Urnes and Vaults and dwelt in the Scene and Comprehension of Darkeness but when they were brought out into the Publick like Camphire they evaporated into the Air that fed them So the Primitive Christians who shone with such a bright and constant Beam in the Night and Agony of their Affliction when they were melted with the warmth and Sun-shine or a calme and prosperous Fortune began to slacken into Luxury and Excess Folly and Disorder and they that had dared Axes and Racks Wheels and Gridirons the Teeth of Beasts and the Fury of Men the Heat of Persecution and the Flame of Oblation and in brief had been inexpugnable to all the Artifices and Engines of Torture contrived by impious men fell afterwards cheaply and tamely like those who are smothered with Roses stifled with Perfumes and strangled with a silken Halter The second Cause that elder observations insinuate to us to have been the Reason of the Clergies deviation is that vast heap of temporal Treasure with which Constantine loaded the Bosome of the Church so that it may be truly affirmed Religio peperit Divitias Filia devoravit Matrem for Poverty though like a streight and narrow Girdle it does with its close and uneasie stricture pinch and afflict us yet it keeps the Garment from falling into Loosness and Disorder whilst superfluity of Wealth is apt to untie those Restraints which are cast upon the Will and unshackle those Fetters which are laid upon the sensual Appetite rendring our Thoughts vain and trifling foolish and impertinent and our undertakings wild and irregular making us soft and easie for the impressions of Vice but difficult and uncapable of the influences of Vertue and the nobler Designs of Religion For it is farther observable that from Riches evaporate the Fumes of Luxury and Ambition which like those Mists which exhale from the Crudities of a raw Stomach debauch the understanding and disorder Reason and muffle them up in 〈◊〉 Vaile and in a Cloud and they that view the Light of Truth which is the greaâ— Luminary in the Firmament of the Church through the Vapours of secular Interest are like those who take the Prospect of a Star through a gross vaporous Body of Air they behold it by the Chanel of so polluted a Medium they view it in an uneven and incertain Paralax The third Cause of the â—efection of Ecclesiastical Persons in the Church of Rome from the severer Obligations of their original Institution is this the Pope had newly entituled himself to a vast and uncircumscribed Power and found that there was an Obligation imposed upon him to support the Clergy in all their Excesses and vitious Sallies that so they might be obliged to engage the Pulpit and the Pen in the asserting of that Authority which the Western Emperors vainly endevoured by frequent Contests and Struglings to wring out of his Hands and reinvest in themselves and they looking up and discovering that he beheld their Disorders with a calm and an indulgent Brow let loose the Golden Reigns of Discipline and it is no wonder if at any Time the Bridle of Government be slackned when the Snaffle that should keep it steady and even hath lost its two Bosses Fear and Punishment But I have digressed I now return After the Suppression had entituled the Crown to this Maunor which formerly supported the Convent of Bilsington King Henry the eighth in the thirty seventh year of his Reign by Royall Concession made it the Inheritance of Sir Anthony St. Leger of Ulcombe in which Family the Title was permanent untill the beginning of Queen Elizabeth and then his Son Sir Warham St. Leger passed it away to Sir Francis Barnham of London Knight Sir Walter de Bernham was one of those who was at the seige of Carlaveock in Scotland with Edward the first in the twenty eighth of his Reign Knights and bore the Paternall Coat of this Family viz. Sables A plain Cross engrailed between sour Crescents Argent whose great Grand-childe Master Robert Barnham Esquire by Paternal devolution and descent does now claim the instant Signory of it Neither Bilsington in this Parish is that Mannor which anciently was held by a Family called Staplegate of Staplegate in Natindon who claimed to be the Kings chie Butler at his Coronation The first that I find possest of it was Edmund de Staplegate to whom it was derived by Purchase about the middle of Edward the third from Richard Fitz Allan Earl of Arundell whose Ancestors held it many years before and he having thus entered upon it by his Acquist dyed possest of it in the twenty ninth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 58 and left it to his Son and Heir Edmund de Staplegate and he in the first year of Richard the second put in his claim to be chief Butler at his Coronation as holding this Mannor by the Tenure of grand Serjeantry to discharge that Office to evacuate his claim Richard Earl of Arundell exhibits a Petition and Plea wherein he asserts that the Office of chief Butler was never annexed to this Mannor of Bilsington that his Family had enjoyed it both before the Possession and after the Alienation of it and therefore desired he might perform it that Solemn Day upon the discussion of the whole Controversie it was ordered that that Day the Earl of Arundell should discharge it with a salvo jure that it should not infringe the Right of Staplegate or any other that should pretend a Right or Title to it for the future But to proceed this Family held this Manor untill the Beginning of Henry the sixth and then the Fate of Sale carryed it away to Cheney and Sir John Cheney Knight was seized of it at his Death which was in the seventh year of Edward the fourth and from him was it wafted down by the Thread of Descent to his Successor Henry Lord Cheney who about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth alienated his Propriety in it to Sir Francis Barnham of London Knight from whom by Successive Right the Title is now devolved to his great Grand-childe Master Robert Barnham Esquire Birling in the Hundred of Larkfield was belonging when the great Survey of England was taken called Doomsday Book to one Ralph de Curva Spina and tha ancient Seat of those who were the possessors of it was at Comport or Comford Parke in this Parish but before the End of Henry the second the above mentioned Family was worn out and then I find a Family called Crescie to succeed in the Inheritance William de Crescie had a grant of Liberties in Birling in the fifth year of King John but his Name and Family after this did not long continue to possess them for before the Expiration of the long and tempestuous Reign of Henry the third it was departed from them and planted in th Revenue which did call that Family of Say Proprietaries the first of whom was William de Say who was one of those
on the Saturday which continues until this day Midley in the Hundred of Langport was parcell of the Inheritance of Echingham of whom more is spoken at Jacks-court in Lidde from whom by Margaret Daughter and Heir of Thomas Echingham it devolved to Walter Blount Esquire from him it descended to his Son Edward Blount Lord Montjoy who deceasing without Issue Elizabeth his Sister and Heir entered upon the Possession and she by matching with Andrew Windsor after created Lord Windsor by Henry the eighth swelled the Revenue of that Family by the Addition of Midley who not long after passed it away to Clache by whose Daughter and Heir it came over to Stringer and he transferred his Right in it by Sale to Scot and Scot conveyed the whole Demise to Godfrey whose Son Sir The. Godsrey does now possesse the Signory of the Premises Milsted in the Hundred of Milton though an obscure Village in it Self yet has been anciently eminent for several noble Families which have had their Residence within the Circuit of it For first Hogshaws gave not only Seat but Sirname likewise to a Family of that Denomination in whom when it had for many years continued Edmund Hogshaw in the eleventh year of Richard the second passed it away to Sir Thomas Lovell and he dyed seised of it in the second year of Henry the fourth and Thomas Lovell was his Heir after Lovell Greaves by purchase became entituled to the Possession of it whose Successor Robert Greaves in the ninth year of Henry the eighth passed it away to Roger VVake and this Roger VVake in the fifteenth year of the said Prince's Government alienated by Sale his Concernment in it to Richard Bernard who some few years after devested himself of his Right in it and sold it to Adam Henman of Lenham where after the Title some few years had fixed he in the twelfth year of Queen Elizabeth conveyed it over to Amias Thompson and he gave it in Dower with his Daughter Alice Thompson to Sir John Tooke from whom in the memory of these Times it devolved by Descent to his Son Captain Nicholas Tooke who passed it away by Sale to Mr. Richard Tilden Then we have here secondly another place which in some old Evidences is represented under the Name of Nottingham Court though now it bears the Name of Higham It was the Residence of a noble Family called Nottingham who were Owners of a large Patrimony in this Track and their Armes stand yet in old coloured Glasse in Milsted Church viz. Paly wavee of four pieces Gules and Artent The last of which was John Nottingham who expired in a Daughter and Heir called Eleanor Nottingham who by matching with Simon Cheney second Son of Sir Richard Cheney of Shurland brought this and a large Demeasne with it to acknowledge the Signiory of that Family in which Name without any Vicissitude to transplant the Title it is fixed at this day Milton Septuans in the Hundred of Westgate was anciently a Parish See more of this Family at Thurnham and had a Church appertaining to it though now by disuse it be languished into decay and shrunk into so narrow an Estimate that it has left only an Oratory or little Chappel which is yet visible to instruct us what was its former Glory which certainly was of no inconsiderable Account when it was the Seat of the elder House of Septuans who made this their Residence For VVilliam Septuans Son of William Septuans had here is Habitation when he was Sheriff of Kent which was in the fourth year of Richard the second but long after this Man did it not continue in the Name of Septuans for this Family as to that Branch of it which was planted at this place shrunk into a Daughter and Heir who was matched to Sir Francis Fogge and so this place fell under his Revenue And from him descended Sir Will. Fogge whose Successor Sir John Fogge of Repton Knight passed this away to Sir George Brown of Bechworth Castle in whom it remained till this Mans Grandchild Sir Thomas Brown of Bechworth aforesaid partly sold it and partly gave it in Dower with his Daughter Elizabeth Brown to Sir Robert Honywood of Charing whose eldest Son by this Match Sir Thomas Honywood of Marks Hall in Essex is now planted in the Fee-simple of it Moldash in the Hundred of Felborough is a Branch of the Mannor of Chilham but yet there is the Mannor of Flemings aliàs Bowers for so it is styled in Records and Court-rolls which deserves our Notice It was in the year 1019 as an ancient Court-roll now in the Hands of Mr. Chapman does inform me in the Hands of John de Fleming and probably here it remained diverse years though I can discover nothing which may evince the certainty of it for there is an Intermission or Gap in the Evidences In the twenty fourth year of Henry the sixth as appears by another ancient Court-roll it was the Possession of John Treswenall and in this Name it continued till the Raign of Henry the eighth and then it was alienated to Sir Thomas Moile in whose Posterity the Title and Demeasne was setled till our Fathers memory and then the Fee-simple was sold away to Mr. Henry Chapman Then secondly there is the Mannor of Witherling who had Owners who bore that Sirname and who had certainly the Possession of it severall Generations which is manifest from that compliance the Name had with the Mansion though the Evidence which I have drained from the Deeds and Muniments of this place reaches no higher then the Government of Henry the sixth for in the thirty eighth year of that Prince's Rule Joan Witherling the visible and only apparent Heir of this Family transmitted her Interest in it by Sale to William Keneworth whose Son William Keneworth by the like Fatalitie passed it away in the Raign of Henry the seventh to John Moile of Buckwell Esquire extracted from the Moiles of Bodmin in Cornwall and this John Moile in the fourth year of Henry the eighth sold it to Hamo Vidian a Name very ancient in Moldash for here is a Farme which at this Day carries the Name of Vidian-Forestall and his Grandchild William Vidian at this instant enjoys the Fee-simple of it Mongeham called for distinction Great-Mongeham to difference it from an Hamlet of that Name styled Little-Mongeham lies in the Hundred of Eastry and was given to the Church by Eadbert King of Kent for a supply both of Diet and Apparell of the Monks of St. Austins as the Book of Christ-Church does insinuate and upon the Dissolution of the Covent and annexing the Demeasn to the Revenue of the Crown it was by Henry the eighth in the thirty third year of his Raign granted to the Dean and Chapter of Christ-Church who conveyed it in Lease to John Fropchunt from whom by Purchase it was brought over to Gibs and is now the Patrimony and Hereditarie Right of Crayford a Name of deep and
wing and gaping for Breath but when Time began to invade this Family and break it into parcels one part of this Seat was sold to Sir John Baker Predecessor to Sir John Baker who is now the possessor of it but the other parts of it stayd longer in this Name for Heronden not long since sold some part of it to Mr. John Austin lately deceased and the Remainder was passed by the same conveyance to Mr. Short Pitlesden is the second which requires our Notice it gave Seat to a Family so called which remained in possession of it till Stephen Pitlesden died and left a Daughter and Heir whose Name was Julian who by marrying with Edward Guldeford made this parcel of the Revenue of that Family and here without any Interruption was the Inheritance planted till Iohn Guldeford Esquire transferred his Right by Sale to Sir Iohn Baker one of the Privy Councel to Queen Mary whose Grandchild Sir Iohn Baker Knight and Baronet Father of Sir Iohn Baker Baronet now of Sisingherst in Cranbroke did some years since alienate the possession of it to Mr. Jasper Clayton of London Mercer Lights Notinden and East Asherinden are two other Mannors in Tenterden which belonged partly to a Chauntry founded here by Iohn Light and partly to Brooke near Wye and were upon the suppression of the One and Dissolution of the Priory of Christ-church to which Brooke related granted by Henry the eighth to Sir Iohn Baker Atturney General to that Prince Edward the sixth and Queen Mary and from him are they now devolved by paternal Right to Sir Iohn Baker of Sisingherst Baronet There is a place in this Parish called Finchden which in our Grand-fathers Memory was purchased by Sir Edward Hales Ancestor of the Family of Finch from which Mr. Edward Finch now of Tenterden is originally descended which in Times of an elder Character gave Sirname to a Family called Finchden one of whom called William de Finchden was Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in the Time of Edward the third and sometimes in the old law-Law-books which have an Aspect on his reign is written Finchden and sometimes contractedly Finch and it is probable the Name was originally Finch only Den was added to it which was customary and usual in elder Times because this Family had their Dwelling in some Habitation whose Situation was near some Valley Tenterden was governed by a Port-reve or Bayley as the original Patent informs me from the thirty sixth year of Henry the sixth until the forty third year of Queen Elizabeth and then it was by Patent from that Princesse ordered to be governed by a Major and Jurates and so it hath ever since continued I had almost forgot Elarinden which is the last place of Note in Tenterden and celebrates it self to be parcel of the Mannor of Frid or Frith in Bethersden and was involved in that Revenue which did confess the Signory of the Noble Family of Mayney and was found to be in the possession of John de Mayney at his Decease which was in the fiftieth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 39. and lay couched in that Demeasne which related to this Name until the reign of Henry the sixth and then it was passed away to Darell and remained involved in the Patrimony of this Family until the seventeenth year of Henry the eighth and then it was alienated by John Darell Esquire to Sir John Hales one of the Barons of the Exchequer and from him by a Devolution of successive Descent is it now come down to Sir Edward Hales of Tunstall Baroner Tilmanston in the Hundred of Eastrie has divers Seats within the Verge and Boundaries of it not only of Reputation and Account in Respect of their own Antiquity but likewise in Relation to those Persons who were possest of them First there is North-court and Dane-court both were anciently under the Dominion of one Person and continue interwoven still though they have borrowed these several Names in Respect of their opposite Situation John de Sandherst made a Claim of Liberties in North-court the sixth year of Edward the first Christian his Daughter and Heir was married to William Langley of Knowlton who in her Right possest this Mannor and by a new Insâ—ection had the former Liberties exemplified the thirty seventh year of Edward the third Pat. 37. pars prima Memb. 21. and after that the possession of this place had by an even Line of Descent been drawn thorough this Family it did at last by an Heir General devolve to Peyton and by a Derivative Title from him does Sir Thomas Peyton of Knowlton Baronet hold the instant enjoyment of it But Dane-court was passed away by Langley to Fenell and from him by the like Transition it came over to Thomas Cox Customer of Sandwich and he by Sale invested the Interest of it in Fogge Ancestor to my Noble Friend Richard Fogge Esquire now Possessor of Dane-court a Person to whom for that Intelligence he has contributed to me in Relation to the Noble Families of Crioll and Valoignes whose Heirs General matched with Fogge and who formerly by those Alliances annexed a vast Revenue in this County to this Name I am signally obliged South-court in this Parish was in Times of eldest Inscription as appears by a Survey of this Parish taken in the eighteenth year of Edward the third and which lies now in the Hands of Mr. Anneslow Gardiner of Haling in Croyden Sir John de Tittesden but certainly the possession was not long resident here for not long after I find the Lord Martin of Devon to be Proprietary of it from whom in the reign of Henry the sixth the Right of it was by Sale conducted down to John White after made Sir John White a Merchant of the Staple at Canterbury and when this Name deserted the possession of this place the next who succeeded in the subsequent Series was Cox from whom by purchase the Right came into Fogge and from that Name by the Fate of Sale was it made the Inheritance of Peyton from whom by Communicative Derivation and Descent it is incorporated into the Demeasne of Sir Thomas Peyton Toniford in the Hundred of West-gate did afford both Seat and Sirname to a Family which came under that Appellation and there is mention in the Book of Aide of John Toniford who lived here about the beginning of Edward the third but this Family was worn out about the latter part of that Prince's Reign And the next in Order who was Lord of the Fee was Sir Thom is Fogge who flourished here in the reign of Edward the third and Richard the second and after it had been for sundry Descents fixt in this Name and Family the Interest which they had here was by purchase brought over to claim Vane for its Possessor where likewise the Title was as unstable for not many years are consumed since it was alienated from their Revenue and made by Sile the Demeasne of Captain Collin
Num. 62. And from these two did it descend by the successive steps of paternal progression to Tho. Lord Rosse who was beheaded at Newcastle upon Tine and attainted in the fourth year of Edw. the fourth as a Complice of the House of Lancaster and likewise to John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester who was attainted and beheaded in the year 1470 as a Partisan of the House of York so that the whole Mannor by the several Attaints being swallowed up in the Revenue of the Crown it was by Edw. the fourth in the eighteenth year of his Reign granted to Roger Lord Wentworth and Margaret his Wife Widow of Tho. Lord Rosse and Tho. Lord Wentworth this mans Successor about the Beginning of Q. Eliz. alienated it to Barnham and Slany who immediately after disposed of their right in it by a joynt Sale to Barker from whom by the like Fate within the Verge of that Age which fell under our Grand-fathers remembrance it came over to Sir Rob. Jackson and he not many years since conveyed it by Sale to Sir Oliver Boteler Grand-father to Sir Oliver Boteler Baronet in whom resides the present Signorie of it But Waldeslade was given by Rich. the second in the eleventh year of his Reign as the Book called Feoda Militum kept in the Exchequer intimates to the Abby of Canous Langley frequently written Childrens Langley and lay involved in their revenue till the general Dissolution and then King Henry the eighth in the thirty fifth year of his reign granted it to Sir Thomas Moile from whom the Fee-simple by Amy his Daughter and Co-heir devolved to Sir Thomas Kempe and he in the tenth year of Q. Eliz. passed it away to Jo. Mabbe who in the twentieth of her reign alienated it to VVilliam Emes from whom in the twenty fifth of that Princess it devolved to Richard Fogge Esq and he in the twenty sixth year of her Government conveyed it to Mr. Ex Autographis penes Rich. Lea de Delce magna Armig. Tho. Cocks who in the thirty sixth of that Queen transferred it by Sale to Mr. Richard Lea from whom it descended to his Son and Heir Captain Rich. Lea of Great Delce Esquire and he by Sale gave up his right to his second Brother Mr. Thomas Lea who dying without Issue gave it to his Nephew the instant Proprietary Richard Lea now of Great Delce Esquire The late Repair of the Parish Church and new Building of the Steeple commends the religious Care and Cost of his late Majesties Commissioners and Officers of the Navy Royal in the year 1635. But the Arsenals Store-houses and Shipdocks erected by the late K. Charles are so magnificent and universally useful that they are become a principal Pillar of the Nations support so far as they relate to the naval defence of it and affords variety of imployment by the Manufacture of Cordage as also by the Careening and Building of Ships Chetham Hospital called St. Bartholomews was founded by Gundulphus Bishop of Rochester in the time of William Rufus to which the Norwoods of Norwood and the Crevequers as the Records of the Church of Rochester do specifie were plentitul Benefactors Chart Magna or Great Chart gives Name to the whole Hundred which lies about it and hath thereby a tacite Note of Antiquity and eminence annexed to it and was in the Saxons Time called Seleberts Chert In the year of Grace 788. King Cenulfe or Kenulfe at the Request of Arch-Bishop Athelard regranted this place to the Sea of Centerbury for Offa sometime before had wrested it from Arch-Bishop Janibert In the Time of the Conquest when the Church Demeasn was rated this was valued at three Sullings or Plough-Lands Goldwell is an ancient Mannor and Mansion in this Parish which was for many Ages and Descents the Inheritance of the noble and illustrious Family of Goldwell which in Times of an elder Aspect gave them both Seat and Sirname out of which two learned Bishops descended Jam. Goldwell who was Bishop of Norwich in the year 1472 and principal Secretary of State to Edw. the fourth who obtained a Grant from that Prince to found a Chauntry in Great Chart as appears Pat. 15. Edw. 4. Pars tertia And Tho. Goldwell Bishop of St. Asaph in the year 1555. But alass after this Mannor had been so long seated in the Patrimony of Goldwell it was at length alienated such is the volatile and unsetled temper of all earthly Inheritances not many years since by J. Goldwell to Sir Will. Withins and he passed it away to Sir J. Tufton Ancestor to the right honourable Jo. Tufton now E. of Thanet who by paternal Descent is now entituled to the Possession of Goldwell but Goddinton by Joan Goldwell who was Daughter and Heir to Tho. Goldwell a branch sprouted out of the principal Stem at Goldwell came to be the Inheritance of Tho. Tooke and hath for sundry Generations continued in that Name till this Day some of which lie buried in Chart Church with very fair Inscriptions unless the Sacrilegious Impiety of these Times hath ravished away the Brass which should stand an Alphabet to their Dust and in the upper Church windows about the second Story their Gentry Descent Matches and Alliance is most amply exprest in their Armories and that unless the wildness of some barbarous Hand have lately demolished them in coloured Glass Chelmington is another Mannor in this Parish which gave Sirname to a generous Family who I believe had here their Mansion too though by the repeated and successive Impressions of Age it be now enter'd in Rubbish and Oblivion finally after this place had for many Descents been wrapt up in the Revenue of this Name and Family it devolved at last to John Chelmington whose Effigies is represented to us in one of the Church windows by an armed Portraicture who deceased in the reign of Henry the fourth without Issue Male so that Eliz. Chelmington was his Daughter and Heir who by matching with Roger Twisden Esq cast it into the Patrimony of that noble and ancient Family in respect of which original Alliance the right of this Mannor is now fixed in Sir Roger Twisden Knight and Baronet a person to whom for his learned Conduct of these my imperfect Labours thorough the gloomy and perplexed paths of Antiquity and the many Difficulties that did assault me I am signally oblieged Little Chart lies in the Hundred of Calchill and does involve that place within the Precincts and Circumference of it which gives Denomination to the whole Hundred It was restored to the Monks of Christ Church in Canterbury by Kenulfe King of Mercia at the request of Arch-Bishop Athelard or Atheldred in the year of Grace 799. for King Offa had before violently torn it off from the Patrimony of the Church as appears by that ancient Record called the Book of Christ Church In the year 1044 one Elleric Bigge confirmed this Donation and it went then as it had done before by Assignation towards
