, esq. and he sold it, in the 2d year of queen Elizabeth, to Sir Edward Warner, then lieutenant of the tower, who died possessed of it in the 8th year of that reign, holding it of the king in capite by knight's service. Robert Warner, esq. was his brother and next heir, and sold it, in the 16th year of that reign, to Sir Roger Manwood, (fn. 9) chief baron of the exchequer, whose son Sir Peter Manwood, K.B. in the reign of king James I. alienated it to Christopher Toldervye, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1618, s.p. was buried in Ash church, near Sandwich, bearing for his arms, Azure, a fess, or, in chief, two cross croslets of the second. By his will he devised it to his brother John Toldervye, gent. of London; on whose death likewise s.p. it devolved by the limitations in the above will to Jane his eldest sister, then married to Sir Robert Darell, of Calehill, who in her right became entitled to it, and from him it has at length descended down to Henry Darell, esq. of Calehill, the present owner of this manor.
The chapel belonging to this manor is still standing, at a small distance south-west from the house. It had more than ordinary privileges belonging to it, having every one the same as the mother church, excepting that of burial, and its offices. It consists of one isle and a chancel, with a thick wall at the west end, rising above the roof, and shaped like a pointed turret, in which are two apertures for the hanging of two bells. It has been many years disused as a chapel, and made use of as a barn.
This chapel, like many others of the same sort, was built for the use of the family residing in the mansion of the manor, which being, as well as the ceremonies of the religion of those times, very numerous, rendered it most inconvenient for them to attend at the parish church, at so great a distance, in all kind of seasons and weather. But after the reformation, when great part of such ceremonies ceased, and the alteration of the times not only lessened the number of domestics, but even the residence of families, by degrees, at these mansions; these chapels became of little use, and being maintained at the sole charge of the owners of the estates on which they were built, they chose rather to relinquish the privilege of them, than continue at the expence of repairs, and finding a priest to officiate in them.
In the reign of king Richard II. there was a great contest between John Beckford, rector of Chartham, and Christopher Shuckborough, lord of this manor, concerning the celebration of divine offices in this chapel; which was heard and determined in 1380, before the archbishop's official, that all divine offices might be celebrated in it, exceptis tantum defunctorum sepulturis et exequiis. These were more than ordinary privileges; it being usual, even in chapels which had the right of sepulture granted to them, to oblige the inhabitants to baptize and marry, and the women to have their purifications at the mother church.
There is a composition of 6l. 14s. paid by the occupier of this manor, to the rector of Chartham, in lieu of all tithes whatever arising from it.
Charities.
THERE are no charitiesor alms houses belonging to this parish, excepting the legacy by the will of Thomas Petit, esq. of Canterbury, in 1626. to this parish, Chilham, and St. George's, Canterbury, jointly for the benefit of young married people for ever; a full account of which has been given before, under Chilham, p. 141.
There is a school lately set up in this parish, for the teaching of children reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually 60.
CHARTHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large, handsome building, of one isle and a chancel, with a cross isle or transept. It has a tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells and a clock. Besides other monuments and memorials in this church, there are in the chancel memorials for the Kingsfords; for Margaret, daughter of Sir Samuel Peyton, knight and baronet, wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1655; for Jane, daughter of Arthur Barham, esq. wife of Thomas Osbern, esq. obt. 1657; several for the dis ferent rectors, and a monument for Dr. Delangle, 1724; a large grave-stone with the figure of a man in his armour, cross-legged, with his sword and spurs, in full proportion, inlaid in brass, with his surcoat of arms, viz. Three wheat-skreens, or fans, being for one of the Septvans family; and on the north side is an antient tomb, under an arch hollowed in the wall. In the north cross isle is a grave-stone, which has been very lately robbed of its brasses, excepting the impalements of one coat, being the arms of Clifford. It had on it the figure of a woman, with an inscription for Jane Eveas, daughter of Lewys Clifforht Squyre, obt. 1530. The chancel is very handsome, and there has been some good painted glass in the windows of it, of which there are yet some small remains. In the south chancel the family of Fagge lie buried; in it there is a monument for the late Sir William and his lady, and a most superb monument of excellent sculpture and imagery, having the figures, in full proportion of Sir William Young, bart. and his lady; Sarah, sister of Sir William Fagge before-mentioned, who died in 1746, æt. 18, in the same year in which she was married. He died in the West-Indies in 1788, and was brought over and buried beside her, and the above-mentioned monument which had laid by in the church ever since her death was repaired and placed here.
The church of Chartham was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, and continues so at this time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.
In a terrier of 1615, it appears there was then here a parsonage-house, barn, gardens, and meadow, in all about two acres; certain closes containing thirty-eight acres, and a little piece of wood-land adjoining to it; some of which glebe-land has since that time been lost, the rector now enjoying nor more than thirty acres of it.
Part of the parsonage-house seems very antient, being built of flint, with ashlar-stone windows and door cases, of antient gothic form. It was formerly much larger, part of it having been pulled down, by a faculty, a few years ago.
An account of the lands in this parish, which claim an exemption of tithes, has already been given before, under the description of the respective lands, as well as of the chapel of Horton, and the composition for tithes from that manor.
¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 41l. 5s. 10d. and the yearly tenths at 4l. 2s. 7d. In 1640 it was valued at one hundred and twenty pounds. Communicants three hundred. It is now worth about three hundred and fifty pounds per annum.
Ss Peter and Paul is a church that eluded my lenses for many, many years. At least inside.
Our old home on Crabble Hill used to overlook the River river valley, and very pleasant the view was. The town along the valley floor and downs rising steeply on both sides.
And inside River, its almost as pleasant, well, the road along Lower Road so narrow they had to make it one way, then along beside Crabble Mill being separated from the mill race by a flimsy wooden fence. It was also home to three good pubs, only one of which is open now. We used the Co-Op and the vegetable shop.
And it was in River that Nan went into care and faded from this world.
THe church sits at the end of Lewisham Road, near to where the trams used to terminate, and has been subjected to several rounds of "improvements". Somewhere under it there is an ancient church, but the signs are rare. The west doorway, now usually inaccessible as it lies beyond the door to the modern church centre was pretty much all I saw. Well, that and the Norman font, looking very out of place in the heavily Victorianised interior, which has been further brought up to date by the current parishioners.
In general, the church works, with its modern seating it can be used for many different types of events, concerts as well as services, and is clearly a lively and friendly place.
Many thanks to the vicar for allowing me to come along yesterday to take shots and add another church to the growing list of ones visited.
It is a modernised church, that suits it's location and parish.
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RIVER
LIES the next parish eastward from Ewell, being written in Domesday, both Ripa and ad Ripam; in other Latin records, Ripa and Riparia; and in English ones, River, taking its name from the river which flows through it.
A borsholder is chosen for this parish at the hundred court, and another for that part of the manor of Archers-court, which is in the parish of Whitfield, at the court leet of that manor.
RIVER is pleasantly situated about two miles from Dover, in a variety of country of high hills and deep extensive valleys; the high London road goes through it, on the left side of which the uniclosed down hills rise very sudden and high. On the other side, the slope of the value is as sudden for two or three fields, at the bottom of which the river Dour meanders its little silver stream; on the further bank, among a narrow range of meadows, is a long straggling row of pretty neat-built houses, among which are three papermills, a corn, and a seed mill, comprehending the village of River, having the church in the midst of them, beyond which the hills rise again very high, being frequently arable, interspersed with small coppices and clumps of wood wildly placed among them. The view of this from the London road forms a most romantic and picturesque scene, when at the same time straight forward, through the opening of the valley, there is a view of the town of Dover and its churches, and beyond, the British channel and the high hills of Bologne on the coast of France, and on the height of the hills to the left, the stately buildings of Dover castle.
The soil, in the northern part of this parish on the hills, is mostly chalk, and on those on the other side of it the same, but interspersed with a red earth, intermixed with quantities of sharp flints; a barren and hungry soil. In the vale near the river the meadows are rich and fertile. Upon the hill, on the left side of the London road, near the lime kiln, are several tumuli, some of which were lately opened, and in each of them was found a skeleton, a sword of about three feet long and two inches broad, and the head of a spear.
IT APPEARS by the Testa de Nevill, that this parish in the latter end of king John's reign was an escheat of the crown, and held in three parts; one of which, the castle of Dover held; another part, the canons of St. Radigund's held; and the third part was held by Soloman de Dover, of the gift of king John, and the whole was worth xxx pounds. The former of these afterwards came into the possession of the hospital of St. Mary, otherwise called the Maison Dieu, of Dover; the other part, belonging to St. Radigund's, will be further mentioned below in the ecclesiastical account of this parish; and the third part was, what is now called, the manor of Archers court, situated likewise within the bounds of this parish.
THE MANOR OF RIVER, which was comprehended in that third part of this parish first above-mentioned, seems to have been in the reign of the Conqueror part of the possessions of Hugh de Montfort, and perhaps described among those lands mentioned in the survey of Domesday before, under the parish of Ewell. His lands, on the exile of his grandson Robert de Montfort, in king Henry I.'s reign, escheated to the crown, whence great part of them in this neighbourhood were afterwards granted to Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort; after which these possessions came to Henry de Essex, who was constable likewise of England, from his succession to which as well as from other circumstances, it should seem that he became entitled to them by inheritance. Henry de Essex was baron of Raleigh, in Essex, and hereditary standard-bearer of England, but for his cowardice in a battle against the Welsh, in the 10th year of that reign, he forfeited all his possessions, which became escheats to the crown; among them was this manor of River, held of the king as above-mentioned, and it appears to have continued in the crown during king John's and the beginning of king Henry III.'s reign, who in the 13th year of it, at the petition of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, confirmed it to the hospital of St. Mary, at Dover, (afterwards called the Maison Dieu) which Hubert had founded, to hold in pure and perpetual alms; (fn. 1) after which, in the 21st year of king Edward I. upon a quo warranto, the master of the Maison Dieu was allowed the usual privileges of a manor in this parish, and king Henry VI. in his 2d year again confirmed it to the hospital, part of the possessions of which it continued till the reign of king Henry VIII. when on the suppression of it this manor came into the king's hands, where it seems to have remained without interruption till Charles II.'s reign, when it was alienated by the crown to the dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom it remains at this time. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.
ARCHERS-COURT is a manor situated in the northern part of this parish, on the hills adjoining to that of Whitfield, in which parish, as well as in those of Guston and Waldershare, some parts of it lie.
In the time of king John this manor was in the possession of Soloman de Dovere, as appears by the Testa de Nevill mentioned before, and it seems as if this person was the same as is mentioned in the pleas of the crown, anno 21 Edward I. by the name of Soloman de Champs, or Chauns, who might from his residence there be likewise called de Dovere; in which pleas, as well as by the inquisition taken after his death in the 31st year of that reign, he is said to hold certain lands, called Coperland and Atterton, (part of this manor, as will appear by the records mentioned hereafter) of the king in capite, by the sergeantry and service of holding the king's head between Dover and Whitsond, as often as it should happen for him to pass the sea between those ports, and there should be occasion for it. He died possessed of this manor and land above-mentioned, in the 31st year of king Edward I. and was succeeded by his son and heir Gregory de Dovere; but I find no more mention of this name afterwards, but that it became the possessions of a family named Archer, and sometimes I'Archer, from whom it acquired the name of Archers-court, one of whom, Nicholas Archer, held it in the 1st year of king Edward II. as did William Archer in the 20th year of king Edward III. then holding it in sergeantry. At length, after this name was become extinct here, this manor was alienated to Bandred, or Brandred, in which it continued for several years, till at length the manor itself, with the court-lodge, and part of the demesne lands, together with Coperland, were sold by one of them, in the 1st year of king Edward IV. to Thomas Doilie, esq. and the other part of the demesne lands, since known by the name of Little Archers-court, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle; a further account of which will be given hereafter.
From one of the descendants of the above-mentioned Thomas Doilie, this manor was in king Henry VIII.'s reign exchanged with the crown, and that king in his 36th year granted it to Sir James Hales, in whose family it continued till it was sold to Lee, who passed it away to Sir Hardress Waller, of Dublin, and he with others, in 1657, alienated this manor to Mr. Thomas Broom, of London, one of whose descendants of the same name sold it to Richards Rouse, of Dover, whose arms were Sable, a fess dancette, or, between three crescents, argent, and his daughter carried it in marriage to Phineas Stringer, esq. of Dover, who is the present owner of it.
A court leet and court baron is held for this manor. A borsholder is chosen at this court for the borough of Archers-court only, but this is merely nominal, as he has never been known to act as such.
THE OTHER PART of Archers-court, which was sold in king Edward IV.'s reign, as has been mentioned before, to Sir George Browne, of Beechworthcastle, was afterwards known by the name of LITTLE ARCHERS COURT. Sir George Browne was sheriff in the 21st year of the above reign, but was attainted anno I Richard III. and restored again in the first year of king Henry VII. His son Sir Matt. Browne died anno 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, possessed of this estate, with lands in River, alias Archers-court, called Copland, held in capiteby sergeantry, and the service mentioned before, as was found by inquisition taken after his death that year. His grandson Sir Thomas Browne, of Beechworth-castle, who has his landsdisgavelled by the two acts of the 1st and 8th years of queen Elizabeth, afterwards passed away this estate to Capt. Isaac Honywood, who was slain at the battle of Newport, and dying s.p. devised it by his will to his nephew, Col. Henry Honeywood, who died in 1662, and was buried in the cathedral of Canterbury, the register of which says, he was a colonel sometime under that grand rebel Oliver Cromwell.
After his death, this estate seems to have come into the possession of his first-cousin Sir Thomas Honywood, of Marks-hall, in Essex; since whose death, in 1666, it has descended down in like manner as Marks-hall, and his other estates in this county, to Filmer Honywood, esq. now of Marks-hall, late knight of the shire for this county, who is the present owner of it.
CASTNEY-COURT, as it is commonly called, but properly Kersoney, is another manor, situated partly in the western part of this parish, adjoining to the river, and partly in the parishes of Ewell and Whitfield. It was antiently accounted part of the barony of Saye, being held of Dover castle, and at the latter end of king Edward I.'s reign was in the possession of the family of Paganel, or Painall, as they were usually called. John Paganel died possessed of it anno 12 Edward II. leaving a daughter and heir Maud; after which, I find it held by Elias de Bocton, by knight's service, by the description of lands at La Kersony. After this the family of Norwood became possessed of it, and in later times the Ropers, of St. Dunstan's; for John Roper, esq. of St. Dunstan's, died possessed of it in the 5th year of king Henry VII. holding it by knight's service. In his descendants this manor continued till the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it was conveyed by sale to Best, of Canterbury; the last of which name who held it was George Best, who alienated it to Capt. Nicholas Toke, who after the death of king Charles I. conveyed his interest in it to Charles Fotherbye, esq. and he dying s.p. it came to his brother Thomas Fotherbye, esq. of Crixall, in Staple, whose only son of the same name alienated it to William Richards, of Dover, and he in 1701 devised it to his nephew. John Sladden, merchant, of Dover, who devised it to his sister Mary, who married Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover. Her trustees, after his death, disposed of it to fulfill the purpose of her will, to Mr. William Andrews, of London, who in 1788 devised it to Thomas Biggs, esq. of Dover, who bears for his arms, Argent, on a fess, between three martlets, sable, as many annulets, or, and he is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
There are no parochial charities; the poor have a right to commoning on the Minnis, which is a large common or heath of three hundred actres, called River Minnis, lying on the hills at the southern boundary of this parish, next to Polton. A new workhouse is built in this parish, for the united parishes of Alkham, Capel, Hougham, River, Buckland, Charlton, and Whitfield. The poor constantly relieved are about twelve, casually the same.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building, consisting of a nave and a chancel, without any steeple, and has nothing worth notice in it.
¶King John, in his 9th year, granted to the abbot and canons of St. Radigund of Bradsole, this church of St. Peter of River, and his place and court of the manor, to hold in pure and perpetual alms, for the building of their abbey there, which was then at Bradesole. (fn. 2) After which the king, in his 17th year, granted licence to them to appropriate this church. Notwithstanding the grant for the removal of the abbey hither, it never took place, but continued at Bradesole, in the adjoining parish of Polton, to the time of its dissolution, which happened in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when this appropriation, with the advowson of the vicarage, and the lands and possessions of the abbot and convent in this parish, as well as elsewhere, came into the king's hands, who granted them to the archbishop in exchange, and he soon afterwards reconveyed them to the crown, by an act specially passed for this purpose; but in it, among other exceptions was one of this church, appropriate of River, with the advowson of the vicarage, which have ever since continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to them.—The parsonage, with two pieces of land, is demised on a beneficial lease, to Mr. Tho. Lamb, of Crabble.
In the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, the vicarage, on account of it smallness, was not taxed to the tenth. It is valued in the king's books at 7l. 1s. 0½d. and is now of about the clear yearly value of eighteen pounds. In 1588 and 1640, here were fifty-eight communicants. The archbishop still pays the pension of 2l. 13s. 4d. formerly paid by the abbot and convent of St. Radigund's, to the vicar of this church.
Posting shots of churches we have visited has shown me that my photography has improved now I don't use the ultrawide angle lenses, so many churches need a revisit.
And with the orchid season now at an end, nearly, it is time to turn to churchcrawling.
And the easiest non-Kent church to revisit was Winchelsea, just over the border in East Sussex, also gave us the chance to call in at the fishmongers in Rye for some smoked haddock.
After the early morning coffee and then the rush round Tesco, back home to pack it all away and for me to make bacon butties and another brew.
And then: go west.
Traffic is not so mad now, so it was easy to drive to Folkestone then up the motorway to Ashford, before turning off, past the inland border facility, then out onto the Marsh past Hamstreet.
West of Brookland, the road meanders about, bend after bend, crossing and recrossing the railway until we reach Rye.
We stop to buy the fish, then round the river, over the bridge and out the other side, five miles to Winchelsea, turning off to go up the hill under the old town gate, parking near the village shop.
Whereas Rye was already busy, Winchelsea was quiet, and just past ten meaning the church had just opened.
We walk across the large churchyard through the ruins of the tower and into the church, where the triple wide nave was lines on the north and south walls with fine wall tombs.
I photograph each on in turn, and the corbel heads on each too.
I rephotograph the fine windows too, as despite being modern, they really are on another level.
One or two people come in, a family of three last 30 seconds before the mother and teenage son leave.
After completing the shots, I go out to meet up with Jools so we can walk to the shop to have ice cream, and sit to eat them on a bench looking at the north wall of the church.
After we had finished our ice creams, we climbed back in the car. It wasn't yet half ten. Time for some more churches!
