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From Jennifer Casa's new & awesome book Teach Yourself VISUALLY Crafting with Kids.

Bournemouth - View From Pier Shelter Prior to 1905. And 'The Cingalee'. by pepandtim

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The Postcard

A Hartmann series postcard that was posted in Bournemouth on Saturday the 11th. March 1905 to a Miss Dido Lush who lived in Ealing, London W.

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

"Dear Little Dido,

We do think it so sweet of

you to send us a card.

Just as we were at our

wedding breakfast.

Hope you got our little

note.

J. is delighted with your

most useful present.

Again many thanks for it,

and for the p. card.

Love, Valerie & J".

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town on the south coast of England to the east of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site, 96 miles (155 km) long.

According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 183,491, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. With Poole to the west and Christchurch in the east, Bournemouth forms the South East Dorset conurbation, which has a total population of over 465,000.

Before it was founded in 1810 by Lewis Tregonwell, the area was a deserted heathland occasionally visited by fishermen and smugglers.

Initially marketed as a health resort, the town received a boost when it appeared in Augustus Granville's 1841 book, The Spas of England.

Bournemouth's growth truly accelerated with the arrival of the railway.

The town centre has notable Victorian architecture, and the 202-foot (62 m) spire of St Peter's Church, one of three Grade-1 listed churches in the borough, is a local landmark.

Bournemouth's location has made it a popular destination for tourists, attracting over five million visitors annually with its beaches and popular nightlife.

The Lower, Central and Upper Gardens are Grade II* public parks, leading for several miles down the valley of the River Bourne through the centre of the town to the sea.

'The Cingalee'

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

Well, the 11th. March 1905 marked the final performance in London of 'The Cingalee'.

'The Cingalee', or 'Sunny Ceylon' is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with music by Lionel Monckton, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, and additional material by Paul Rubens.

It opened at Daly's Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on the 5th. March 1904, and ran until the 11th. March 1905 for a total of 365 performances.

The musical also had a short Broadway run, opening at the original Daly's Theatre in New York on the 24th. October 1904, and running for 33 performances.

'The Cingalee' is set in Ceylon, and concerns colonial tea planters (one of the most popular songs in the score is called simply 'Tea, tea, tea') in an era before the island became Sri Lanka. It was given a showy production, and was a success in London.

The fashion there for shows set in exotic Asian locales had been started by 'The Mikado' and was continued by 'The Geisha', 'San Toy', 'The Nautch Girl', 'A Chinese Honeymoon' and others. However there is little in the music to give 'The Cingalee' an Eastern flavour.

Monckton's catchy sextet, 'The Island of Gay Ceylon', his 'Pearl of Sweet Ceylon' and Ruben's 'White and Brown Girl', 'Sloe Eyes', 'Monkeys' and 'You and I' are highlights of the musical score.

The London cast included Hayden Coffin, Rutland Barrington, Huntley Wright and Isabel Jay. A young Lily Elsie also appeared in the show, as did Topsy Sinden.

Roles and Original Cast

Principal roles were:

- Harry Vereker (A Tea Planter) – C. Hayden Coffin

- Boobhamba (A Noble of Kandy) – Rutland Barrington

- Sir Peter Loftus (High Commissioner and Judge, Ceylon) – Fred Kaye

- Myamgah (An Indian Servant) – Willie Warde

- Bobby Warren, Dick Bosanquet, Freddie Lowther, Jack Clinton, Willie Wilson (Pupils of Vereker on the Tea Plantation)

- Captain of The Guard – Norman Greene

- Attendant – F. J. Blackman

- Chambhuddy Ram (A Baboo Lawyer) – Huntley Wright

- Nanoya (A Cingalese Girl) – Sybil Arundale

- Peggy Sabine – Gracie Leigh

- Naitooma, Sattambi, Mychellah, Coorowe (Four Tea Girls on Vereker's Plantation) – Carrie Moore, Alice d'Orme, Freda Vivian, Doris Severn

- Angy Loftus (Sir Peter's Daughter) – Doris Stocker

- Miss Pinkerton, Fräulein Weiner, Mademoiselle Chic, Signorina Tasso (Angy's Governesses) – Nina Sevening, Mary Fraser, Mabel Hirst, Joan Keddie

- Lady Patricia Vane – Isabel Jay

Synopsis of the Cingalee

Act I - Henry Vereker's Tea Plantation, Karagama, Ceylon

Seventeen year old Nanoya is a Cingalese girl who had been betrothed at the age of four to the potentate of Boobhamba as one of his many wives, each dressed in a different colour to prevent mistakes and consequent jealousy.