Confederate of Simon de Montforts the popular Earl of Leicester in his Quarrel commenced against Henry the third about removing of Strangers both from his Counsells and Throne for which after the Battle of Evesham where that Simon was defeated and slain he was by the Pacification made at Kenelworth in the fiftieth year of Henry the third absolved and pardoned soon after which he dyed and left this Mannor with much other Revenue to his Son Henry Leybourn and he was seised of it at his Death which was in the twenty eighth year of Edward the first from whom it went down to his Son Sir Roger Leybourn who dying without Issue-male Juliana Leybourn his Sole Daughter and Inheritrix entred upon the Inheritance and she was first wedded to John de Hastings and after to William de Clinton Earl of Huntington but by neither had she any Surviving Issue nor yet any collateral Alliance that could put in any pretended Claim to rescue it from an Escheat so that in the forty third year of Edward the third in which year she dyed it devolved to the Crown and Richard the second granted it to Sir Simon de Burley Knight of the Garter and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports a Man of great Virtues and no lesse Vices whose Pride and Ambition first galled others and lastly wounded himself and like some Physick wanting a peccant Matter to work upon preys upon the Vitalls themselves For bandying against some of the Nobility who pretended the Preservation and Sheltring of the peoples Interest against the impetuous Eruptions of an arbitrary Prerogative he was empeached of high Treason in the tenth year of Richard the second and was convicted and executed upon whose Calamitous Tragedie this by Escheat reverts to the Crown and the abovesaid Prince in the twelfth year of his Reign by Grant annexes it to the Revenue of the Canons of St. Stephens in Westminster where it was fixed untill the publick Suppression removed it and united it once more to the Patrimony of the Crown Richard de Albaney principall Butler to King William Rufus gave the Tithes of Elham to St. Andrews in Rochester See Textus Roffensis and then King Edward the sixth granted it in Lease for fourscore years to Sir Edward Wotton one of his Privie Councell whose Son Thomas Wotton Esquire passed it away by Sale to Alexander Hamon Esquire who determining in two Daughters and Coheirs Mary married to Sir Edward Bois of Fredvill and Katharine wedded to Sir Robert Lewknor this in his Wifes Right came over to the last but the Reversion in Fee was in the Beginning of the late King Charles by Sir Charles Herbert Master of the Revells purchased of the Crown and he some few years since alienated all his Concernment in this Mannor to Mr. Alst a Dutch Merchant of London Elham had the Grant of a Market procured to it on the Monday by the power of Prince Edward in the fifty fifth year of Henry the third which was after allowed and approved of before the Judges Itinerant when he was King in the seventh year of his Reign Shotleâ—field in Elham was as high as the Reign of Edward the second the Inheritance of a Family called le Grubbe who had Possessions of a considerable Value about Yalding by Maidston and Nonington in East-Kent In the third year of Edward the second Henry Peres and in another old Deed styled Pers or de Petris from his Habitation nere some place of a Rocky constitution demises some parcels of Land lying in Elham and Lyming to Thomas le Grubbe who is written in the Deed de Shotlesfield and from this Thomas did the Title descend by paternal Devolution to John Grubbe who in the second year of Richard the third conveyed it by Sale to Thomas Brockman of Liming and his Grandchild Henry Brockman in the first year of Queen Mary alienated it to George Fogge of Brabourn Esquire and he about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth sold his Interest in it to Bing who in that Age which was circumscribed within our Fathers Remembrance transplanted the Title by Sale into Mr. John Masters of Sandwich from whom it descended to Sir Ed. Masters of Canterbury and he upon his late Decease gave it to Dr ..... Masters his second Son Dr. of the Civil-Law Mount and South Blabden with Jaques Court were Mannors which were involved in the Patrimony of Anketellus de Rosse and he in the twentieth year of Wâ—lliam the Conquerour held them as appears by the Record of Dooms-day Book from which Name they passed away to Cosenton with Acris but with this Clause reserved that South-Blabden and Acris should hold the Mannor of Horton by knights Service which was a principall Seat of this Family of Rosse before it was sold to Kirkby In the seventh year of King Edward the third Stephen de Cosington obtained a Charter of Free-warren to these above recited Mannors This Man was Son and Heir of William de Cosenton who was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty fifth year of Edward the first and is sometimes written of Cosenton and sometimes of Mount in Elham and from these two did Sir John Cosenton extract his Genealogie and with it his Title to these two Mannors and he deceasing about the latter end of Henry the eighth without Issue-male his three Daughters ....... married to Duke Joan matched to Wood and Elizabeth wedded to Alexander Hamon Esquire became his three Coheirs and parted a large Patrimony Upon the Division Wood obtained South-Blabden and Jaques Court and Hamon carried away Mount Wood's Heir alienated the two first to Sir John Wilde of Canterbury whose Son Colonell Dudley Wilde upon his late Decease hath bequeathed them to his Widow during Life Hamon's Heir determined in two Daughters and Coheirs Mary was espoused to Sir Edward Bois of Fredvill and Catharine was matched to Sir Robert Lewknor descended from the noble and Illustrious Family of Lewknor in Sussex who in his Wifes right was invested in the Possession of Mount who upon his Death transmitted it to his Son Mr. Hamon Lewknor whose Widow Mrs. ..... Lewknor eldest Daughter to Dr. Hen. Kingsley Arch-deacon of Canterbury is now in the enjoyment of it Canterwood is another Mannor in this Parish whose Possessors I confesse I could never trace out by any Print of publick Record therefore I endeavoured to give my self Satisfaction by the private Evidences but the Heir being under Age the Deeds were deposited in the Hands of those who represented my Design in Surveying them through the Mists of Cautious Jealousies and Distrusts and so my Attempt became fruitlesse All the Intelligence I could gain as in Relation to that place was collected from an old Manuscript whose Hand seems contemporary to the Time of Henry the eighth and what I have drained from thence I shall now represent to the Reader Canterwood says this Escript was formerly the Estate of Thomas de Garwinton de Welle in Littlebourne who flourished in the Reign
941 and was as Mr. Lambert out of some old Records conjectures to find the Covent with Eele-Pies If you will see how it was rated in the Conquerours Time Dooms-day Book will tell you that Farnelege est Manerium Monachorum est de Cibo eorum in tempore Edwardi Regis se defendebat pro VI. Sullingis est appretiatum XXII lb. This Mannor upon the Resignation of the Revenue of the above-mentioned Cloister coming to the Crown King Henry the eighth in the thirty fourth year of his Reign granted this and West-Farleigh which was given to the Priory of Christ-Church by Queen Eleanor in exchange for the Port of Sandwich which Donation of hers Edward the first as the Book of Christ-Church informs me fully ratified and confirmed and likewise devolved from the Crown upon the former Surrender to Sir Thomas Wiatt who was then one of his Privy Councel and remained entwined with his Demeasne untill his infortunate Attaint and Tragedy in the second year of Queen Mary brought them back as escheated and forfeited to the Crown The Mannor of East-Farleigh of vast Extent was lately sold by the State to Colonel Robert Gibbons and then that Princesse the same time granted the Mannor of West-Farleigh and the Site and Demeasne of East-Farleigh to her Atturney General Sir John Baker who dying in the first year of Queen Elizabeth gave East-Farleigh to his second Son Mr. John Baker and West-Farleigh to his Son and Heir Sir Richard Jo. Baker had Issue Sir Richard Baker who about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth passed away East-Farleigh to Sir ....... Vane of Burstow in Hunton in whose Descendants the Propriety of it continues at this instant but West-Farleigh devolved by Descent from the abovesaid Sir Richard to his great Grandchild Sir Jo. Baker Baronet who hath very lately conveyed it by Sale to Mr. Thomas Floyd of Gore Court in Otham Esquire Smiths Hill in East-Farleigh hath been ever since the Reign of Henry the sixth the Residence of the Brewers though that Seat where they were anciently planted before was Brewers in Merworth which was a Mansion entituled to the Possssession of this Family some hundreds of years and from whence William de Brewer did originally issue out who was Lieutenant of Dover Castle under King John to whom that King directs a special Praecipe or Command to deliver that important Fortresse to Hubert de Burgh Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports as appears Pat. 17. Reg. Joannis Memb. 2. Num. 102. This I rather mention to manifest that this Family anciently as now hath been under no contemptible Character in this County Totesham Hall lyes within the Limits of West-Farleigh and was the Mansion of a Family of eminent Rank in this Track Jo. de Totesham was one of the Recognitores magnae Assisae as appears by the Pipe Rolls in the Reign of King John and he was Grandfather to John de Totesham who held this Seat at his Decease as appears Rot. Esc Num. 17. Taken in the fifth year of Edward the third And from him did it in an uneven Channel of Successive Interest come down to Anthony Totesham Esquire the last of this Name at this place who about the latter end of Henry the eighth alienated this and Henherst in Yalding to Chapman in which Family the Posession dwelt untill the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then it was by the same Conveyance passed to Lawrence from which Name not many years since it went away by Purchase to Augustine Skinner Esquire descended from an ancient Family of the Skinners in Lincolne-Shire and now by this new Acquisition transplanted into Kent Farningham in the Hundred of Clackstan vulgarly called Acstane with the Moiety of Chartons was in the Time of the Conquerour held of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury by Ansgodus Rubitoniensis that is Ansgod de Rosse and was rated in Dooms-day Book at one Sulling or Ploughland as it was before in the Reign of Edward the Confessor But this Name of Rosse determining here about the end of Henry the third it came afterwards to be the Pattimony of Fremingham and Ralph de Fremingham obtained a Charter of Free-Warren to this Mannor in the fifty fifth year of Henry the third after whom it descended fortified and fenced in with this new acquired Priviledge to John de Fremingham who was first Assistant to John de Malmains of Faukham not far distant in his Office of Sheriff which was in the tenth of Edward the second and was afterwards Sheriff of this County himself in the twelfth year and then again in the eighteenth and nineteenth years of the above-mentioned Prince and dyed possest of Farningham in the twenty third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 145. Pars secunda Ralph de Fremingham this Mans Son was Sheriff of Kent the thirty second of Edward the third and in the twentieth year of that Prince paid an auxiliary Contribution at the making the Black Prince Knight for Lands conveyed over to him by his Father and whose Tenure was in Knights Service and lay in this Parish and held them at his Decease which was in the thirty eighth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 19. This Mans Son and Heir was John Fremingham who was one of the Conservators of the Peace of this County in the first year of Richard the second and Sheriff of Kent in the second year of that Prince and afterwards had the Custody of this County again in the twelfth year of Henry the fourth but dyed without Issue so that Ann his Sister matched to Roger Isley of Sundrich became his Heir and so Farningham was with her brought to acknowledge the Interest of this Family from whom it devolved to John Isley whose Widow Alice Isley dyed possest of Farningham in Right of Jointure in the first year of Henry the eighth and from her it devolved to her Son Thomas Isley and he dyed seised of it in the eleventh year of Henry the eighth and it was found at his Decease that it was held in Knights Service of Dover Castle by the payment of a Rent-service of twenty one Shillings per An. and had the Estimate of a whole Knights Fee After him his Son Sir Henry Isley succeeded in the Possession of this place and being infortunately convicted of high Treason in the second year of Queen Mary Farningham and Chartons escheated to the Crown and that Princesse in the same year granted it back to his Son William Isley Esquire and he in the third and fourth of Philip and Mary by a Deed enroll'd in Chancery passes away Farningham and the Moiety of Chartons to William Roper Esquire Grandfather to Sir Anthony Roper and Mr. Henry Roper from whom upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Will made by his Brother Sir Anthony Roper wherein he demises the Fee-simple to Sir John Cotton of Cambridge-Shire it is by Verdict taken away and enstated on the above mentioned Person The other Moiety of Chartons gave Sirname
and Hornes-place Kenington in the Hundreds of Chart and Longbridge was a Mannor which alwaies related to the Crown as is intimated by the Name where lie tacitly couched some Hints of those who were Proprietaries of it And Keningbrooke which is circumscribed within the Limits of this Parish was annexed by William the Conqueror to his Royal Mannor of Wye and was looked upon as an Appendage to it and followed the Fate of it at the common Dissolution when the other was plucked away from the Patrimony of Battell Abby in which ever since the Original Donation of William the Conqueror it had been resident and was with the Mannor of Wye by Queen Elizabeth granted in the first year of her Raign to her Kinsman Henry Cary Lord Hunsdon and his Grand-child Hen. Earl of Dover not many years since passed it away by Sale to Sir Tho. Finch Father to Heneage Finch now Earl of Winchelsey in whose Revenue it is at this instant setled Bibrooke is a second Place in Kenington which claims some Consideration It was as appears by very old Evidences the Patrimony of a Family called Godwin which flourished here in the Raign of King John Henry the third and Edward the first but after this it began to wither and before the latter end of Edward the third was altogether crumbled away the last of whom that I find by publique Record to be invested in the Possession was William Godwin who enjoyed it at his Death which was in the thirty second year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 93. The next Family after this which was entituled to the Possession was Belknap but Sir Robert Belknap being infortunately attainted and banished in the tenth year of Richard the second to whose Cause and Quarrel he had wholly vowed his Life and Service and his Estate as to the principall part confiscated in which this lay involved the same Monarch in the thirteenth year of his Raign granted it to William Ellys who was at that Time one of the Conservators or Justices of the Peace of this County whose Capital Seat was at Burton in this Parish though in very old Deeds it is written Burston as being indeed the Seat of a Branch of that Family from whom it came over about the latter end of Edward the second to Ellys but in the Name of Ellys the Title of Bibrooke was not long-liv'd for about the Beginning of Henry the sixth I find it by Purchase invested in Shelley by whose Heir General it devolved in the Time of Edward the fourth to May from whom not long after it was alienated to Tilden where it continued until about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth and then the same Revolution transported the Title to Best who about the latter end of that Princesse passed it away by Sale to Hall Ancestor to Mr. Nevill Hall the present Lord of this Mansion but Burton was more constant to the Family of Ellys and remained linked to the Patrimony of that Name until that Age which bordered upon our Fathers Remembrance and then it was demised by Sale to Hall in whose Descendant Mr. Nevill Hall the Propriety is at present resident Keston in the Hundred of Rokesley belonged in the twentieth year of William the Conquerour as the Pages of Dooms-day Book inform me to Gilbert de Magninot and there it is written Cheston and continued in his Name untill the latter end of King John and then by the Heir Generall of this Family it came to be possest of Say of Says-court in Deptford but stayed not long in this Name for in the twenty fourth year of Edward the first Alexander de Cheyney dyed possest of it as appears Rot. Esc Num. 26. But in his Posterity likewise it had no long Residence for about the Beginning of Edward the third it was conveyed to Stephen de Ashway and he in the thirty eighth of this Prince obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannor of Keston And here the Title fixed untill the Beginning of Henry the fourth and then it was alienated with Baston which had still the same original and successive Proprietaries with Keston to Squerris of Squerries-court in Westerham and here it made its aboad untill the latter end of Henry the sixth and then it devolved by Dorothy Daughter and Coheir of Thomas Squerrie to Richard Mervin of Fountell in Wiltshire who passed away Keston and Baston both which accrued to him upon the Division of Squerrie's Estate to Philp Reynolds and Thomas Tregarthen as his Trustees and they in the eighth year of Edward the fourth convey them both to Richard Scroope and Stephen Scroop from whom about the latter end of Edward the fourth they came to Henry Heyden Esquire and he in the first year of Richard the first as is manifest by an old Court-rol held a Court here at Keston and from him did the Propriety by the Steps of several Descents come down to that worthy Person Sir Christopher Heydon who about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth demised all his Interest in Keston and Baston to Sir Samuel Lennard whose Son Sir Stephen Lennard is still entituled to the Fee-simple of them Mr. Camden conjectures in his Britannia something of the Name of Caesar to be couched in the Etymologie of this place because at Baston adjoyning there is an ancient Camp stupendious for the heighth of double Rampiers and depth of double Ditches hardly paralleled elsewhere and questionlesse the work of many Labouring Hands Of what Capacity it was is not now exactly to be discerned much of it being overgrown with a Thicket but very vast it was as may be collected from its remains which are yet apparent And most probable it is that Camp which Julius Caesar pitched when the Britons with their united strength gave him the last Battle and then the successe being not equall to their Courage retired and gave him way to pierce into Surrey and so towards the Thames by Noviomagum or Woodcott where he planted a spatious City and standing Camp Kingsdown in the Hundred of Wrotham is spread into two Mannors called Northcourt and Southcourt both which anciently acknowledged themselves to be parcell of the Demeasne of Fitz Bernard who flourished here under the Notion and in the Degree of Barons and had this Mannor by Grant from Henry the first and with it had these priviledges annexed to it Toll and Theam Sac and Soc Furcas in Latrones Captos that is Infangthef and Outfangthef Tumbrell and Pillory and lastly Assisam Panis Cerevisiae that is a power to take Cognizance of the Weights and Measures of Bread and that Beverage which was then in use within the Precincts of this Mannor and all these were allowed to Ralph Fitz Bernard as granted before by Henry the first by the Judges Itinerant in the seventh year of Edward the first and this Man was Son to John Fitz Bernard who was rated after the value of a whole Knights Fee for his Mannor of Kingsdown as appears by Testa