So, after driving back through Rye and into Kent, we call into Brookland so I could check if the tower was open, as I have never found it open. The church was, but the candlesnuff tower was locked.
No worries, there's always New Romney.
I first came here with my friend, Simon, in 2014 when there was a formal dinner being prepared, and a year ago, we arrived just after one to find the building being locked for the day.
We parked opposite and I see the sign advertising a craft and record fair, along with refreshments.
Inside there were stall set up, and people in the Chancel drinking tea and eating cake.
I was able to get shots of some of the memorials and details, which is why I came back, really.
The fair happens on only one Saturday per month, just my luck to pick a day when it was on.
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The font as two tiers:
Top tier depicts the zodiac and the lower tiew shows the months.
January: Two faced Janus.
February: A man seated warming himself by a fire out of doors.
March: A man pruning a vine.
April: A bareheaded figure in a long robe, holding in each hand a sprouting branch.
May: A knight on a palfrey with a hawk on his left arm.
June: A man mowing with a long-bladed scythe.
July: A man working with a rake.
August: A man reaping with a sickle.
September: A man threshing corn with a flail.
October: Wine pressing.
November: A swineherd holding aloft a hooked stick.
December: A man with uplifted axe killing a pig, no doubt for Christmas cheer.
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A long low church with the most famous spire in Kent. This three-stage 'candle-snuffer' erection which stand son the ground instead of on a tower is the result of several enlargements of a thirteenth-century bell cage and its subsequent weatherproofing with cedar shingles. It contains a peal of six bells, the oldest of which is mid-fifteenth century in date. The spire is surmounted by a winged dragon weathervane, dating from 1797. The monster has a prominent forked tongue. The reason for the bells being hung in a cage rather than a tower is shown inside the church where the pillars of the nave have sunk into the soft ground and splayed out to north and south. The tie-beams of the roof came away from the walls and have had to be lengthened by the addition of new timber supports. The outstanding Norman font in cast lead has been fully described in Part 1. To the south of the church is a headstone incorporating the only 'Harmer Plaque' in Kent - a terracotta panel made in East Sussex where they are a common feature.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brookland
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BROOKLAND,
SO called from the several brooks and waterings within the bounds of it, lies the next parish southeastward, mostly within the level of Walland Marsh, and within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county; but there are some lands, which are reputed to be within this parish, containing altogether about 124 acres, which lie in detached pieces at some distance south-eastward from the rest of it, mostly near Ivychurch, some other parishes intervening, which lands are within the level of Romney Marsh, and within the liberty and jurisdiction of the justices of it.
The PARISH of Brookland lies on higher ground than either Snargate or Fairfield last described, and consequently much drier. It is more sheltered with trees, and inclosed with hedges, than any of the neighbouring parishes. The village is neat and rather pleasant, considering the situation, and the houses, as well as inhabitants, of a better sort than are usually seen in the Marsh. The church stands in the middle of it. The lands towards the south are by far the most fertile, for towards Snargate they are very poor and wet, and much covered with rushes and thistles. It consists in general of marsh-land, there not being above thirty acres of land ploughed throughout the parish, which altogether contains about 1730 acres of land.
A fair is held here yearly on the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, or Lammas-day, being August I, for toys and pedlary.
The MANORS of Fairfield, Apledore, Bilsington, and Court at Wick, extend over this parish, subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF BROOKLAND, which has long since lost even the reputation of having been a manor. It was in early times the patrimony of the family of Passele, or Pashley, as they were afterwards called, whose seat was at Evegate, in Smeeth, (fn. 1) of whom Edward de Passeley is the first that is discovered in public records to have been possessed of this manor, and this appears by the inquisition taken after his death, anno 19 Edward II. Soon after which it was alienated to Reginald de Cobham, a younger branch of the Cobhams, of Cobham, whose descendants were seated at Sterborough castle, in Surry, whence they were called Cobhams, of Sterborough, and they had afterwards summons to parliament among the barons of this realm. At length Sir Thomas Cobham died possessed of it in the 11th year of king Edward IV. leaving an only daughter and sole heir, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edward Borough, of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, whose son and heir Thomas was summoned to parliament as lord Burgh, or as it is usually pronounced, Borough, anno 21 king Henry VIII. and left a son and heir Thomas, lord Burgh, whose lands were disgavelled by the act anno 31 Henry VIII. His son William, lord Burgh, about the 12th year of queen Elizabeth's reign, passed it away to Eversfield, of Suffex, from whom it was alienated soon afterwards to Godfrey, of Lid, at which time this estate seems to have lost its name of having been a manor. He, before the end of that reign, sold it to Wood, by whom it was again alienated in the beginning of king James I.'s reign to Mr. John Fagge, of Rye, whose descendant John Fagge, esq. of Wiston, in Suffex, was created a baronet in 1660. He had a numerous issue, of which only three sons and two daughters survived. Of the former, Sir Robert, the eldest, was his successor in title; Charles was ancestor of the present baronet, the Rev. Sir John Fagge, of Chartham; and the third son Thomas Fagge, esq. succeeded by his father's will to this estate at Brookland. His son John Meres Fagge, esq. of Glynely, in Sussex, left surviving an only daughter Elizabeth, who on his death in 1769, entitled her husband Sir John Peachy, bart-of West Dean, in Sussex, to the possession of it. He died s. p. and she surviving him, again became entitled to it in her own right, and is at this time the present owner of it.
There are noparochial charities.
BROOKLAND is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Augustine, is a very large handsome building, consisting of three isles and three chancels. The steeple stands on the north side, and at some small distance from it, in which are five bells. The church is kept exceedingly neat and clean. It is cieled throughout, and handsomely pewed. In the high chancel there is a confessionary, and a nich for holy water within the altar-rails. There are several memorials in it, but none of any account worth mentioning. At the west end is a gallery, lately erected at the charge of the parish. The font is very curious, made of cast lead, having on it two ranges of emblematical figures, twenty in each range. The steeple is framed of remarkable large timber. It is built entirely of wood, of an octagon form, perpendicular about five feet from the bottom, and from thence leffening to a spire at top, in which it has three different copartments or stories, the two uppermost larger at the bottom, and projecting over those underneath them. Although there are but five bells in it, yet it has frames for several more. The whole is much out of the perpendicular leaning towards the church. In the church-yard are several tombs and gravestones for the Reads.
¶The church of Brookland was part of the antient possessions of the monastery of St. Augustine, to which it was appropriated by pope Clement V. at the request of Ralph Bourne, the abbot of it, in king Edward II.'s reign, but the abbot declined putting the bull for this purpose in force, till a more favourable opportunity. At length John, abbot of St. Augustine, in 1347, obtained another bull from pope Clement VI for the appropriation of it, and having three years afterwards obtained the king's licence for this purpose, (fn. 2) the same was confirmed by archbishop Islip in 1359, who next year endowed the vicarage of this church by his decree, by which he assigned, with the consent of the abbot and convent, and of the vicar, of the rents and profits of the church, to John de Hoghton, priest, then admitted perpetual vicar to the vicarage of it, and canonically instituted, and to his successors in future in it, a fit portion from which they might be fitly maintained and support the undermentioned burthens. In the first place he decreed and ordained, that the religious should build on the soil of the endowment of the church, at their own costs and expences, a competent mansion, with a sufficient close and garden, for the vicar and his successors, free from all rent and secular service, to be repaired and maintained from that time by the vicar for the time being; who on the presentation of the religious to be admitted and instituted by him or his successors, into the vicarage, should likewise have the great tithes of the lands lying on the other side of le Re, towards Dover, viz. beyond the bridge called Brynsete, and towards the parish churches of Brynsete, Snaves, and Ivercherche, belonging to the church of Brokelande, and likewise the tithes arising from the sheaves of gardens or orchards dug with the foot, and also all oblations made in the church or parish, and all tithes of hay, calves, chicken, lambs, pigs, geese, hens, eggs, ducks, pidgeons, bees, honey, wax, swans, wool, milkmeats, pasture, flax, hemp, garden-herbs, apples, vetches, merchandizes, fishings, fowlings, and all manner of small tithes arising from all things whatsoever. And he taxed and estimated the said portion at the annual value of eight marcs sterling, at which sum he decreed the vicar ought to contribute in future, to the payment of the tenth and all other impositions happening, of whatsoever sort. Not intending that the vicar of this church should be entitled to, or take of the issues and rents of it, any thing further than is expressed before, but that he should undergo the burthen of officiating in the same, either by himself or some other sit priest, in divine offices, and in the finding of lights in the chancel, and of bread and wine for the celebration of masses, the washing of vestments, and the reparation of the books of the church, and should nevertheless pay the procuration due to the archbishop, on his visitation. But the rest of the burthens incumbent on the church, and no ways here expressed, should belong to the abbot and convent, &c. (fn. 3) After this, the church and advowson of the vicarage of Brookland remained part of the possessions of the above monastery till the final dissolution of it, anno 30 Henry VIII. when it was, with all its revenues, surrendered into the king's hands, where this rectory and advowson staid but a short time, for the king, by his dotation charter, settled them on his newerected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions they continue at this time.
On the abolition of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in 1650, when it appeared that it consisted of a close of land of one acre, on which stood the parsonage barne, and other outhouses, with the tithe of corn and other profits belonging to it, estimated coibs annis at twenty four pounds, all which were by indenture, in 1635, demised for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of eight pounds, but were worth, over and above the said rent, sixteen pounds per annum, and that the lessee was to repair the premises, and the chancel of the parish church.
In 1384 this church or rectory appropriate was valued at 13l. 6s. 8d. but anno 31 Henry VIII. it was demised to ferme at only 8l. 3s. 4d. It is now demised on a beneficial lease by the dean and chapter, at the yearly rent of eight pounds to Mrs. Woodman, the present lessee of it. The vicarage of this church is valued in the king's books at 17l. 12s. 8½d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 15s. 3¼d. In 1587 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants one hundred and sixtysix, and in 1640 the same, and it is now of about the same value.
There is a modus of one shilling per acre on all the grass-lands in this parish. The vicar is entitled to all the small tithes, subject to this modus, throughout the parish, and to the tithes of corn of those lands, being one hundred and twenty-four acres, which lie in detached pieces beyond Brenset bridge, in Romney Marsh, as mentioned before, in the endowment of this vicarage.
There is a school here, for teaching reading and writing, supported by contribution, at which fifty children are usually taught.
It is easy to think the church on the main road as you near Brenzett is that village's church, but that is Snargate.
St Eanswith is in the village, down a side lane, and then down a track. Not on Church Lane at all, which runs parallel, just to confuse the visitor.
It was a grim and drizzly day when I returned, and straight away I was reminded of my first visit here, where John Vigar took me on a tour of the Romney Marsh churches, sharing with me his knowledge, and Brenzett was one I was unfamiliar with.
As with many churches, the light switches were elusive, so some of the shots are dark and/or grainy.
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One of the few churches in the county dedicated to a local saint: St Eanswyth came from Folkestone in the seventh century (see separate entry). The church is Norman with thirteenth- and fourteenth-century additions. The south wall of the chancel contains some of the fine herringbone masonry so typical of early Norman work in Kent. Like most churches on Romney Marsh there is an abundance of clear glass at Brenzett, allowing a greater appreciation of the superb tracery of the decorated style windows, especially that in the south nave wall. When the little spire was built in the fourteenth century a wooden frame had to be erected at the west end to support it, and enormous buttresses had to be built outside. The church was somewhat over-restored in the nineteenth century when the east window by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake was installed. The north chapel contains a good monument in alabaster to Sir John Fagge who died in 1639. Father and son lie side by side, one propped on his elbow, the other with his hand on his chest. Their armorial bearings on the front of the tomb chest add a welcome splash of red and white.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brenzett
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BRENSET
LIES the next parish north-eastward from Brookland, almost all of it on the other or eastern side of the Rhee-wall, in the level of Romney Marsh; so much therefore as is upon that wall is within the li berty of the town and port of New Romney, and division of the justices of it, the liberty of which, and of the cinque ports, claim over it. The rest of it is in the hundred of Aloesbridge, over part of which, that is, so much as is within the level of Romney Marsh, the liberty and jurisdiction of that corporation claims; and the remaining, being the north-west part, in Walland Marsh, is within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county.
THIS PARISH is not so fertile as the last-described parish of Brookland, nor so well sheltered with trees and hedges. The greatest part of it is open marshes, the arable land in it not being more than fifty acres. There is no village, most of the houses in it standing at straggling distances on each side of the road, leading from the church to Snave-green; in other respects it is much the same as the other parishes adjoining to it. There is a fair on Whit-Monday, for toys and pedlary.
The MANOR OF BRENSET, called likewise the manor of Newington Brenset, from its having been for some time accounted a limb of that of Newington near Hyth, had always the same owners, and as such in king Henry VIII.'s reign it was become part of the possessions of Thomas, lord Cromwell, earl of Essex, before whose attainder, in the 32d year of that reign, it came by purchase from him into the king's hands, together with the manor of Newington above-mentioned. After which it continued in the crown, in like manner, till the first year of queen Mary, when she granted it to Edward, lord Clinton and Saye, from whom it passed, with the manor of Newington, to which this of Brenset has ever since been accounted an appendage, in a like succession of ownership, down to James Drake Brockman, esq. of Beechborough, the present owner of it. A court leet is held for this manor.
THERE WAS a manor of Brenset, which most probably related to this parish, which was the property of the Scotts, of Scotts-hall, and afterwards of the Botelers, from whom it came by will to the family of Bouverie, and now belongs, with the manors of Orlestone and others, to the hon. William-Henry Bouverie, some mention of which has been made before, but only the name of this manor remains, for there are no rents or profits received from it, nor is even the situation of it at present known.
BRENSET-PLACE is an antient mansion in the southern part of this parish, which was the residence for many years of the family of Edolph, before they removed to Hinxhill, and wrote their name in old deedsEdulf, in which manner it appears in a commission directed to Stephen Edulf and others, collectors for the cinque ports in the 6th year of Richard II. At length, Robert Edolph removing to Hinxhill in queen Elizabeth's reign, this seat was afterwards alienated to Mr. John Fagge, gent. who resided here in the next reign of king James I. In whose descendants it continued down to Sir Robert Fagge, bart. who dying in 1740, s. p. his sisters became his heirs, one of whom married Gawen Harris Nash, esq. of Petworth, and Elizabeth married Sir Charles Mathews Goring, bart. of that county, by whose heirs, about the year 1777, this seat, with the estate belonging to it, was sold to Mr. Henry Read, of Brookland, who died possessed of it about a year afterwards, upon which it came to his only daughter and heir Anne, the wife of Thomas Kempe, esq. of Barcombe in Sussex, and M. P. for Lewes, who in her right became entitled to it, and is the present owner of it. The mansion has been for many years made use of only as a farm-house.
DEAN, alias DANE-COURT, is an estate in the western part of this parish, which was once accounted a manor. It was antiently part of the possessions of a family, who took their name from it. Ansfridus de Dene appears, by a chartularie belonging to the priory of Christ-church, to have been owner of it in king Edward I.'s reign. How long it continued in his descendants, I do not find, but it not long afterwards came into the possession of the family of Apledore, so called from the neighbouring town of Apledore, whose arms were, Or, a pile, gules, surmounted with a fefs; but before the latter end of king Edward III.'s reign, Thomas de Apledore dying s. p. Elnith, his only sister and heir, entitled her husband Thomas Roper to this manor, among the rest of his estates in these parts, (fn. 1) which continued in the younger branch of his descendants down to John Roper, esq. of Linsted lodge, afterwards knighted, and created lord Teynham. At length his descendant Henry, lord Teynham, succeeding to it, passed it away in 1705, to Sir Henry Furnese, bart. of Waldershare, who died possessed of it in 1712. His grandson Sir Henry Furnese, bart. dying in 1735, under age and unmarried, this, on the partition of his estates among his three sisters and coheirs, was allotted, among others, to Selina, the youngest; she married Edward Dering, esq. afterwards Sir Edward Dering, bart. who in her right became entitled to it, and his son of the same name, now of Surrenden, bart. is the present owner of it.
There are no parochial charities. The poor constantly relieved are more than thirty, casually not more than two or three.
BRENSET is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Eanswith, consists of two isles and two chancels, having a spire steeple shingled at the west end, in which hang three bells. In the north chancel is a monument, having the effigies of two men, lying at full length, for John Fagge, son of John Fagge, gent. of Rye, obt. 1639; and for John Fagge, gent. of Rye, his son, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Bandard Hodson, of Frantfield, in Sussex, obt. 1646. There are burials of the Fagges in the parish register till very lately. In the north isle, a memorial for the Rev. Mr. John Wentworth, rector of Snargate six years, and vicar of Brenset, obt. May 26, 1770.
¶The church of Brenset antiently belonged to the abbey of Guysnes, in Artois, in Flanders, to which it was appropriated before the 8th year of Richard II. (fn. 2) and it remained so till the reign of king Henry V. when it came into the king's hands by escheat, on the death of Katherine, the late abbess of it, and remained in the crown till king Henry VI. in his 17th year, granted it with the advowson of the vicarage, to John Kempe, archbishop of York, with licence to settle the same on his new-founded college of Wye, to hold in free, pure and perpetual alms, in augmentation of the revenues of it, and to appropriate it to the members of it and their successors for ever. In which situation it remained till the suppression of that college, anno 36 Henry VIII. when it was surrendered, with all its possessions, into the king's hands, who that year granted this church, with the advowson of the vicarage, among other premises, to Walter Bucler, esq. to hold in capite, with certain provisoes for the maintenance of the curates and schoolmaster of Wye, as may be further feen in the account before of the parlonage of Newington, contained in the same grant, (fn. 3) with which it has continued down in like manner to James Drake Brockman, esq. of Beechborough, the present owner of the parsonage and advowson of the vicarage of this church.
Besides the stipends paid to Wye college and curates, as may be seen before, (fn. 4) there is a stipend paid from it of ten guineas yearly to Christ-church college, in Cambridge, which altogether is much more than the annual profit of this parsonage, which arises from only about fifty acres of land ploughed, bringing in about twenty guineas per annum, and no more.
The vicarage of Brenset is valued in the king's books at 7l. 18s. 11½d. and the yearly tenths at 15s. 10¾d. In 1640 it was valued at eighty pounds per annum, It is now of the yearly certified value of 71l. 6s. 0¼d. There is a glebe of two acres of marsh land.
In the petition of the clergy, beneficed in Romney Marsh, in 1635, for setting aside the custom of twopence an acre, in lieu of tithe-wool and pasturage, a full account of which has been given before, under Burmarsh, the vicar of Brenset was one of those who met on this occasion; when it was agreed on all sides, that no wool in the Marsh had ever been known to have been paid in specie, other tithes being compounded for. But no evidence was produced on this head, in regard to the vicar of Brenset.