To avoid this fate, she had absconded and gone to work on a tea plantation belonging to Harry Vereker (but which has been fraudulently leased to him by a rascally lawyer, Chambuddy Ram). Harry falls in love with Nanoya and wishes to marry her.

Chambuddy has also expropriated a famous black pearl that formerly sat in the forehead of a great idol. It has found its way to London and, after a convoluted set of adventures, Harry buys it to adorn his intended.

Prince Boobhamba appeals to the British High Commissioner against Chambuddy, who is ordered to produce both Nanoya and the pearl within 24 hours. By chance he learns the true identity of Nanoya, and she is handed over, together with the pearl, to the Court.

Act II - Boobhamba's Palace by the Lake of Kandy

Harry, his mentor Lady Patricia Vane, Nanoya's 'teacher of deportment' Peggy Sabine and Chambuddy, to bolster his own position, all seek to rescue Nanoya from her fate, to inevitable failure.

Boobhamba then capriciously decides to marry Peggy Sabine instead, but she has words to say about that, and Chambuddy, in love with Peggy himself, backs her up. So Harry pairs off with Nanoya, Chambuddy pairs off with Peggy and Boobhamba is left with his existing harem.

Musical Numbers

Act I – Vereker's Tea Plantation, Karagama, Ceylon

1. Opening Chorus – 'Sleepy Ceylon.'

2. Octet: Tea Girls and Pupils – 'Girls on a tea plantation...'

3. Vereker – 'Beyond the bar of fair Manaar...'

4. Nanoya and Vereker – 'Little girl to school must go...'

5. Chorus and Scene – 'What on earth is that?'

6. March, Chorus and Song, Boobhamba – 'Hail the noble deeply venerated...'

7. Chambhuddy – 'Some years ago when a very chotah boy...'

8. Lady Patricia – 'As you have to decide on a bride...'

9. Naitooma and Tea Girls – 'Tea, Tea, Tea.'

10. Peggy and Chambhuddy – 'White and Brown Girl.'

11. Sextet – 'In the Island of Gay Ceylon.'

12. Nanoya – 'My Cinnamon Tree.'

13. Finale Act I – 'Have you found the girl?'

Act II – Boobhamba's Palace by the Lake of Kandy

14. Opening Chorus – 'At the Palace of Boobhamba...'

15. Nanoya, Tea Girls and Chorus – 'I'm a maiden merry, sorry to be sold...'

16. Concerted Number – 'I'm afraid I do not quite understand...'

17. Chambhuddy – 'If English Pot a rich man be...'

18. Vereker – 'My dear little Cingalee.'

19. Quartet – 'True Love.'

20. Naitooma and Chorus – 'A Cingalese Wedding.'

21. Chorus – 'On the quiet lake the moonbeams shimmer...'

22. Song - Boobhamba and Chorus – 'A Happy New Year.'

23. Song - Nanoya – 'You met a little girl one day...'

24. Duet - Peggy and Chambhuddy – 'In a jungle once on a time...'

25. Finale Act II – 'Cingalee, Cingalee...'

Critical Reception of Cingalee

Contemporary critics were overwhelmingly enamoured of the musical. The Stage commented:

'The Cingalee has all the elements that

make for long runs. It is elaborately set

and staged, charmingly dressed; the

music is in Mr. Monckton's best vein,

and the lyrics abound with graceful and

well-turned lines'.

The St. James's Gazette noted that:

'The first performance was received with

rapture on Saturday night by an enthusiastic

audience, and played with the most

admirable vivacity and smoothness by a

brilliant company".

In Lionel Monckton's music, The Daily Telegraph saw:

'A distinct leaning towards the traditions

of genuine comic opera, and in this

connection it is pleasant to find that what

may be called the Savoy manner has served

its composer as a bright answer'.

The Standard agreed, judging that:

'On the whole, this will be set down as

decidedly the best of Monckton's scores'.