Esquire St. Mary Crey in the Hundred of Rokesley though it be a Market Town yet is but a Chapâ—el of Ease to Orpington Before the Conquest one Elfgat held it as Doomes-day Book which makes a Recapitulation of the first Owners informs us of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury In the Conqueror's Time Hugh Nephew of Herbert Bishop of Baion possest it under the Notion of a whole Knights Fee In Ages of a more modern Date that is in the raign of Henry the third John de Maries descended from Thomas de Maries who accompanied Richard the first to the Seige of Acon enjoyed a whole Knights Fee at Ackmere and Sentling two eminent Mannors in this Parish but about the beginning of Edward the first had deserted the Possession and surrendered it to Gregory de Rokesley Grand-child to John de Rokesley who likewise was embarked with Richard the first at the Seige of Acon and he in the ninth of Edward the first obtained the Grant of a Market on the Wednesday and a three Dayes Faire at the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary to St. Mary Crey as appears Pat. 9. Edw. 1. Memb. 35. and left it to his Son Sir Richard de Rokesley who dying in the seventeenth year of Edward the second without Issue-male by Agnes one of his Daughters and Co-heirs to Thomas de Poynings in which Name it continued until the latter end of Edward the third and then I find it possest by Sir Robert Belknap who was attainted in the tenth year and banished into Ireland for too vigorously attempting to boulster up the Majesty and Prerogative of that Prince against the Assaults and invasions which were made upon it by a Factious Junto of the Nobility yet it was suddainly after restored to his Posterity for in the ninteenth of Richard the second I find Hamon Belknap reseated in the Possession by the Royal Concession and Indulgence of that Prince and from him it did devolve to his Grand-child Sir Henry Belknap which Family being enterred in Daughters and Co-heirs Sir Robert Wotton by matching with Anne that was one of them entituled himself in her Right to the Inheritance of both these Places and so by the Thread of a continued Descent was it brought down to Thomas Lord Wotton who settled them in Marriage upon his eldest Daughter and Co-heir Mrs. Katherine Wotton who was espoused to Henry Lord Stanhop Heir apparent to Philip Earl of Chesterfeild Orlanston in the Hundred of Hamme was the Inherirance of a Family of that Sirname William de Orlanston is registred in the List of those Kentish Gentlemen who assisted Richard the first at the Siege of Acon William de Orlanston his Son held it in the raign of Henry the third and obtained a Charter of Free-warren to it in the one and fiftieth year of Henry the third and more to improve the Grandeur of this his Mannor with Additional Franchises he likewise obtained a Market to be weekly observed here and a Fair yearly which was to continne by the space of three Dayes at the Feast of Holyrode as appears Pat. de 51. Hen. 3. Memb. 10. The Grant of which Market was renewed and confirmed to John Kemp Arch-bishop of Yorke and after of Canterbury in the twentieth year of Henry the sixth William de Orlanston this mans Grand-child was Sheriff of Kent in the second year of Edward the third and had the Custody of the County some part of the year following and died the thirty eighth year of Edward the third and had Issue Sir John Orlanston who was Burgess for Romeney as appears by some old Records in Dover Castle sundry Times both in the raign of Edward the third and Richard the second and matched with the Daughter and Heir of Sir William at Capell from which Alliance proceeded Richard Orlanston Esquire who died possest of Orlanston in the seventh year of Henry the fifth Rot. Esc Num. 16. and left his Inheritance to be divided between his two Sisters and Co-heirs Margaret matched to William Parker of Parkers in Werehorne and Joane espoused to William Scott of Scotts Hall who upon the Partition of the Ancient Patrimony was invested in his Wife 's Right in this Mannor of Orlanston from whom the Clew of many Descents hath transported the Propriety to the instant Possessor Mr. Edward Scott of Scotts Hall Esquire Here were Lands divorced from this Place by no far Distance called Oswareston for I find Henry Earl of Augie gave to the Monks of Bermondsey in Southwarke his Lands called Oswareston near Romelin in the Parish of Lyda and the Lands of John the Clerk in Bilsington of which see Vincents Book of Nobility Fol. 190. Westbery in this Parish was as high as the private Evidences of this Place can give us any Prospect to discover the Propriety of a Family called Prisott who was planted here as high as the Raign of Henry the fourth and t is probable much higher though the Deeds reach no farther Of this Family was Sir John Prisot the Judge of whom there is frequent mention in our Law Books which have an Aspect upon the Raign of Henry the sixth and in this Name was the Title of this Mannor carried down to the eighth year of Henry the eighth and then it was by Thomas Prisot passed away by Sale to George Hount in whom the Possession had not many years been resident but the same Fatality brought it over to Reginald Strogle who was in the Commission of the Peace in the Raign of Edward the sixth and was descended from a Family which was of a very high Original in Romney-Mersh where there are some Lands yet which bear their Name After Strogle had left it it came by Purchase to Mr. Bennet Guildford a Branch of the Guildfords of Hempsted who in the beginning of the Raign of Queen Elizabeth falling under the Censure and Penalty of a Pramunire for refusing the Oath of Supremacy and flying beyond Sea forfeited this place to the Crown and this Princesse immediately after passed it away by Grant to Walter Moile of Buckwell from whom not many years after this original Concession it went away by Sale to Mr. Francis Bourne Grand-father to Mr. ...... Bourne the present Proprietary of it Ospringe in the Hundred of Feversham was anciently a Limb or Appendage of the Royal Revenue until King Edward the thind in the tenth year of his Raign by Royal Concession or Grant passed it away to John de Pultency afterwards Lord Mayor of London to hold it in Fee of the Crown by the Service of a Rose offered up or presented as a Symbol of Annual Fealty and with this Mannor he granted him likewise all the Advousons of-Churches which formerly related to it to hold in Soccage only by the former acknowledgement In the nineteenth year of his Raign the above said Prince grants this John de Pulteney that Thomas Son of William de Dene should be accountable to him for all those Knights Fees which lay in
Burwash-court from whom it is now devolved by Descent to his Successor Mr. ...... Boughton The Abbot of St. Augustines to adde more eminence to this Mannor not only obtained a Charter of Free-warren to Plumsted in the thirty sixth year of Henry the third but likewise by Grant procured a Market to be held here weekly on the Tuesday and a Fair yearly three Dayes at St. Nicolas videlicet the Eve the Day and Day after both which were allowed before the Judges Itinerant in the seventh year of Edward the first Plumsted had anciently Laws and Ordinances for the better securing the Mounds and Banks of the Mersh against the Eruptions and Inundations of the Thames which almost were of the same Resemblance and Complexion with those of Romney Mersh A Scale of several Statutes are delivered to us by Rastall in his Abridgement which concerned the Inning and preserving of Plumsted Level The first was enacted in the twenty second year of Henry the eighth Cap. 3. and was printed The second was made in the fourteenth year of Queen Elizabeth and was never printed The third was ratified in the twenty third of Queen Elizabeth Cap. 13. and printed The fourth and last was confirmed in the twenty seventh year of Queen Elizabeth Cap. 27. and likewise printed Burwash-court is an eminent Seat in this Parish made more illustrious by being wrapped up in the Revenue of the Noble Family of Burgherst or Burwash Bartholomew de Burgherst died possest of it in the twenty eighth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 38. And left it to his Son Bartholomew Lord Burwash who in the forty third year of the above-said Prince coveyed it with much other Land to Sir Walter de Paveley Knight of the Garter in which Family it continued until the raign of Richard the second and then it was alienated to VVilliam Chichley Alderman of London who left it to his Son John Chichley by whose Daughter and Heir Agnes it came to be possest by John Tattershal of VVell-hall in Eltham who about the beginning of Henry the sixth conveyed it to Boughton in the Descendants of which Family it had a permanent aboad untill that Age that our Remembrance had an Aspect on and then it was passed away to Mr. Rowland VVilson of London and he upon his late Decease gave it to his Daughter and her Heirs who was first matched to Doctour ...... Crisp and now secondly to Colonel ...... Row of Hackney R. R. R. R. RAdigunds vulgarly called the Abby of St. Radigunds leads up the Van of this Register It was founded by Hugh the first Abbot who was before a Monk in the Priory of Christ-church in the raign of King Stephen as the Book of Christ-church and the Return into the Court of Augmentation made in the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth do both inform me Their Rule was derived from Austin Bishop of Hippo their Habit Black whence they are sometimes styled Black-Canons and sometimes Canons of St. Austins The Revenue which appertained to this Cloister lay not fat divided from this place as namely at Alkham Sotemore Combe Hawking Padlesworth and Pising where they had a Mannor as appears by an Inquisition taken in the thirty fifth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 147. This upon the Dissolution lapsing with all its Revenue to the Crown King Henry the eighth exchanged Pising with Thomas Cranmer Arch-bishop of Canterbury but the Mannor of St. Radigunds it self remained annexed to the Royal Revenue until Queen Elizabeth in the thirty second year of her raign granted it to Simon Edolph Esquire descended from the Edolphs of Romney Mersh where they were very ancient in whose Successor Sir ...... Edolph the propriety of this place is still resident Raculver in the Hundred of VVhitstaple had a Monastery founded here for Monks to live under the Rule of St. Bennet But the Mannor it self was given with all its Train of Appendages as namely Pasture Glebe Mersh-land and the adjacent Shore and estimated at twenty five Mansions or Cottages bis denis senisque estimatum Cassatis those are the words of the Record by King Eadredus in the year nine hundred forty and eight to the Sea of Canterbury in the presence of his Queen Edgiva and Arch-bishop Odo and if you will descry what Estimate it had in the Time of the Conqueror Doomes-day Book will afford you a discovery Raculf Tempore Edwardi Regis se defendebat pro VIII Sullings est appretiatum XL. lb. II. lb. V. s. tres Minutes that was a Coin I believe equivalent to our now English Pence minus Though the Church be now full of Solitude and languished into Decay yet when Leland made his Perambulation it was in a more splendid Equipage If you please to hear him he thus describes it The old Building of the Abby Church continues says he having two goodly spiring Steeples In the entring into the Quire is one of the fairest and most ancient Crosses that ever I saw nine Foot in height it standeth like a fair Columne The Basis is a great stone it is not wrought the second Stone being round hath curiously wrought and and painted the Images of our Saviour Christ Peter Paul John and James Christ saith Ego sum Alpha Omega Peter saith Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi The sayings of the other three were painted Majusculis Literis Romanis but now obliterated The second Stone is of the Passion The third Stone contains the Twelve Apostles The fourth hath the Image of our Saviour hanging and fastned with four Nails sub pedibus sustentaculum The highest part of the Pillar hath the Figure of a Crosse In the Church is a very ancient Book of the Evangelies in Majusculis Literis Romanis and in the Borders thereof is a Crystal Stone thus inscribed Claudia Atepiccus In the North-side of the Church is the Figure of a Bishop painted under an Arch In digging about the Church they find old Buckles and Rings The whole Print of the Monastery appears by the old Wall And the Vicarage was made of the Ruines of the Monastery There is a neglected Chappel out of the Church-yard where some say was a Paroch-Church before the Abby was suppressed and given to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury Thus far he But the greatest Honor which in elder Times did accrew to this Village was that King Ethelbert after he had founded the Abby of St. Austins removed his Residence from Canterbury and fixed his Pallace at this place which his Successors the Kings of Kent enobled by their presence but when this Kingdome was swallowed up in that of Mercia and Mercia afterwards in that of the West Saxons Reculver had the Grant of a Market procured to it on the Thursday by William Arch-B of Canterbury in the 7th of Edw. the second this Mansion of theirs found a Sepulcher likewise in their Ruines so that now we can trace it out no where but in Annals and
was by Etheldred let loose from the Veins of his Danish Subjects universally in this Nation and certainly it was this Swain that erected the Castle here to preserve a Winter Station for his Ships and though it now lye gasping in its own Rubbish yet there are yet some Characters and Signatures remaining which evidence and declare to us that there was once a Fortresse there where there is nothing now but dismantled Ruines The Tradition of the Country is that that Valley which interposes between that Hill which ascends up to Northfleet and that which winds up to Swanscamp was once covered with Water and being locked in on each side with Hills made a secure Road for Shipping which invited the Dane to make it a Winter-Station for his Navy and the same Report will tell you likewise of Anchors which have been digged up about the utmost Verge of that Mersh which is contiguous to the Thames and certainly if we consider the Position of this Valley which is nothing but a Chain of Mershland interlaced with a Stream called Ebbs fleet which swells and sinks with the Flux and Reflux of the adjacent River and the Dimension of their Ships then at that Time in use which were not of any extraordinary Bulk this Tradition is not improbable Near this place Stigand the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and Egelsine Abbot of St. Augustines assembled the Kentish Men into an Army pretending it was better to dye like Men in asserting and vindicating their Native Liberties with Swords in their Hands then like Slaves to prostitute themselves to the Insolence of the Conquerour by a cheap and tame Submission with Halters about their Necks which had so great an Influence and Impression upon their Spirits that they resolved their Franchises and themselves should find one Tomb together rather then they would give up both to the Sword and Will of an imperious Victor and indeed soon after they managed their Stratagems with that Successe that William Sirnamed the Conquerour advancing with his Normans into Kent to reduce Dover-Castle which was then made good against him he and his Army dropped into those Ambushes which the Kentish Inhabitants had strewed for him where he had indisputably perished had he not by Charter fortified and confirmed those Immunities they then contended and strugled for and which remain unviolated either by any forrain or domestick Eruption even untill this Day The Mannor of Swanscamp it self was as farre as Record can guide us to discover the Inheritance of the Montchensies called in the Latine Repertory de Monte-Canisio and Hubert de Montchensey as appears by Dooms-day Book was the first of that Name of any Eminence who was Lord of the Fee and after him his Son William de Montchensey by paternal Right held it and so dyed in Possession of it in the year 1287 from whom it descended to Dionis his Daughter and Heir and in Relation to her to her Husband Hugh de Vere who became by this Addition of Estate thus accruing Baron of Swanscamp and sat under that Notion in the Parliament which was summoned in the first year of Edward the second but he dying without Issue William de Valence Earl of Pembroke claimed it in Right of his Wife Daughter and Heir to John de Montchensey second Brother to William de Montchensey who was Father in Law to Hugh de Vere above-mentioned from whom it descended to his Son Aymer de Valence who dying without Issue in the seventeenth year of Edward the third Isabell his Sister matched to Lawrence de Hastings became his Heir who in her Right was Earl of Pembroke and Baron of Swanscamp and left it to his Grandchild John de Hastings Earl of Pembroke who dying without Issue in the fourteenth of Richard the second in the fifteenth year of that Prince Reginald Grey and Richard Talbot in respect of Marriage were found to be his Heirs and upon the Partition of the Estate this was united to the Demeasne of Talbot in which Family after it had rested untill the latter end of Henry the sixth it was conveyed to Sir Thomas Brown of Bechworth Castle whose Son Sir William Brown in the twelfth year of Edward the fourth surrendered them into the hands of Edward the fourth for the use of his Mother Cicely Dutchesse Dowager of York upon whose Decease it returned to the Crown and lay there untill the first year of Q. Elizabeth and then it was granted to Ralph Weldon Esq great Grand-father to Colonel Ralph Weldon the instant Lord of the Fee Alcharden alias Combes is another place in this Parish worthy this Survey It was many Hundred years since the Inheritance of a Family called Cumbe or Combe who continued resident in the Possession untill the reign of Edward the fourth and then it went away from them by Sale to Swan of Hook-House in Southfleet in which Family it was fixed untill the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth and then it was conveyed to Lovelace who not long after passed it away to Carter and he alienated it to Hardres from whom about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth the Vicissitude of Sale carried it off to Fagge who in the tenth year of King James transmitted it by Sale to Hudson whose Descendant not many years fince demised it by Sale to Mr. Richard Head of Rochester Ince-Grice is the last place considerable in Swanscampe It related before the general suppression to the Priory of Dartford but being torn off by King Henry the eighth it was by Edward the sixth in the fifth of his reign granted in Fee-Farm to Martin Muriell but the Fee-simple remained in the Crown until Queen Elizabeth in the fifth year of her Rule passed it away to Edward Darbishire and John Bere who not long after jointly conveyed it to Jones who in our Fathers Memory alienated it to Holloway whose Son and Heir Mr. Thomas Holloway hath lately demised his Interest in it to Captain Edward Brent of Southwarke Staple in the Hundred of Eastry hath two places memorable First Crixall which was Anciently written Crickleaddshall when in Ages of a higher Ascent it confessed the Family of Brockhull for its Owners which were Lords of it but until the twenty eighth of Edward the first and then it was setled upon a Daughter but whether she brought it or not by Marriage to Wadham which Family I find about the latter end of Edward the third to have been possest of it I cannot discover and where the Light of Record is dim I must acquiesce in silence William Wadhaem as I trace out by an old Pedigree of Fogg lived in the reign of Henry the fourth Henry the fifth and Henry the sixth under the Scepter of which Princes he managed the Office of Justice of the Peace for the County of Somerset and left his Estate here to his Son and Heir Sir Nicholas Wadham who determined in a Daughter and Heir matched to Sir William Fogg by which Alliance this Mannor came to be ingrafted into the
with his Hand supported that Prince when he first went out of his Ship to Land in Sussex afterwards when in the twentieth of that King's Government there was an universal Survey taken of each Mans particular Demeasn thoroughout the Nation who was of any Account or Eminence which we call Dooms-day Book there is a recital of the above mentioned Robert de St. Leger to have held Lands at Ulcomb which the Evidences of this Family do inform us were taken from a Pagan Dane whom he before had conquered and who inhabited at this place Guy de St. Leger as Mr. Fuller discovers to us in his Ecclesiastical History was appointed by William the Conquerour to be an Assistant Knight to Adelmere one of the Monks of Ely Raefe de St. Leger is registred in the Roll of those Kentish Gentlemen who accompanied Richard the first to the Siege of Acon and as the Inscription on his Leaden Shroud in the Vault of this Church does signifie was engaged in the Holy Quarrel fifteen years Another Rafe St. Leger and Hugh St. Leger were Recognitores magnae Assisae in the second year of K. John Sir Rafe de St. Leger Sir Jo. de St. Leger and Sir Tho. St. Leger were with Edw. the first at the Siege of Carlaverock in the twenty eighth year of his Reign and for their signal Atchievements there received the Order of Knighthood Indeed in times subsequent to this there was scarse almost any noble and generous undertaking but the Annals of our English History represent a St. Leger concerned and interessed in it And for their Collateral Alliances by which they became knit in Consanguinitie to several illustrious Families none in that particular have been more Successeful then themselves Sir Thomas St. Leger second Brother to Sir Rafe St. Leger married Anne Dutchesse of Exeter Sister to King Edward the fourth and so became twisted into the Family of that Prince by a Nearness of Alliance as he had before been taken into his Bosome by a union of Friendship by whom he had only Ann his Daughter and Heir who was wedded to Sir George Manners L. Rosse from whom the Earls of Rutland are in a direct Line branched out Sir James St. Leger this mans Brother matched with Anne one of the Co-heirs of Thomas Boteler Earl of Ormond from whom the St. Legers of the County of Devon were extracted out of which Stem was Sir William St. Leger who was Lord President of Munster in Ireland one thousand six hundred forty and two Sir Anthony St. Leger Father of Sir Warham was Lord Deputy of Ireland which place he managed with much of Prudence and Magnanimity his second Son Sir Anthony St. Leger Father to Sir Anthony St. Leger now of Wierton House in Boughton Monchensie died Master of the Rolls in Ireland which Office he discharged with a great deal of Faith and no less integrity Thus have I in Landskip pourtraied this noble Family which in an undivided Chain of Descent was setled at Ulcomb from the Conquerour's Time even till of late and then Sir Anthony St. Leger alienated his right in it which was grown reverend by a prescription of so many Ages to Serjeant Clerk of Rochester Father to Mr. Francis Clerk descended from Henry Clerk who was second Brother to Sir John Clerk who took the Duke of Longuevil prisoner at the Battle fought between Bomy and Spours The Church of Ulcomb belonged to Christ-Church in Canterbury and being Snatched away was restored by K. Edmund in the year 941. And about 430 years since was made a Collegiate Church by Stephen Langton Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Head thereof was called Arch-presbyter Boycot is another Mannor in Ulcomb which afforded both Seat and Sirname to a Family of that Denomination as appears by several old Deeds some of which are without Date which remember Stephen de Boycot John de Boycot and Alexander Boycot which last flourished here in the Reign of Edward the third and Richard the second and from him did it by paternal Delegation devolve to John Boycot and he had Issue John Boycot and Stephen Boycot one which sold his Proportion which accrued to him by the custome of Gavelkind to Richard Hovenden and the other by the like alienation transmitted his Interest in it to William Adam from whom it came over by Donation to Thomas Glover as is specified in the Deed of Sale by which the above-mentioned person in the first year of Henry the seventh alienates it to Richard Hovenden After Hovenden was crumbled away it came by purchase to be the possession of Clerk of Wood-Church the last of which Name which was entituled to the Inheritance was Humphrey Clerk Esquire who in the ninteenth of Q. Elizabeth alienated it to Thomas Sands and he in the twentieth year of the abovesaid Princess conveyed it to the Lady Elizabeth Berkley whose Grand-child Mr. ....... Berkley Esquire is now proprietarie of it Kingsnoth is the last Mannor in Vlcomb It was part of that Demeasn which related to the Abby of Feversham and continued united to its patrimony until the publick Dissolution filed it off and then it became the Interest of the Crown until Henry the eighth in the thirty second of his reign granted it to Sir Anthony St. Leger Knight of the Garter Lord Deputy of Ireland and one of his Privy Councel whose Son Sir Warham St. Leger in the tenth year of Q. Elizabeth conveyed it to William Isley Esquire who not long after passed it away to Anthony Sampson who in the twenty first year of Q. Elizabeth alienated it to James Austin and he in the year 1599 sold it to Robert Cranmer who dying without Issue Male Anne his Daughter and Heir brought it along with her to her Husband Sir Arthur Harris of Crixey in Essex who upon his Decease gave it to his second Son Mr. John Harris and his Son and Heir Mr. Cranmer Harris of Lincolns Inne enjoys the instant Inheritance of it Vp-Church in the Hundred of Milton was in elder Times in the Register of those Lands Mannors and Hereditaments which owned the dominion of the illustrious Family of Leybourn Rog. de Leybourn in the fiftieth year of H. the third had a Grant to hold his Lands at Hartlip Reinham and Up-Church by the fourth part of a Knights Fee and from him did the Clew of successive Descent in a continued Track transport it to his Great Grand-child Juliana de Leybourne Widow of John de Hastings not Father of Laurence de Hastings E. of Pembroke as some have erroneously printed but his Kinsman and next of William de Clinton Earl of Huntington whom she survived and died possest of this Mannor in the forty third year of Edward the third and as the inquisition after her Decease informs us without any Issue or kindred who might supersede the Interest of the Crown by pretending a direct or Collateral Title to her Estate so that King Edward the third by escheat became invested in this Mannor