There is a modus of one shilling an acre on all grass lands in this parish.
Petter Faggen´s Inn
Around 1700 this was a site for a large horticulture maintained by Petter Fagge Sr.
The building is named after Petter Fagge Jr. who established an inn on the site in 1731, later mentioned by the famous poet Carl Michael Bellman.
The present buildings date from 1769 an 1802, the latter originally built as a clothing factory.
First of all, I see from the Church of England website, the dedication is Laurence rather than Lawrence, so will correct my previous shots.
And with St Laurence, I have completed the listed churches in the Dover Deanery, a task that has taken some seven and a half years, and in which I have been frustrated by three churches that remained locked to me. But thanks to the internet and requesting access, I did finally get inside Whitfield, Preston and Betteshanger and cross them off the list.
I did see inside Hougham too, about 15 months ago during the Heritage Weekend, but found that the parish had arranged a festival to take place art the same time, and the inside was covered in quilts and carpets.
Of course.
St Laurence is situated on a down between Dover and Capel, and the village is dominated by the TV mast which beams us all TV and radio in the area. You approach the village up steep and narrow lanes from the Old Folkestone Road, or from River in Dover, and the church itself is in the middle of Church Hougham, down a dead end lane.
Unlike on previous visits, the door was unlocked so I dd not have to find a keyholder. The lightswitch beside the door lit just a single bulb above the doorway to the porch, but on a bright winter day, the church was full enough with light.
It was clear that the south wall of the chancel is leaning out at an alarming angle, but in fairly recent times, a buttress has been built to save it from falling.
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In its day this must have been a magnificent church. Its day would have been during the period 1100 to 1150, for a large building was constructed at this time. Even today the remains are impressive. As in many east Kent churches there is no chancel arch. There is a tremendous lean to the south chancel wall. It also shows the blocked arcade to a former south chapel. The north chapel has an impressive east window in Early English style which was copied by the Victorians when they replaced the chancel east window, and for once it is possible to compare the Victorian and medieval work almost side by side. While nineteenth-century windows are fine elsewhere in the church this juxta-position at Hougham clearly demonstrates the superiority of the medieval work. By far the most interesting feature at Hougham is the tower. The arch from the nave is particularly lofty and leads into an extremely tall and spacious chamber which can best be described as cavern-like.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Hougham
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OR Huffam, as it is called, and frequently written in Domesday, Hicham, being so denominated from its high situation, lies the next parish eastward from Polton. Part of it only is within this hundred of Bewsborough; another part is within the hundred of Folkestone; and the residue is within the jurisdiction of the cinque ports, and of the corporation of the town and port of Dover. A borsholder, for that part of this parish which is within the hundred of Bewsborough, is chosen at the court leet of the hundred.
THE PARISH of Hougham lies among the high eastern hills of Kent, in a healthy though a very rude and wild country. In the midst of it are two streets, called Church Hougham, and East Hougham; in the former of which the church stands, and at the south-west part of it, a hamlet called West Hougham. Great part of this parish is full of small inclosures, interspersed with frequent coppice wood, and much rough ground. The soil is but poor and barren, consisting of either chalk or a red earth, covered with a rotten slint stone, with which the narrow roads here abound. Towards the eastern part of it the ground lies high, being an open uninclosed down, across which the high road leads from Folkestone to Dover, quite to the sea-shore, over which the chalk cliffs here rise to a great height; from hence there is a most beautiful prospect over the channel, and the Bologne hills on the coast of France. Near the bottom of these cliffs are three holes, called Lydden Spouts, through which the subterraneous waters empty themselves continually on the beach of the shore; and the belief of the country is, that the waters of the Nailborne, at Drelingore, in Alkham, at least four miles distant, communicate subterraneously with these spouts, which increase as the springs heighten by wind and weather. Over these spouts, in the middle of the cliff, are two large square rooms cut out of the chalk, one within the other; they are called the Coining-house, and have a very difficult way to come at them, the cliff here being upwards of four hundred feet high.
When the plague raged in London in the year 1665, it was brought to Dover, and great numbers died there of the pestilence in that and the following years, for the burial of whom a piece of ground was bought in this parish, on the side of the hill fronting the pier fort, and consecrated for that purpose. It is computed that upwards of nine hundred of those who died of this pestilence were buried in it, since which it has been constantly known by the name of the Graves.
Henry Benger, gent. was of Hougham, and resided here anno 1619, and descended from John Benger, of Maningford, in Wiltshire. They bore for their arms, Or, a cross vert, surmounted by a bendlet, gules. (fn. 1)
THE PARISH OF HOUGHAM was part of those lands which were given to Fulbert de Dover, for the desence of Dover castle, (fn. 2) which made up together the barony of Fulbert, or Fobert, as it was usually called, being held in capite by barony, of which Chilham became the chief seat, or caput baroniæof which this place, as appears by the book of Dover castle, was afterwards held by knight's service. Among these lands was included THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM, otherwise called THE ELMES, at times called by the names of Great Hougham, alias Chilverton; and likewise Southcourt, from its situation in regard to the manor of Northcourt, alias Little Hougham, in this parish.
This manor was held in manner as above-mentioned by a family who took their surname of Hougham from it. This family bore for their arms, Argent, five chevronels, sable; which Philipott (fn. 3) says they bore in allusion to those of their superior lords, of whom they held lands, the Averenches, or Albrincis, lords of the barony of Folkestone, whose arms were, Or, five chevronels, gulesFrom this family of Hougham descended those of Weddington, in Ash, near Sandwich, now extinct; and from the latter collaterally, those now of St. Paul's near Canterbury. One of the above mentioned family, Robert de Hougham, held it in king Richard I.'s reign, and was present with that king at the siege of Acon, in Palestine. At length his descendant Robert de Hougham, leaving two daughters his coheirs, of whom Benedicta was married to John de Shelving, and the other to Waretius de Valoignes, the latter became entitled to this manor, on the share of his wife's inheritance; and in the 14th year of king Edward III. obtained a charter of free-warren for this manor of Hougham. He left two daughters his coheirs, one of whom married Sir Francis Fogge; the other Maud, married Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, who in her right became possessed of this manor.
Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, as the name was afterwards written, died possessed of this manor in the 35th year of the above reign; but it should seem that he had no further interest in it but for his life, for Maud his wife before her death had infeoffed William Tapaline and others in this manor, and they passed it away to Stephen, Richard, and John de Combe, the latter of whom was of Hastingligh, and afterwards became sole possessor of it. He conveyed this manor in the 10th year of king Richard II. in trust to sell it; after which it came into the name of Heron, in which it remained at the end of king Henry IV.'s reign, and from which it was after some interval alienated to William Fineux, gent. of Swingfield, who had three sons; Sir John Fineux, chief justice of the king's bench, who purchased Haw-house, in Herne, under which, an account of him and his descendants may be seen; William, to whom his father gave this manor of Southcourt; and Richard, who was of Dover. (fn. 4)
William Fineux, who had this manor of Southcourt by gift of his father, resided at Hougham, and dying possessed of it in 1534, s.p. he by his will gave it to William, the eldest son of his brother Richard deceased, who afterwards resided here, and in his direct descendants it continued down to Thomas Fineux, gent. of Dover, who in king Charles II.'s reign passed away this manor to Robert Breton, gent. who resided at the mansion, called the Elmes, in this parish, formerly the residence of the Nepueus, several of whom lie buried in this church, which seat he had purchased of William Nepueu, esq. of Twickenham, the grandson of Peter, the first builder of it, who was a native of France, and came over to England upon the edict of Nantes, and brought with him a considerable property. He died in 1658, and lies buried in Hougham church. They bore for their arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Robert Breton above-mentioned was descended from the Bretons, of Barwell, and on the mother's side from the Bassingtons, of Temple Rothley, in Leicestershire, being the son > of Nich. Breton, of Norton, near Daventry. He died possessed of this estate, and was buried in this church. His great-grandson M. Breton, esq. afterwards of Kennington-house, (fn. 5) alienated both manor and seat to Robert Lacy, esq. who resided at Elmes, where he served the office of sheriff in the year 1739, and he died possessed of them about the year 1746; upon which they came to his son-in-law Granado Piggott, esq. who in 1749 passed them away to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, who died in 1757, leaving two sons, Phineas, of whom hereafter; and George, of Canterbury. Phineas, the eldest son, is of Dover, and married the daughter of Mr. Richard Rouse, of Dover, by whom he has an only daughter and heir, married to Mr. Edward Broadrip, gent. of Dover. He bears for his arms, Per chevron, or, and sable, in chief, two eagles displayed of the second; in base, a fleur de lis of the first. He succeeded his father in this manor and seat, and is the present owner of them.
A court baron is held for this manor, the boundaries of which, as I am informed, begin at High-cliff, from whence they extend along the coast, to a place called Jews-gut, and there leaving the cliff, on towards Capel, whence including West Hougham, they go down to the Elmes, and the land of Dover priory.
THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM-COURT, alias NORTHCOURT, which latter name it took from its situation in regard to the former described manor of South court, was comprehended as part of those lands which, as has been mentioned before, were given to Fulbert de Dover, and with other lands made up the barony of Fobert, of which it was held afterwards by knight's service, by the family of Basing, of eminent account in the city of London during the reigns of king John and king Henry III. for the high offices of trust which they bore in it. At length Sir Thomas de Basing succeeding to this manor, he alienated it to Adam Sare, whose heirs were in the possession of it in the 20th year of king Edward III. How it passed afterwards, I have not found, till the beginning of king Henry VI.'s reign, when it was alienated to Clive, commonly called Cliffe, a family of good account in the counties of Salop and and Essex; from whence, at the latter end of that reign, it passed by sale to William Hextal, esq. of East Peckham. One of his daughters and coheirs Margaret, entitled her husband Wm. Whetenhall, esq. commonly called Whetnall, citizen and alderman of London, to it. (fn. 6) His descendant William Whetenhall about the middle of king Henry VIII.'s reign sold it to John Boys, esq. of Fredville, in whose descendants it continued down to Major John Boys, of Fredville, who possessed it in 1656.
Before his death he alienated this manor; but now it passed afterwards I have not learned, only that it became vested in the name of Woodroofe; and in the year 1720, William Woodroofe, clerk, of Cambridgeshire, sold one moiety of it to John Walker, citizen and draper, of London, who passed it away to Francis Cabot, and he, at his death in 1753, devised it to his widow Barbara, as she did to her father Mr. Robert Cooper, of Salisbury, and her brother in law William Barnes. In 1786, this moiety was in possession of Robert, son of the above-mentioned Robert Cooper, and of Anne Barnes, and they joined in the sale of it to Mr. Michael Becker, of Dover, who in 1792 sold it to Mr. Philip Leman, of Dover castle, the present owner of it.
The other moiety continued afterwards in the descendants of William Woodroofe above-mentioned down to the Rev. Mr. Woodroofe, of Shoreham, in this county, the present possessor of it; so that this manor remains in undivided moieties at this time.
There is no court held for this manor; to it is annexed the right to wreck of the sea along the coast, from High cliff to Archcliff fort.
SIBERTON, alias SIBERSTON, is a manor in the north-east part of this parish, which made likewise part of the barony of Fobert before-mentioned, of which it was held by knight's service. John de Herste held this manor in the 2d year of king John, and in the 20th year of king Edward III. the heirs of another John de Herst held it by the description of lands in Siberston, of the barony of Chilham, by the like service, and the payment of ward to Dover castle; not long after which it appears to have been in the possession of a family who took their surname from it, one of whom, Richard de Siberston, as appeared by an old dateless deed of that time, demised it to John Monins, in whose descendants it continued down to Edward Monins, esq. of Waldershare, whose lands were disgavelled by the act of the 2d and 3d Edward VI. He died possessed of it in the 6th year of that reign, and by his will gave this manor of Seberston, to his second son George Monins, and he sold it to Thomas Pepper, jurat of Dover, who dying in the 17th year of queen Elizabeth, gave it to Thomas, son of Richard Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign alienated it to Moulton, of Redriff, in whose descendants it remained at the time of the restoration of king Charles II. 1660, after which it was alienated, after some intermediate owners, to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, whose son, of the same name, is the present possessor of it.
But this manor, by unity of possessionhas for some year since been so blended with that of Hougham, otherwise called the Elmes, above described, that it is now accounted one and the same manor.
THE TITHES of the manor of Siberston, lying in Elms bottom, in this parish, were part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, in Dover, and continued so till the dissolution of it in the 27th year of Henry VIII. when this portion of tithes, among the rest of the possessions of the priory, came into the king's hands, who granted it with the scite and other possessions of the priory, in his 29th year, to the archbishop in exchange, in manner as has been already frequently mentioned before, in which state it has continued ever since, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of it. John Monins, esq. of Canterbury, is the present lessee of it.
FARTHINGLOE, alias VENSON DANE, is another manor in this parish, which was antiently part of the possessions of the canons of St. Martin, under the general title of whose possessions it is thus entered in the survey of Domesday:
In Beusberg hundred. In Ferlingelai, William the son of Ganfrid holds one suling, and there he has in demesne one carucate, and four villeins, with one carucate. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, six pounds. Sired held it as a prebend.
And immediately following, under the title of the same possessions:
In Hicham, Balduin holds one suling, and there he has four villeins, and five borderers, with two carucates. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, one hundred shillings. Eduuin holds it.
As the canons of St. Martin's priory had other possessions in this parish, besides the manor of Farthingloe, the latter entry no doubt contains the description of them, and includes their estate here, called Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, mentioned below, which together with the manor of Farthingloe, remained parcel of the possessions of the above priory, till the final suppression of it in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when they both came into the king's hands, who granted them in his 29th year to the archbishop in exchange, as has been already more particularly mentioned before; since which this manor of Farthingloe, with the estate of Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, has remained parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of them. The interest of the present lease is vested in the widow of Mr. Nath. Walker, deceased, and Mr. John Marsh (the present occupier); the former possessing the lands, and the latter the great tithes, for their respective shares.
This estate is exempted from the payment of the great or corn tithes. There is not any court held for this manor.
The manor of Farthingloe was held of the prior and canons in king Henry III.'s time, by a family, who from their residence at it, took their surname from it. One of them, Matilda de Farthingloe, is mentioned by Prynne, anno 44 Henry III.
MAXTON, or Maxton court, is another manor situated in this parish, at no great distance from Farthingloe, which in king Henry III.'s reign, as appears by the book of knights fees kept in the king's remembrancer's office, was in the possession of Stephen Manekyn, who held it by knight's service of the barony of Fobert, and together with other lands elsewhere made up that barony, and were given for the desence of Dover castle. After this it seems to have been divided into moieties, and to have been held by Richard Walsham, and Alice, daughter of Stephen Manekin, who alienated the whole of it to William, son of Nicholas Archer, of Dover, whose seal was, A stag's head, caboshed, as appears by a deed in the Surrenden library, dated anno 17 Edward III. His son William Archer, in the 21st year of the next reign of king Richard II. passed it away by sale to John Alkham, of Alkham, a family of good estate in this neighbourhood, in the descendants of which this manor remained for some time; but at the latter end of king Edward IV. it was become the property of Roger Appleton, from whom it passed to Hobday, and thence to Harman, of Crayford, from which name it was sold by Thomas Harman to Sir James Hales, who at or about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign alienated it to Andrews, of Dover, who some few years afterwards sold it to Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign conveyed it to Sir Thomas Wilford, of IIden, who in king Charles I.'s reign passed it away to Mr. William Richards, of Dover, whose descendant of the same name, devised it to his nephew John Sladden, of Dover, merchant, as he did to his sister Mary, who carried it in marriage to Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover, whose trustees, after his death, to perform the uses of her will, sold it in 1783 to Tho. Biggs, esq. of Dover, the present owner of it, who has much improved the mansion of this manor, by making several additional buildings to it. A court baron is held for this manor.
Charities.
THOMAS PEPPER, jurat of Dover, by his will in 1574, de vised to the poor within the parishes of our Lady of Dover and Hougham, one annuity of 40s to be distributed equally between them, issuing out of his manor of Syberstone, and the lands belonging to it, with power to distrain, &c. now vested in Phineas Stringer, esq. and the money is distributed to such as do not receive weekly allowance of the parish.
There is a house divided into two small dwellings, inhabited by two persons placed there by the churchwardens and overseers of the poor; but how it came to the parish is not known.
The poor constantly maintained are about twenty-five, casually fifteen.
HOUGHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Laurence, is an ancient building, but small, consisting of two small isles and a chancel, having neither tower nor steeple, but it has a place for three small bells. In the chancel lie buried several of the families of Hougham and Malmaines; the brasses of whose stones have been long since torn off, though the lines of their portraitures still remain. In the chancel is a monument for Wm. Fyneux, esq. son of Robert. He died in 1587; arms, Vert, a chevron, between three eagles displayed, or, crowned, gules, impaling Warren, azure, a cross, or; in the first and fourth quarters, a martlet; in the second and third, a chaplet of the second. Another for Peter Nepeau, gent. who lies buried in a vault underneath; he built and resided at the Elmes, in this parish, still continuing the trade of a merchant; he died in 1658. William, his only surviving son, married Sarah, daughter of Mr. Bulteel, of Tournay, in Flanders, who was also buried in this chancel. His youngest son William succeeded to the Elmes, which he sold, and settled at Twickenham; he died in 1710; arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Another for Robert Breton, esq he died in 1707; arms, Azure, a bend between six mullets, pierced, or. And for William Hannington, esq. who married a daughter of William Monings, lieutenant-governor of Dover-castle; he died in 1607.
¶This church was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, to which it was appropriated by archbishop Stratford, in 1345, and a vicarage endowed in it, (fn. 7) both which were at the suppression, in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. granted with the scite of the priory and other possessions of it in the exchange to the archbishop, with a reservation of the antient pension from the prior of forty shillings to the vicar, in manner as has been frequently more particularly mentioned before. In which state they now continue, his grace the archbishop being possessed of the appropriation of this church, with the advowson of the vicarage of it. The parsonage is called Little Hougham court, which with the tithes are held under the archbishop by Mr. Thomas Walker, of Dover. The glebe land is ninety acres.
In 1588 here were one hundred and twenty communicants, and it was valued at forty pounds per annum. This vicarage is valued in the king's books at 6l. 13s. 4d. Archbishop Juxon, anno 14 Charles II. augmented this vicarage with twenty-five pounds, to be paid by the lessee of the great tithes, which was again confirmed anno 22 of that reign. The vicar still receives the antient pension of forty shillings from the archbishop. It is now a discharged living of about the clear yearly value of forty-six pounds.