Several critics commented that the second act was dramatically, if not visually, less effective than the first, although they offered different reasons, and a few papers regarded the piece ripe for pruning.

The Daily News stated that :

'A rather long interval helped to prolong

the performance until close on midnight'.

The Globe agreed that four hours was 'A little too much', but thought that 'The task of condensation will be easy'.

The Cingalee toured the British provinces, but then was only remounted on small scales, and only up to the pre-war 1940's. The condescending racial nature of the musical's libretto would be unacceptable today, and so the work is unlikely to be revived.

Litigation Surrounding the Cingalee

Captain Frederick John Fraser of the Indian Army sued George Edwardes, the producer of The Cingalee, in 1905 in King's Bench before Mr Justice Darling.

Fraser had written a comic opera called 'Hanjiahn', or 'The Lotus Girl'. He took this to Edwardes, who agreed to produce the opera within three years or pay a penalty of £300. Edwardes suggested that Fraser work with James T. Tanner to develop the work. Eventually, however, Edwardes returned the manuscript to Fraser unproduced.

Tanner went on to write, and Edwardes produced, 'The Cingalee'. Fraser sued on the basis of breach of copyright, claiming that his scenario had been used without his consent.

The defence countered that the libretti were not similar, that all plays hold points in common and that, if anything, both works used 'The Geisha' as their model. The jury found that an unfair use had indeed been made of Fraser's piece by the appropriation therefrom of characters, plot and other ideas. They assessed the damages at £3,000 plus court costs.

The case was noted in the press for the amount and quality of witty repartee among witnesses, counsel and Judge.

A 1930 memoir by one of Fraser's legal team assessed that the prosecution had erred by attacking the character of an obviously honourable man, and that the previously closely balanced case had been won by a legal ambush on one of the witnesses, the theatrical costume designer, Percy Anderson.

Anderson had written a sympathetic letter in April 1904 to the plaintiff indicating that Fraser had been badly treated by Edwardes, but when called as a witness by the defence, Anderson testified in support of Edwardes.

The plaintiff's counsel produced the forgotten letter in Anderson's handwriting, and made the unfortunate witness read it to the court, causing a sensation.

The jury, swayed by this evidence, were viewed as too generous in the damages awarded, and the defence appealed, primarily on that basis, with £2,000 being paid into court. An out of court settlement was reached for damages of this £2,000, plus costs, with all imputations by both sides being withdrawn, before the appeal could be argued.

bountiful_tow_short by Michael Williams

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11 x 14 limited edition print by visually impaired artist Michael A. Williams

37b - Sawtelle Residence - 2082 S Harvard Blvd by Kansas Sebastian

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37 – William E & Mary W Sawtelle Residence. 2082 S Harvard Blvd. 1907. Sumner P Hunt and Arthur Wesley Eager.

When architectural historians hear of a house designed by Hunt & Eager visually what comes to mind is what was known then as the “Elizabethan” style. Today we call it Tudor. But here is an anomaly in their repertoire. For the Sawtelle family, Hunt and Eager designed a mansion in a Prairie style with Mission Revival touches. The effect is striking and rare. Wm Sawtelle was a wealthy banker and landholder who donated the land for the Sawtelle Solder’s Home, and for whom the former city of Sawtelle was named, as well as a major street of his named.

West Adams Heights

“Nowadays we scarcely notice the high stone gates which mark the entrances on Hobart, Harvard, and Oxford streets, south of Washington Boulevard. For one thing, the traffic is too heavy, too swift; and then, again, the gates have been obscured by intrusions of shops and stores. At the base of the stone pillars appears the inscription “West Adams Heights.” There was a time when these entranceways were formidable and haughty, for they marked the ways to one of the first elite residential areas in Los Angeles. . . In the unplanned early-day chaos of Los Angeles, West Adams Heights was obviously something very special, an island in an ocean of bungalows—approachable, but withdrawn and reclusive—one of the few surviving examples of planned urban elegance of the turn of the century.”

- Carey McWilliams, “The Evolution of Sugar Hill,” Script, March, 1949: 30.