to ballance their services under the conduct of Hengist and Horsa embarqued for Britain and landed in the Isle of Thanet and shortly after with such vigour and animosity repressed the insolencies of the Picts that they shut them up within the Cloisters and Recesses of their own Mountains But it might be said of them as it was anciently of Religion Religion brought forth Riches and the Daughter devoured the Mother So these Saxons from Assertors and Protectors of the Britains became at last Invaders of them for they representing to the other Saxons the healthfulness of the Air and the temperateness of the British Clime who were over-stocked and cloyed with excess of People and were willing to evacuate that surcharge of Inhabitants into forain Colonies they instantly attaqued any advantage that might put them into Hostilitie with the Britains and pretending that that Compact so solemnely stipulated and transacted between them and Hengist was infringed and violated they poured themselves in like a Cataract upon this Island so that the Britains to secure themselves from the fury of this Deluge after many vigorous attempts to make it flow back again shut up themselves within the Solitudes and Recesses of Wales and Cornwall whilest on their ruines their adversaries erected and fixed their Saxon Heptarchie which again after many mutual encounters wherein almost every Turfe of this Island was bespatter'd and bedewed with Blood found a publique Tombe in the West-Saxon Monarchie But scarce was the Basis of it established whose Ciment was so much Blood and Tears But God who corrects the Ambitious by retaliation and chastises the insolencies of one Invader by casting another into Competion with him put the Dane into Ballance with the Saxon who like a whirlewind threw himself upon this Island so that all blooming Glories of the Saxon Greatness did wither and shrivell up being suddenly nipt and blasted by this Northern tempest I shall not discypher the long many and impetuous encounters between these two fierce Nations with the effusion of Blood and the ruine and Depredation that discomplexioned every part of the Land indeed they are of so disordered a Memory and then so blended and confounded in the Persons Times and Places upon which the Scene of these deformed Tragedies is intricately fixt that it would be as one well observes another war to the Reader to over-look them In brief after a signal combat personally commenced between Edmund Ironside and Canutus in the Isle of Atheleny both armies on either shore being Spectators the Saxon Diadem was by reciprocall compact to be devided between them which after the decease of Edmund Ironside at Oxford which whether it were Naturall or Artificiall is yet a controversie wholly invested the Temples of Canutus But alas upon what a frail and incertain Pedestal is all humane greatness setled For the lustre of this new erected Monarchy had no sooner displayed its beams in Canutus but like an unthrifty Taper it began to glimmer in Harold and absolutely expired in Hardiknute who dying issueless the current of Royalty ran back again into the chanel of the Saxon Blood which flow'd in the veins of Edward Sirnamed the Confessor who likewise deceasing without Issue William Duke of Normandy upon a pretended Donation from the last Edward entitles himself to the right and interest of the English Diadem But this certainly was invail'd for no Testamentary collation can ravell or disorder succession which with an indissolueble link is chain'd and fastned to the nearest of Blood and of which the Nation is to take the sole and proper Cognisance And to assert his title which was fixt on the point of his sword he arives in Sussex with a numerous Army to check whose farther Progress in this Island Harold advances likewise with a considerable Army whose body had before evapourated its best and noblest Spirits at those wounds which it before had received in a bloody encounter comenc'd with Harold Harsanger King of Norwey And nere that place where afterwards was founded the Abby of Battell puts his claim to the Scepter likewise to the Decision and Umpirage of the Sword and after a fierce dispute found the Tombe of his new purchas'd Royalty in the carriage of this Field upon whose ruines William now a Conquerour climbs up the Ascent of the English Throne His first design after he had scatter'd all those clouds of discontent that might have possibly have enwrapt the rays of acquired Majesty in some new umbrage was to take a Survey of each mans particular interest and Patrimony which was inroll d and recorded in a publique Register commonly called Dooms-day Book upon pretence that from a generall computation of the Revenue of the Nation he might discern what strength might be collected to intercept the violent attempts of any forain Invader upon this Island But indeed to make a strict inquisition into the Forfeitures of the Lands of those that had been in Hostility under the Ensignes of Harold against him that with those he might not onely endear and gratifie his Partisans but likewise by reinvesting the chiefest of his adversaries in those possessions which were by their Enmity escheated oblige them to maintain his Title and Scepter Yet it is observeable that he engag'd all those that had receiv'd any Lands or Demeasnes of him either by any new concession or re-investiture to hold them in Escuage that is by Knight Service by which they were oblig'd whensoever either publique necessity or his Commands did exact it of them to attend his Person either actually or virtually that is by Proxie with Horse and Armes and by this art he had always a power in reserve to repress and scatter all Solleviations or sudden Insurrections at home and contradict all the Attempts and Animosities of Adversaries from abroad that so he might become considerable to his enemies and usefull to his Friends Thus have I compendiously wound up the severall Invasions made on this Island in which Kent was so much concern'd But there is another Invasion that I have not yet numbred which hath been more ruinous and distructive to the noblest Families of this Island than any of those above recited and that is the Riot and Excess that like an Infectious Cloud whose noysome wombe drops nothing but disease and Pestelence hath lately broke in upon this Nation and so withered the Root of the most ancient Gentry that they have shrunk into their own ruines and faln negelcted and forgotten Indeed our modern Luxury is like the Poyson of the Viper it blasts invisibly and distroys insensibly and they that are softned with it are like a Tree that feeds those wormes that must devoure it or like Iron that supplyes that rust which will corode it Indeed 't is observable that those Families have continued in their splendor longer whose seats and habitations have engag'd them to a remoter distance from the Verge and Sphere of the City than those whose Revenue and Patrimonie hath confin'd upon a place infected
whom Godliness was great gain in the practical sense at once to charm the peoples Devotion and Benevolence But as if there were in the Vogue and Estimate of that Age a greater Degree of Sanctity entailed on the Church-yard then on the Sunday the holding either Market or Fair in that Place was by a Statute made in the thirteenth year of Ed. the first Chapter the sixth wholly interdicted and prohibited but though the Church-yard were thus empaled and fenced in with this new Law the Sunday lay open and exposed to all Disorder and Prophanation untill the Reign of Henry the sixth and then that pious Prince resenting with regret the many Enormities and other Excesses of a black Complexion which were occasioned by the Conflux of people assembled at these publick Meetings and which had foully stained and debauched the purity of this Solemn Festival did by Statute made and ratified in the twenty seventh year of his Reign Chapter the fifth for the future forbid the keeping of any Markets or Fairs in any Place whatsoever on the Sunday I shall now take a Prospect of all the Parishes Villages and Mannors which are circumscribed within the circle of this County but before I wade farther in this Discourse I shall represent upon what reasons or foundations Mannors were first instituted and established by example and resemblance of the King's policy in the institutions of Tenures saith Sir Francis Bacon The great men and Gentlemen of this Realm did the like so near as they could as for Example when the King had given to any of them two thousand Acres of Lands this party proposing in this place to make his Dwelling or as the old word is his Mansion-house or his Mannor-house did devise how he might make his Land a compleat Habitation to supply him with all manner of necessaries and for that purpose he would give of the uttermost parts of these two thousands Acres one hundred or two hundred Acres or more or less as he should think meet to one of his most trusty Servants with some reservation of rent to find a horse for the wars and go with him when he went with the King to the wars adding vow of Homage and the oath of Fealty Wardship Marriage and Relief This Relief is to pay five pounds for every Knights Fee or after the rate for more or less at the entrance of every Heir which Tenant so created and placed was and is to this day called a Tennant by Knights Service and not by his own person but of his Mannors of these he might make as many as he would then this Lord would provide that the Land which he was to keep for his own use should be plowed and his harvest brought home his House required his Park pailed and the like and for that end he would give to sundry other of twenty thirty forty or fifty Acres reserving the service of plowing a certain quantity or so many dayes of his Lands and certain Harvest works or dayes in the Harvest to labour or to repair the House Park Pail or otherwise or to give him for his provision Capons Hens Pepper Commin Roses Gilliflowers Spurs Gloves or the like or to pay him a certain Rent and to be sworn to be his faithful Tenant which Tenure was called a Soccage Tenure and is so to this day howbeit most of the plowing and Harvest services are turned into Money Rents the Tenants in Soccage at the Death of every Tenant were to pay Relief which was not as Knights Service is five pound a Knights Fee but it was and is still one years Rent of the Land and no Wardship or other profit to the Lord. The remainder of the two thousand Acres he kept to himself whith he used to manure by his Bondman and appointed them at the Courts of his Mannor how they should hold it making an Entry of it into the Roll of the Remembrances of the Acts of his Court yet still in the Lords power to take it away and therefore they were called Tenants at Will by Copy of Court Roll being in truth Bondmen at the beginning but having obtained freedome of their persons and gained a custome by use of occupying their Lands they now are called Copyholders and are so priviledged that the Lord cannot put them out and all through custome some Copyholders are for Lives one two or three successively and some Inheritances from Heir to Heir by custome and Custome ruleth these Estates wholly both for Widows Estates Fines Harriots Forfeitures and all other things Mannors being in this sort made at the first reason was that the Lord of the Mannor should hold a Court which is no more then to assemble his Tenants together at a time by him to be appointed in which Court he was to be informed by oath of his Tenants of all such Duties Rents Reliefs and Wardships Copy-holds or the like that had happned unto him which information is called a Presentment and then his Bailiff to Seise and Distrain for those Duties if they were denied or with-holden which is called a Court Baron and herein a man may Sue for any Debt or Trespass under Forty pound value and the Freeholders are to judge of the Cause up on proof produced upon both fides and therefore the Freeholders of these Mannors as incident to their Tenures do hold by Suite of Court which is to come to the Court and there to judge between no party and party in those perty Actions And also to inform the Lord of Duties Rents and Services unpaid to him from his Tenants By this course it is discerned who be the Lords of Lands such as if the Tenants die without Heir or be attainted of Felony or Treason shall have the Land by Escheat I now proceed to trace out the several Parishes of Kent and marshal them Alphabetically yet in this Scrutiny I have not tortured their Names untill by a nice and curious Anatomie they confessed themselves to be either of British Roman or Saxon Extraction because at once to decline and unravel this Difficulty I have cast them into a peculiar Register by themselves which shall stand as an Appendage to the Book and first therefore to go on I begin with Acris A. A. ACris is a small Parish lying in the Hundreds of Folkston and Lovingborough and was held in the twentieth of William the Conquerour by Anketellus de Rosse from which Name it passed away by Grant to the Cosentons of Cosenton in Alresford to hold of the Barony of Rosse and of his Mannor of Horton near Ferningham This Seat being thus annexed to the Demeasn of this Family came down to William de Cosington who is in the List of those Kentish Gentlemen whom K. John in the eighteenth year of his Reign by pardon absolved for having taken an Oath to Lewis the Dolphin of France Charles King of Navarre as the private Evidences of Cosington inform me in the year of Grace 1366. setled an annual Pension
Solley who not many years after transmitted it by Sale to Mr. Jo. Ward of London whose Widow Mrs. Katharin Ward now holds it in Right of Dower Goldstanton in this Parish is a second place of Note and was as high as the Beam of any Evidence will guide me to discover the Patrimony of Leybourn Roger de Leybourn who was in the Register of those Kentish Gentlemen who were pardoned by the Pacification called Dictum de Kenelworth for seeking to support with seditious Arms the Cause and Quarrell of Simon de Montfort held it in the fiftieth year of Henry the third and from him did it descend to his great Grandchild Juliana de Leybourn who dying without Issue or Alliance in the forty third year of Edward the third this with Overland escheated to the Crown but was granted out again by Richard the second to Sir Simon de Burley who being attainted and convicted of high Treason in the tenth year of his Reign that Prince link'd it by a new Donation to the Abby of Childrens Langley But yet I find that in the Reign of Henry the fourth Richard Cliderow who was Sheriff of Kent in the fourth year and most part of the fith year of that Prince and then again in the sixth year of Hen. the fifth held it I suppose only as a Lessee and kept his Shrivealty at this Place a Man he was of no contemptible Account in those Times as I shall discover more amply at little Betshanger which was his capital Seat But to return after this Mannor had made its aboad in the Demeasne of the above mentioned Covent untill the Dissollution in the Reign of Henry the eighth it was then torn off and granted to Tho. Lord Cromwell Earl of Essex upon whose Attaint in the thirty second year of the above said Prince it escheated back to the Crown and then it was granted in the thirty fourth year of Henry the eighth to Vincent Engham Esquire whose Descendant Sir Tho. Engham some few years transplanted his Concernment in it by Sale into Mr. ......... Courcelis of London Nevills Fleet in this Parish was more anciently called Butlers Fleet as being parcell of the Revenue of that Family and the Book of Aid in the Exchequer which makes an enumeration of the ancient Owners mentions one Richard de Boteler to have been its ancient Possessor but in the twentienth year of Edward the third when that Book was taken William Lord Latimer of Corbie Knight of the Garter and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports held it and in the thirty eighth obtained by the Charter of that Prince a Market to be held at Ark on the Thursday and a three days Fair at our Lady Day and from him as in divers Records it is evident did it acquire the Name of Latimers Fleet but stayed not long under that Title for he determined in Eleanor his Daughter and Heir matched to John Lord Nevill who in her Right became Lord of this Mannor and from him did it contract the Title of Nevils Fleet and lay couched in the Patrimony of this Name untill the Beginning of Edward the fourth and then it was alienated to Cromer and James Cromer in the eleventh year of Henry the seventh alienated it to John Isaac from whom not long after it was brought over by Purchase to Kendall and in that Name it fixed untill the Beginninig of Henry the eighth and then it was alienated to Sir John Fogge and he before the end of that Prince conveyed it to Ralph in which Name it was resident untill the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth and then it was demised to Spracklin and Sir Adam Spracklin almost in Times under our Fathers Cognisance passed it away to Harfleet in which Family you may at this instant find it Molands in this Parish gave Seat and Sirname to a Family so called who before the end of Edward the second were worn out and then it became the possession of Harfleet aliás Septuans who much improved the House with additional Buildings where the Arms of this Family do stand yet in Panes of very old coloured Glasse with this Motto annexed Dissipabo inimicos Regis mei ut paleam alluding either to their Coat which was three Fans such as they fan and winnow Corn with or else to William de Septuans who dyed in the year 14011. and warred as the Records of this Family inform me under Edward the third in France and by his Will registred in the Prerogative Office at Canterbury which I mention for the Novelty of it he gives Manumission or Freedome to diverse of his Slaves or Natives and Sir William Septuans was his Son who lyes buryed in Christ Church in Canterbury and as his Epitaph on his Tomb instructs me dyed in the year 1448. and from him did the Title stream in this Name untill the Reign of Henry the eighth and then I find this Seat in the possession of Robert Read but it was not long out of the Name for about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth I find it reinvested again in Harfleet and remains an eminent Mansion of this Family at present Many of this Sirname lye buryed in Ash Church for those three Altar Tombs in the Church yard and those on each side the North Dore were the Repositories or Exchequers that treasured up the Remains of divers of this Family all which had their Figures and Arms insculp'd in Brasse annexed to their Sepulchers which by the impression of Times and the Assaults of Sacrilegious Hands are quite dismantled and torn off Wingham Barton is another eminent Mannor in this Parish which belonged to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and when John Peckham founded his Colledge at Wingham in the year 1282. there was an Exhibition setled on that Seminary or Brotherhood issuing out of this Manuor from whence it is supposed by some it contracted the Name of Wingham Barton though I rather conjecture it was called so from its Situation in opposition to another of that Name called Firmins Barton lying by Canterbury But to proceed this continued Archiepiscopal untill the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth and then it was exchanged by Thomas Arch-Bishop of Canterbury with the Crown and rested there untill Q. Elizabeth granted it to Sir Roger Manwood whose son Sir Peter Manwood passed it away by his Trustees not many years since to Sir William Curteen of London and he gave it in Dower with his daughter matched to Henry late Earle of Kent who upon his decease ordered it to be sold to discharge some Debts and was accordingly not long since by his Countess conveyed by Sale to Mr. James Thurbarne of Sandwich one of the Cinque Ports Son of James Thurbarne Esquire a Justice of Peace in this County in the Reign of K. James whose Ancestors from 1331 have continued very eminent in the Cinque Ports especially in Hasting and Romney as also in Romney Mersh as appears by divers ancient Records But the ancient Mannor-House was in the
much as the Tower of London they have been very high thick strong and well embattled the Matter of them is Flint marvailous and long Bricks both white and red of the British Fashion The Ciment was made of the Sea and small pibble There is a great likelyhood that the goodly Hill about the Castle and especially towards Sandwich hath been well inhabited Corn grâ—ws there in marvailous plenty and in going to Plough there hath been Time out of Mind and now is found more Antiquities of Romane Money then in any place else of England Surely Reason speaks that this should be Rutupinum for besides the Name somewhat toucheth the very near passage from Calis Cliffs or Calis was to Ratesborough and now is to Sandwich which is about a Mile off though now Sandwich be not celebrated because of Goodwin Sands and the Decay of the Haven There is a good Flight shot off from Ratesborough toward Sandwich a great Dike cast in a round Compass as if it had been for Defence of Men of War the Compass of the Ground within is not much above an Acre and it is very hollow by casting up the Earth They call this place their Little Borough within the Castle is a little Paroch Church of St. Augustine and an Hermitage I had Antiquities of the Hermit who is an Industrious Man not far from the Hermitage is a Cave where Men have sought and digged for Treasure I saw it by Candle within wherein were Conies it was so streight that I had no mind to creep far in In the North-side of the Castle is an Head in the Wall now sore defaced by the weather they call it Q. Berthas Head near to that place hard by the Wall was a Pot of Roman Money lately found Thus far He. The Ancient Lords of the Castle were the Earls of Oxford and Edward Earl of Oxford in the Beginning of Q. Elizabeth alienated it to Gant Ash juxta Faukham lies in the Hundred of Acstane anciently written Clacstane and was in elder Times the Inheritance of the Latimers William de Latimer held it in the thirtieth year of Edward the first and by the Royal Indulgence of that Prince obtained a Charter of Free-Warren to his Mannor of Ash which he held of Roger de Mowbray After the Latimers were worn out the noble Family of Grandison succeeded in the possession and Otho de Grandison held it as appears by the Book of Aid in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black Prince Knight by the fourth part of a Knights Fee But after this there is little Evidence that it was long constant to the Interest of this Family for in the Reign of Richard the second it was wrapped up in the Demeasn of Cressel a Family that were entituled to a large Revenue both at Chiselhurst Hartley and elsewhere in this Track but it seems took no deep root at this place for in the fourth year of Henry the fourth the Knights Hospitalers held it at the Marriage of Blanch that Princes Daughter but whether they had it by Purchase or Exchange from Cressell the Record in the Exchequer does not specifie and here it became fixed and was esteemed as one of the principal Mannors relating to their Order in this County untill the Reign of Hen. the eighth and then in the thirty seventh year of that Prince not without much contest and strugling this was with the rest of their Revenue surrendred and being made parcel of the Income of the Crown K. Edw. the sixth about the second year of his Reign granted it to Sir Martin Bowes and he had Issue Will. Bowes who determined in two Daughters and Coheirs Eliz. matched to Will. Buggin and Ann married to Sir Edmund Fowler who divided his Patrimony and this upon the partition was united to the Revenue of Fowler and continues still to acknowledge his descendants for Proprietaries South-Ash is another Mannor in this Parish which had Owners in elder Times of that Name for in the Book of Aid I find that John at South-Ash paid an auxiliary supply for his Mannor of South-Ash at making the Black Prince Knight but it is possible this Mans original Name was Hodsoll and borrowed this Name from the Situation and Position of his Habitation which was Southerly and that which induces me to this Conjecture is that upon a perusall of the original Evidences I find that the Family of Hodsoll was long before possessors of this Mannor a particular Series of whom I could discover to the Reader but that I will not clog this Treatise with superfluities nor is this Mannor departed from the Signorie of this Name but is at this instant involved in the patrimony of Mr. William Hodsoll Hodsoll and Halywell are two other little Mannors in Ash whereof the last hath been the Seat of Hodsoll who borrowed their Sirname from the first many hundred years and in Relation to this assumed the bearing of three Stone Fountains two and one such as used to be dedicated to some Saint and were frequented anciently by such who reposed any Confidence in his vertue and miraculous efficacie whose Name they bore and of this Figure was â—hat Stone Well at Brackley commonly called St. Rumbals Well much frequented in the misty Times of Popery for the Cure of sore Eyes and other Maladies and that this was the ancient Coat of this Family is most certain for William Hodsoll who in severall Deeds writ himself Esquire both in the Reign of Henry the fifth and Henry the sixth sealed with the three stone Fountains only but now I know not upon what consideration the Fesse Wavee is added so that that the Coat is now Azure a Fesse Wavee between three stone Fountains Argent But to proceed as Hodsoll and Halywell have for so many Generations owned the Title of that Name and Family so hath no Vicissitude of Time so carryed off the Propriety of them but that they are still the present Demeasne of Mr. William Hodsoll North-Ash is another Mannor in this Parish which hath been accounted a Limb of the great Mannor of St. Johns at Sutton at Hone and upon the Suppression of the Alberge of the Knights Hospitallers here in England who for many hundreds of years had owed this Mannor was by Henry the eighth granted to Sir Maurice Dennis by whose Coheir it came to Wrote and he passed it away to Thomas Smith Esquire who upon his Decease gave it to his second Son Sir Tho. Smith in whose Descendants the Interest of it is wrapped up at present Scotgrove is the last place of Account in Ash it was in Ages of a very high Ascent the Estate of a Family called Torpell Mabilia Torpell Widow of John de Torpell who held it in the Reign of Henry the third dyed in the enjoyment of it in the Time of Edward the first as appears Rot. Esc Num. 27. In Times of a lower Gradation I find this Family vanished and then this Mannor came to be