First of all, I see from the Church of England website, the dedication is Laurence rather than Lawrence, so will correct my previous shots.
And with St Laurence, I have completed the listed churches in the Dover Deanery, a task that has taken some seven and a half years, and in which I have been frustrated by three churches that remained locked to me. But thanks to the internet and requesting access, I did finally get inside Whitfield, Preston and Betteshanger and cross them off the list.
I did see inside Hougham too, about 15 months ago during the Heritage Weekend, but found that the parish had arranged a festival to take place art the same time, and the inside was covered in quilts and carpets.
Of course.
St Laurence is situated on a down between Dover and Capel, and the village is dominated by the TV mast which beams us all TV and radio in the area. You approach the village up steep and narrow lanes from the Old Folkestone Road, or from River in Dover, and the church itself is in the middle of Church Hougham, down a dead end lane.
Unlike on previous visits, the door was unlocked so I dd not have to find a keyholder. The lightswitch beside the door lit just a single bulb above the doorway to the porch, but on a bright winter day, the church was full enough with light.
It was clear that the south wall of the chancel is leaning out at an alarming angle, but in fairly recent times, a buttress has been built to save it from falling.
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In its day this must have been a magnificent church. Its day would have been during the period 1100 to 1150, for a large building was constructed at this time. Even today the remains are impressive. As in many east Kent churches there is no chancel arch. There is a tremendous lean to the south chancel wall. It also shows the blocked arcade to a former south chapel. The north chapel has an impressive east window in Early English style which was copied by the Victorians when they replaced the chancel east window, and for once it is possible to compare the Victorian and medieval work almost side by side. While nineteenth-century windows are fine elsewhere in the church this juxta-position at Hougham clearly demonstrates the superiority of the medieval work. By far the most interesting feature at Hougham is the tower. The arch from the nave is particularly lofty and leads into an extremely tall and spacious chamber which can best be described as cavern-like.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Hougham
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OR Huffam, as it is called, and frequently written in Domesday, Hicham, being so denominated from its high situation, lies the next parish eastward from Polton. Part of it only is within this hundred of Bewsborough; another part is within the hundred of Folkestone; and the residue is within the jurisdiction of the cinque ports, and of the corporation of the town and port of Dover. A borsholder, for that part of this parish which is within the hundred of Bewsborough, is chosen at the court leet of the hundred.
THE PARISH of Hougham lies among the high eastern hills of Kent, in a healthy though a very rude and wild country. In the midst of it are two streets, called Church Hougham, and East Hougham; in the former of which the church stands, and at the south-west part of it, a hamlet called West Hougham. Great part of this parish is full of small inclosures, interspersed with frequent coppice wood, and much rough ground. The soil is but poor and barren, consisting of either chalk or a red earth, covered with a rotten slint stone, with which the narrow roads here abound. Towards the eastern part of it the ground lies high, being an open uninclosed down, across which the high road leads from Folkestone to Dover, quite to the sea-shore, over which the chalk cliffs here rise to a great height; from hence there is a most beautiful prospect over the channel, and the Bologne hills on the coast of France. Near the bottom of these cliffs are three holes, called Lydden Spouts, through which the subterraneous waters empty themselves continually on the beach of the shore; and the belief of the country is, that the waters of the Nailborne, at Drelingore, in Alkham, at least four miles distant, communicate subterraneously with these spouts, which increase as the springs heighten by wind and weather. Over these spouts, in the middle of the cliff, are two large square rooms cut out of the chalk, one within the other; they are called the Coining-house, and have a very difficult way to come at them, the cliff here being upwards of four hundred feet high.
When the plague raged in London in the year 1665, it was brought to Dover, and great numbers died there of the pestilence in that and the following years, for the burial of whom a piece of ground was bought in this parish, on the side of the hill fronting the pier fort, and consecrated for that purpose. It is computed that upwards of nine hundred of those who died of this pestilence were buried in it, since which it has been constantly known by the name of the Graves.
Henry Benger, gent. was of Hougham, and resided here anno 1619, and descended from John Benger, of Maningford, in Wiltshire. They bore for their arms, Or, a cross vert, surmounted by a bendlet, gules. (fn. 1)
THE PARISH OF HOUGHAM was part of those lands which were given to Fulbert de Dover, for the desence of Dover castle, (fn. 2) which made up together the barony of Fulbert, or Fobert, as it was usually called, being held in capite by barony, of which Chilham became the chief seat, or caput baroniæof which this place, as appears by the book of Dover castle, was afterwards held by knight's service. Among these lands was included THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM, otherwise called THE ELMES, at times called by the names of Great Hougham, alias Chilverton; and likewise Southcourt, from its situation in regard to the manor of Northcourt, alias Little Hougham, in this parish.
This manor was held in manner as above-mentioned by a family who took their surname of Hougham from it. This family bore for their arms, Argent, five chevronels, sable; which Philipott (fn. 3) says they bore in allusion to those of their superior lords, of whom they held lands, the Averenches, or Albrincis, lords of the barony of Folkestone, whose arms were, Or, five chevronels, gulesFrom this family of Hougham descended those of Weddington, in Ash, near Sandwich, now extinct; and from the latter collaterally, those now of St. Paul's near Canterbury. One of the above mentioned family, Robert de Hougham, held it in king Richard I.'s reign, and was present with that king at the siege of Acon, in Palestine. At length his descendant Robert de Hougham, leaving two daughters his coheirs, of whom Benedicta was married to John de Shelving, and the other to Waretius de Valoignes, the latter became entitled to this manor, on the share of his wife's inheritance; and in the 14th year of king Edward III. obtained a charter of free-warren for this manor of Hougham. He left two daughters his coheirs, one of whom married Sir Francis Fogge; the other Maud, married Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, who in her right became possessed of this manor.
Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, as the name was afterwards written, died possessed of this manor in the 35th year of the above reign; but it should seem that he had no further interest in it but for his life, for Maud his wife before her death had infeoffed William Tapaline and others in this manor, and they passed it away to Stephen, Richard, and John de Combe, the latter of whom was of Hastingligh, and afterwards became sole possessor of it. He conveyed this manor in the 10th year of king Richard II. in trust to sell it; after which it came into the name of Heron, in which it remained at the end of king Henry IV.'s reign, and from which it was after some interval alienated to William Fineux, gent. of Swingfield, who had three sons; Sir John Fineux, chief justice of the king's bench, who purchased Haw-house, in Herne, under which, an account of him and his descendants may be seen; William, to whom his father gave this manor of Southcourt; and Richard, who was of Dover. (fn. 4)
William Fineux, who had this manor of Southcourt by gift of his father, resided at Hougham, and dying possessed of it in 1534, s.p. he by his will gave it to William, the eldest son of his brother Richard deceased, who afterwards resided here, and in his direct descendants it continued down to Thomas Fineux, gent. of Dover, who in king Charles II.'s reign passed away this manor to Robert Breton, gent. who resided at the mansion, called the Elmes, in this parish, formerly the residence of the Nepueus, several of whom lie buried in this church, which seat he had purchased of William Nepueu, esq. of Twickenham, the grandson of Peter, the first builder of it, who was a native of France, and came over to England upon the edict of Nantes, and brought with him a considerable property. He died in 1658, and lies buried in Hougham church. They bore for their arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Robert Breton above-mentioned was descended from the Bretons, of Barwell, and on the mother's side from the Bassingtons, of Temple Rothley, in Leicestershire, being the son > of Nich. Breton, of Norton, near Daventry. He died possessed of this estate, and was buried in this church. His great-grandson M. Breton, esq. afterwards of Kennington-house, (fn. 5) alienated both manor and seat to Robert Lacy, esq. who resided at Elmes, where he served the office of sheriff in the year 1739, and he died possessed of them about the year 1746; upon which they came to his son-in-law Granado Piggott, esq. who in 1749 passed them away to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, who died in 1757, leaving two sons, Phineas, of whom hereafter; and George, of Canterbury. Phineas, the eldest son, is of Dover, and married the daughter of Mr. Richard Rouse, of Dover, by whom he has an only daughter and heir, married to Mr. Edward Broadrip, gent. of Dover. He bears for his arms, Per chevron, or, and sable, in chief, two eagles displayed of the second; in base, a fleur de lis of the first. He succeeded his father in this manor and seat, and is the present owner of them.
A court baron is held for this manor, the boundaries of which, as I am informed, begin at High-cliff, from whence they extend along the coast, to a place called Jews-gut, and there leaving the cliff, on towards Capel, whence including West Hougham, they go down to the Elmes, and the land of Dover priory.
THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM-COURT, alias NORTHCOURT, which latter name it took from its situation in regard to the former described manor of South court, was comprehended as part of those lands which, as has been mentioned before, were given to Fulbert de Dover, and with other lands made up the barony of Fobert, of which it was held afterwards by knight's service, by the family of Basing, of eminent account in the city of London during the reigns of king John and king Henry III. for the high offices of trust which they bore in it. At length Sir Thomas de Basing succeeding to this manor, he alienated it to Adam Sare, whose heirs were in the possession of it in the 20th year of king Edward III. How it passed afterwards, I have not found, till the beginning of king Henry VI.'s reign, when it was alienated to Clive, commonly called Cliffe, a family of good account in the counties of Salop and and Essex; from whence, at the latter end of that reign, it passed by sale to William Hextal, esq. of East Peckham. One of his daughters and coheirs Margaret, entitled her husband Wm. Whetenhall, esq. commonly called Whetnall, citizen and alderman of London, to it. (fn. 6) His descendant William Whetenhall about the middle of king Henry VIII.'s reign sold it to John Boys, esq. of Fredville, in whose descendants it continued down to Major John Boys, of Fredville, who possessed it in 1656.
Before his death he alienated this manor; but now it passed afterwards I have not learned, only that it became vested in the name of Woodroofe; and in the year 1720, William Woodroofe, clerk, of Cambridgeshire, sold one moiety of it to John Walker, citizen and draper, of London, who passed it away to Francis Cabot, and he, at his death in 1753, devised it to his widow Barbara, as she did to her father Mr. Robert Cooper, of Salisbury, and her brother in law William Barnes. In 1786, this moiety was in possession of Robert, son of the above-mentioned Robert Cooper, and of Anne Barnes, and they joined in the sale of it to Mr. Michael Becker, of Dover, who in 1792 sold it to Mr. Philip Leman, of Dover castle, the present owner of it.
The other moiety continued afterwards in the descendants of William Woodroofe above-mentioned down to the Rev. Mr. Woodroofe, of Shoreham, in this county, the present possessor of it; so that this manor remains in undivided moieties at this time.
There is no court held for this manor; to it is annexed the right to wreck of the sea along the coast, from High cliff to Archcliff fort.
SIBERTON, alias SIBERSTON, is a manor in the north-east part of this parish, which made likewise part of the barony of Fobert before-mentioned, of which it was held by knight's service. John de Herste held this manor in the 2d year of king John, and in the 20th year of king Edward III. the heirs of another John de Herst held it by the description of lands in Siberston, of the barony of Chilham, by the like service, and the payment of ward to Dover castle; not long after which it appears to have been in the possession of a family who took their surname from it, one of whom, Richard de Siberston, as appeared by an old dateless deed of that time, demised it to John Monins, in whose descendants it continued down to Edward Monins, esq. of Waldershare, whose lands were disgavelled by the act of the 2d and 3d Edward VI. He died possessed of it in the 6th year of that reign, and by his will gave this manor of Seberston, to his second son George Monins, and he sold it to Thomas Pepper, jurat of Dover, who dying in the 17th year of queen Elizabeth, gave it to Thomas, son of Richard Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign alienated it to Moulton, of Redriff, in whose descendants it remained at the time of the restoration of king Charles II. 1660, after which it was alienated, after some intermediate owners, to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, whose son, of the same name, is the present possessor of it.
But this manor, by unity of possessionhas for some year since been so blended with that of Hougham, otherwise called the Elmes, above described, that it is now accounted one and the same manor.
THE TITHES of the manor of Siberston, lying in Elms bottom, in this parish, were part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, in Dover, and continued so till the dissolution of it in the 27th year of Henry VIII. when this portion of tithes, among the rest of the possessions of the priory, came into the king's hands, who granted it with the scite and other possessions of the priory, in his 29th year, to the archbishop in exchange, in manner as has been already frequently mentioned before, in which state it has continued ever since, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of it. John Monins, esq. of Canterbury, is the present lessee of it.
FARTHINGLOE, alias VENSON DANE, is another manor in this parish, which was antiently part of the possessions of the canons of St. Martin, under the general title of whose possessions it is thus entered in the survey of Domesday:
In Beusberg hundred. In Ferlingelai, William the son of Ganfrid holds one suling, and there he has in demesne one carucate, and four villeins, with one carucate. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, six pounds. Sired held it as a prebend.
And immediately following, under the title of the same possessions:
In Hicham, Balduin holds one suling, and there he has four villeins, and five borderers, with two carucates. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, one hundred shillings. Eduuin holds it.
As the canons of St. Martin's priory had other possessions in this parish, besides the manor of Farthingloe, the latter entry no doubt contains the description of them, and includes their estate here, called Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, mentioned below, which together with the manor of Farthingloe, remained parcel of the possessions of the above priory, till the final suppression of it in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when they both came into the king's hands, who granted them in his 29th year to the archbishop in exchange, as has been already more particularly mentioned before; since which this manor of Farthingloe, with the estate of Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, has remained parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of them. The interest of the present lease is vested in the widow of Mr. Nath. Walker, deceased, and Mr. John Marsh (the present occupier); the former possessing the lands, and the latter the great tithes, for their respective shares.
This estate is exempted from the payment of the great or corn tithes. There is not any court held for this manor.
The manor of Farthingloe was held of the prior and canons in king Henry III.'s time, by a family, who from their residence at it, took their surname from it. One of them, Matilda de Farthingloe, is mentioned by Prynne, anno 44 Henry III.
MAXTON, or Maxton court, is another manor situated in this parish, at no great distance from Farthingloe, which in king Henry III.'s reign, as appears by the book of knights fees kept in the king's remembrancer's office, was in the possession of Stephen Manekyn, who held it by knight's service of the barony of Fobert, and together with other lands elsewhere made up that barony, and were given for the desence of Dover castle. After this it seems to have been divided into moieties, and to have been held by Richard Walsham, and Alice, daughter of Stephen Manekin, who alienated the whole of it to William, son of Nicholas Archer, of Dover, whose seal was, A stag's head, caboshed, as appears by a deed in the Surrenden library, dated anno 17 Edward III. His son William Archer, in the 21st year of the next reign of king Richard II. passed it away by sale to John Alkham, of Alkham, a family of good estate in this neighbourhood, in the descendants of which this manor remained for some time; but at the latter end of king Edward IV. it was become the property of Roger Appleton, from whom it passed to Hobday, and thence to Harman, of Crayford, from which name it was sold by Thomas Harman to Sir James Hales, who at or about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign alienated it to Andrews, of Dover, who some few years afterwards sold it to Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign conveyed it to Sir Thomas Wilford, of IIden, who in king Charles I.'s reign passed it away to Mr. William Richards, of Dover, whose descendant of the same name, devised it to his nephew John Sladden, of Dover, merchant, as he did to his sister Mary, who carried it in marriage to Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover, whose trustees, after his death, to perform the uses of her will, sold it in 1783 to Tho. Biggs, esq. of Dover, the present owner of it, who has much improved the mansion of this manor, by making several additional buildings to it. A court baron is held for this manor.
Charities.
THOMAS PEPPER, jurat of Dover, by his will in 1574, de vised to the poor within the parishes of our Lady of Dover and Hougham, one annuity of 40s to be distributed equally between them, issuing out of his manor of Syberstone, and the lands belonging to it, with power to distrain, &c. now vested in Phineas Stringer, esq. and the money is distributed to such as do not receive weekly allowance of the parish.
There is a house divided into two small dwellings, inhabited by two persons placed there by the churchwardens and overseers of the poor; but how it came to the parish is not known.
The poor constantly maintained are about twenty-five, casually fifteen.
HOUGHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Laurence, is an ancient building, but small, consisting of two small isles and a chancel, having neither tower nor steeple, but it has a place for three small bells. In the chancel lie buried several of the families of Hougham and Malmaines; the brasses of whose stones have been long since torn off, though the lines of their portraitures still remain. In the chancel is a monument for Wm. Fyneux, esq. son of Robert. He died in 1587; arms, Vert, a chevron, between three eagles displayed, or, crowned, gules, impaling Warren, azure, a cross, or; in the first and fourth quarters, a martlet; in the second and third, a chaplet of the second. Another for Peter Nepeau, gent. who lies buried in a vault underneath; he built and resided at the Elmes, in this parish, still continuing the trade of a merchant; he died in 1658. William, his only surviving son, married Sarah, daughter of Mr. Bulteel, of Tournay, in Flanders, who was also buried in this chancel. His youngest son William succeeded to the Elmes, which he sold, and settled at Twickenham; he died in 1710; arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Another for Robert Breton, esq he died in 1707; arms, Azure, a bend between six mullets, pierced, or. And for William Hannington, esq. who married a daughter of William Monings, lieutenant-governor of Dover-castle; he died in 1607.
¶This church was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, to which it was appropriated by archbishop Stratford, in 1345, and a vicarage endowed in it, (fn. 7) both which were at the suppression, in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. granted with the scite of the priory and other possessions of it in the exchange to the archbishop, with a reservation of the antient pension from the prior of forty shillings to the vicar, in manner as has been frequently more particularly mentioned before. In which state they now continue, his grace the archbishop being possessed of the appropriation of this church, with the advowson of the vicarage of it. The parsonage is called Little Hougham court, which with the tithes are held under the archbishop by Mr. Thomas Walker, of Dover. The glebe land is ninety acres.
In 1588 here were one hundred and twenty communicants, and it was valued at forty pounds per annum. This vicarage is valued in the king's books at 6l. 13s. 4d. Archbishop Juxon, anno 14 Charles II. augmented this vicarage with twenty-five pounds, to be paid by the lessee of the great tithes, which was again confirmed anno 22 of that reign. The vicar still receives the antient pension of forty shillings from the archbishop. It is now a discharged living of about the clear yearly value of forty-six pounds.
First of all, I see from the Church of England website, the dedication is Laurence rather than Lawrence, so will correct my previous shots.
And with St Laurence, I have completed the listed churches in the Dover Deanery, a task that has taken some seven and a half years, and in which I have been frustrated by three churches that remained locked to me. But thanks to the internet and requesting access, I did finally get inside Whitfield, Preston and Betteshanger and cross them off the list.