Today West Adams Heights is still obviously something special. The past sixty years, however, have not been kind. In 1963 the Santa Monica Freeway cut through the heart of West Adams Heights, dividing the neighborhood, obscuring its continuity. In the 1970’s the city paved over the red brick streets and removed the ornate street lighting. After the neighborhood’s zoning was changed to a higher density, overzealous developers claimed several mansions for apartment buildings. Despite these challenges, however, “The Heights,” as the area was once known, has managed to regain some of its former elegance.

The West Adams Heights tract was laid out in 1902, in what was then a wheat field on the western edge of town. Although the freeway now creates an artificial barrier, the original neighborhood boundaries were Adams Boulevard, La Salle Ave, Washington Boulevard, and Western Avenue. Costly improvements were integrated into the development, such as 75-food wide boulevards (which were some of the first contoured streets not to follow the city grid), lots elevated from the sidewalk, ornate street lighting, and large granite monuments with red-brass electroliers at the entrance to every street. These upgrades increased the lot values, which helped ensure the tract would be an enclave for the elite.

One early real estate ad characterized the neighborhood stating: “West Adams Heights needs no introduction to the public: it is already recognized as being far superior to any other tract. Its high and slightly location, its beautiful view of the city and mountains make t a property unequaled by any other in the city.”

The early residents’ were required to sign a detailed restrictive covenant. This hand-written document required property owners to build a “first-class residence,” of at least two stories, costing no less than two-thousand dollars (at a time when a respectable home could be built for a quarter of that amount, including the land), and built no less than thirty-five feet from the property’s primary boundary. Common in early twentieth century, another clause excluded residents from selling or leasing their properties to non-Caucasians.

By the mid 1930’s, however, most of the restrictions had expired. Between 1938 and 1945 many prominent African-Americans began to make “The Heights” their home. According to Carey McWilliams, West Adams Heights became known “Far and wide as the famous Sugar Hill section of Los Angeles,” and enjoyed a clear preeminence over Washington’s smart Le Droit Park, St. Louis’s Enright Street, West Philadelphia, Chicago’s Westchester, and Harlem’s fabulous Sugar Hill.

West Adams Heights, now also known as Sugar Hill, played a major role in the Civil Rights movement in Los Angeles. In 1938 Norman Houston, president of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, and an African-American, purchased a home at 2211 South Hobart Boulevard. Legal Action from eight homeowners quickly ensued. During that period, other prominent African-Americans began to make Sugar Hill their home – including actress Hattie McDaniels, dentists John and Vada Summerville, actress Louise Beavers, band leader Johnny Otis, and performers Pearl Baily and Ethel Waters, and many more. On December 6, 1945, the “Sugar Hill Cases” were heard before Judge Thurmond Clark, in LA Superior Court. He made history by become the first judge in America to use the 14th Amendment to disallow the enforcement of covenant race restrictions. The Los Angeles Sentinel quoted Judge Clark: “This court is of the opinion that it is time that [African-Americans] are accorded, without reservations and evasions, the full rights guaranteed them under the 14th Amendment.” Gradually, over the last century people of nearly ever background have made historic West Adams their home.

The northern end of West Adams Heights is now protected as part of the Harvard Heights Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ). The Historic West Adams area of Los Angeles (which includes West Adams Heights) boasts the highest concentration of turn-of-the-century homes west of the Mississippi, as well as the highest concentration of National Historic Landmarks, National Register of Historic Places, National Historic Districts, State Historic Landmarks, Los Angeles Cultural-Historic Monuments, and Historic Preservation Overlay Zones in the city. The entirety of West Adams Heights should be nominated as a National Register Historic District, for the quality of homes, the prominence of the architects, notoriety of the people who lived in the neighborhood, and the role it played in civil rights.

Perhaps a quote adapted from a fireplace mantle in the Frederick Rindge mansion best symbolizes the optimism which exists in West Adams: “California Shall be Ours as Long as the Stars Remain.”

St Mary the Virgin, Ashford, Kent by Jelltex

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There are three Ashfords, really. The modern newtown, Swindonesque newbuilds stretching into the countryside; the Victorian railway town, all neat rows of brick buit houses and the station, and then there is the old town, timber-framed houses along narrow lanes, with St Mary standing towering above all but the modern office blocks.

The west end church was given over to a Christmas Fayre, but is also used now as a concert venue, while under the tower westwards is still in use as a church, with many of its ancient features left alone by the Victorians.