to a Family which formerly had their Mansion at this Place and John de Goddisland is mentioned in the Book of Aid to have held it in twentieth of Edward the third and when after some Flux of Time this Name was ebbed away from this place the Atwoods succeeded so stiled from their Habitation nere the Wood and Robert Atwood died seised of it in the sixth year of Richard the second and when this Family began to Decay the Sawyers came in and were Possessors of the place but long the Fee was not setled in this Name for the Title about the Beginning of Henry the seventh was engraffed by Purchase on Cheyney from which Family by the like Current it flowed about the Begining of Q. Elizabeth into Snode and from them not many years since it was by Sale wafted over to Franklin Barham in the Hundred of Kinghamford gives Name to that spacious Plain where the Britons encountred Caesar and his Army at his first Landing at Deale and after a signal Conflict repelled them back to their Ships The old Family of Fitz-Urse were formerly Lords of this Mannor and resolved into the Name of Berham after such Time as one of them called Randolph Fitz-Urse being Ring-leader of three other Cavaliers of the Kings Court had impiously assassinated Arch-Bishop Becket The Fact being so barbarous in the Estimate of those Times that flying into Ireland he abandoned the Name of Fitz-Urse and took that of Mac-Mahon as Mr. Camden Notes Certainly as he was the Actor and thereby more stained then the rest so was he much more culpable beause he held this Mannor of Berham of the See of Canterbury by the Service of halfe a Knights Fee so it appears by the Record of the Aid kept in the Exchequer and paid in the twentieth of Edw. the third yet did not this Name vanish at this place but still was inforced and multiplied into many Descents from whence issued Gentlemen of a prime and eminent Note in this Track untill lately that Fate which Shuffles both Families and Kingdomes into Disorder and Oblivion hath torn this Mannor now from this Name and by purchase brought over the Propriety of it to Fotherby Shelvingborough is a second Mannor in this Parish not to be waved in this Survey because it was sometimes one of the Seats of John de Shelving who held it in the seventeenth year of Edward the second But this Family determining not long after in a Daughter and Heir She by matching with Haut annexed this Mannor to the Patrimony of this Family and in this Name the Title was carried along by the Clew of many Descents untill it devolved to Sir William Haut who about the latter End of Henry the eighth concluded in two Female Coheirs whereof Elizabeth was matched to Sir Thomas Colepeper of Bedgebury who brought this along with her to that Family and he about the Beginning of Edward the sixth devested himself of the possession and by Sale transmitted his Right in it to Mantle where after the Title had by some small continuance made some little respite it was conveyed by Sale to Carlisle and here the Propriety was as transient for an Alteration of the same resemblance not many years since made it the possession of Hopday Diggs Court in Barham was the Mansion of the ancient Family of Digge or Diggs which Family about four Hundred years since that is about the Reign of Richard the first had the Aldermanry of Newingate in Canterbury as part of their Inheritance which it seems was not as now elective but as Freehold either demisable or devisable ad Libitum of him or her that held the same or if neither demised nor devised of him nor her in Life Time but indisposed of at Death then as Inheritance or Fee it descended to the next Heir at Law These Aldermen every one of them kept within their own Wards and happily as the Jews held theirs had at their several Gates a Court assembled every three weeks which was called of our Ancestors sometimes the Hundred Court sometimes the Wardmote that is the assembly or the meeting of the Hundred or Ward or the Portmote as the Jurisdiction was called Portsoka John or Diggs was in the year 1258 a great Benefactor to the Franciscans who had then newly planted themselves at Canterbury and purchased for them an Island in that City called Binnewight Emit Insulam vocatam Binnewight in Cantuar. locum Portae super Stourstreet ad opus Fratrum Minorum tempore opportuno transtulit Fratres ad illam As Leland records of him Adomarus de Digge one of this House was a Judge in the Reign of Edward the second and possest much Land about Reynham and Newington which still represents his Name to Posterity and is called Diggs Mersh John Diggs of Diggs Court was Sheriff of Kent part of the second year of Henry the fourth and John Diggs his Grand child was Sheriff of Kent in the fourth year of Edward the fourth his Son and Heir was John Diggs Esquire who likewise held that Office in the eleventh year of Henry the seventh this our Sheriff had Issue James Diggs of Diggs Court Esquire who was likewise Sheriff of Kent the second year of Henry the eighth and Justice of the Peace for this County almost all the Government of that Prince he was Father of Leonard Diggs Esquire who was Grand Father to Sir Dudley Diggs of Chilham Castle Master of the Rolls 1637 who almost in our Memory passed away this Seat which had been for many years an Appendage to it to Captain Halsey of London who not long after alienated it to Alderman Soame of the same place who not long since conveyed it to Sir Basil Dixwell of Terlingham in Folkstone Knight and Baronet whose collateral Descendant that is his Nephews Son and Heir Mr. Basil Dixwell is Proprietary apparent of it Barfreyston in the Hundred of Eastry was anciently held by Castle-Guard of Dover Castle by John de Wybarne and when this Family had abandoned the possession which was about the latter End of Henry the fourth it came to be held by Harward and when some years it had been wrapped up in the Interest of this Family it was transmitted by Sale about the latter End of Henry the sixth to Sir Thomas Brown of Bechworth Castle and here the Title lodged untill the Beginning of Henry the eighth and then part of it was passed away to Wood but the Mannor it self rested in Brown untill the Beginning of Q. Elizabeth and then it was conveyed to Mr. Thomas Bois whose successor Mr. John Bois not many years since alienated it to Sir Anthony Percival of Dover Hartanger and Soles are two Mannors situated within the Precincts of this little Parish who both had owners so Sirnamed The first after it had been folded up in the Demeasn of Hartanger untill the Reign of Edward the second was by Purchase made the Inheritance of Perot of Knowlton and Thomas Perot died
first and after this Name began to languish into Decay it was by a Daughter and Heir brought over to Crow extracted from the Crows of Norfolk who from the Reign of Richard the second held it in a continued Track of Succession even untill our Time and then it was passed away from Sir Sackville Crow by Sale to Sir Robert Heath who dyed Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench made so by the late King at Oxford whose Son and Heir Mr. ........ Heath Esquire is now entituled to the Signorie of it Bredge gives name to the whole Hundred wherein it is placed and in Times of a more ancient Date was clasped up within that Revenue which did augment the paternal Inheritance of Cheyney Sir Alexander de Cheyney as appears by ancient Muniments was possest of this place in the reign of Edward the first and is in the Register of those eminent persons who accompanied that Prince into Scotland and was for his important Service against that Nation made Bannerent by that King at Carlaverock in the twenty eighth year of his Government and from him did it by the links of severall Descents after a large Efflux of Time devolve to Henry Lord Cheyney who about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth passed it away to Mr. William Partrich Esquire whose Grandchild Sir Edward Partrich not many yeers since conveyed it to Mr. Arnold Brame of Dover descended from one of this Name who was Secretary to Charles the fifth Blackmanbury is a noted Seat in this Parish and had still the same Owners in Times of a more ancient Character with Garwinton in Bekesbourn as namely the Garwintons the last of which was Tho. Garwinton who held it at his Death which happened in the eleventh year of Henry the fourth and by the Heir Generall of this Family it devolved to Haut issued out from the Hauts of Hautsborne and when this Family determined the Female Heir brought this Seat to Isaac after Isaac was worn out of a great part of this Mannor of Blackmanbury it became the Possession of Henry Lawrence Esquire descended from the Lawrences of Dorsetshire and he held it as appears by a Court Roll in the thirty sixth year of Henry the eighth and in both these Families was the joynt Propriety of this Mannor resident untill about the middle of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and then the whole Demise was by mutuall Consent passed away from Isaac and Lawrence to William Partrich Esquire Grandfather to Sir Edward Partrich who not many yeers since conveyed it to Mr. Arnold Brame of Dover and he upon the Foundation of the ancient Fabrick hath erected that magnificent Pile which obliges the Eye of the passenger both to Admiration and Delight and which like a Phaenix seems to have arose more glorious out of its Ruines Bereacre is a third Mannor in Bredge which in the twenty first year of Edward the first acknowledged it self to be under the Signorie of Walter de Kancia as appears by an Inquisition taken at the same time after his Death Rot. Esc Num. 7. But before the twentieth year of Edward the third this Family was extinguished and then it became the Propriety of Bereacre who assumed his Name from this Mannor and John de Bereacre paid a respective Supply for it as appears by the Book of Aid at making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third After Bereacre was gone out the Family of Lichfield was concerned in the Possession who likewise were Lords of much Land about Eastry Tilmanston and Betshanger and in this Name was the Title placed untill the twenty second year of Edward the fourth and then Roger Lichfield by Sale conveyed it to William Haut and he had Issue Richard Haut who left only Margery who by matching with William Isaac resigned up this Mannor to the Possession of that Family but long it was not planted in this Name for before the latter end of Henry the eighth it was alienated to Petit and Weeks and they again not many yeers after transmitted it by Sale to Nailor of Renvill from whom by the same Devolution it was almost in our Fathers Memory carryed down to Smith and Watkins Beauville alià s Bewâ—field or Whitfield lyes in the Hundred of Bewisborough is a small Parish mounted aloft on those Hills that run from Barham down to Dover Castle The Lord Giles Badelesmer anciently held it and gave it in Frank Marriage with his Daughter Elizabeth whom Jo. Northwood of Milton took to Wife and here it continued with the Interest of this Family severall Descents untill at last it devolved to John Northwood of Northwood in Milton abovesaid from which Name and Family the Fate of Sale took it off and brought it over about the latter end of Henry the eighth to Jo. Bois Esquire Ancestor to Mr. Io. Bois of Fredvill Esquire now living and in this Family the Possession is still resident The Mannor of Linacre is seated within the Circuit of this Parish and gave both Seat and Sirname to a Family so called and from whom Linacre that composed the Latin Grammar in the Reign of Henry the ninth was lineally extracted but this Name here was expired before the end of Henry the fourth and then by some Court Rolls I find that Iohn Monins was invested in the Fee and here for some Decursion of Time the Right and Interest of this Place did abide untill at length about the Beginning of Henry the eighth the Title by Sale fell under the Signory of Chelesford or Chelford from which Name the same Fate conveyed it to Mr. Io. Bois whose Successor Mr. Io. Bois of Fredville Esquire by descendant Right does now enjoy it East and West Berming in the Hundred of Twyford was in Times of a very high Ascent the Possession of a Family who derived their Sirname from this Place William de Bermeling dyed seised of it in the twenty second year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 27. and had likewise the Advowson of the Church after him Robert de Bermelin held it in the thirty first year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 123. When this Family was gone out the Freminghams came into the Possession Iohn Son of Ralph de Fremingham was in the enjoyment of them at his Death which was in the twenty third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 145. and so was his Successor John Fremingham in the twelfth year of Henry the fourth Rot. Esc Num. 15. But after this I find no more of this Name interessed in the Possession the next Family which was invested in the Inheritance were the Pimpes a Name very eminent and no lesse ancient in this Track John Pimpe held them and Ledhock at his Decease which was in the ninth year of Henry the fifth Rot. Esc Num. 35. from whom the Title streamed down to Reginald Pimpe Esquire in whose Tenure they were at his Death which was in the sixteenth year of Henry the sixth from Pimpe
they were carryed away by Purchase to the noble Family of Stafford Dukes of Buckingham and Earls of Stafford in which Name they had not long continued when Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham in the thirteenth year of Henry the eighth being convicted of high Treason for consulting with a Wizard and a Monke touching the Succession of the Crown forfeited his Estate here and his Life together and then King Henry the eighth by royall Concession planted the Propriety of these Places in Sir John Rainsford one of his Privie Councell and his Son Sir Henry Rainsford passed them away to Sir Henry Isley and he having infortunately enwrapped himself in the unhappy Design of Sir Thomas Wiat an Attempt which was plausible and specious enough in the Intention of it as being enamel'd and guilded over with the glorious Pretences of asserting the Orthodox Religion and defending the publick Libertie against the Eruption of Strangers but very ruinous and disastrous in the Effects and Consequences of it as was very visible upon this worthy Person who in the first year of Queen Mary was convicted of high Treason and executed at Sevenoke where he dyed with as much Constancy and Alacrity of Spirit as he had lived with Integrity upon whose untimely Exit the Crown seised upon his Estate and that Princesse in the same year he was destroyed granted his Estate here to Sir John Baker her Attorney Generall from whom the Title and possession of Berming is flowed down to his Successor Sir John Baker Baronet who in Right of this Descent is now entituled to the Patrimony of both these Mannors Halls Place in this Parish gave Seat and Sirname to a Family so stiled who in ancient Deeds were written At-Hall from their Habitation at some more eminent Mansion but before the end of Edward the third this Family was vanished and the Signory of this Place surrendered to Colepeper of Preston yet some part of it I find by old Deeds was passed away to Clive which Jo. Clive about the seventh of Henry the fourth alienated to Peter Colepeper and he in the tenth year of the abovesaid Prince conveyed Hall Place to Sampson Mascall originally extracted from a place called Mascalls in Brenchley and in this Family the Possession was fixed untill the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then it was conveyed to Alchorne the Cradle or Fountain of whose Family was at Alchorne in Rotherfield and in this Name is the Fee-Simple of this Place still resident though the use and profits of it be for a long Series of years made over to Mr ......... Cook late of Stepney and his Descendants West-Bere stiled so in Opposition to Bere in St. Margarets nere Dover with the Appendant Mannor of Hopland is situated in the Hundred of Blengate the last of which was not called so from the growth and production of Hops there formerly planted as the vulgar Tradition affirms the Introduction of Hops into this Nation being not of that Antiquity but from a Family exceeding ancient who as appears by Deeds without Date were in elder Times possessors of it but before the end of Edward the first this Family was mouldered away and and then the eminent Family of St. Lawrence who likewise were Lords of West-Bere by purchase from Hugh de Bere and about the latter end of Edward the first were invested in the Tenure of both claimed the propriety and Thomas St. Lawrence and John de Swalclive paid Reliefe for their Lands at West-Bere and Hopland as the Book of Aid instructs us in the twentieth year of Edward the third and in this Family of St. Lawrence did the Propriety of both these Mannors reside untill the Beginning of Henry the sixth and then Hopland was conveyed to John Isaac in which Name it was resident untill the latter End of Queen Elizabeth and then it was conducted down by Sale to acknowledge Tourney of Saltwood and he by a like Alteration transplanted his Interest in it not many years since into Steed but West-Bere came by the Daughter and Heir of this Family to Apulderfield and again by the Female Heir of Sir William Apulderfield to Sir John Phineux and he setled it on his second Brother the Heir Generall of whose Descendant not many years since being wedded to Sir John Smith it is now become the Possession of his Grandchild Philip Viscount Strangford Bersted in the Hundred of Eythorne was the Seat of the noble Family of Crevequer before they removed to Leeds Castle their Seat and Residence and in Doomsday Book where there is a particular Account taken what Mannors Hamon de Crevequer was possest of in the twentieth of William the Conquerour it is written Briested which could not be meant of Brasted which was the Signory and Possession of Gilbert de Clare in the Reign of Henry the first as appears by the Records of Christ-Church in Canterbury where this Earl and his Successors are said to hold the Mannor of Brasted as Senescalli Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis in sua Inthronizatione whereas this Mannor had never any such Tenure united to it and remained parcell of the Patrimoniall Demeasne of Crevequer untill Hamon de Crevequer having embarked himself in the Quarrell of Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester made Shipwrack of his Estate here at Bersted which was wrung from him by Henry the third and though he was pardoned by the Pacification of Killingworth made in the fiftyeth of that Princes Reign yet I do not find that he was ever reinvested in Bersted so that it remained in the Crown untill the tenth year of Edward the second and then it was exchanged for other Land with Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer but he having by an ambitious Defection forfeited this and much other Land in the fifteenth year of Edward the second it lapsed back again by an early Confiscation to the Crown and lay involved there until the fourth year of Edward the sixth and then being looked upon as wrapped up in the Mannor of Leeds Castle as indeed it had been in Appendage unto that and the Castellans of it it was granted at that Time to Sir Anthony St. Leger from whom it descended to his great Grandchild Sir Warham St. Leger who about the latter end of King Iames exchanged it with Sir Richard Smith for Salmeston in the Isle of Thanet and two thousand pound in Money to poise the Exchange and make the Ballance even and he not long after passed it away to Sir Thomas Colepeper of Hollingbourn who hath lately enstated it on his Son and Heir Sir Cheyney Colepeper who is entituled to the present Signory of it Milgate in this Parish was anciently a Mannor though now by Intermission the Homage is lost and shrunk into Disuse and Oblivion It was in Ages of a more Antiquity the possession of a Family called Coloigne Robert de Coloigne was possest of it and the Record taken after his Decease will inform you that he dyed seised of it in the thirty fifth year of Edward