I did see inside Hougham too, about 15 months ago during the Heritage Weekend, but found that the parish had arranged a festival to take place art the same time, and the inside was covered in quilts and carpets.
Of course.
St Laurence is situated on a down between Dover and Capel, and the village is dominated by the TV mast which beams us all TV and radio in the area. You approach the village up steep and narrow lanes from the Old Folkestone Road, or from River in Dover, and the church itself is in the middle of Church Hougham, down a dead end lane.
Unlike on previous visits, the door was unlocked so I dd not have to find a keyholder. The lightswitch beside the door lit just a single bulb above the doorway to the porch, but on a bright winter day, the church was full enough with light.
It was clear that the south wall of the chancel is leaning out at an alarming angle, but in fairly recent times, a buttress has been built to save it from falling.
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In its day this must have been a magnificent church. Its day would have been during the period 1100 to 1150, for a large building was constructed at this time. Even today the remains are impressive. As in many east Kent churches there is no chancel arch. There is a tremendous lean to the south chancel wall. It also shows the blocked arcade to a former south chapel. The north chapel has an impressive east window in Early English style which was copied by the Victorians when they replaced the chancel east window, and for once it is possible to compare the Victorian and medieval work almost side by side. While nineteenth-century windows are fine elsewhere in the church this juxta-position at Hougham clearly demonstrates the superiority of the medieval work. By far the most interesting feature at Hougham is the tower. The arch from the nave is particularly lofty and leads into an extremely tall and spacious chamber which can best be described as cavern-like.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Hougham
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OR Huffam, as it is called, and frequently written in Domesday, Hicham, being so denominated from its high situation, lies the next parish eastward from Polton. Part of it only is within this hundred of Bewsborough; another part is within the hundred of Folkestone; and the residue is within the jurisdiction of the cinque ports, and of the corporation of the town and port of Dover. A borsholder, for that part of this parish which is within the hundred of Bewsborough, is chosen at the court leet of the hundred.
THE PARISH of Hougham lies among the high eastern hills of Kent, in a healthy though a very rude and wild country. In the midst of it are two streets, called Church Hougham, and East Hougham; in the former of which the church stands, and at the south-west part of it, a hamlet called West Hougham. Great part of this parish is full of small inclosures, interspersed with frequent coppice wood, and much rough ground. The soil is but poor and barren, consisting of either chalk or a red earth, covered with a rotten slint stone, with which the narrow roads here abound. Towards the eastern part of it the ground lies high, being an open uninclosed down, across which the high road leads from Folkestone to Dover, quite to the sea-shore, over which the chalk cliffs here rise to a great height; from hence there is a most beautiful prospect over the channel, and the Bologne hills on the coast of France. Near the bottom of these cliffs are three holes, called Lydden Spouts, through which the subterraneous waters empty themselves continually on the beach of the shore; and the belief of the country is, that the waters of the Nailborne, at Drelingore, in Alkham, at least four miles distant, communicate subterraneously with these spouts, which increase as the springs heighten by wind and weather. Over these spouts, in the middle of the cliff, are two large square rooms cut out of the chalk, one within the other; they are called the Coining-house, and have a very difficult way to come at them, the cliff here being upwards of four hundred feet high.
When the plague raged in London in the year 1665, it was brought to Dover, and great numbers died there of the pestilence in that and the following years, for the burial of whom a piece of ground was bought in this parish, on the side of the hill fronting the pier fort, and consecrated for that purpose. It is computed that upwards of nine hundred of those who died of this pestilence were buried in it, since which it has been constantly known by the name of the Graves.
Henry Benger, gent. was of Hougham, and resided here anno 1619, and descended from John Benger, of Maningford, in Wiltshire. They bore for their arms, Or, a cross vert, surmounted by a bendlet, gules. (fn. 1)
THE PARISH OF HOUGHAM was part of those lands which were given to Fulbert de Dover, for the desence of Dover castle, (fn. 2) which made up together the barony of Fulbert, or Fobert, as it was usually called, being held in capite by barony, of which Chilham became the chief seat, or caput baroniæof which this place, as appears by the book of Dover castle, was afterwards held by knight's service. Among these lands was included THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM, otherwise called THE ELMES, at times called by the names of Great Hougham, alias Chilverton; and likewise Southcourt, from its situation in regard to the manor of Northcourt, alias Little Hougham, in this parish.
This manor was held in manner as above-mentioned by a family who took their surname of Hougham from it. This family bore for their arms, Argent, five chevronels, sable; which Philipott (fn. 3) says they bore in allusion to those of their superior lords, of whom they held lands, the Averenches, or Albrincis, lords of the barony of Folkestone, whose arms were, Or, five chevronels, gulesFrom this family of Hougham descended those of Weddington, in Ash, near Sandwich, now extinct; and from the latter collaterally, those now of St. Paul's near Canterbury. One of the above mentioned family, Robert de Hougham, held it in king Richard I.'s reign, and was present with that king at the siege of Acon, in Palestine. At length his descendant Robert de Hougham, leaving two daughters his coheirs, of whom Benedicta was married to John de Shelving, and the other to Waretius de Valoignes, the latter became entitled to this manor, on the share of his wife's inheritance; and in the 14th year of king Edward III. obtained a charter of free-warren for this manor of Hougham. He left two daughters his coheirs, one of whom married Sir Francis Fogge; the other Maud, married Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, who in her right became possessed of this manor.
Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, as the name was afterwards written, died possessed of this manor in the 35th year of the above reign; but it should seem that he had no further interest in it but for his life, for Maud his wife before her death had infeoffed William Tapaline and others in this manor, and they passed it away to Stephen, Richard, and John de Combe, the latter of whom was of Hastingligh, and afterwards became sole possessor of it. He conveyed this manor in the 10th year of king Richard II. in trust to sell it; after which it came into the name of Heron, in which it remained at the end of king Henry IV.'s reign, and from which it was after some interval alienated to William Fineux, gent. of Swingfield, who had three sons; Sir John Fineux, chief justice of the king's bench, who purchased Haw-house, in Herne, under which, an account of him and his descendants may be seen; William, to whom his father gave this manor of Southcourt; and Richard, who was of Dover. (fn. 4)
William Fineux, who had this manor of Southcourt by gift of his father, resided at Hougham, and dying possessed of it in 1534, s.p. he by his will gave it to William, the eldest son of his brother Richard deceased, who afterwards resided here, and in his direct descendants it continued down to Thomas Fineux, gent. of Dover, who in king Charles II.'s reign passed away this manor to Robert Breton, gent. who resided at the mansion, called the Elmes, in this parish, formerly the residence of the Nepueus, several of whom lie buried in this church, which seat he had purchased of William Nepueu, esq. of Twickenham, the grandson of Peter, the first builder of it, who was a native of France, and came over to England upon the edict of Nantes, and brought with him a considerable property. He died in 1658, and lies buried in Hougham church. They bore for their arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Robert Breton above-mentioned was descended from the Bretons, of Barwell, and on the mother's side from the Bassingtons, of Temple Rothley, in Leicestershire, being the son > of Nich. Breton, of Norton, near Daventry. He died possessed of this estate, and was buried in this church. His great-grandson M. Breton, esq. afterwards of Kennington-house, (fn. 5) alienated both manor and seat to Robert Lacy, esq. who resided at Elmes, where he served the office of sheriff in the year 1739, and he died possessed of them about the year 1746; upon which they came to his son-in-law Granado Piggott, esq. who in 1749 passed them away to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, who died in 1757, leaving two sons, Phineas, of whom hereafter; and George, of Canterbury. Phineas, the eldest son, is of Dover, and married the daughter of Mr. Richard Rouse, of Dover, by whom he has an only daughter and heir, married to Mr. Edward Broadrip, gent. of Dover. He bears for his arms, Per chevron, or, and sable, in chief, two eagles displayed of the second; in base, a fleur de lis of the first. He succeeded his father in this manor and seat, and is the present owner of them.
A court baron is held for this manor, the boundaries of which, as I am informed, begin at High-cliff, from whence they extend along the coast, to a place called Jews-gut, and there leaving the cliff, on towards Capel, whence including West Hougham, they go down to the Elmes, and the land of Dover priory.
THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM-COURT, alias NORTHCOURT, which latter name it took from its situation in regard to the former described manor of South court, was comprehended as part of those lands which, as has been mentioned before, were given to Fulbert de Dover, and with other lands made up the barony of Fobert, of which it was held afterwards by knight's service, by the family of Basing, of eminent account in the city of London during the reigns of king John and king Henry III. for the high offices of trust which they bore in it. At length Sir Thomas de Basing succeeding to this manor, he alienated it to Adam Sare, whose heirs were in the possession of it in the 20th year of king Edward III. How it passed afterwards, I have not found, till the beginning of king Henry VI.'s reign, when it was alienated to Clive, commonly called Cliffe, a family of good account in the counties of Salop and and Essex; from whence, at the latter end of that reign, it passed by sale to William Hextal, esq. of East Peckham. One of his daughters and coheirs Margaret, entitled her husband Wm. Whetenhall, esq. commonly called Whetnall, citizen and alderman of London, to it. (fn. 6) His descendant William Whetenhall about the middle of king Henry VIII.'s reign sold it to John Boys, esq. of Fredville, in whose descendants it continued down to Major John Boys, of Fredville, who possessed it in 1656.
Before his death he alienated this manor; but now it passed afterwards I have not learned, only that it became vested in the name of Woodroofe; and in the year 1720, William Woodroofe, clerk, of Cambridgeshire, sold one moiety of it to John Walker, citizen and draper, of London, who passed it away to Francis Cabot, and he, at his death in 1753, devised it to his widow Barbara, as she did to her father Mr. Robert Cooper, of Salisbury, and her brother in law William Barnes. In 1786, this moiety was in possession of Robert, son of the above-mentioned Robert Cooper, and of Anne Barnes, and they joined in the sale of it to Mr. Michael Becker, of Dover, who in 1792 sold it to Mr. Philip Leman, of Dover castle, the present owner of it.
The other moiety continued afterwards in the descendants of William Woodroofe above-mentioned down to the Rev. Mr. Woodroofe, of Shoreham, in this county, the present possessor of it; so that this manor remains in undivided moieties at this time.
There is no court held for this manor; to it is annexed the right to wreck of the sea along the coast, from High cliff to Archcliff fort.
SIBERTON, alias SIBERSTON, is a manor in the north-east part of this parish, which made likewise part of the barony of Fobert before-mentioned, of which it was held by knight's service. John de Herste held this manor in the 2d year of king John, and in the 20th year of king Edward III. the heirs of another John de Herst held it by the description of lands in Siberston, of the barony of Chilham, by the like service, and the payment of ward to Dover castle; not long after which it appears to have been in the possession of a family who took their surname from it, one of whom, Richard de Siberston, as appeared by an old dateless deed of that time, demised it to John Monins, in whose descendants it continued down to Edward Monins, esq. of Waldershare, whose lands were disgavelled by the act of the 2d and 3d Edward VI. He died possessed of it in the 6th year of that reign, and by his will gave this manor of Seberston, to his second son George Monins, and he sold it to Thomas Pepper, jurat of Dover, who dying in the 17th year of queen Elizabeth, gave it to Thomas, son of Richard Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign alienated it to Moulton, of Redriff, in whose descendants it remained at the time of the restoration of king Charles II. 1660, after which it was alienated, after some intermediate owners, to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, whose son, of the same name, is the present possessor of it.
But this manor, by unity of possessionhas for some year since been so blended with that of Hougham, otherwise called the Elmes, above described, that it is now accounted one and the same manor.
THE TITHES of the manor of Siberston, lying in Elms bottom, in this parish, were part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, in Dover, and continued so till the dissolution of it in the 27th year of Henry VIII. when this portion of tithes, among the rest of the possessions of the priory, came into the king's hands, who granted it with the scite and other possessions of the priory, in his 29th year, to the archbishop in exchange, in manner as has been already frequently mentioned before, in which state it has continued ever since, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of it. John Monins, esq. of Canterbury, is the present lessee of it.
FARTHINGLOE, alias VENSON DANE, is another manor in this parish, which was antiently part of the possessions of the canons of St. Martin, under the general title of whose possessions it is thus entered in the survey of Domesday:
In Beusberg hundred. In Ferlingelai, William the son of Ganfrid holds one suling, and there he has in demesne one carucate, and four villeins, with one carucate. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, six pounds. Sired held it as a prebend.
And immediately following, under the title of the same possessions:
In Hicham, Balduin holds one suling, and there he has four villeins, and five borderers, with two carucates. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, one hundred shillings. Eduuin holds it.
As the canons of St. Martin's priory had other possessions in this parish, besides the manor of Farthingloe, the latter entry no doubt contains the description of them, and includes their estate here, called Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, mentioned below, which together with the manor of Farthingloe, remained parcel of the possessions of the above priory, till the final suppression of it in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when they both came into the king's hands, who granted them in his 29th year to the archbishop in exchange, as has been already more particularly mentioned before; since which this manor of Farthingloe, with the estate of Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, has remained parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of them. The interest of the present lease is vested in the widow of Mr. Nath. Walker, deceased, and Mr. John Marsh (the present occupier); the former possessing the lands, and the latter the great tithes, for their respective shares.
This estate is exempted from the payment of the great or corn tithes. There is not any court held for this manor.
The manor of Farthingloe was held of the prior and canons in king Henry III.'s time, by a family, who from their residence at it, took their surname from it. One of them, Matilda de Farthingloe, is mentioned by Prynne, anno 44 Henry III.
MAXTON, or Maxton court, is another manor situated in this parish, at no great distance from Farthingloe, which in king Henry III.'s reign, as appears by the book of knights fees kept in the king's remembrancer's office, was in the possession of Stephen Manekyn, who held it by knight's service of the barony of Fobert, and together with other lands elsewhere made up that barony, and were given for the desence of Dover castle. After this it seems to have been divided into moieties, and to have been held by Richard Walsham, and Alice, daughter of Stephen Manekin, who alienated the whole of it to William, son of Nicholas Archer, of Dover, whose seal was, A stag's head, caboshed, as appears by a deed in the Surrenden library, dated anno 17 Edward III. His son William Archer, in the 21st year of the next reign of king Richard II. passed it away by sale to John Alkham, of Alkham, a family of good estate in this neighbourhood, in the descendants of which this manor remained for some time; but at the latter end of king Edward IV. it was become the property of Roger Appleton, from whom it passed to Hobday, and thence to Harman, of Crayford, from which name it was sold by Thomas Harman to Sir James Hales, who at or about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign alienated it to Andrews, of Dover, who some few years afterwards sold it to Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign conveyed it to Sir Thomas Wilford, of IIden, who in king Charles I.'s reign passed it away to Mr. William Richards, of Dover, whose descendant of the same name, devised it to his nephew John Sladden, of Dover, merchant, as he did to his sister Mary, who carried it in marriage to Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover, whose trustees, after his death, to perform the uses of her will, sold it in 1783 to Tho. Biggs, esq. of Dover, the present owner of it, who has much improved the mansion of this manor, by making several additional buildings to it. A court baron is held for this manor.
Charities.
THOMAS PEPPER, jurat of Dover, by his will in 1574, de vised to the poor within the parishes of our Lady of Dover and Hougham, one annuity of 40s to be distributed equally between them, issuing out of his manor of Syberstone, and the lands belonging to it, with power to distrain, &c. now vested in Phineas Stringer, esq. and the money is distributed to such as do not receive weekly allowance of the parish.
There is a house divided into two small dwellings, inhabited by two persons placed there by the churchwardens and overseers of the poor; but how it came to the parish is not known.
The poor constantly maintained are about twenty-five, casually fifteen.
HOUGHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Laurence, is an ancient building, but small, consisting of two small isles and a chancel, having neither tower nor steeple, but it has a place for three small bells. In the chancel lie buried several of the families of Hougham and Malmaines; the brasses of whose stones have been long since torn off, though the lines of their portraitures still remain. In the chancel is a monument for Wm. Fyneux, esq. son of Robert. He died in 1587; arms, Vert, a chevron, between three eagles displayed, or, crowned, gules, impaling Warren, azure, a cross, or; in the first and fourth quarters, a martlet; in the second and third, a chaplet of the second. Another for Peter Nepeau, gent. who lies buried in a vault underneath; he built and resided at the Elmes, in this parish, still continuing the trade of a merchant; he died in 1658. William, his only surviving son, married Sarah, daughter of Mr. Bulteel, of Tournay, in Flanders, who was also buried in this chancel. His youngest son William succeeded to the Elmes, which he sold, and settled at Twickenham; he died in 1710; arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Another for Robert Breton, esq he died in 1707; arms, Azure, a bend between six mullets, pierced, or. And for William Hannington, esq. who married a daughter of William Monings, lieutenant-governor of Dover-castle; he died in 1607.
¶This church was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, to which it was appropriated by archbishop Stratford, in 1345, and a vicarage endowed in it, (fn. 7) both which were at the suppression, in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. granted with the scite of the priory and other possessions of it in the exchange to the archbishop, with a reservation of the antient pension from the prior of forty shillings to the vicar, in manner as has been frequently more particularly mentioned before. In which state they now continue, his grace the archbishop being possessed of the appropriation of this church, with the advowson of the vicarage of it. The parsonage is called Little Hougham court, which with the tithes are held under the archbishop by Mr. Thomas Walker, of Dover. The glebe land is ninety acres.
In 1588 here were one hundred and twenty communicants, and it was valued at forty pounds per annum. This vicarage is valued in the king's books at 6l. 13s. 4d. Archbishop Juxon, anno 14 Charles II. augmented this vicarage with twenty-five pounds, to be paid by the lessee of the great tithes, which was again confirmed anno 22 of that reign. The vicar still receives the antient pension of forty shillings from the archbishop. It is now a discharged living of about the clear yearly value of forty-six pounds.
First of all, I see from the Church of England website, the dedication is Laurence rather than Lawrence, so will correct my previous shots.
And with St Laurence, I have completed the listed churches in the Dover Deanery, a task that has taken some seven and a half years, and in which I have been frustrated by three churches that remained locked to me. But thanks to the internet and requesting access, I did finally get inside Whitfield, Preston and Betteshanger and cross them off the list.
I did see inside Hougham too, about 15 months ago during the Heritage Weekend, but found that the parish had arranged a festival to take place art the same time, and the inside was covered in quilts and carpets.
Of course.
St Laurence is situated on a down between Dover and Capel, and the village is dominated by the TV mast which beams us all TV and radio in the area. You approach the village up steep and narrow lanes from the Old Folkestone Road, or from River in Dover, and the church itself is in the middle of Church Hougham, down a dead end lane.