-------------------------------------------

A stately church in a good position set away from the hustle and bustle of this cosmopolitan town. The very narrow tower of 1475 is not visually satisfactory when viewed from a distance but its odd proportions are hardly noticed when standing at its base. The church is very much the product of the families who have been associated with it over the centuries and who are commemorated by monuments within. They include the Fogges and the Smythes. The former is supposed to have wanted to create a college of priests here, but by the late fifteenth century such foundations were going out of fashion and the remodelling of the church undertaken by Sir John Fogge may have just been a philanthropic cause. Unusually, when the church was restored in 1860 the architect Ewan Christian kept the galleries (he usually swept them away), but Christ Church had yet to be built and the population of this growing town would have needed all the accommodation it could get. Even in 1851 1000 people had attended the church in a single sitting. The pulpit, designed by Pearson, was made in 1897.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Ashford+1

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THE TOWN AND PARISH OF ASHFORD

LIES the next adjoining to Hothfield eastward. It is called in Domesday both Estefort and Essetesford, and in other antient records, Eshetisford, taking its name from the river, which runs close to it, which, Lambarde says, ought not to be called the Stour, till it has passed this town, but Eshe or Eschet, a name which has been for a great length of time wholly forgotten; this river being known, even from its first rise at Lenham hither, by the name of the Stour only.

A small part only of this parish, on the east, south and west sides of it, containing the borough of Henwood, alias Hewit, lying on the eastern or further side of the river from the town, part of which extends into the parish of Wilsborough, and the whole of it within the liberty of the manor of Wye, and the borough of Rudlow, which adjoins to Kingsnoth and Great Chart, are in this hundred of Chart and Longbridge; such part of the borough of Rudlow as lies adjoining to Kingsnoth, is said to lie in in jugo de Beavor, or the yoke of Beavor, and is divided from the town and liberty by the river, near a place called Pollbay; in which yoke there is both a hamlet and a green or common, of the name of Beavor; the remainder of the parish having been long separated from it, and made a distinct liberty, or jurisdiction of itself, having a constable of its own, and distinguished by the name of the liberty of the town of Ashford.

ASHFORD, at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, was part of the possessions of Hugo de Montfort, who had accompanied the Conqueror hither, and was afterwards rewarded with this estate, among many others in different counties; in which record it is thus entered, under the general title of his lands:

¶Maigno holds of Hugo (de Montfort) Estefort. Turgisus held it of earl Godwin, and it is taxed at one suling. The arable land is half a carucate. There is nevertheless in demesne one carucate, and two villeins having one carucate. There are two servants, and eight acres of meadow. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, it was worth twenty five shillings; when he received it, twenty shillings; now thirty shilling.

The same Hugo holds Essela. Three tenants held it of king Edward, and could go whither they would with their lands. It was taxed at three yokes. The arable land is one carucate and an half. There are now four villeins, with two borderers having one carucate, and six acres of meadow. The whole, in the reign of king Edward the Confessor, was worth twenty shillings, and afterwards fifteen shillings, now twenty shillings.

Maigno held another Essetisford of the same Hugo. Wirelm held it of king Edward. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is four carucates. In demesne there are two, and two villeins, with fifteen borderers having three carucates. There is a church, and a priest, and three servants, and two mills of ten shillings and two pence. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth seventy shillings, and afterwards sixty shillings, now one hundred shillings.