third as appears Rot. Esc Num. 52. Parte prima And in this Name melted by a softer pronunciation in Times of a lower Date into Coluney did the propriety of it reside untill the Reign of Edward the fourth and then by an old Survey of Bersted I find it in the Hands of Thomas Coluney and this was in the fourteenth of that Princes Reign when most of this County was surveyed but after him I find no more of this Family entituled to the Possession for in the Beginning of Henry the seventh it was annexed to the Inheritance of Stonehouse whose ancient Seat was at Haselwood in Boughton Malherbe where they flourished for many Generations even down unto our Times and was constant to the Interest of that Name untill the Beginning of Q. Elizabeth and then it was passed away to Sir Thomas Floyd Receiver to that Princess and Justice of the Peace for this County and he much took off from the Obscurity of this Seat by adding an additional Magnificence by making the ancient Fabrick swell into the Dimensions not onely of a stately but an elegant Pile by an augmentation of Building and from him did it devolve by Descent to his Grandchild Mr. Thomas Floyd Esquire who some few years since transplanted his Right in it by sale into Mr. ...... Cage There is another Mannor in this Parish called Stone-house which formerly lay couched in that Revenue which gave support to the Priory of Christ Church but upon the Resignation of the Demeasn of that Cloister into the Hands of Henry the eighth it was by a new Grant linked to that Patrimony which was to be subservient to the Interest of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church which had newly then from the Authority and Munificence of that Prince received its first Establishment And certainly from this place did the Stone-houses both of Kent Berkshire and Buckinghamshire either as Tenants to the Monks of the abovesaid Cloister or else as having some Mansion or Habitation of theirs situated no far distance from this Mannor anciently extract and spin out the primitive Original of their Name and Family This is my conjecture which I leave to more sober and severer Understandings either to embrace or else abandon and discard Brabourne in the Hundred of Bircholt Franchises was a Record drawn out of an old Manuscript does engage me to affirm the Inheritance in Times of a very ancient Date of a Lady called Salburga the Words of the Record that strengthen this Assertion are these Provaeda Matrona Nomine Salburga Domina de Brabourne Testamentum constitit ut qui tenerent Brabourne darent annuatim Sancto Augustino 40 Ambras Brasii that is Plates of Brass 4 Boves 15 Arietes 20 Panes 1 Piss Butyri 1 Piss Casei 4 Carucatas Lignorum that is four Carts Loads of Wood 20 Gallinas eâ Lege ut Monarchi singulis Diebus cantarent pro anima ejus Psalmum Exaudiat te Dominus c. This Records attests the abovesaid Lady to have died about the year 864. In Times of a lower Descent I find Alexander de Strabolgie Earl of Athol who flourished here in the Reign of Henry the third and Edward the first to have held it and from him did it devolve to his great Grandchild David de Strabolgie Earl of Athol who held it at his Death which was in the thirtieth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 19. and left it to his Son David de Strabolgie who dying in the forty ninth year of Edw. the third without Issue Male Elizabeth matched to Sir Thomas Percy from whose Heir General the Lord Borough of Ster-borough was descended and Philippa wedded to John Halsham of Halsham in Sussex shared his Inheritance but this Mannor upon the Partition acknowledged her for Inheritrix and She was in Possession of it at her Death which was in the nineteenth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 31. and by a Right derived from her did John Halsham possess it at his Decease which was in the second year of Henry the fifth Rot. Esc Num. 8. and from him did it descend to his Son Sir Hugh Halsham Knight who deceased in the twentieth year of Henry the sixth and left onely Joan Halsham his Daughter and Heir who was wedded to John Lewknor of Sussex Esquire and so this Mannor by this Alliance became the Inheritance of that Family but made no long abode in their Name for the abovesaid Io. Lewknor and Ioan his Wife in the fifth year of Edward the fourth passed it away to Sir Iohn Scott Comptroller of the House to K. Edward the fourth and from this Sir Iohn Scott is Mr. Edward Scott Esquire by an uninterrupted Chanell of an Original unquestioned Descent extracted who is at this instant by a Right transplanted unto him from many illustrious Predecessors entituled to the Possession of this place Bircholt in this Parish is made more eminent in this Account because it affords a Name to the whole Hundred wherein it is situated by Deeds of a very reverend and venerable Aspect which by the obsolete and antiquated Character seem to have been written in the Time of K. Iohn and Henry the third it is made the Inheritance originally of a Family called Bircholt Stephen de Bircholt possessor of this Mannor paid respective Aid for it as appears by the Book of Aid at making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third But after the Reign of this Prince I do not find long permanent in this Family for in the Reign of Henry the fourth several old Court Rolls discover to me one Richard Halk or Hawke of Westhawks in Kingsnoth to be planted in the Possession and an old Arbor Radicalis or Tree from whence branches out the several Descents of Hawk or Halke and which is now preserved amongst the Evidences of Bircholt House this Family is made to have been Proprietaries of this Mannor ever since the Beginning of Richard the second nor is yet departed from the Name but remains at this instant knit to the rest of the Demeasn of this ancient Family Heminge is the last place of account in Brabourne which anciently yielded both Seat and Sirname to a Family of that Appellation I shall not need to make a Recapitulation from Deeds without Date of the Antiquity of this Family at this place it is enough that I shall inform the Reader that after it had been the Possession of this Name as may be traced out by Evidences almost three hundred years it was conveyed by William Heminge in the second year of Edward the sixth to Peter Nott in which Name the Title is now resident Benenden in the Hundred of Cranbrooke was as Doomesday Book informs me if not all yet for a principal part of it possest by one Godricus or Godric In Benenden mansit Godricus says the Record tenet XX. Acras in Alodio suo What this Alodium was the Civilians and out of them Sir Henry Spilman
Aldersey of Swanton Court in Bredgar Esquire Castwisell is a third place in Biddenden worth our Consideration it was in Times very ancient Parcel of that Estate which did in this County relate to the Moiles extracted from Moiles Court at Bodmin in Cornwall and certainly did as high acknowledge the Signory of this Knightly Family as any Land they held in this County for though by some old Deeds not bounded with any date I find the Name of John de Castwisell affixed as Teste yet by those old Deeds and Muniments which have an Aspect upon this Mannor I discover that Walter Moile Knight in the sixth year of Edw. the third did grant to Reginald and William Sand all those Lands Tenements Rents and Services which Simon Gidinden ad Formam late held of the said Sit Walter as of his Mannor of Castwisell and by a subsequent Deed dated in the twenty third year of Henry the sixth I find that Margaret Widow of William Scapis of Burmersh did grant to Walter Moile which was the Judge all that Messuage and Land she held in Biddenden and by a Deed of a more modern Inscription that is one which comences from the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth I find that Thomas Moile of Eastwell Gentleman afterwards dignified with the order of Knighthood by the abovesaid Prince conveyed it to Stephen Rogers Gentleman and from him is Mr. Jonathan Rogers now possessor of this place originally descended Bidborough is the last place which shuts up the Lowy of Tunbridge here were Lands which were the Inheritance of a Family called Chauney the first of whom with whom I meet with in Record is Thomas le Chauney who paid respective Aid for it at making the Black Prince Knight as appears by the Book of Aid in the twentieth year of Edward the third and continued in his Family divers years after his Exit for in the latter end of Henry the fourth I find George Chauney possest of it but after him I can trace out no more of this Family who held it the next who succeeded in the Possession were the Palmers as is manifest by some old Court Rolls which represent one Thomas Palmer to have been Lord of the Fee in the Reign of Ed. the fourth and Henry the seventh but made no long stay in this Name for about the Beginning of Henry the eighth it was alienated to John Vane Esquire and the descendant of this Family Sir Ralph Vane being attainted in the fourth year of Edw. the sixth it escheated to the Crown and Queen Elizabeth in the first year of her Rule granted it to Henry Cary Lord Hunsdon of whom more hereafter Ramhurst is another little Mannor in Bidborough which the Book of Aid informs me in the twentieth year of Ed. the third to have been possest by a Family called Warehall and remained in their possession until the Reign of Henry the fourth and then it was passed away to Colepeper whose Ancestor John Colepeper died seised of some Estate here in the forty eighth year of Edward the third as appears Rot. Esc Num. 29. and in this Family was the Propriety resident until the latter end of Henry the eighth and then it was transferred by Sale to Lewknor from whom in that Age which came within the Verge of our Grand-fathers Remembrance it was alienated and demised to Dixon in Right of which Conveyance it is the instant Possession of Mr. Edward Dixon Esquire There is an House in this Parish called Bounds and in ancient Deeds called Bunds which as Tradition avers was the utmost Margin or Limit which bounded that League of Earth which hath been since known by the Name of the Lowy of Tunbridge and was given by Will. Rufus to Gilbert Earl of Briony and Eu because his Castle of Briony had been before by Violence torn from him by Robert Duke of Normandy because this Earl had been a Promoter or at least a Fomenter of the Designs of his Brother King William The Mannor of Bidborough it self had the same owners with that of Tunbridge as namely the Earls of Clare Audley and Stafford and escheating by forfeiture to the Crown upon the attaint of Edw. Stafford Duke of Buckingham in the twelfth year of Hen. the eighth it was by Q. Elizabeth granted in the first year of her Reign to Henry Cary Lord Hunsdon whose Son George Cary Lord Hunsdon dying without Issue Male his onely Inheritrix Elizabeth wedded to Thomas Lord Barkley linked it to his Patrimony and he in the Beginning of King James conveyed it to Sir Thomas Smith Grand-father to Robert Smith Esquire who lately died possest of it Bilsington in the Hundred of New-church was folded up anciently in that Patrimony which acknowledged the Dominion of John Mansel a man of eminent Note in the Reign of Henry the third as appears by that Chain of offices which adorned his Greatness for he was Constable of Dover-Castle Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports Provost of Beverley for the abovesaid Prince and Queen Eleanor his Wife and Treasurer of the Church of York but he not long enjoyed it for he in the twenty seventh year of Henry the third made God his Heir and devested himself of the propriety of it to settle it on the Priory of Bilsington which was of his Foundation and Endowment and by dedication entituled to the Patronage of the Virgin Mary and was furnished with white Canons or Canons Pramonstratenses and in this condition did it remain until not onely this but all other Orders in this Nation having warped and revolted from their original Integrity and those closer Engagements and narrower Restraints the Rules of their primitive Institution tyed them up in a dissolution of Mannors called for a Dissolution of Demeasn but now whether those who did so zealously pretend to correct their Lives did not more seriously intend to reform the Ecclesiastical Patrimony and arraign them not according to the Guilt of their Crimes but the Hainousness of their Estates will fall under a sober Consideration that the Excesses of the Romish Clergie were high their Imperfections many and their Irregularities clamorous is without controversie now what the Causes were which unfastned the Ligatures of streighter Discipline which like so many Nerves did both move and tie together all the Limbs of the Body Ecclesiastick I shall now briefly discover The first Cause of this Depravation was the removing and abating those Persecutions which had so long with a sad and bloody pressure grated upon Christianity under the Scepter of ten Heathen Tirants and we know that the Fable tepresents to us that when the Laurell the Guerdon and Salary of Triumphs and the Sweat of the Laborious shoulder withered and shrunk into Decay the Figgettee sprang up our of its Ruines which is the Emblematick Type of Softness and Effeminacy and we read that the Lamps of Tullia and Terentia burnt with a clear and uninterrupted Flame as long as they were Recluse to the Cloisters of their
but the Name it self doth tacitly insinuate that this Mansion formerly gave Seat and Denomination to the Family of Buckhurst in times of a lower step that is in the Reign of Henry the seventh I find it in the Tenure of Drayner but how it devolved to this Family I cannot discover It is enough that it continued united to their Dimeasn untill the beginning of Q. Elizabeth and then it was conveyed to Alexander Coachman in whose Descendant the Signorie and Interest of it hath ever since been constantly resident Cranebroke had the Grant of a Market to be observed weekly there on the Saturday in the eighteenth year of Edward the first as appears Cart. Edw. 1. Num. 92. I had almost forgot to tell you that there is a place in this Parish called Holden which with Hawkeridge hath for some Centuries of years acknowledged the Holdens for its Proprietaries and are still united to the Patrimony of this Name and Family which for such a vast Succession of time hath been planted at Cranebroke There was a Chappell at a place called Milkhouse in the Eastern part of this Parish founded and endowed by John Lawless about the latter end of Henry the seventh which upon the generall Dissolation of Chantries and all other Religious Fraternities by Henry the eighth was by that Prince about the latter end of his Rule granted to Sir John Baker of Sisingherst not far distant whose Revenue is yet in the possession of Sir John Baker his Successor There was another Chappell founded at Sisingherst as the Evidences of that place do insinuate by John de Saxenhurst which was reedified by the late Sir John Baker and by a Deed delivered to John Bancroft Bishop of Oxford devoted to the Service of God and dedicated as it was before to St. John the Evangelist After the reception of this Instrument which was in the year 1637. it was by the same Bishop Consecrated first by a Prayer at the entrance of the Chappell then by others made at the Seats Pulpit and Communion Table the effect of all which was that God would accept of it for a House and likewise of the Prayers and Devotions that in that Oratorie were offered up by the faithful People of God to his Honour and Service Charing in the Hundred of Calehill is in Saxon written Cering and by that Name King Kenulf in the year 799. made Restitution of it to Christ Church in Canterbury at the humble request of Arch-Bishop Athelard for King Offa had taken it away from that Church in the time of Arch-Bishop Janibert and being thus regained to the See it continued so till the great Exchange made in the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth with that Prince by Arch-Bishop Cranmer the Fee-simple was planted in the Crown In the time of the Conquest in the Notitia of the Arch-Bishop and Cathedrals Lands because they held it in ancient Demeasn that is they had possest it long before the Conquest and a Mannor-house or Palace there it was called Proprium Manerium Archiepiscopi In the time of Edward the Confessor it went for eight Sullings or Plough-Lands but in the twentieth year of William the Conquerour it was rated in Domsday Book at seven Sullings because one Plough-Land was laid into his Demeasn The Church dedicated to St. Peter and Paul was anciently famous by a traditional relation which I am not much moved with for it wants the stamp of venerable Authority which did affirm that the Block on which St. John the Baptists Head was cut off was brought into England in the Reign of Richard the first and kept in this Church The first place of secular Interest which doth occurre is Pett the Evidences of this place now in the hands of Sir Robert Honywood do mention the Petts to be in Ages of a very high Assent that is about the Reign of Henry the third and Edward the first Proprietaries of it but publick Records reach no farther than Newcourt Lord of the Mannor of Newcourt not far distant Jeffrey de Newcourt Son of Walter de Newcourt paid respective Aid in the twentieth year of Edward the third for his Lands at Newcourt and Pett After the Newcourts were gone out the Hatches were by Purchase planted at Pett and Newcourt they were called so from their abode near some Gate or passage for one of them who was Possessor of these two places was written Hugh at Hatch from this Family by Sale about the latter end of Henry the seventh the right of Pett and Newcourt devolved to William Warham and in some Copies of Fines which I have seen by a false Transcription written William VVarren and this man sold them both again in the entrance of the Reign of Henry the eighth to Robert Atwater who determining in Mary Atwater his Sole Heir She by matching with Robert Honywood Esquire of Henewood in Postling wound up the Interest of these two places Pett and Newcourt into the Demeasn of that Family so that they now own Sir Robert Honywood his great Grandchild the Sole Proprietary of them Stilley is another little Mannor lying within Charing and was anciently enwrapt in the Revenue of Frene John de Frene who flourished in the Reign of Henry the third is mentioned in Testa de Nevill a Book collected in the twentieth year of that Prince to have paid Aid at the Marriage of the Kings Sider for Lands which he possest at Charing after in the twentieth year of Edward the third there is a recital in the Book of Aid of Sir Thomas de Brockhull Son of Sir William de Brockhull who paid an Auxiliary supply at the making of the Black Prince Knight for his Lands which he held at Saltwood Calehill Charing and other places in this County but after this the Possession was not long resident in this Family for Henry Brockhull this mans second Son to whom these Mannors of Stilley and Newland were assigned for livelyhood about the twelfth year of Henry the fourth transmitted them by Sale to John Darell Esquire Son of Sir William Darell who was extracted out of the right ancient and Knightly Family of the Darells of Sesay from whom Sir John Darell of Calehill and Lord of this Mannor of Stilley is originally and lineally issued out Wickins is another Mannor circumscribed within the Limits of this Parish it was originally the Patrimony of Brent a Family well endowed in this Track and certainly was as ancient a Seat of this Family as any which lay involved in their Revenue for John Brent Son of Robert de Brent of Charing paid respective Aid for Lands which he held here in the twentieth year of Edward the third and William Brent who was Son of Hugh Brent of Charing made his Will the twenty seventh year of Henry the sixth and disposed of this place to his Son Hugh Brent and this Hugh had Issue William Brent who composed his Testament in the tenth year of Henry the seventh and this William was great
first from Chelsfield it passed away to Otho Lord Grandison who paid respective Aid for this Mannor by the sixth part of a Knights Fee at the making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third but there it had but a frail abode for Sir Thomas de Grandison this mans Son conveyed it over by Sale to Richard Lord Poynings whose Daughter and Heir Eleanor matched to Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland and in his Line was the Right of it for some Descents interwoven till in the Reign of Henry the seventh it was by Sale resigned up to James Walsingham Esquire whose Son Sir Edmund Walsingham alienated it to Giles in the Reign of Edward the sixth which Giles descended from Giles of Lords in Shelvich where for many years before they had been planted and from Giles about the latter end of Q. Elizabeth it came over by purchase to Captain Henry Lee of London who going out in Sisters and Coheirs it is now come by two of them to Serjeant John Clerk of Huntington-shire the principal Possessor and Mr. Thomas Norton of London Ferneborough is but a Chappel of Ease devoted to the honour of St. Giles but belongs to the Mother-Church of Chelsfield which is dedicated to St. James as appears by the Records of the Church of Rochester It was a principal Seat of the Lord Grandison who made this the Head of their Barony William de Grandison held it at his death which was in the ninth year of Edward the third * Otho de Grandison obtained a the grant of Market to Ferneborough in the eighteenth of Edw. the first which was renewed to Hen. Earl of Lancaster in the eighteenth year of Edward the third and the grant of a Fair added at the Feast of S. Giles the Eve and Eight dayes following Otho Lord Grandison this mans Son obtained a Charter of Free Warren to it in the eighteenth year of Edward the third but long after this it did not remain linked to the Inheritance of this Family for in the Reign of Richard the second I find Fleming invested in the Possession whose Tenure was very transitory for not long after by Purchase it was brought into the Demeasn of Petley from whom by as swift a Fatalitie it went away to Peche of Lullingston which Family determined in Sir John Peche in the Reign of Henry the seventh who dying Issueless Elizabeth his Sister and heir brought this and a spatious Inheritance to her husband John Hart Esquire from whom M. William Hart now of Lullingston Esquire is lineally extracted and in right of this Alliance is at this present entituled to the Possession and Signorie of Ferneborough There is a third Mannor in this Parish called Godington which was anciently the Habitation of a Family which was represented to the world under that Name Simon de Godington paid respective Aid for his Mannor of Godington at the making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third as the Book of Aid informs us and after this Family expired at this place Richard Lord Poynings became Lord of the Signorie of it from whom with Eleanor his Daughter and Heir it went over to Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland but did not long fix in that Family for for almost two hundred years last past the Possession hath been constantly united to the Name of Haddon a Family of principal Account in this Track as may appear by their Arms viz. A Leg couped and wounded which are Registered in the old Rolls and Ordinaries of Kentish Armorie alwayes with this addition Haddon of Kent and sometimes of Godington in Kent Hewat is another small Mannor in Cheslfield One Jeffrey de Hewat was possest of it in the Time of Henry the third ut apparet ex Charta sine Data which was for many Descents the Petleys of Down originally from whom it devolved to a Cadet of that Family who planted himself at Moulsoe in this Parish and there is a Deed in the hands of Mr. Thomas Petley of Vielston of John Coldigate of Coldigate a Farm in Halsted which bears Date from the eleventh year of Henry the fourth to which one William Petley of Chelsfield is Teste After it had been resident for sundry Generations in this Branch of Petley which sprouted out from those of Down the Title in that Age which ushered in this was by Sale from Edward Petley transferred to Mr. Thomas Petley of Vilston in Shorham another Branch shot out from the principal Stem of the Petleys at Down and he left it to his second Son Mr. Ralph Petley of Riverhead in Sevenoke not long since deceased whose Heir who is Proprietary of this place is at this instant in his Minoritie Northsted is situated likewise in Chelsfield and in the reign of Edward the third confessed a Family called Francis for its Proprietaries Simon Francis held it at his death which was in the thirty second year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 33. and acquired it by Purchase of Otho de Grandison who held this and Chelsfield as appears by the Book of Aid in the twentieth year of the former Prince but about the beginning of Henry the fourth this Family had surrendred the possession of this Mannor to Vuedall or Udall a Noble Familie and Masters of much Land both in Surrey Sussex and Hant-shire Sir John de Vuedall was one of the Knights who was with Edward the first at the Siege of Carlaverock Sir Peter D'Vuedall sat as Baron in Parliament the eighth and ninth of Edward the second Nicholas Vuedall was Constable of Windsor under Edward the third John Vuedall was Sheriff of Sussex and Surrey the second fourth and seventh years of Henry the fifth and again the first fifth and twelfth year of Henry the sixth William Vuedall was Sheriff of Sussex and Surrey the eighth of Henry the sixth and he in the sixth year of that Princes Government conveyed it to John Shelley of Bexley whose Successor William Shelley about the latter end of Henry the eighth passed it away to Mr. John Leonard of Chevening whose great Grand-child Henry Lord Dacres not many years since conveyed it to the Lady Wolrich who upon her decease setled it on her Kinsman Mr. ....... Skeggs of the County of Huntington Chelsfield had a Market obtained by Otho de Grandison in the eighteenth year of Edw. the first to be held there weekly on the Monday and a Fair to be observed there yearly by the space of three dayes at the Feast of Saint James Choriton in the Hundred of Folk-stone was the Inheritance of an ancient Family called Scotton Robert Scotton who was Sheriff of Kent the seventh eighth ninth and tenth years of Edward the first lived here and held his Shrievalty at this place and was of eminent Rank in this Track for he was Lieutenant of Dover Castle under the Prince abovesaid and held this Mannor under the Estimate of a whole Knights Fee of the Lord of