Unlike on previous visits, the door was unlocked so I dd not have to find a keyholder. The lightswitch beside the door lit just a single bulb above the doorway to the porch, but on a bright winter day, the church was full enough with light.
It was clear that the south wall of the chancel is leaning out at an alarming angle, but in fairly recent times, a buttress has been built to save it from falling.
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In its day this must have been a magnificent church. Its day would have been during the period 1100 to 1150, for a large building was constructed at this time. Even today the remains are impressive. As in many east Kent churches there is no chancel arch. There is a tremendous lean to the south chancel wall. It also shows the blocked arcade to a former south chapel. The north chapel has an impressive east window in Early English style which was copied by the Victorians when they replaced the chancel east window, and for once it is possible to compare the Victorian and medieval work almost side by side. While nineteenth-century windows are fine elsewhere in the church this juxta-position at Hougham clearly demonstrates the superiority of the medieval work. By far the most interesting feature at Hougham is the tower. The arch from the nave is particularly lofty and leads into an extremely tall and spacious chamber which can best be described as cavern-like.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Hougham
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OR Huffam, as it is called, and frequently written in Domesday, Hicham, being so denominated from its high situation, lies the next parish eastward from Polton. Part of it only is within this hundred of Bewsborough; another part is within the hundred of Folkestone; and the residue is within the jurisdiction of the cinque ports, and of the corporation of the town and port of Dover. A borsholder, for that part of this parish which is within the hundred of Bewsborough, is chosen at the court leet of the hundred.
THE PARISH of Hougham lies among the high eastern hills of Kent, in a healthy though a very rude and wild country. In the midst of it are two streets, called Church Hougham, and East Hougham; in the former of which the church stands, and at the south-west part of it, a hamlet called West Hougham. Great part of this parish is full of small inclosures, interspersed with frequent coppice wood, and much rough ground. The soil is but poor and barren, consisting of either chalk or a red earth, covered with a rotten slint stone, with which the narrow roads here abound. Towards the eastern part of it the ground lies high, being an open uninclosed down, across which the high road leads from Folkestone to Dover, quite to the sea-shore, over which the chalk cliffs here rise to a great height; from hence there is a most beautiful prospect over the channel, and the Bologne hills on the coast of France. Near the bottom of these cliffs are three holes, called Lydden Spouts, through which the subterraneous waters empty themselves continually on the beach of the shore; and the belief of the country is, that the waters of the Nailborne, at Drelingore, in Alkham, at least four miles distant, communicate subterraneously with these spouts, which increase as the springs heighten by wind and weather. Over these spouts, in the middle of the cliff, are two large square rooms cut out of the chalk, one within the other; they are called the Coining-house, and have a very difficult way to come at them, the cliff here being upwards of four hundred feet high.
When the plague raged in London in the year 1665, it was brought to Dover, and great numbers died there of the pestilence in that and the following years, for the burial of whom a piece of ground was bought in this parish, on the side of the hill fronting the pier fort, and consecrated for that purpose. It is computed that upwards of nine hundred of those who died of this pestilence were buried in it, since which it has been constantly known by the name of the Graves.
Henry Benger, gent. was of Hougham, and resided here anno 1619, and descended from John Benger, of Maningford, in Wiltshire. They bore for their arms, Or, a cross vert, surmounted by a bendlet, gules. (fn. 1)
THE PARISH OF HOUGHAM was part of those lands which were given to Fulbert de Dover, for the desence of Dover castle, (fn. 2) which made up together the barony of Fulbert, or Fobert, as it was usually called, being held in capite by barony, of which Chilham became the chief seat, or caput baroniæof which this place, as appears by the book of Dover castle, was afterwards held by knight's service. Among these lands was included THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM, otherwise called THE ELMES, at times called by the names of Great Hougham, alias Chilverton; and likewise Southcourt, from its situation in regard to the manor of Northcourt, alias Little Hougham, in this parish.
This manor was held in manner as above-mentioned by a family who took their surname of Hougham from it. This family bore for their arms, Argent, five chevronels, sable; which Philipott (fn. 3) says they bore in allusion to those of their superior lords, of whom they held lands, the Averenches, or Albrincis, lords of the barony of Folkestone, whose arms were, Or, five chevronels, gulesFrom this family of Hougham descended those of Weddington, in Ash, near Sandwich, now extinct; and from the latter collaterally, those now of St. Paul's near Canterbury. One of the above mentioned family, Robert de Hougham, held it in king Richard I.'s reign, and was present with that king at the siege of Acon, in Palestine. At length his descendant Robert de Hougham, leaving two daughters his coheirs, of whom Benedicta was married to John de Shelving, and the other to Waretius de Valoignes, the latter became entitled to this manor, on the share of his wife's inheritance; and in the 14th year of king Edward III. obtained a charter of free-warren for this manor of Hougham. He left two daughters his coheirs, one of whom married Sir Francis Fogge; the other Maud, married Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, who in her right became possessed of this manor.
Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, as the name was afterwards written, died possessed of this manor in the 35th year of the above reign; but it should seem that he had no further interest in it but for his life, for Maud his wife before her death had infeoffed William Tapaline and others in this manor, and they passed it away to Stephen, Richard, and John de Combe, the latter of whom was of Hastingligh, and afterwards became sole possessor of it. He conveyed this manor in the 10th year of king Richard II. in trust to sell it; after which it came into the name of Heron, in which it remained at the end of king Henry IV.'s reign, and from which it was after some interval alienated to William Fineux, gent. of Swingfield, who had three sons; Sir John Fineux, chief justice of the king's bench, who purchased Haw-house, in Herne, under which, an account of him and his descendants may be seen; William, to whom his father gave this manor of Southcourt; and Richard, who was of Dover. (fn. 4)
William Fineux, who had this manor of Southcourt by gift of his father, resided at Hougham, and dying possessed of it in 1534, s.p. he by his will gave it to William, the eldest son of his brother Richard deceased, who afterwards resided here, and in his direct descendants it continued down to Thomas Fineux, gent. of Dover, who in king Charles II.'s reign passed away this manor to Robert Breton, gent. who resided at the mansion, called the Elmes, in this parish, formerly the residence of the Nepueus, several of whom lie buried in this church, which seat he had purchased of William Nepueu, esq. of Twickenham, the grandson of Peter, the first builder of it, who was a native of France, and came over to England upon the edict of Nantes, and brought with him a considerable property. He died in 1658, and lies buried in Hougham church. They bore for their arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Robert Breton above-mentioned was descended from the Bretons, of Barwell, and on the mother's side from the Bassingtons, of Temple Rothley, in Leicestershire, being the son > of Nich. Breton, of Norton, near Daventry. He died possessed of this estate, and was buried in this church. His great-grandson M. Breton, esq. afterwards of Kennington-house, (fn. 5) alienated both manor and seat to Robert Lacy, esq. who resided at Elmes, where he served the office of sheriff in the year 1739, and he died possessed of them about the year 1746; upon which they came to his son-in-law Granado Piggott, esq. who in 1749 passed them away to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, who died in 1757, leaving two sons, Phineas, of whom hereafter; and George, of Canterbury. Phineas, the eldest son, is of Dover, and married the daughter of Mr. Richard Rouse, of Dover, by whom he has an only daughter and heir, married to Mr. Edward Broadrip, gent. of Dover. He bears for his arms, Per chevron, or, and sable, in chief, two eagles displayed of the second; in base, a fleur de lis of the first. He succeeded his father in this manor and seat, and is the present owner of them.
A court baron is held for this manor, the boundaries of which, as I am informed, begin at High-cliff, from whence they extend along the coast, to a place called Jews-gut, and there leaving the cliff, on towards Capel, whence including West Hougham, they go down to the Elmes, and the land of Dover priory.
THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM-COURT, alias NORTHCOURT, which latter name it took from its situation in regard to the former described manor of South court, was comprehended as part of those lands which, as has been mentioned before, were given to Fulbert de Dover, and with other lands made up the barony of Fobert, of which it was held afterwards by knight's service, by the family of Basing, of eminent account in the city of London during the reigns of king John and king Henry III. for the high offices of trust which they bore in it. At length Sir Thomas de Basing succeeding to this manor, he alienated it to Adam Sare, whose heirs were in the possession of it in the 20th year of king Edward III. How it passed afterwards, I have not found, till the beginning of king Henry VI.'s reign, when it was alienated to Clive, commonly called Cliffe, a family of good account in the counties of Salop and and Essex; from whence, at the latter end of that reign, it passed by sale to William Hextal, esq. of East Peckham. One of his daughters and coheirs Margaret, entitled her husband Wm. Whetenhall, esq. commonly called Whetnall, citizen and alderman of London, to it. (fn. 6) His descendant William Whetenhall about the middle of king Henry VIII.'s reign sold it to John Boys, esq. of Fredville, in whose descendants it continued down to Major John Boys, of Fredville, who possessed it in 1656.
Before his death he alienated this manor; but now it passed afterwards I have not learned, only that it became vested in the name of Woodroofe; and in the year 1720, William Woodroofe, clerk, of Cambridgeshire, sold one moiety of it to John Walker, citizen and draper, of London, who passed it away to Francis Cabot, and he, at his death in 1753, devised it to his widow Barbara, as she did to her father Mr. Robert Cooper, of Salisbury, and her brother in law William Barnes. In 1786, this moiety was in possession of Robert, son of the above-mentioned Robert Cooper, and of Anne Barnes, and they joined in the sale of it to Mr. Michael Becker, of Dover, who in 1792 sold it to Mr. Philip Leman, of Dover castle, the present owner of it.
The other moiety continued afterwards in the descendants of William Woodroofe above-mentioned down to the Rev. Mr. Woodroofe, of Shoreham, in this county, the present possessor of it; so that this manor remains in undivided moieties at this time.
There is no court held for this manor; to it is annexed the right to wreck of the sea along the coast, from High cliff to Archcliff fort.
SIBERTON, alias SIBERSTON, is a manor in the north-east part of this parish, which made likewise part of the barony of Fobert before-mentioned, of which it was held by knight's service. John de Herste held this manor in the 2d year of king John, and in the 20th year of king Edward III. the heirs of another John de Herst held it by the description of lands in Siberston, of the barony of Chilham, by the like service, and the payment of ward to Dover castle; not long after which it appears to have been in the possession of a family who took their surname from it, one of whom, Richard de Siberston, as appeared by an old dateless deed of that time, demised it to John Monins, in whose descendants it continued down to Edward Monins, esq. of Waldershare, whose lands were disgavelled by the act of the 2d and 3d Edward VI. He died possessed of it in the 6th year of that reign, and by his will gave this manor of Seberston, to his second son George Monins, and he sold it to Thomas Pepper, jurat of Dover, who dying in the 17th year of queen Elizabeth, gave it to Thomas, son of Richard Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign alienated it to Moulton, of Redriff, in whose descendants it remained at the time of the restoration of king Charles II. 1660, after which it was alienated, after some intermediate owners, to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, whose son, of the same name, is the present possessor of it.
But this manor, by unity of possessionhas for some year since been so blended with that of Hougham, otherwise called the Elmes, above described, that it is now accounted one and the same manor.
THE TITHES of the manor of Siberston, lying in Elms bottom, in this parish, were part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, in Dover, and continued so till the dissolution of it in the 27th year of Henry VIII. when this portion of tithes, among the rest of the possessions of the priory, came into the king's hands, who granted it with the scite and other possessions of the priory, in his 29th year, to the archbishop in exchange, in manner as has been already frequently mentioned before, in which state it has continued ever since, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of it. John Monins, esq. of Canterbury, is the present lessee of it.
FARTHINGLOE, alias VENSON DANE, is another manor in this parish, which was antiently part of the possessions of the canons of St. Martin, under the general title of whose possessions it is thus entered in the survey of Domesday:
In Beusberg hundred. In Ferlingelai, William the son of Ganfrid holds one suling, and there he has in demesne one carucate, and four villeins, with one carucate. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, six pounds. Sired held it as a prebend.
And immediately following, under the title of the same possessions:
In Hicham, Balduin holds one suling, and there he has four villeins, and five borderers, with two carucates. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, one hundred shillings. Eduuin holds it.
As the canons of St. Martin's priory had other possessions in this parish, besides the manor of Farthingloe, the latter entry no doubt contains the description of them, and includes their estate here, called Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, mentioned below, which together with the manor of Farthingloe, remained parcel of the possessions of the above priory, till the final suppression of it in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when they both came into the king's hands, who granted them in his 29th year to the archbishop in exchange, as has been already more particularly mentioned before; since which this manor of Farthingloe, with the estate of Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, has remained parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of them. The interest of the present lease is vested in the widow of Mr. Nath. Walker, deceased, and Mr. John Marsh (the present occupier); the former possessing the lands, and the latter the great tithes, for their respective shares.
This estate is exempted from the payment of the great or corn tithes. There is not any court held for this manor.
The manor of Farthingloe was held of the prior and canons in king Henry III.'s time, by a family, who from their residence at it, took their surname from it. One of them, Matilda de Farthingloe, is mentioned by Prynne, anno 44 Henry III.
MAXTON, or Maxton court, is another manor situated in this parish, at no great distance from Farthingloe, which in king Henry III.'s reign, as appears by the book of knights fees kept in the king's remembrancer's office, was in the possession of Stephen Manekyn, who held it by knight's service of the barony of Fobert, and together with other lands elsewhere made up that barony, and were given for the desence of Dover castle. After this it seems to have been divided into moieties, and to have been held by Richard Walsham, and Alice, daughter of Stephen Manekin, who alienated the whole of it to William, son of Nicholas Archer, of Dover, whose seal was, A stag's head, caboshed, as appears by a deed in the Surrenden library, dated anno 17 Edward III. His son William Archer, in the 21st year of the next reign of king Richard II. passed it away by sale to John Alkham, of Alkham, a family of good estate in this neighbourhood, in the descendants of which this manor remained for some time; but at the latter end of king Edward IV. it was become the property of Roger Appleton, from whom it passed to Hobday, and thence to Harman, of Crayford, from which name it was sold by Thomas Harman to Sir James Hales, who at or about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign alienated it to Andrews, of Dover, who some few years afterwards sold it to Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign conveyed it to Sir Thomas Wilford, of IIden, who in king Charles I.'s reign passed it away to Mr. William Richards, of Dover, whose descendant of the same name, devised it to his nephew John Sladden, of Dover, merchant, as he did to his sister Mary, who carried it in marriage to Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover, whose trustees, after his death, to perform the uses of her will, sold it in 1783 to Tho. Biggs, esq. of Dover, the present owner of it, who has much improved the mansion of this manor, by making several additional buildings to it. A court baron is held for this manor.
Charities.
THOMAS PEPPER, jurat of Dover, by his will in 1574, de vised to the poor within the parishes of our Lady of Dover and Hougham, one annuity of 40s to be distributed equally between them, issuing out of his manor of Syberstone, and the lands belonging to it, with power to distrain, &c. now vested in Phineas Stringer, esq. and the money is distributed to such as do not receive weekly allowance of the parish.
There is a house divided into two small dwellings, inhabited by two persons placed there by the churchwardens and overseers of the poor; but how it came to the parish is not known.
The poor constantly maintained are about twenty-five, casually fifteen.
HOUGHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Laurence, is an ancient building, but small, consisting of two small isles and a chancel, having neither tower nor steeple, but it has a place for three small bells. In the chancel lie buried several of the families of Hougham and Malmaines; the brasses of whose stones have been long since torn off, though the lines of their portraitures still remain. In the chancel is a monument for Wm. Fyneux, esq. son of Robert. He died in 1587; arms, Vert, a chevron, between three eagles displayed, or, crowned, gules, impaling Warren, azure, a cross, or; in the first and fourth quarters, a martlet; in the second and third, a chaplet of the second. Another for Peter Nepeau, gent. who lies buried in a vault underneath; he built and resided at the Elmes, in this parish, still continuing the trade of a merchant; he died in 1658. William, his only surviving son, married Sarah, daughter of Mr. Bulteel, of Tournay, in Flanders, who was also buried in this chancel. His youngest son William succeeded to the Elmes, which he sold, and settled at Twickenham; he died in 1710; arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Another for Robert Breton, esq he died in 1707; arms, Azure, a bend between six mullets, pierced, or. And for William Hannington, esq. who married a daughter of William Monings, lieutenant-governor of Dover-castle; he died in 1607.
¶This church was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, to which it was appropriated by archbishop Stratford, in 1345, and a vicarage endowed in it, (fn. 7) both which were at the suppression, in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. granted with the scite of the priory and other possessions of it in the exchange to the archbishop, with a reservation of the antient pension from the prior of forty shillings to the vicar, in manner as has been frequently more particularly mentioned before. In which state they now continue, his grace the archbishop being possessed of the appropriation of this church, with the advowson of the vicarage of it. The parsonage is called Little Hougham court, which with the tithes are held under the archbishop by Mr. Thomas Walker, of Dover. The glebe land is ninety acres.
In 1588 here were one hundred and twenty communicants, and it was valued at forty pounds per annum. This vicarage is valued in the king's books at 6l. 13s. 4d. Archbishop Juxon, anno 14 Charles II. augmented this vicarage with twenty-five pounds, to be paid by the lessee of the great tithes, which was again confirmed anno 22 of that reign. The vicar still receives the antient pension of forty shillings from the archbishop. It is now a discharged living of about the clear yearly value of forty-six pounds.
Back across to the other side of Faversham, past a fellow orchid fanatic friend's house and out onto the marshes once again. And just when you think you have taken the wrong turn and run out of road, to the left you see the simple bellcote.
The approach to St Bartholomew's is down a long track, and the church is hudden behind a line of trees, so you really don't know what to expect.
The church seems surrounded by it's neighbouring farm, and the simple bellcote is currently supported by scaffolding. A simple two cell church with a large porch added at some point, and as expected from its rural location, a rustic church.
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Goodnestone was never the centre of a large population. Court and Church stood on slightly rising ground above the marshes of the River Swale, adjacent to the wealthier parish of Graveney whose church grew to outshine this `poor relation`. Today Goodnestone`s lack of prestige in the medieval period is cause for celebration as its simple two cell Norman construction is largely unaltered, other than for some enlarged windows and rebuilt chancel arch. The staircase that formerly lead to the Rood Loft remains in the north wall although this goes almost unnoticed as the visitor's eye is drawn to the simple Decorated window in the east wall. This is filled with stained glass produced by one of the most famous early nineteenth century practitioners in the newly rediscovered art, Thomas Willement. He lived just outside Faversham and many local churches have examples of his work. This is one of his better designs where scale, colour and technique combine to make something that is eminently suitable for its location. Nave, chancel, north porch, west belfry.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Goodnestone+1
IES the next parish eastward from Preston, and is the last to be described in this hundred. It should seem by its name once to have belonged to Godwin, earl of Kent, being termed in antient writings Goodwinstune, i. e. Godwin's town, or village.