Robert de Montfort, grandson of Hugh abovementioned, favouring the title of Robert Curthose, in opposition to king Henry I. to avoid being called in question upon that account, obtained leave to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, leaving his possessions to the king; by which means this manor came into the hands of the crown. Soon after which it seems to have come into the possession of a family, who took their name from it. William de Asshetesford appears by the register of Horton priory to have been lord of it, and to have been succeeded by another of the same name. After which the family of Criol became owners of it, by whom it was held by knight's service of the king, in capite, by ward to Dover castle, and the repair of a tower in that castle, called the Ashford tower. (fn. 1) Simon de Criol, in the 27th and 28th year of Henry III. obtained a charter of free warren for this manor, whose son William de Criol passed it away to Roger de Leyborne, for Stocton, in Huntingdonshire, and Rumford, in Essex. William de Leyborne his son, in the 7th year of king Edward I. claimed and was allowed the privilege of a market here, before the justices itinerant. He died possessed of this manor in the 3d year of Edward II. leaving his grand-daughter Juliana, daughter of Thomas de Leyborne, who died in his father's life-time, heir both to her grandfather and father's possessions, from the greatness of which she was stiled the Infanta of Kent, (fn. 2) though thrice married, yet she died s. p. by either of her husbands, all of whom she survived, and died in the 41st year of Edward III. Upon which this manor, among the rest of her estates, escheated to the crown, and continued there till king Richard II. vested it, among others, in feoffees, for the performance of certain religious bequests by the will of king Edward III. then lately deceased; and they, in compliance with it, soon afterwards, with the king's licence, purchased this manor, with those of Wall, and Esture, of the crown, towards the endowment of St. Stephen's chapel, in the king's palace of Westminster, all which was confirmed by king Henry IV. and VI. and by king Edward IV. in their first years; the latter of whom, in his 7th year, granted to them a fair in this town yearly, on the feast of St. John Port Latin, together with all liberties, and to have a steward to hold the court of it, &c. In which situation they continued till the 1st year of Edward VI. when this collegiate chapel was, with all its possessions, surrendered into the king's hands, where these manors did not continue long; for that king, in his 3d year, granted the manor of Esshetford, with that of Wall, and the manor of Esture, to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Otterden, to hold in capite; and he, in the 2d and 3d of Philip and Mary, sold them to Sir Andrew Judde, of London, whose daughter and at length heir Alice, afterwards carried them in marriage to Thomas Smith, esq. of Westenhanger, commonly called the Customer, who died possessed of them in 1591, and lies buried in the south cross of this church, having had several sons and daughters, of, whom Sir John Smythe, of Ostenhanger, the eldest, succeeded him here, and was sheriff anno 42 Elizabeth. Sir Thomas Smith, the second son, was of Bidborough and Sutton at Hone, and ambassador to Russia, of whom and his descendants, notice has been taken in the former volumes of this history; (fn. 3) and Henry, the third son, was of Corsham, in Wiltshire, whence this family originally descended, and Sir Richard Smith, the fourth, was of Leeds castle. Sir John Smythe, above-mentioned, died in 1609, and lies buried in the same vault as his father in this church, leaving one son Sir Thomas Smythe, of Westenhanger, K. B. who was in 1628 created Viscount Strangford, of Ireland, whose grandson Philip, viscount Strangford, dying about 1709, Henry Roper, lord Teynham, who had married Catherine his eldest daughter, by his will, became possessed of the manors of Ashford, Wall, and Esture. By her, who died in 1711, he had two sons, Philip and Henry, successively lords Teynham; notwithstanding which, having the uncontrolled power in these manors vested in him, he, on his marriage with Anne, second daughter and coheir of Thomas Lennard, earl of Sussex, and widow of Richard Barrett Lennard, esq. afterwards baroness Dacre, settled them on her and her issue by him in tail male. He died in 1623, and left her surviving, and possessed of these manors for her life. She afterwards married the hon. Robert Moore, and died in 1755. She had by lord Teynham two sons, Charles and Richard-Henry, (fn. 4) Charles Roper, the eldest son, died in 1754 intestate, leaving two sons, Trevor-Charles and Henry, who on their mother's death became entitled to these manors, as coheirs in gavelkind, a recovery having been suffered of them, limiting them after her death to Charles Roper their father, in tail male; but being infants, and there being many incumbrances on these estates, a bill was exhibited in chancery, and an act procured anno 29 George II. for the sale of them; and accordingly these manors were sold, under the direction of that court, in 1765, to the Rev. Francis Hender Foote, of Bishopsborne, who in 1768 parted with the manor of Wall, alias Court at Wall, to John Toke, esq. of Great Chart, whose son Nicholas Roundell Toke, is the present possessor of it; but he died possessed of the manors of Ashford and Esture in 1773, and was succeeded in them by his eldest son John Foote, esq. now of Bishopsborne, the present owner of them. There are several copyhold lands held of the manor of Ashford. A court leet and court baron is regularly held for it.