Folkstone But before the latter end of Edward the second this Family had diserted the Possession of this place and surrendered their Interest here to Valoigns whose Time was very brief in the enjoyment of it for Waretius de Valoigus dying without Issue Male this Mannor accompanied his Daughter and Co-heir and was upon the division of his Estate linked with much other Land to the Demeasn of her Husband Sir Thomas Fogge who was Knight of the Shire for Kent several times under the Scepter of Edward the third and Richard the second Sir Francis Fogge another of this Family lies entombed in Cheriton Church with his portraicture Cross-legged affixed to his Sepulchral Stone which implies that he had obleiged himself by some vow to assert the Cross and Sepulchre of our Saviour finally after the Proprietie of this place had by the Current of many Descents flowed in this Family it devolved to George Fogge Esquire who about the latter end of Q. Elizabeth passed it away to Mr. Henry Brockman Grand-father to Mr. James Brockman Esquire the instant Lord of the Fee Enbroke is another Mannor in Cheriton which in the twentieth year of Henry the third was the Patrimony of Peter de Alkam and after his Descendants were Extinguished at this place it came by the ordinary fate of Purchase to Enbroke who having erected a Mansion upon the Demeasn it is probable adopted it into his own Sirname and called it Enbroke John de Enbroke held it in the twentieth year of Edw. the third and paid an auxiliarie supply for it as appears by the book of Aid at making the Black Prince Knight Michael Enbroke was a great Benefactor to the Fabrick of Choriton Church in the time of Rich. the second and it is probable those antient Tombs yet visible related to these two or some of this Family the last of which was John Enbroke who flourished here in the Reign of Henry the fourth after whose departure it came to be enjoyed by Thorold or Torold and Walter Torold conveyed it to Nicholas Evering in the seventeenth year of Henry the sixth in which Family the Possession was permanent and constant until that Age which was circumscribed within our Grand-fathers remembrance and then it was alienated to Mr. John Honywood of Elmsted Ancestor to the instant Proprietary John Honywood of the same place Esquire The Tombs in the Church adorned with several Portraictures and Sculptures of Persons deceased related to these two formerly recited Families which the rude hand of Time hath crushed into the disorder of so great a Ruine that now even the Monuments and Sepulchres themselves have found an enterment in their own Dust and Rubbish Godinton in Great Chart was an ancient Mansion of a Family of that Sirname Place Godinton Court Wurthin Singleton and Nin House in Page 105. after Chelmington Simon de Godinton lived here as appears by very ancient Deeds and so did Lucas de Godinton likewise John de Godinton is portraied in Coat Armour in an ancient window in the North-Isle of the Church having an aspect upon a Crucifix in the same Glass placed above him accompanied with eleven others of eminent note in this Track depicted in the same posture with him and this John had Issue William de Godinton who flourished here as appears by his Deed in the fourth year of Richard the second but before the beginning of Henry the fourth had passed away his Interest here to Richard Simon and John Champneys and they in the sixth year of the abovesaid Prince conveyed it to Thomas Goldwell Son of William de Goldwell and he determined in a Daughter and Heir called Agnes who was affianced to Thomas Tooke of Bere by whom he had Issue Ralph Tooke Richard and John Ralph went into Hertfordshire Richard planted himself at Bere by Dover and John Tooke by Donation from his Father was invested in Godinton and continued ever since an eminent Seat of that Family and is at present the residence of that worthy person Captain Nicholas Tooke descended from * See Fox Acts and Mon. pag. 182. Holinshed Chro. pag. 2. Stows Chr. pag. 103. Sieur de Toque or Toc who is recorded in the Rolls of those who entred England with William the Conqueror who hath so industriously and elegantly cultivated and improved our English Vines that the wine pressed and extracted out of their Grapes seems not onely to paralell but almost to out-rival that of France Court Wurthin is a place of good Account in Great Chart which likewise afforded a residence to Possessors of that Sirname William de Wurtin by his Deed without Date demises Land which lay circumscribed within his Mannor of Wurtin to Quikemanus de Bere Henry de Wurtin is in the Register of those twelve eminent persons who are depicted kneeling in a Glass window in this Church the last of this Name at this place was Thomas de Wurtin who about the beginning of Henry the fourth passed it away to Thomas Goldwell by whose Heir General it came with Godinton to Thomas Tooke of Bere who setled it on his third Son Mr. John Tooke from whom it is successively by Descent come down to my Noble Friend Captain Nicholas Tooke Esquire It is observable that there is a Coat of Augmentation united to the Paternal Coat of this Family which the Tookes of Godinton bear in the first quarter viz. Argent upon a Cheveron between three Greyhounds-Heads crased Sables three Silver Plates which was given to John Tooke by Henry the seventh as a reward for his diligence in that Embassie in which he was employed by that Prince the Plates were an Embleme of his Guerdon or Salary and the Creyhounds-Heads a Symbol of his Celeritie Singleton is another eminent Mansion in this Parish which had owners of that Sirname and bore in ancient Armorials as appears by their Deeds Two Cheverons between three Martletts Henry de Singleton is one of those twelve eminent Persons that are depicted kneeling in Coat Armour in a window in Great Chart Church and John Singleton this mans Successor was Justice of the Peace for this County in the Reign of Richard the second and Henry the fourth as appears by an old Roll of the Justices of those times collected by Thin But after this mans Exit the Title was not long wedded to this Family for about the latter end of Henry the sixth I find the Edinghams or Enghams to be by Purchase entituled to the Possession whâ— added much to the Lustre of the ancient Pile by adorning its Fabrick with increase of Building and contniued proprietaries of it untill the beginning of King James and then it was passed away by Sir Edward Engham to Richard Brown Esquire a Cadet or younger Branch of the Browns of Betsworth Castle in Surrey from whom it descended to his Grandchild Mr. Richard Brown who being very lately deceased it is now in behalf of Dower the Habitation of his Widow Mrs. Elizabeth Brown Daughter of Sir William Andrews
originall and he having thus improved it transmitted his Right in it by sale some few yeers since to Mr. Philip Warwick Chiddingston in the Hundred of Somerden hath the Addition of Cohbam as being the Inheritance of the Lords Cobham of Sterborough Castle Henry de Cobham had in the ninth year of King John a Charter for all his Lands in Kent of which these at Chiddingston with the two little Mannors of Reynsley and Tihurst In Ages of a lower Step Reginald Lord Cobham who was summoned to Parliament as Lord Cobham of Sterborough in the twenty second year of Edward the third died possest of them in the thirty fifth year of that Prince Parte prima Rot. Esc Num. 62. And here the Right continued till in Thomas Lord Cobham this mans great Grandchild the Male Line failed and resolved into Ann Cobham who was matched to Edward Borough Lord of Gainsborough in the County of Lincoln whose Grandchild Thomas Lord Borough some fifty years since passed away his Right in Chiddingstone Reynsley and Tihurst which had devolved to him by his Grandmother to Stretfield whose Son deceasing without Issue Male they became the Inheritance of four Daughters and Coheirs matched to Dillingham Shetterden Powell and Taylor only Reynsley before his Death was sold to Mr. Christopher Knight whose Heir does now possesse it Burwash Court in this Parish was the Patrimony of the Lords Burgherst by vulgar Depravation of the Name called Burwash Stephen de Burwash had a Charter of Free-warren to all his Lands in Kent in the first year of Edward the second Robert de Burgherst or Burwarsh possest it at his Death which was in the thirty third year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 41. and his Son Bartholomew Lord Burwash in the forty third year of Edward the third by Deed passes away much of his Land in Warwick-shire and Kent to Walter de Paveley and Matilda his Wife in which this lay involved from Paveley it came down by Purchase to John de Bore Trivet and Vaux whose Successors conveyed Burwash to John Alphew in the Reign of Henry the sixth Alphews Coheirs were marryed to ....... Brograve and Sir Robert Read Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the Time of Henry the seventh who in his Wifes Right carried away Burwash as parcell of her Dower but this man determining likewise in Daughters and Coheirs Katharine one of them was wedded to Sir Thomas Willoughby second Son to Christopher Willoughbie of Eresbie which Sir Thomas was likewise Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas Eliza. was matched to Sir Tho. Totihurst and a third was married to Th. Wotton Esquire Sir Thomas Willoughbie Esquire Son and Heir of Sir Tho. who joyned in a Fine with his two Uncles even now mentioned in the sixth year of Edw. the sixth and so by a mutuall Concurrence with them their united Concernment in Burwash was passed away to Mr. John and Mr. Robert Seyliard of Delaware in whose Name and Revenue the Title and Propriety of this place hath ever since kept so permanent an Aboad that it is still the Inheritance of Mr. John Seyliard now of Delaware Esquire Bore Place with the Mannor of Milbroke and Boresell was formerly the Inheritance as high as Henry the third of a Family which assumed its Sirname from hence and was called Bore and likewise took in to his Arms a Bore for his Cognisance in this Family the Right of these places successively dwelt till John Bore in the Time of Henry the sixth transplanted his Interest in them by Sale into John Alphew by whose Coheir they came over to her Husband Sir Robert Read and from him they went away by Katharine one of his Coheirs to Sir Thomas Willoughbie whose great Grandchild Percivall Willoughbie who having matched with Bridget one of the four Coheirs of Sir Percival Willoughbie of Notinghamshire devested himself of his Title to both these places to improve his Interest in that County and not many years since alienated them to Mr. Bernard Hide of London Esquire one of the Commissioners of the Custome House to the late King Charles whose Grandchild Mr. Bernard Hide is upon his Fathers late Decease now enterred into their Possession of Milbroke and Boreplace But Boresell now vulgarly called Bowsell was sold to Edmund Thomas of Whitley neer Sevenoke who is now in the enjoyment of it Chilham in the Hundred of Felborough was by William the Conquerour as the Pages of Doomsday Book instruct us assigned to Fulbert de Dover under the Notion of a whole Knights Fee for his Assistance and Association to John de Fiennes in the Guard of Dover Castle which eminent employment thus imposed upon him did induce him to wave his originall Sirname of Lucy and assume one derived from his Office yet Richard de Lucy this mans Son did it seems take up again his primitive Sirname for when King John by his Charter in the sixteenth year of his Reign Cart. 24. Num. 37. restores to Rose de Dover called in the Latin Record Rohesia the Castle of Chilham with all its Appendages he calls it there the Land which was her Grandfather Richard de Lucy's Inheritance This Rose de Dover was sometimes written in old Deeds de Lucy in Relation to which she sealed with three Pikes * Fishes called Lucii in Latin she matched with Richard base Son to King John by whom she had two Daughters and Coheirs Lora married to William de Marmion and Isabell espoused to David de Strabolgie Earl of Athol who in her Right became Lord of the Castle and Mannor of Chilham and transmitted it to his Son John Earl of Atholl who for his frequent Acts of Hostility and Rebellion against Edward the first in his Contest with the Scots being by the Fate of War made Captive was at Canterbury hanged on a Gibbet fifty Foot high that he might be as eminent in his Punishment as he was before conspicuous in his Crimes and being cut down halfe alive had his Head struck off and his Trunk cast into the Fire a Savage Manner of Punishment and hardly heard of before amongst us upon his Shipwrack and Confiscation of Estate it rested in the Demeasne of the Crown till King Edward the second in the fifth year of his Reign as appears Parte prima Pat. Edwardi secundi granted the Castle and Mannor of Chilham to Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer who quickly after lost it by his Perfidiousnesse and Disloyalty to that Prince so that it returned to the Crown and the abovesaid Prince as is evident by Pat. 15. 16. Edwardi secundi restores the Castle and Mannor with all the Goods and Chattels in it which belonged to Bartholomew Badelesmer to David de Strabolgie Grandchild to the first David for Life only which upon his Expiration was again united to the Royal Revenue and in the third year of King Edward the thirds Government it was by Patent granted to Bartholomew Badelesmer Son to the abovesaid Lord Bartholomew and
Island upon intelligence received that his Fleet riding in the road at Lymen not far distant had been much afflicted and shattered by a Tempest whereupon he returned and left his Army for ten dayes encamped upon the brow of this Hill till he had new careen'd and rigg'd his Navy but in his march from hence was so vigoriously encountered by the Britons that he lost with many others Leberius Durus Tribune and Marshal of the Field whose Obsequies being performed with solemnities answerable to the eminence of his Place and Command each Souldier as was then Customary bringing a certain quantity of earth to improve his place of Sepulture into more note then ordinarie caused it so much to exceed the proportion of others elswhere and from hence it assumed the name of Julaber whom other vulgar heads ignorant of the truth of the story have fancied to have been a Giant and others of them have dreamed to have been some Enchanter or Witch It is probable the Romanes built something here at Chilham for when Sir Dudly Diggs digged down the ruines of the old Castle to make space for the foundation of that exact and elegant House which he there erected there was the Basis of a more ancient building discovered and many Aeconomical vessels of the Romane antique mode traced out in that place besides the Keeper of the Castle which is yet preserved hath a Senate-House adorned and furnished with Seats round about shaped out of an excellent durable Stone Oldwives Leas is the last place in the Inventorie of those Mannors which lie within the Limits of Chilham It was in elder Orthographie written Old-woods Leas as being indeed the Patrimony of a Family so called as appears both by Deeds without Date and of a more modern Constitution and continued Lords of it untill the Reign of Henry the sixth and then the Daughter and Heir Generall of John Oldwood annexed it to the Inheritance of Paine in which Family it was without any pause or interruption resident almost untill our Fathers memory and then this Name was entombed in four Daughters and Coheirs two of which by the first Wife were matched to Cob and Philipot of Feversham and the two other which were the Issue by the second Wife were espoused to Petit and Prude but this upon the division of the Estate into portions augmented the Revenue of Cob and is still for ought I know wraped up in the Demeasn of the Heirs and Descendants of this Family Chilham by the influence and procurement of Alexander de Balioll and Isabell his wife had the grant of a Market to be held weekly on the Tuesday and a Fair yearly by the space of three dayes viz. the Vigil the day of the Assumption of our Lady and the day after in the ninteenth year of Edward the first which grant was renewed and confirmed to Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer in the ninth year of Edward the second as appears Pat. 9. Edw. secundi Num. 57. Chillenden in the Hundred of Eastry gave Sirname to a Family so stiled and there is a recital in Deeds very ancient which extract their Original from the time of Henry the third of John de Chillenden Edward and William de Chillenden who had an Interest in this place in Ages of a lower step the Bakers who were Lords of Caldham by Capell were in the Possession of this place and after they were gone out the Family of Hunt about the Government of Henry the sixth by Purchase were setled in the Inheritance and here the Title for two or three Descents was Successively permanent and then the same inconstant Revolution which carried it to Hunt wafted it over from that Name by Sale to Gason which Family I find to be of no despiscable Antiquitie about Ickham and that Track and when it had for some years been linked to their Revenue it was for some two or three Ages since alienated to Hamon Ancestor to Anthony Hamon Esquire into whom by original Descent the hereditarie Right of this place is at this present collected Chistlet in the Hundred of Whilstaple was given to the Sea of Canterbury by Ethelbert King of Kent under the notion of Cistelet and here the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury erected a Magnificent Mansion which they called Ford and empaled a certain proportion of Land into the form of a Park as if they had judged it meet to justifie the first Donation of this Christian Prince who by election and design intended it for a chosen portion of Earth devoted to the support of this Arch-Bishoprick Clive formerly Cloves-Hoo lies in the Hundred of Shamell called so from its situation either on some elevated precipice or else its being cloven or rent in some part of it from the Continent by water It was in the Conquerours time called Bishops-Clive and in the Pages of Doomsday Book it is thus rated Cliva est Manerium Monachorum est de vestitu eorum in T. E. R. se defendebat pro II. Sullings Dimidio est appretiatum XVI However the place at present may be represented obscure and despiscable being shrunk from its former Glory yet in those Ages wherein the Saxons flourished it was ennobled with several Synods which were held here both National and Provincial wherein several Rules and Constitutions were enacted and established both to fetter up the Exorbitances of of the Clergie within the Channels and shores of the Ordinances and Decretals Ecclesiastical and likewise to empale the Irregularities of the Laity who then began to be debauched into disorder and excess within the restraints and boundaries of the Laws temporal I shall now exactly unweave them as they are Registred by the learned Spelman in his exact Collection of the Councels held before the Conquest The first was held in the year 742. under King Ethelbald and Arch-Bishop Cuthbert The second under Ethelbald King of Mercia accompanied with the principal of his Nobilitie and Arch-Bishop Cuthbert invested with his Bishops Abbots and other Ecclesiastical Persons in the year 747. The third was celebrated under Arch-Bishop Athelard in the year 798. The fourth Synod or Councell was convened at this place under Kenulf King of Mercians and Athelard Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in in the year 800. The fifth was called together under the abovesaid King Kenulf and Arch-Bishop Athelard in the year 803. The sixth was assembled in the third year of Bernulfe King of the Mercia in the year 822. that Prince himself with Vlfred Arch-Bishop of Canterbury being both present and president at it and over it The result of this eminent Synod was to rescue and restore to the Patrimony of the Church-Lands called Haerghes Hereforddinglond Gedding and Combe which by the Sacrilegious violence of some impious men even in those times had been ravished away from the Ecclesiastical Demeasn Their eighth and last was a small Synodal Convention collected into a Body under the above mentioned King Bernulf and Arch-Bishop Ulfred in the year of Grace 824. And
cast into the Revenue of Denny by whose Daughter and Heir it is lately become the Demeasn of Mr. Robert Filmer second Son of Sir Robert Filmer of Sutton not long since deceased Winchcombe is an ancient Seat likewise in Crundall which ever since the Reign of Edward the second hath acknowledged the Carters as appears by private Evidences for its uninterrupted Proprietaries and is still in the Tenure and possession of that Name and Family Cuckston anciently written Cuckleston lies in the Hundred of Totlingtrough and was given to the Church of Rochester by Ethelwolfe Son of King Egbert See Textus Roffensis first Monarch of the English Saxons this King Ethelwolfe after his decease which happened to be about the year 857. was for his several and exemplary acts of Charitie and pious Munificence towards the Church of which Cuckston till these unhappy times ravished it away stood a visible Monument Recorded in the Register of Saints VVhornes-Place in this Parish was erected by Sir VVilliam VVhorne who was Lord Maior of London in the year 1487. upon which though he setled his Name he could not so fasten it to his Family but that the next Age by Purchase brought it over to Vane where the Title had not long fixt but the vicissitude of Sale alienated it to Barnewell who about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth sold it to Nicholas Lewson of the County of Stafford Esq whose Grandchild Sir Richard Lewson desirous to settle himself in his own County where a vaste Estate lay spread which had been transmitted to him from his Ancestors passed away this by Sale to John Marsham Esquire originally extracted from the Marshams of Norfolk where many years before they had flourished under no contemptible Estimate D. D. D. D. DArent in the Hundred of Acstane is very often written North-Darent it belonged in the Conquerours time to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury as the Record called Doomsday Book instructs me and was exchanged for the Mannor of Lambeth by Hubert Walter Arch-Bishop Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice with Gilbert Glanvill Bishop of Rochester in the year of our Lord 197. which exchange was afterwards confirmed by Richard the first Saint Margaret-Hills now united to this Parish had formerly a Church which being decayed and the Congregation diminished it was by Cardinall Pole in the year 1557. incorporated into Darent It was anciently and is so still distinguished by the Name St. Margaret-Hills which additionall Character it borrowed from a Family originally called Hells and then by Tradition and Vulgar corruption afterwards stiled Hills a Family which had large Possessions both here at Dertford and at Ash likewise by Sandwich John de Hells had a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannors of Hells and his Estate at Dertford in the seventeenth year of Edward the first and from this John de Hells did Sir Edmund Hills descend and he about the beginning of Edward the sixth alienated this Mannor to Lane whose Son Henry Lane went out in a Daughter and Heir called Martha who matched to Edw. Rolt descended from the Roults of Bedford-shire in Right of which Alliance Mr. Thomas Rolt his Grandchild is now invested in the Possession of this Place Dartford gives name to that Hundred wherein it is situated and before the Foundation of the Nunnerie was a Mannor which was wrapt up in the Demeasne of the Crown there was a Family called Tingewike which had it in Lease for when King Edward the third Pat. An. primi Edw. tertii Memb. 6. granted the Royalties of the Mannor of Dartford to Edmund of Woodstock Earl of Kent paying as a Rent-Service of 30. l. per annum it is mentioned in the Patent that he should hold them all in as ample a manner as Alice Tingewike formerly had done upon his decease it reverts to the Crown and the same King Edward in the year 1355. and in the fiftieth year of his Reign erects here a Nunnerie whose Lady-Abbess and the Nuns of the Covent were for the most part in succeeding times elected into this Cloister out of the noblest Families of the Nation Upon the suppression King Henry the eighth converted the House into a Palace for his own habitation and under that notion it continued till K. James by exchange passed it away to Robert E. of Salisbury who conveyed it to Sir Edw. Darcy whose Grandchild Edward Darcy Esquire descended from the noble Family of Darcy of Yorke-shire at this instant possesses the Fee-Simple of it The Mannor of Temple in this Parish was involved in that Revenue which was marshal'd under the Jurisdiction of the Knights Templers as the very Name doth seem to insinuate and upon the totall disannulling this order here in England was by a Statute made in the seventeenth year of Edward the second setled on the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem where it was fixed and constant untill the disbanding of that Order likewise in this Nation by King Henry the eighth and then it was annexed to the Patrimony of the Crown and rested there untill K. James exchanged it with Robert E. of Salisbury who sold it to Edw. Darcy Esq whose Grandchild Edw. Darcy Esq hath lately conveyed it by Sale to his Brother in Law Mr. Will. Gough The Mannor of Charles is Seated in this Parish and was a Branch of that Estate which fell under the Signorie of the ancient Family of Charles from whom it assumed its appellation Of this Family was Edw. Charles who was Captain and Admiral of the Fleet from the Thames-Mouth North-ward as appears Pat. 34. Edw. 1. after this Family had left the Possession of this place which was about the beginning of Richard the second Nicholas de Brember was planted in the Proprietie but he was scarce warm in his new atchieved Purchase but he fell under the guilt of high Treason only for being too fast in his Loyaltie and Faith to his Prince and too loose in his fidelity to his Country for there it seems that blind distinction had its first rise and growth which like some Alembeck distil'd and dropped the Power of the King distinguished apart from his Person upon the forfeiture of his Life and Estate together which was in the tenth year of Rich. the second It was by that Prince suddenly after conveyed by grant to Adam Bamme Lord Maior of London in which Family after it had for many Ages been seated it was as appears by an exemplification now in the hands of Mr. Took of Dartford transmitted by Sale to Death who about the latter end of K. James passed it away to Goldsmith of Marshals-Court in Creyford who some few years since sold all his Concernment in it to Mr. Tooks branched out from the ancient Family of the Tooks of Bere in West-Clive though since this Name setled at Dartford it hath by Depravation been called Tuke Horsemans-Place is a Mansion of good account likewise in Dartford in the sixteenth year of Edward the second I find it owned one Thomas