It is a very small parish, lying on the north side of the high London road, at the 48th mile-stone, about half a mile's distance from it. The village and church are situated in the middle of the parish, which does not extend more than half a mile from them each way. It lies low in a flat and open country, and from its nearness and exposure to the marshes, very unhealthy, the lands in it are exceeding rich and fertile, like those in the same tract in Faversham and Preston described before, the fields are very level, large, and but little encumbered with trees or hedge-rows, what trees there are are elm, and there is no woodland.
A fair is held yearly on Sept. 26, for toys, pedlary, &c.
THIS PLACE was held in the reign of Henry III. by Simon de Turville, of the earl of Leicester, as lord paramount, who held it again of the king in capite by knight's service. (fn. 1) Of his successor Nicholas de Turville this estate was again held in the reign of king Edward II. by one of the family of Chiche, which had been seated at the Dungeon in Canterbury for some generations, in which city they were of eminent account, being possessed of the fee of the aldermanry of Burgate there.
In the 20th year of king Edward III. Thomas Chiche, of the Dungeon, paid respective aid for the manor of Goodneston, then held by knight's service. Thomas Chiche, his son, was sheriff of Kent in the 15th year of Richard II. and was grandfather of Valentine Chiche, esq. of the Dungeon, who left three daughters his coheirs; Margaret, first married to Clovill, of Essex, and secondly to John Judde, of Tunbridge; Emelyn, to Sir Thomas Kempe; and another married to Martyn, who on their father's death became jointly entitled to this manor. The two former of them alienated their interest in it, about the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign, to Oxenbridge, as the latter did to Pordage, of Rodmersham. Soon after which, the whole property of it, excepting the third part of the advowson of the church of Goodneston, seems to have become vested in the name of Finch, and John Finch having, anno 17 Elizabeth, levied a fine of it, passed it away to Mr. Robert Fagge, descended from the Fagges, of Willesborough. in which parish they held lands so early as the reign of king Edward III. He died possessed of this manor, and was succeeded in it by his son Mr. Edward Fagge, gent of Faversham, who died in 1618, and lies buried in Faversham church, having married Anne, daughter of Richard Theobald, esq. of Seal, widow of Thomas Nevison, esq. of Eastry, by whom he had one son Michael, killed abroad in the Dutch wars, and buried at Utrecht, and two daughters, who became his coheirs, Mary, married to Sir Edward Partrich, of Bridge, whose first wife she was, and Anne, to Sir John Proude, being his second wife. The former died without issue, and the latter left by Sir John Proude, who was killed in 1628, at the siege of Groll, in Guelderland, being in the service of the states of Holland against the Spaniards, one son Edward, and a daughter Anne, who on the death of her brother without issue became entitled to this manor. The Proudes bore for their arms, Azure, three otters in pale, or, each holding in its mouth a fish, argent. (fn. 2) Many of of this family lie buried in St. Alphage's church, in Canterbury, where they resided for several generations. Anne Proude above-mentioned first married Sir William Springate, and afterwards Mr. Isaac Pennington, eldest son of Sir Isaac Pennington, lord-mayor in 1643, a most atrocious republican, who bore for his arms, Argent, five fusils in fess, azure, (fn. 3) who in her right became possessed of this manor, which continued in his descendants till at length Mr. Pennington, of Philadelphia, becoming entitled to it, conveyed it by sale, about the year 1748, to Michael Lade, gent: of Canterbury, who was descended of a family originally spelt both Lad and Ladd, who were of good antiquity in this county, in several parts of which they were possessed of lands as early as Edward the 1st.'s reign, which still bear their name. In king Edward the IVth.'s reign a branch of them was settled at Elham, one of them, John Ladd, of that place, died in 1527, whose youngest son Thomas settled at Barham, where many of his descendants lie buried. His grandson Vincent Lad, for so he spelt his name, died in 1625, leaving several sons, of whom Robert the eldest, who first spelt his name Lade, was of Gray's-inn a barrister-at-law, and recorder of Canterbury, to whom Segar, garter, granted the arms of Argent, a fess, wavy, between three escallops, sable. He was ancestor of the Lades, of Boughton, as Thomas, a younger son, was of the Lades, of Warbleton, in Sussex, from whom Sir John Lade, who was created a baronet in 1730, and the present Sir John Lade, bart. are descended. The former of whom still bear the above coat of arms, but the latter have changed the field for distinction, to or.
Michael Lade, the purchaser of this estate as before-mentioned, afterwards retired to Faversham, where he died in 1778, and was buried in BoughtonBlean church. He left two sons, John, of whom hereafter; and Michael, barrister-at-law, who married Sophia, lady dowager Cranston; and one daughter Elizabeth, married to Mr. Benjamin Browne. John Lade, esq. of Boughton-Blean and Canterbury, the eldest son, is the present possessor of the manor of Goodneston, and married Hester, sole daughter and heir of Mr. Hills Hobday, gent. of Faversham. She died in 1778, by whom he has three sons, John Hobday, now an officer in the militia; William, A. M. and rector of Knolton; and Charles, late an officer in the army; and one daughter Hester, married to William Stacey Coast, esq. now of Sevenoke.
A court baron is held for this manor.
There are no parochial charities. The poor constantly relieved are four, casually not more than one or two at most.
GOODNESTON is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Ospringe.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Bartholomew, consists of one isle and a chancel, with a small wooden spire at the west end, in which there is one bell. In the porch lies buried William Benet, rector of this church, 1490.
It appears by the Tower records of 1279, anno 8 Edward I. that Richard le Dagh, and Eleanor his wife, sold their lands here, and the advowson of the church, to Stephen Chiche, citizen of Canterbury, with a part of Blean wood, and some land lying below it. (fn. 4)
¶After which the patronage of it seems to have sollowed the like succession of owners that the manor did, till the reign of queen Elizabeth, when it became vested with it in Judde, Kempe, and Martyn; at the latter end of which, the two turns of presentation to it, which had belonged to the two former, became vested in Fagg, and the third turn in the Pordages, of Rodmersham, successors to the Martyns at Graveney-court; in which state they continued in 1640. In 1678 the Penningtons, owners of the manor, possessed two turns, and the Whites, of Vintners, in Box ley, who had become possessors of Graveney court, the other turn, from which name it passed to that of Blaxland, of Graveney-court, where it still continues. But the two turns belonging to Pennington were sold with the manor, about the year 1748, to Michael Lade, gent. of Faversham, whose son John Lade, esq. of Boughton, owner of Goodneston manor, is at this time entitled to them.
This church is a rectory, and a discharged living in the king's books, of the clear yearly certified value of thirty pounds, the yearly tenths of which are 10s. 3d.
In 1578 there were communicants here thirty-three; in 1640 twenty-four only, the value of it being then forty pounds per annum.
This rectory is endowed with all tithes whatsoever. There is a house and three acres of glebe land belonging to it.
An acre of land, called the Church Acre, belongs to the church, but it is not known who gave it.
First of all, I see from the Church of England website, the dedication is Laurence rather than Lawrence, so will correct my previous shots.
And with St Laurence, I have completed the listed churches in the Dover Deanery, a task that has taken some seven and a half years, and in which I have been frustrated by three churches that remained locked to me. But thanks to the internet and requesting access, I did finally get inside Whitfield, Preston and Betteshanger and cross them off the list.
I did see inside Hougham too, about 15 months ago during the Heritage Weekend, but found that the parish had arranged a festival to take place art the same time, and the inside was covered in quilts and carpets.
Of course.
St Laurence is situated on a down between Dover and Capel, and the village is dominated by the TV mast which beams us all TV and radio in the area. You approach the village up steep and narrow lanes from the Old Folkestone Road, or from River in Dover, and the church itself is in the middle of Church Hougham, down a dead end lane.
Unlike on previous visits, the door was unlocked so I dd not have to find a keyholder. The lightswitch beside the door lit just a single bulb above the doorway to the porch, but on a bright winter day, the church was full enough with light.
It was clear that the south wall of the chancel is leaning out at an alarming angle, but in fairly recent times, a buttress has been built to save it from falling.
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In its day this must have been a magnificent church. Its day would have been during the period 1100 to 1150, for a large building was constructed at this time. Even today the remains are impressive. As in many east Kent churches there is no chancel arch. There is a tremendous lean to the south chancel wall. It also shows the blocked arcade to a former south chapel. The north chapel has an impressive east window in Early English style which was copied by the Victorians when they replaced the chancel east window, and for once it is possible to compare the Victorian and medieval work almost side by side. While nineteenth-century windows are fine elsewhere in the church this juxta-position at Hougham clearly demonstrates the superiority of the medieval work. By far the most interesting feature at Hougham is the tower. The arch from the nave is particularly lofty and leads into an extremely tall and spacious chamber which can best be described as cavern-like.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Hougham
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OR Huffam, as it is called, and frequently written in Domesday, Hicham, being so denominated from its high situation, lies the next parish eastward from Polton. Part of it only is within this hundred of Bewsborough; another part is within the hundred of Folkestone; and the residue is within the jurisdiction of the cinque ports, and of the corporation of the town and port of Dover. A borsholder, for that part of this parish which is within the hundred of Bewsborough, is chosen at the court leet of the hundred.
THE PARISH of Hougham lies among the high eastern hills of Kent, in a healthy though a very rude and wild country. In the midst of it are two streets, called Church Hougham, and East Hougham; in the former of which the church stands, and at the south-west part of it, a hamlet called West Hougham. Great part of this parish is full of small inclosures, interspersed with frequent coppice wood, and much rough ground. The soil is but poor and barren, consisting of either chalk or a red earth, covered with a rotten slint stone, with which the narrow roads here abound. Towards the eastern part of it the ground lies high, being an open uninclosed down, across which the high road leads from Folkestone to Dover, quite to the sea-shore, over which the chalk cliffs here rise to a great height; from hence there is a most beautiful prospect over the channel, and the Bologne hills on the coast of France. Near the bottom of these cliffs are three holes, called Lydden Spouts, through which the subterraneous waters empty themselves continually on the beach of the shore; and the belief of the country is, that the waters of the Nailborne, at Drelingore, in Alkham, at least four miles distant, communicate subterraneously with these spouts, which increase as the springs heighten by wind and weather. Over these spouts, in the middle of the cliff, are two large square rooms cut out of the chalk, one within the other; they are called the Coining-house, and have a very difficult way to come at them, the cliff here being upwards of four hundred feet high.
When the plague raged in London in the year 1665, it was brought to Dover, and great numbers died there of the pestilence in that and the following years, for the burial of whom a piece of ground was bought in this parish, on the side of the hill fronting the pier fort, and consecrated for that purpose. It is computed that upwards of nine hundred of those who died of this pestilence were buried in it, since which it has been constantly known by the name of the Graves.
Henry Benger, gent. was of Hougham, and resided here anno 1619, and descended from John Benger, of Maningford, in Wiltshire. They bore for their arms, Or, a cross vert, surmounted by a bendlet, gules. (fn. 1)
THE PARISH OF HOUGHAM was part of those lands which were given to Fulbert de Dover, for the desence of Dover castle, (fn. 2) which made up together the barony of Fulbert, or Fobert, as it was usually called, being held in capite by barony, of which Chilham became the chief seat, or caput baroniæof which this place, as appears by the book of Dover castle, was afterwards held by knight's service. Among these lands was included THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM, otherwise called THE ELMES, at times called by the names of Great Hougham, alias Chilverton; and likewise Southcourt, from its situation in regard to the manor of Northcourt, alias Little Hougham, in this parish.
This manor was held in manner as above-mentioned by a family who took their surname of Hougham from it. This family bore for their arms, Argent, five chevronels, sable; which Philipott (fn. 3) says they bore in allusion to those of their superior lords, of whom they held lands, the Averenches, or Albrincis, lords of the barony of Folkestone, whose arms were, Or, five chevronels, gulesFrom this family of Hougham descended those of Weddington, in Ash, near Sandwich, now extinct; and from the latter collaterally, those now of St. Paul's near Canterbury. One of the above mentioned family, Robert de Hougham, held it in king Richard I.'s reign, and was present with that king at the siege of Acon, in Palestine. At length his descendant Robert de Hougham, leaving two daughters his coheirs, of whom Benedicta was married to John de Shelving, and the other to Waretius de Valoignes, the latter became entitled to this manor, on the share of his wife's inheritance; and in the 14th year of king Edward III. obtained a charter of free-warren for this manor of Hougham. He left two daughters his coheirs, one of whom married Sir Francis Fogge; the other Maud, married Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, who in her right became possessed of this manor.
Thomas de Aldelyn, or Aldon, as the name was afterwards written, died possessed of this manor in the 35th year of the above reign; but it should seem that he had no further interest in it but for his life, for Maud his wife before her death had infeoffed William Tapaline and others in this manor, and they passed it away to Stephen, Richard, and John de Combe, the latter of whom was of Hastingligh, and afterwards became sole possessor of it. He conveyed this manor in the 10th year of king Richard II. in trust to sell it; after which it came into the name of Heron, in which it remained at the end of king Henry IV.'s reign, and from which it was after some interval alienated to William Fineux, gent. of Swingfield, who had three sons; Sir John Fineux, chief justice of the king's bench, who purchased Haw-house, in Herne, under which, an account of him and his descendants may be seen; William, to whom his father gave this manor of Southcourt; and Richard, who was of Dover. (fn. 4)
William Fineux, who had this manor of Southcourt by gift of his father, resided at Hougham, and dying possessed of it in 1534, s.p. he by his will gave it to William, the eldest son of his brother Richard deceased, who afterwards resided here, and in his direct descendants it continued down to Thomas Fineux, gent. of Dover, who in king Charles II.'s reign passed away this manor to Robert Breton, gent. who resided at the mansion, called the Elmes, in this parish, formerly the residence of the Nepueus, several of whom lie buried in this church, which seat he had purchased of William Nepueu, esq. of Twickenham, the grandson of Peter, the first builder of it, who was a native of France, and came over to England upon the edict of Nantes, and brought with him a considerable property. He died in 1658, and lies buried in Hougham church. They bore for their arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Robert Breton above-mentioned was descended from the Bretons, of Barwell, and on the mother's side from the Bassingtons, of Temple Rothley, in Leicestershire, being the son > of Nich. Breton, of Norton, near Daventry. He died possessed of this estate, and was buried in this church. His great-grandson M. Breton, esq. afterwards of Kennington-house, (fn. 5) alienated both manor and seat to Robert Lacy, esq. who resided at Elmes, where he served the office of sheriff in the year 1739, and he died possessed of them about the year 1746; upon which they came to his son-in-law Granado Piggott, esq. who in 1749 passed them away to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, who died in 1757, leaving two sons, Phineas, of whom hereafter; and George, of Canterbury. Phineas, the eldest son, is of Dover, and married the daughter of Mr. Richard Rouse, of Dover, by whom he has an only daughter and heir, married to Mr. Edward Broadrip, gent. of Dover. He bears for his arms, Per chevron, or, and sable, in chief, two eagles displayed of the second; in base, a fleur de lis of the first. He succeeded his father in this manor and seat, and is the present owner of them.
A court baron is held for this manor, the boundaries of which, as I am informed, begin at High-cliff, from whence they extend along the coast, to a place called Jews-gut, and there leaving the cliff, on towards Capel, whence including West Hougham, they go down to the Elmes, and the land of Dover priory.
THE MANOR OF HOUGHAM-COURT, alias NORTHCOURT, which latter name it took from its situation in regard to the former described manor of South court, was comprehended as part of those lands which, as has been mentioned before, were given to Fulbert de Dover, and with other lands made up the barony of Fobert, of which it was held afterwards by knight's service, by the family of Basing, of eminent account in the city of London during the reigns of king John and king Henry III. for the high offices of trust which they bore in it. At length Sir Thomas de Basing succeeding to this manor, he alienated it to Adam Sare, whose heirs were in the possession of it in the 20th year of king Edward III. How it passed afterwards, I have not found, till the beginning of king Henry VI.'s reign, when it was alienated to Clive, commonly called Cliffe, a family of good account in the counties of Salop and and Essex; from whence, at the latter end of that reign, it passed by sale to William Hextal, esq. of East Peckham. One of his daughters and coheirs Margaret, entitled her husband Wm. Whetenhall, esq. commonly called Whetnall, citizen and alderman of London, to it. (fn. 6) His descendant William Whetenhall about the middle of king Henry VIII.'s reign sold it to John Boys, esq. of Fredville, in whose descendants it continued down to Major John Boys, of Fredville, who possessed it in 1656.
Before his death he alienated this manor; but now it passed afterwards I have not learned, only that it became vested in the name of Woodroofe; and in the year 1720, William Woodroofe, clerk, of Cambridgeshire, sold one moiety of it to John Walker, citizen and draper, of London, who passed it away to Francis Cabot, and he, at his death in 1753, devised it to his widow Barbara, as she did to her father Mr. Robert Cooper, of Salisbury, and her brother in law William Barnes. In 1786, this moiety was in possession of Robert, son of the above-mentioned Robert Cooper, and of Anne Barnes, and they joined in the sale of it to Mr. Michael Becker, of Dover, who in 1792 sold it to Mr. Philip Leman, of Dover castle, the present owner of it.
The other moiety continued afterwards in the descendants of William Woodroofe above-mentioned down to the Rev. Mr. Woodroofe, of Shoreham, in this county, the present possessor of it; so that this manor remains in undivided moieties at this time.
There is no court held for this manor; to it is annexed the right to wreck of the sea along the coast, from High cliff to Archcliff fort.
SIBERTON, alias SIBERSTON, is a manor in the north-east part of this parish, which made likewise part of the barony of Fobert before-mentioned, of which it was held by knight's service. John de Herste held this manor in the 2d year of king John, and in the 20th year of king Edward III. the heirs of another John de Herst held it by the description of lands in Siberston, of the barony of Chilham, by the like service, and the payment of ward to Dover castle; not long after which it appears to have been in the possession of a family who took their surname from it, one of whom, Richard de Siberston, as appeared by an old dateless deed of that time, demised it to John Monins, in whose descendants it continued down to Edward Monins, esq. of Waldershare, whose lands were disgavelled by the act of the 2d and 3d Edward VI. He died possessed of it in the 6th year of that reign, and by his will gave this manor of Seberston, to his second son George Monins, and he sold it to Thomas Pepper, jurat of Dover, who dying in the 17th year of queen Elizabeth, gave it to Thomas, son of Richard Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign alienated it to Moulton, of Redriff, in whose descendants it remained at the time of the restoration of king Charles II. 1660, after which it was alienated, after some intermediate owners, to Mr. Phineas Stringer, of Dover, whose son, of the same name, is the present possessor of it.