THE TOWN OF ASHFORD stands most pleasant and healthy, on the knoll of a hill, of a gentle ascent on every side, the high road from Hythe to Maidstone passing through it, from which, in the middle of the town, the high road branches off through a pleasant country towards Canterbury. The houses are mostly modern and well-built, and the high-street, which has been lately new paved, is of considerable width. The markethouse stands in the centre of it, and the church and school on the south side of it, the beautiful tower of the former being a conspicuous object to the adjoining country. It is a small, but neat and chearful town, and many of the inhabitants of a genteel rank in life. Near the market place, is the house of the late Dr. Isaac Rutton, a physician of long and extensive practice in these parts, being the eldest son of Matthias Rutton, gent of this town, by Sarah his wife, daughter of Sir N. Toke, of Godinton. He died in 1792, bearing for his arms, Parted per fess, azure, and or, three unicorns heads, couped at the neck, counterchanged; since which, his eldest son, Isaac Rutton, esq. now of Ospringeplace, has sold this house to Mr. John Basil Duckworth, in whom it is now vested. In the midst of it is a large handsome house, built in 1759, by John Mascall, gent. who resided in it, and died possessed of it in 1769, and was buried in Boughton Aluph church, bearing for his arms, Barry of two, or, and azure, three inescutcheons, ermine; and his only son, Robert Mascall, esq. now of Ashford, who married the daughter of Jeremiah Curteis, esq. is the present owner, and resides in it. At the east end of the town is a seat, called Brooke-place, formerly possessed by the family of Woodward, who were always stiled, in antient deeds, gentlemen, and bore for their arms, Argent, a chevron, sable, between three grasshoppers, or; the last of them, Mr. John Woodward, gent. rebuilt this seat, and died possessed of it in 1757; of whose heirs it was purchased by Martha, widow of Moyle Breton, esq. of Kennington, whose two sons, the Rev. Moyle Breton, and Mr. Whitfield Breton, gent. alienated it to Josias Pattenson, esq. the second son of Mr. Josias Pattenson, of Biddenden, by Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Felix Kadwell, esq. of Rolvenden; he married Mary, daughter of Mr. Henry Dering, gent. of this parish, and widow of Mr. John Mascall above-mentioned, by whom he has no issue, and he is the present owner of this seat, and resides in it. There have been barracks erected lately here, which at present contain 4000 soldiers. The market is held on a Saturday weekly, for the sale of corn, which is now but little used; and a market for the sale of all sorts of fat and lean stock on the first and third Tuesday in every month, which has been of great use to prevent monopolies. Two fairs are annually held now, by the alteration of the stile, on May 17, and Sept. 9, and another on Oct. 24; besides which, there is an annual fair for wool on August 2, not many years since instituted and encouraged by the principal gentry and landholders, which promises to prove of the greatest utility and benefit to the fair sale of it. That branch of the river Stour which rises at Lenham, runs along the southern part of this parish, and having turned a corn mill belonging to the lord of this manor, continues its course close at the east end of the town, where there is a stone bridge of four arches, repaired at the expence of the county, and so on northwards towards Wye and Canterbury. On the south side of the river in this parish, next to Kingsnoth, within the borough of Rudlow, is the yoke of Beavor, with the hamlet and farm of that name, possessed in very early times, as appears by the register of Horton priory, by a family of that name, one of whom, John Beavor, was possessed of it in the reign of Henry II. and was descended from one of the same furname, who attended the Conqueror in his expedition hither. The parish contains about 2000 acres of land, and three hundred and twenty houses, the whole rental of it being 4000l. per annum; the inhabitants are 2000, of which about one hundred are diffenters. The highways throughout it, which not many years ago were exceeding bad, have been by the unanimity of the inhabitants, which has shewn itself remarkable in all their public improvements, a rare instance in parochial undertakings, and by the great attention to the repairs of them, especially in such parts as were near their own houses, are now excellent. The lands round it are much upon a gravelly soil, though towards the east and south there are some rich fertile pastures, intermixed with arable land, and several plantations of hops; but toward the west, the soil is in general sand, having much quarrystone mixed with it, where there is a great deal of coppice wood, quite to Potter's corner, at the boundary of this parish.