But this manor, by unity of possessionhas for some year since been so blended with that of Hougham, otherwise called the Elmes, above described, that it is now accounted one and the same manor.
THE TITHES of the manor of Siberston, lying in Elms bottom, in this parish, were part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, in Dover, and continued so till the dissolution of it in the 27th year of Henry VIII. when this portion of tithes, among the rest of the possessions of the priory, came into the king's hands, who granted it with the scite and other possessions of the priory, in his 29th year, to the archbishop in exchange, in manner as has been already frequently mentioned before, in which state it has continued ever since, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of it. John Monins, esq. of Canterbury, is the present lessee of it.
FARTHINGLOE, alias VENSON DANE, is another manor in this parish, which was antiently part of the possessions of the canons of St. Martin, under the general title of whose possessions it is thus entered in the survey of Domesday:
In Beusberg hundred. In Ferlingelai, William the son of Ganfrid holds one suling, and there he has in demesne one carucate, and four villeins, with one carucate. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, six pounds. Sired held it as a prebend.
And immediately following, under the title of the same possessions:
In Hicham, Balduin holds one suling, and there he has four villeins, and five borderers, with two carucates. It is worth four pounds. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, one hundred shillings. Eduuin holds it.
As the canons of St. Martin's priory had other possessions in this parish, besides the manor of Farthingloe, the latter entry no doubt contains the description of them, and includes their estate here, called Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, mentioned below, which together with the manor of Farthingloe, remained parcel of the possessions of the above priory, till the final suppression of it in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when they both came into the king's hands, who granted them in his 29th year to the archbishop in exchange, as has been already more particularly mentioned before; since which this manor of Farthingloe, with the estate of Venson Dane, alias Wellclose, has remained parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, his grace the archbishop being at this time entitled to the inheritance of them. The interest of the present lease is vested in the widow of Mr. Nath. Walker, deceased, and Mr. John Marsh (the present occupier); the former possessing the lands, and the latter the great tithes, for their respective shares.
This estate is exempted from the payment of the great or corn tithes. There is not any court held for this manor.
The manor of Farthingloe was held of the prior and canons in king Henry III.'s time, by a family, who from their residence at it, took their surname from it. One of them, Matilda de Farthingloe, is mentioned by Prynne, anno 44 Henry III.
MAXTON, or Maxton court, is another manor situated in this parish, at no great distance from Farthingloe, which in king Henry III.'s reign, as appears by the book of knights fees kept in the king's remembrancer's office, was in the possession of Stephen Manekyn, who held it by knight's service of the barony of Fobert, and together with other lands elsewhere made up that barony, and were given for the desence of Dover castle. After this it seems to have been divided into moieties, and to have been held by Richard Walsham, and Alice, daughter of Stephen Manekin, who alienated the whole of it to William, son of Nicholas Archer, of Dover, whose seal was, A stag's head, caboshed, as appears by a deed in the Surrenden library, dated anno 17 Edward III. His son William Archer, in the 21st year of the next reign of king Richard II. passed it away by sale to John Alkham, of Alkham, a family of good estate in this neighbourhood, in the descendants of which this manor remained for some time; but at the latter end of king Edward IV. it was become the property of Roger Appleton, from whom it passed to Hobday, and thence to Harman, of Crayford, from which name it was sold by Thomas Harman to Sir James Hales, who at or about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign alienated it to Andrews, of Dover, who some few years afterwards sold it to Pepper, and he in king James I.'s reign conveyed it to Sir Thomas Wilford, of IIden, who in king Charles I.'s reign passed it away to Mr. William Richards, of Dover, whose descendant of the same name, devised it to his nephew John Sladden, of Dover, merchant, as he did to his sister Mary, who carried it in marriage to Mr. Thomas Fagge, of Dover, whose trustees, after his death, to perform the uses of her will, sold it in 1783 to Tho. Biggs, esq. of Dover, the present owner of it, who has much improved the mansion of this manor, by making several additional buildings to it. A court baron is held for this manor.
Charities.
THOMAS PEPPER, jurat of Dover, by his will in 1574, de vised to the poor within the parishes of our Lady of Dover and Hougham, one annuity of 40s to be distributed equally between them, issuing out of his manor of Syberstone, and the lands belonging to it, with power to distrain, &c. now vested in Phineas Stringer, esq. and the money is distributed to such as do not receive weekly allowance of the parish.
There is a house divided into two small dwellings, inhabited by two persons placed there by the churchwardens and overseers of the poor; but how it came to the parish is not known.
The poor constantly maintained are about twenty-five, casually fifteen.
HOUGHAM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Dover.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Laurence, is an ancient building, but small, consisting of two small isles and a chancel, having neither tower nor steeple, but it has a place for three small bells. In the chancel lie buried several of the families of Hougham and Malmaines; the brasses of whose stones have been long since torn off, though the lines of their portraitures still remain. In the chancel is a monument for Wm. Fyneux, esq. son of Robert. He died in 1587; arms, Vert, a chevron, between three eagles displayed, or, crowned, gules, impaling Warren, azure, a cross, or; in the first and fourth quarters, a martlet; in the second and third, a chaplet of the second. Another for Peter Nepeau, gent. who lies buried in a vault underneath; he built and resided at the Elmes, in this parish, still continuing the trade of a merchant; he died in 1658. William, his only surviving son, married Sarah, daughter of Mr. Bulteel, of Tournay, in Flanders, who was also buried in this chancel. His youngest son William succeeded to the Elmes, which he sold, and settled at Twickenham; he died in 1710; arms, Azure, a fleece, or. Another for Robert Breton, esq he died in 1707; arms, Azure, a bend between six mullets, pierced, or. And for William Hannington, esq. who married a daughter of William Monings, lieutenant-governor of Dover-castle; he died in 1607.
¶This church was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Martin, to which it was appropriated by archbishop Stratford, in 1345, and a vicarage endowed in it, (fn. 7) both which were at the suppression, in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. granted with the scite of the priory and other possessions of it in the exchange to the archbishop, with a reservation of the antient pension from the prior of forty shillings to the vicar, in manner as has been frequently more particularly mentioned before. In which state they now continue, his grace the archbishop being possessed of the appropriation of this church, with the advowson of the vicarage of it. The parsonage is called Little Hougham court, which with the tithes are held under the archbishop by Mr. Thomas Walker, of Dover. The glebe land is ninety acres.
In 1588 here were one hundred and twenty communicants, and it was valued at forty pounds per annum. This vicarage is valued in the king's books at 6l. 13s. 4d. Archbishop Juxon, anno 14 Charles II. augmented this vicarage with twenty-five pounds, to be paid by the lessee of the great tithes, which was again confirmed anno 22 of that reign. The vicar still receives the antient pension of forty shillings from the archbishop. It is now a discharged living of about the clear yearly value of forty-six pounds.
It would be easy to look at St Augustine and not see past the belltower. What belltower I hear you ask. Well, that triple candlesnuffer thing beside the stable like entrance of the porch.
You see, I had forgotten how fantastic St Augustine was. I was early into the church odyssey thing back in 2009, and I was new to the whole church thing.
Yes, it has the belltower. Yes it has that porch with those stable doors. Yes it has that wonderful cast iron font. The church is huge, and difficult for me to judge how it evolved over the centuries.
Let me leave it to others to describe the church:
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The Church of St Augustine was constructed circa 1250 on a mound to protect it from flooding, probably on the site of a Norman church. The church is entered by the fourteenth century North door with wooden gates, the upper two were stored within the church and the lower doors were topped with spikes to prevent horses jumping the gates during Divine service. There was once a mounting block outside the church however it was removed less than 50 years ago.
Once through the porch you enter the North Aisle, in the western end is a closed off Chapel, near to this is the mechanism for the clock which is dedicated to the men of Brookfield who lost their lives whilst serving in World War Two, and the east end, which once housed a chapel to Blessed Virgin, is now home to an organ, installed in 1969.
An arcade separates the North Aisle from the Nave, at the end of this at the eastern end is a corbel carved into a face. The font can be found at the western end of the nave and is one of only thirty lead fonts in the country, it is decorated with the zodiac sings and occupations of the months. The Nave and North Aisle hold box pews, and at the eastern end of the Nave is the two tier pulpit with was once three tier, this stands besides the choir pews. Within the Chancel is the alter which stands in front of the remains of an aumbry, to the south is an early piscine and a two-seated sedilia. The arcades separating the North and South Aisles have suffered severe subsidence, the result being they both lean quite obviously. It has been said by an architect that the arcades separating the Nave and South Aisle lean so much that it is beyond the theoretical point of collapse!
The south aisle has had its box pews removed due to a very bad case of woodworm which now leaves room for the altar from the east end of the North Aisle and now used as the War Memorial Altar. At the western end is the Tithe Pen, this housed the weights and measures from the times when the vicar was entitled to a tithe, the complete set are now shown in a glass case and are the only remaining items of this kind in Kent. The eastern end of the South Aisle has a piscine and above this is a remarkable painting, dated from the late 1200?s and repainted in the 14th century. It depicts Thomas Becket's martyrdom. Where an altar once stood near this wall painting is now a large table tomb in memory to John Plomer who was three times Mayor of Romney.
Beside the church is a free standing belfry, there are many theories giving the reason for the belfry to stand upon the ground, one being that it was blown down from atop the church twice during strong winds and it was decided as it was so keen to stay on the ground then that is where it will stay. The tower holds six bells, only one being original and dated from 1450, three dated 1685 and the old tenor bell also dated 1685 was cast into two smaller bells.
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BROOKLAND,
SO called from the several brooks and waterings within the bounds of it, lies the next parish southeastward, mostly within the level of Walland Marsh, and within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county; but there are some lands, which are reputed to be within this parish, containing altogether about 124 acres, which lie in detached pieces at some distance south-eastward from the rest of it, mostly near Ivychurch, some other parishes intervening, which lands are within the level of Romney Marsh, and within the liberty and jurisdiction of the justices of it.
The PARISH of Brookland lies on higher ground than either Snargate or Fairfield last described, and consequently much drier. It is more sheltered with trees, and inclosed with hedges, than any of the neighbouring parishes. The village is neat and rather pleasant, considering the situation, and the houses, as well as inhabitants, of a better sort than are usually seen in the Marsh. The church stands in the middle of it. The lands towards the south are by far the most fertile, for towards Snargate they are very poor and wet, and much covered with rushes and thistles. It consists in general of marsh-land, there not being above thirty acres of land ploughed throughout the parish, which altogether contains about 1730 acres of land.
A fair is held here yearly on the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, or Lammas-day, being August I, for toys and pedlary.
The MANORS of Fairfield, Apledore, Bilsington, and Court at Wick, extend over this parish, subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF BROOKLAND, which has long since lost even the reputation of having been a manor. It was in early times the patrimony of the family of Passele, or Pashley, as they were afterwards called, whose seat was at Evegate, in Smeeth, (fn. 1) of whom Edward de Passeley is the first that is discovered in public records to have been possessed of this manor, and this appears by the inquisition taken after his death, anno 19 Edward II. Soon after which it was alienated to Reginald de Cobham, a younger branch of the Cobhams, of Cobham, whose descendants were seated at Sterborough castle, in Surry, whence they were called Cobhams, of Sterborough, and they had afterwards summons to parliament among the barons of this realm. At length Sir Thomas Cobham died possessed of it in the 11th year of king Edward IV. leaving an only daughter and sole heir, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edward Borough, of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, whose son and heir Thomas was summoned to parliament as lord Burgh, or as it is usually pronounced, Borough, anno 21 king Henry VIII. and left a son and heir Thomas, lord Burgh, whose lands were disgavelled by the act anno 31 Henry VIII. His son William, lord Burgh, about the 12th year of queen Elizabeth's reign, passed it away to Eversfield, of Suffex, from whom it was alienated soon afterwards to Godfrey, of Lid, at which time this estate seems to have lost its name of having been a manor. He, before the end of that reign, sold it to Wood, by whom it was again alienated in the beginning of king James I.'s reign to Mr. John Fagge, of Rye, whose descendant John Fagge, esq. of Wiston, in Suffex, was created a baronet in 1660. He had a numerous issue, of which only three sons and two daughters survived. Of the former, Sir Robert, the eldest, was his successor in title; Charles was ancestor of the present baronet, the Rev. Sir John Fagge, of Chartham; and the third son Thomas Fagge, esq. succeeded by his father's will to this estate at Brookland. His son John Meres Fagge, esq. of Glynely, in Sussex, left surviving an only daughter Elizabeth, who on his death in 1769, entitled her husband Sir John Peachy, bart-of West Dean, in Sussex, to the possession of it. He died s. p. and she surviving him, again became entitled to it in her own right, and is at this time the present owner of it.
There are noparochial charities.
BROOKLAND is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Augustine, is a very large handsome building, consisting of three isles and three chancels. The steeple stands on the north side, and at some small distance from it, in which are five bells. The church is kept exceedingly neat and clean. It is cieled throughout, and handsomely pewed. In the high chancel there is a confessionary, and a nich for holy water within the altar-rails. There are several memorials in it, but none of any account worth mentioning. At the west end is a gallery, lately erected at the charge of the parish. The font is very curious, made of cast lead, having on it two ranges of emblematical figures, twenty in each range. The steeple is framed of remarkable large timber. It is built entirely of wood, of an octagon form, perpendicular about five feet from the bottom, and from thence leffening to a spire at top, in which it has three different copartments or stories, the two uppermost larger at the bottom, and projecting over those underneath them. Although there are but five bells in it, yet it has frames for several more. The whole is much out of the perpendicular leaning towards the church. In the church-yard are several tombs and gravestones for the Reads.
The church of Brookland was part of the antient possessions of the monastery of St. Augustine, to which it was appropriated by pope Clement V. at the request of Ralph Bourne, the abbot of it, in king Edward II.'s reign, but the abbot declined putting the bull for this purpose in force, till a more favourable opportunity. At length John, abbot of St. Augustine, in 1347, obtained another bull from pope Clement VI for the appropriation of it, and having three years afterwards obtained the king's licence for this purpose, (fn. 2) the same was confirmed by archbishop Islip in 1359, who next year endowed the vicarage of this church by his decree, by which he assigned, with the consent of the abbot and convent, and of the vicar, of the rents and profits of the church, to John de Hoghton, priest, then admitted perpetual vicar to the vicarage of it, and canonically instituted, and to his successors in future in it, a fit portion from which they might be fitly maintained and support the undermentioned burthens. In the first place he decreed and ordained, that the religious should build on the soil of the endowment of the church, at their own costs and expences, a competent mansion, with a sufficient close and garden, for the vicar and his successors, free from all rent and secular service, to be repaired and maintained from that time by the vicar for the time being; who on the presentation of the religious to be admitted and instituted by him or his successors, into the vicarage, should likewise have the great tithes of the lands lying on the other side of le Re, towards Dover, viz. beyond the bridge called Brynsete, and towards the parish churches of Brynsete, Snaves, and Ivercherche, belonging to the church of Brokelande, and likewise the tithes arising from the sheaves of gardens or orchards dug with the foot, and also all oblations made in the church or parish, and all tithes of hay, calves, chicken, lambs, pigs, geese, hens, eggs, ducks, pidgeons, bees, honey, wax, swans, wool, milkmeats, pasture, flax, hemp, garden-herbs, apples, vetches, merchandizes, fishings, fowlings, and all manner of small tithes arising from all things whatsoever. And he taxed and estimated the said portion at the annual value of eight marcs sterling, at which sum he decreed the vicar ought to contribute in future, to the payment of the tenth and all other impositions happening, of whatsoever sort. Not intending that the vicar of this church should be entitled to, or take of the issues and rents of it, any thing further than is expressed before, but that he should undergo the burthen of officiating in the same, either by himself or some other sit priest, in divine offices, and in the finding of lights in the chancel, and of bread and wine for the celebration of masses, the washing of vestments, and the reparation of the books of the church, and should nevertheless pay the procuration due to the archbishop, on his visitation. But the rest of the burthens incumbent on the church, and no ways here expressed, should belong to the abbot and convent, &c. (fn. 3) After this, the church and advowson of the vicarage of Brookland remained part of the possessions of the above monastery till the final dissolution of it, anno 30 Henry VIII. when it was, with all its revenues, surrendered into the king's hands, where this rectory and advowson staid but a short time, for the king, by his dotation charter, settled them on his newerected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions they continue at this time.
On the abolition of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in 1650, when it appeared that it consisted of a close of land of one acre, on which stood the parsonage barne, and other outhouses, with the tithe of corn and other profits belonging to it, estimated coibs annis at twenty four pounds, all which were by indenture, in 1635, demised for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of eight pounds, but were worth, over and above the said rent, sixteen pounds per annum, and that the lessee was to repair the premises, and the chancel of the parish church.
In 1384 this church or rectory appropriate was valued at 13l. 6s. 8d. but anno 31 Henry VIII. it was demised to ferme at only 8l. 3s. 4d. It is now demised on a beneficial lease by the dean and chapter, at the yearly rent of eight pounds to Mrs. Woodman, the present lessee of it. The vicarage of this church is valued in the king's books at 17l. 12s. 8½d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 15s. 3¼d. In 1587 it was valued at sixty pounds, communicants one hundred and sixtysix, and in 1640 the same, and it is now of about the same value.
There is a modus of one shilling per acre on all the grass-lands in this parish. The vicar is entitled to all the small tithes, subject to this modus, throughout the parish, and to the tithes of corn of those lands, being one hundred and twenty-four acres, which lie in detached pieces beyond Brenset bridge, in Romney Marsh, as mentioned before, in the endowment of this vicarage.
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A long low church with the most famous spire in Kent. This three-stage 'candle-snuffer' erection which stand son the ground instead of on a tower is the result of several enlargements of a thirteenth-century bell cage and its subsequent weatherproofing with cedar shingles. It contains a peal of six bells, the oldest of which is mid-fifteenth century in date. The spire is surmounted by a winged dragon weathervane, dating from 1797. The monster has a prominent forked tongue. The reason for the bells being hung in a cage rather than a tower is shown inside the church where the pillars of the nave have sunk into the soft ground and splayed out to north and south. The tie-beams of the roof came away from the walls and have had to be lengthened by the addition of new timber supports. The outstanding Norman font in cast lead has been fully described in Part 1. To the south of the church is a headstone incorporating the only 'Harmer Plaque' in Kent - a terracotta panel made in East Sussex where they are a common feature.