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large handsome building, consisting of three isles, with a transept, and three chancels, with the tower in the middle, which is losty and well proportioned, having four pinnacles at the top of it. There are eight bells in it, a set of chimes, and a clock. In the high chancel, on the north side, is the college John Fogge, the founder of the college here, who died in 1490, and his two wives, the brasses of their figures gone; but part of the inscription remains. And formerly, in Weever's time, there hung up in this chancel six atchievements, of those of this family whose burials had been attended by the heralds at arms, and with other ceremonies suitable to their degrees. Underneath the chancel is a large vault, full of the remains of the family. On the pavement in the middle, is a very antient curious gravestone, having on it the figure in brass of a woman, holding in her left hand a banner, with the arms of Ferrers, Six masctes, three and three, in pale; which, with a small part of the inscription round the edge, is all that is remaining; but there was formerly in brass, in her right hand, another banner, with the arms of Valoyns; over her head those of France and England quarterly; and under her feet a shield, being a cross, impaling three chevronels, the whole within a bordure, guttee de sang, and round the edge this inscription, Ici gift Elizabeth Comite D' athels la file sign de Ferrers . . . dieu asoil, qe morust le 22 jour d'octob. can de grace MCCCLXXV. Weever says, she was wife to David de Strabolgie, the fourth of that name, earl of Athol, in Scotland, and daughter of Henry, lord Ferrers, of Groby; and being secondly married to John Malmayns, of this county, died here in this town. Though by a pedigree of the family of Brograve, she is said to marry T. Fogge, esq. of Ashford; if so, he might perhaps have been her third husband. Near her is a memorial for William Whitfield, gent. obt. 1739. The north chancel belonged to Repton manor. In the vault underneath lay three of the family of Tuston, sometime since removed to Rainham, and it has been granted to the Husseys; Thomas Hussey, esq. of this town, died in 1779, and was buried in it. In the south chancel are memorials for the Pattensons, Whitfields, and Apsleys, of this place; and one for Henry Dering, gent. of Shelve, obt. 1752, and Hester his wife; arms, A saltier, a crescent for difference, impaling, on a chevron, between three persons, three crosses, formee; and another memorial for Thomasine, wife of John Handfield, obt. 1704. In the north cross are several antient stones, their brasses all gone, excepting a shield, with the arms of Fogge on one. At the end is a monument for John Norwood, gent. and Mary his wife, of this town, who lie with their children in the vault underneath. The south cross is parted off lengthways, for the family of Smith, lords of Ashford manor, who lie in a vault underneath. In it are three superb monuments, which, not many years since, were beautified and restored to their original state, by the late chief baron Smythe, a descendant of this family. One is for Thomas Smith, esq. of Westenhanger, in 1591; the second for Sir John Smythe, of Ostenhanger, his son, and Elizabeth his wife; and the third for Sir Richard Smyth, of Leeds castle, in 1628: all which have been already mentioned before. Their figures, at full length and proportion, are lying on, each of them, with their several coats of arms and quarterings blazoned. In the other part of this cross, is a memorial for Baptist Pigott, A. M. son of Baptist Pigott, of Dartford, and schoolmaster here, obt. 1657, and at the end of it, is the archbishop's consistory court. In the south isle is a memorial for Thomas Curteis, gent. obt. 1718, and Elizabeth his wife; arms, Curteis impaling Carter. Under the tower is one for Samuel Warren, vicar here forty-eight years, obt. 1720. The three isles were new pewed and handsomely paved in 1745. There are five galleries, and an handsome branch for candles in the middled isle; the whole kept in an excellent state of repair and neatness. There was formerly much curtious painted glass in the windows, particularly the figures of one of the family of Valoyns, his two wives and children, with their arms. In the south window of the cross isle, and in other windows, the figures, kneeling, of king Edward III. the black prince, Richard, duke of Gloucester, the lord Hastings. Sir William Haute, the lord Scales, Richard, earl Rivers, and the dutchess of Bedford his wife, Sir John Fogge, Sir John Peche, Richard Horne, Roger Manstone, and—Guildford, most of which were in the great west window, each habited in their surcoats of arms, not the least traces of which, or of any other coloured glass, are remaining throughout this church. Sir John Goldstone, parson of Ivechurch, as appears by his will in 1503, was buried in the choir of this church, and gave several costly ornaments and vestments for the use of it.

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