de Luda for Proprietarie between whom and Thomas de Sandwich Abbot of Lessnes there was a Composition about that time touching the passage of a Current of Water But this Family before the end of Edward the third had deserted the Possession and then by old Court-Rolls and other Evidences I find it in the Tenure of John Horsman who it is probable new built this Mansion and on the old Foundation established this new-Name and he had Issue Thomas Horseman who about the beginning of Henry the sixth dying without Issue gave it to his Widow Margaret Horseman re-married to Shardelow and she upon her decease in the ninteenth year of Henry the sixth bequeathed it to her Kinsman Thomas Brown whose Daughter and Sole Heir Katherine annexed it to the Patrimony of Robert Blague one of the Barons of the Exchequer and he had Issue by her Barnabie Blague who in the thirty third of Henry the eighth conveyed it by Sale to Mr. John Bere who much adorned and augmented the ancient Shell or Structure of this Seat in the thirtieth year of that Princes Reign but left his Acquists thus increased and improved to Ann his Sole Heir matched to Mr. Christopher Twislton descended from Twislton Castle in the County of Lancaster whose Successor Sir Jo. Twislton Knight and Baronet is now by descendant Right Possessor of it At Stanpit in this Parish there was a Chappell founded by one Thomas de Dertford and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin for one Priest to celebrate divine Offices for the Soul of the Founder In this Parish there was likewise a perpetual Salary established by one Thomas Martin to pray for the Soul of the Founder and Light-lands which were given by John Grovehurst Denton in the Hundred of Shamell was given to the Church of Rochester by a Noble man called Brichric and Efswith his Wife but it seems there had been some Invasion made upon the Original grant for as the Book called Textus Roffensis informs me it was restored to that Cathedral by William the Conquerour and was in after-times when Henry the eighth upon the Ruines of the Priory of St. Andrews raised the Dean and Chapter of Rochester by royal Concession united to their Demeasn Denton in the Hundred of Eastry with the appendant Mannor of Tapington now by Contraction called Tapton were in Times of very ancient Inscription both couched in the patrimony of Yerd and though several datelesse Deeds represent this Family to have been possessors of both these places as high as the reign of K. Jo. and H. the third yet the first of this Name whom Record discovers to us to have been eminent was John de Yerd who held the Mannors of Denton and Tapington by that Service which they call ad Wardam Castri Doveriensis and paid a respective Supply for them in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black-Prince Knight and from this man did the possession of both these places flow down to Jo. Yerd Esq who was Sheriff of Kent in the nineteenth of Hen. the sixth and he had Issue John Yerd who conveyed Tapington to Jo. Fogge Esq and he again by a Fine levyed in the fifteenth year of Edw. the fourth passed away his Interest in it to Richard Haut and he determined in a Female Heir called Margery Haut matched to William Isaack who annexed Tapton to his Demeasn and in his descendant line the propriety remained untill that Age which was enclosed within the Circle of our Grand-fathers remembrance and then it was alienated to Bois But Denton with some part of the revenue of Tapington continued longer in the Yerd until Jo. Yerd the last Heir male of this Family going to London fell sick in Southwark and dyed without Issue and was enterr'd in St. Margarets-church afterwards converted to the Court of Marshalseys so that Langley of Knowlton in right of a former Match with the Heir General of this Family was entituled to the possession of Denton and the Demeasn of Tapton but Edward Langley the last of this Name dying Childlesse in the reign of Henry the eighth in relation to a former Match of the Heir General with Peyton Sir Robert Peyton of Cambridgeshire became Heir to his Estate in Kent whose Successor Sir Robert Peyton passed away all his Interest here to Bois Bois by Sale demised Tapington to Verier who almost in our Remembrance conveyed it to Mersh the instant proprietary But Denton was by Bois alienated to Rogers who in those Times our Fathers lived in translated his right into Swan who not many years since sold it to Sir Anth. Percival of Dover and he not long since transplanted it by Sale into Phinees Andrews of Hartfordshire Esq Wigmere is a third Mannor in this Parish there was a Family of this Name in East-Kent for in divers old Evidences which I have seen there is mention of Will. de Wigmere and divers others of this Name but for many Ages it acknowledged the Signory of Brent and so continued till the Beginning of Q. Eliz. and then Tho. Brent dying without Issue Margaret married to Jo. Dering of Surrenden Dering became his Heir in Right of which match the Family of Dering is entituled to the instant possession Madekin lies partly in Denton and partly in Barham and owned a Family of that Sirname as appears by the Evidences now in the hands of Mr. Oxenden and continued by a thread of several descents fastned to this Name but about the beginning of Henry the sixth the Succession of the Title was disordered and by Sale translated into Sednor where the possession for many years dwelt till at last upon some Acquists in Brenchley they withdrew themselves thither and passed away their Interest here to Brook in whom after it had continued three descents the Fate of Sale cast it into the Inheritance of Brooker and by Elizabeth the Daughter and Heir of that Family it not long after descended to Sir Henry Oxenden whose Grandchild Henry Oxenden Esquire now possesseth the Signory of it Davington in the Hundred of Feversham was given to the Cloister of Black-Nuns which was founded there by Fulke de Newenham and dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen In the thirty ninth of Henry the third that Prince confirmed them their Lands and invested them with severall priviledges as appears Chart. 39. Hen. tertii Memb. 5. In the seventeenth of Edward the third the King sent his Writ to the Sheriff of Kent to be certified of the Estate and Revenue which belonged to this Nunnery for the Abbess and Nuns petitioned for relief in regard their Income was not sufficient to support them and Jo. de Vielston then Sheriff of Kent returned per Sacramentum proborum legalium Hominum that they had not a competent Demeasn for Subsistence that whereas formerly there were twenty six Nuns now there were but fourteen and that those could not live upon the revenue of the Covent but had the Charity of their Friends to supply them Thus
Croyden in which Family the Inheritance is yet remaining Dimchurh in the Hundred of Worth hath nothing to make it memorable but that it was formerly the Inheritance of Twitham Bertram de Twitham held Lands here at his Death which was in the third year of Edward the third as appears Rot. Esc Num. 115. And from him it came down to Theobald Twitham whose Daughter and Heir Mawd was married to Simon Septuans from whom descended John Septuans whose Daughter and Heir was matched to Fogge who in her Right was entituled to much Land here at Dimchurch and in other places of the Mersh but the Family of Poynings had likewise some Interest here for Michael Poynings was seised in Fee of some Lands in Dimchurch in the forty third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 14. Parte secunda and in this Name was the Possession carried on untill the Beginning of the Reign of Henry the sixth and then it was alienated to Fogge. Newhall in this Parish is the place where those which are the Lords of Romney Mersh that is of so many Mannors which lye within the Precincts the Liberties of it assemble yearly to compose Laws for the better regulating and securing the Banks of the Mersh against the perpetuall Invasions and Encroachments of the Sea Ditton in the Hundred of Larkefield with its two Appendages Brampton and Sifleston were in times of a very high ascent the Patrimony of a Family called Brampton the Book of Aid which makes a Recapitulation of the ancient owners informs us that anciently they were Bramptons that is in the Reign of King John and Henry the third as the Pipe-Rolls relating to both those Kings times discover to us Afterwards in the Reign of Edward the first I find the Aldons by the Pipe-Rolls to have been Proprietaries of both these places but it seems the Possession remained not long with them for in the third year of Edward the second I find Stephen de Burghurst or Burwash died in the Possession of them as appears Rot. Esc Num. 4. And here the Title continued untill the forty third of Edward the third and then the Lord Bartholomew Burwash this mans Grandchild conveyed them to Sir Walter de Paveley Knight of the Garter and he in the first year of Richard the second passed them away to Windlesor or Windsor in which Family the Inheritance was placed untill the fifteenth year of this Prince's Reign and then they were conveyed to Sir Lewis Clifford but in this Name they made no long abode neither For about the middle of Henry the sixth I find they were alienated to Colepeper and I discover Richard Colepeper enjoyed them at his decease which was in the second year of Richard the third Rot. Esc Num. 28. and in this Family was the Possession lodged untill the latter end of Henry the seventh and then the vicissitude of Purchase brought them to acknowledge the Interest of Leigh and Thomas Leigh exchanged them with K. Henry the eighth and that Prince in the thirty seventh year of his Reign passed them away to Sir Thomas Wriothesley and in the original grant it is recited that they devolved to the Crown by exchange with Thomas Leigh Esquire and he not long after demised them to Sir Robert Southwell who in the second year of Queen Mary conveyed them to Sir Thomas Pope in which Family they remained untill the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then they were alienated to Wiseman from whom almost in our Memory they were by Sale translated into the Patrimony of Sir Oliver Boteler of Teston Grandfather to Sir Oliver Boteler Baronet who now is entituled to the Proprietie of them The Ropers held some Estate here at Ditton by Purchase from Clifford in the Reign of Henry the fifth which Edmund Son of Ralph Roper died seised of in the third year of Henry the sixth as appears Rot. Esc Num. 33. which his Successor not long after alienated to Colepeper Dodington in the Hundred of Eyhorne contains severall places in it of no contemptible Estimate The first is Sharsted which was the Patrimony of a Family which was known by that Sirname Robert de Sharsted enjoyed it at his death which was in the eighth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 61. But after this mans departure I do not find that it owned this Family any farther for this mans Sole Daughter and heir was matched to John de Bourne Son of John de Bourne who was Sheriff of Kent the twenty second the twenty third and twenty fourth years of Edw. the first and after in the fifth year of Edward the third Certainly this Family was in times of a very high Gradation as eminent for Estate as it was venerable for its Antiquitie Henry de Bourne made a Purchase of Lands and Rents in Duddington of Matilda the Daughter of John de Duddington as appears by a Fine levyed in the forty seventh year of Henry the third and the above-mentioned John de Bourn obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at Bourne Boxley Dodington and other places in the eighteenth year of Edward the first and from this John de Bourne did Mr. William Bourne in an even stream of Descent issue forth who almost in our Remembrance passed away Sharsted-Court to Mr. Delawne of London whose Son Mr. ....... Delawne is the instant Proprietarie of it Ringleston is a second place of note in this Parish of which there is a Tradition that it borrows its principal Appellation from a Ring and a Stone which those who were Tenants to this Mannor were to hold for such a proportion of time as an embleme of their acknowledged Homage and Subjection But this is but a fabulous romance in the whole frame of it the truth is Ring in Saxon imports as much as Borough or Village so that Ringleston signifies no more but the Village-Stone that is some eminent Stone which was placed there to signifie and discover the utmost extent and limits of the Borough Having unveil'd the Name and dispelled the Mist of the former fiction I shall now exhibite to the publique view who were the ancient Possessors of it and first I find the Chalfehunts a Familie of a spreading Demeasne and no lesse reputation in this Track Henry de Chalfehunt died possest of it in the forty fifth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 14. After him Humfrey Son and heir of Thomas Chalfehunt was in the enjoyment of it at his Death which was in the ninth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 14. After this Family was expired the Hadds a Family which was sometimes written Haddis and sometimes le Hadde which argues it to be of French Etymologie was planted in the Possession and remained many years invested in the Fee till about the beginning of Q. Elizabeth it passed away by Sale from them to Archer from whom not many years after the same fatalitie brought it to devolve to Thatcher who not many years since
to a Family who held it as appears by Testa de Nevill in the twentieth year of Henry the third In Times of a lower Descent it was the Possession of a good old Family called Groveherst William de Groveherst paid respective Aid for it at making the Black Prince Knight and from him it devolved to his Successor Richard Groveherst who in the Reign of Henry the fourth determined in three Daughters and Coheirs espoused to Richard Tickhill Richard Hextall and John Petit who about the Beginning of Henry the sixth passed one Moiety of it to John Martin whose Successor and Descendant Edward Martin above-mentioned passed it away with Franks mentioned in Horton Kirkby in whose Revenue it lyes now couched about the beginning of Q. Elizabeth to Alderman Bathurst from whom with Franks it is now devolved by Descent to be the Inheritance of Sir Edward Bathurst Ralph de Fremingham obtained a Weekly Market to his Mannor of Farningham on the Tuesday and a Fair yearly to continue for four Days the Vigil the day of St. Peter and Paul and two days after by Grant from Henry the third in the fifty fifth year of his Reign Pat. An. 55. Hen. 3. Memb. 12. Which Grant was renewed and confirmed to John de Fremingham in the seventh and eighth years of Richard the second Chimbham is another Mannor in this Parish which did give Name to a Family of that Appellation for I find in the Book of Aid that when John de Fremingham pays Aid for his Mannors of Farningham and Chimbham there is a Recitall of Lawrence de Chimbham which formerly held it in the Reign of Henry the third But it is evident both by that Record and by the Inquisition taken after his Death which was in the twenty third year of Edward the third that John de Fremingham held it and transmitted it to his Son Ralph de Fremingham whose Son and Heir John Fremingham dying without Issue Ann his Sister entred upon the Possession of this as his next Heir and brought it with her to her Husband Roger Isley of Sundridge And so this Family became concerned in it and kept their Interest here until the Reign of Henry the seventh and then it was passed away to Sibill of Littlemoat in Ainsford in which Name the Propriety had not been long wrapt up when this Family found its Sepulcher in a Female Heir For Ed. Sibell the last of this Name resolved into a Daughter and Heir matched to Hide and he not many years since conveyed it by Sale to Alderman Bunce of London Fairfield in the Hundred of Langport was given to the Church of Christ-Church in Canterbury by St. Edm. Arch-bishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the University of Oxford about the year 1238 and more to fortifie the Donation affixed his Seal Sigillo suo confirmavit say the Records of Christ-Church to the originall Grant This upon the Suppression was upon the Institution of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury by Henry the eighth confirmed by Grant to them Faukham in the Hundred of Acstane was the Seat and gave the Sirname to an ancient Family called Faukham The first whom I find upon Record is Walleran de Faukham who flourished here in the Reign of Henry the second as appears by the Book called Nova Feoffamenta taken in that Princes Reign and kept in the Exchequer Afterwards in Times of a more modern date it acknowledged the Signory of the Lord Grandison Baron of Ferneborough and Otho de Grandison is said in the Book of Aid with Gilbert de Kirkbie to have held one Knights Fee in Faukham of the Bishop of Rochester which Rose de Faukham and William de St. Clere of Ford in Wrotham formerly held and this Otho Lord Grandison held it at his Death which was in the thirty third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 41. And left it to his Son Thomas Grandison who dyed without Issue in the forty ninth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 36. So that his Estate here and in other places was divided between his Sisters and Coheirs whereof this came to be possest by Sir John Northwood in Right of Agnes one of his Sisters from whom by a constant Line of Succession it was guided down to his Son Sir Roger Northwood who was extinguished in a Female Heir called Albina Northwood matched to John Diggs of Diggs Court in Berham Esquire who was Sheriff of Kent in the second year of Henry the fourth and so in her Right this Mannor devolved to this Family and lay couched in their Estate until the latter end of Henry the eighth and then it was passed away to Barham of Berham-Court in Teston In which Name the Propriety had not been long resident when Thomas Barham Esquire concluded in a Daughter and Heir called Ann who was espoused to Sir Oliver Boteler who cast this into his Revenue from whom it is now come down to Sir Oliver Boteler Baronet only Son of Sir William Boteler slain at Cropready Bridge in asserting the Royall Quarrell Frendsbury in the Hundred of Shamell hath severall places in it worthy of our Cognisance The first is Eslingham which was given to the Church of St. Andrews in Rochester by Kenulfus King of Mercia as the Book called Textus Roffensis informs me But by the Registers of that Church I find that John de St. Clere held it in Lease of the Covent about the ninth year of Edward the third and after him a Family called Neal who had large Possessions about Higham were Lessees to the Cloister In the sixth year of Henry the sixth I find John Rykeld held it and kept his Shrievalty at this place after him a Family called Frogenhall was by Right of Lease in the Reign of Henry the seventh possest of it but upon the Suppression of this Monastery of St. Andrews in the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth this Mannor was found to be Lease to Audley and Fisher and then the Fee-simple in Reversion was granted to Thomas Lord Cromwell Earl of Essex who being by the Malice of his Enemies who had raised all their Black Engines of Mischief upon him aspersed with the Calumnious Reproach of high Treason was attainted in the thirty second year of Henry the eighth and made a Peace-offering to the Fury of his irreconcileable Adversaries then this by Escheat returns back to the Crown after which that Prince by his Royall Concession makes it the Inheritance of Sir Will. Drury of Norfolke in which Family it remained untill Times of our Knowledge and Remembrance and then the Interest was by Sale translated into Henry Clerk Esquire Serjeant at Law and late Recorder of Rochester from whom it is now come down to his Son and Heir Francis Clerk Esquire collaterally descended from that eminent Souldier Sir John Clerk of Willoughby in Warwick-shire who took Lewis de Orleans Duke of Longueville Prisoner in that memorable Encounter commenced between Bomy and Spours Villages not far
inhabiting at Hougham not far distant and Robert de Hougham dyed seised of it in the forty first year of Henry the third In the Reign of Edward the second I find the Clintons possest of it and William de Clinton Earl of Huntington dyed seised of it in the twenty eighth year of Edward the third and from him it descended to his Kinsman John de Clinton great Grandfather to John Lord Clinton who about the Beginning of Henry the seventh sold it away to Davis from which Family by a Daughter and partly by Purchase it came over to Lessington and he in our Fathers Remembrance alienated his Concernment in it to Hopday whose Son is the instant Possessor of it Bredmer or Berdmer is the last place worthy any Consideration It is partly situated in Folkston and partly in Cheriton that there was a Family of this Name was most certain For in ancient Deeds and Court Rolls of Valoigns who was Lord of Cheriton after Scotton I find frequent mention of severall of this Name who held Land of this Family But in the Book of Aid I find William de Brockhull held the fourth part of a Knights Fee in Cheriton which was this in the twentieth year of Edward the third From this Name by Elizabeth Heir of Thomas Brockhull it came to be the possession of Richard Selling Esquire and here it rested untill the Beginning of Henry the eighth and then it was passed away to Edmund Inmith a Retainer to Thomas Lord Clinton who gave it to his second Son Edmund Inmith and he was extinguished in two Daughters and Coheirs one was married to Reyner and the other to Baker who in her Right shared this place and in the Reign of King James passed it away by Sale to Ben who holds the instant Possession of it G. G. G. G. DEptford in the Hundred of Blackheath and Lath of Sutton at Hone so called from the deep Channel of Ravens-purg'd The River that here slydeth into the Thames was heretofore called West-Greenwich from the turning of the River Thames in such a crooked Compass and the green Meddows adjacent Gislebert Magminot or Magminiot for he was a great Favorite to William the Conquerour was one of those eight Barons and Trustees that were joyned to John de Fiennes for the sure Guard of Dover Castle and were assigned competent Lands for the maintenance of that Service his Castle or Scite of his Barony hath been long time buryed in its own Ruines yet some remains of Stony Foundations make me conjecture it stood nere Says Court in Bromfield upon the Brow of the Thames Bank neere the Mast Dock where the Skeleton of Sir Francis Drake's Ship was layd up and in a very short time nothing left of her but the Fame of her Captain and Steersman cannot perish so long as History shall last But to return to the former Subject it may appear by the Quire of Dover Castle transmitted on Record in the King's Exchequer that it had the Reputation of a Barony and these Knights Fees were held of it Pevinton Kanc. duo Feeda Militum Estswale Kanc. unum Feedum Militis Davinton Kanc. duo Feoda Militum Cuckleston alias Cuckston Kanc. unum Feodum Militis Waldeswareschare Kanc. 3. Feoda Militum Leckhamsted-Bucks unum Feodum Kennington-Hert duo Feoda Militum Gothurst Northampton unum Feodum Militis Hertwell-Northampton duo Feoda Militum Brandiston-Suffolk duo Feoda Militum Hecchesham-Surrey duo Feoda Militum Whitfield Kanc. unum Feodum Militis Coudham-Kanc duo Feoda Militis Bredinghurst Kanc. unum Feodum Militis Thornham Kersoney tria Feeda Militum Bingbery Kanc. tria Feeda Militum Brickhill-Buck unum Feodum Militis Haec sunt Feoda de Baronia de Magminot quae tenentur de Willielmo de Say quae ipse tenet de Rege per Baroniam Et reddunt Wardam ad Castrum Dovoriae Per 32. Septimanas You may find mention of Walkelme Magminot in the Catalogue of the Lord Wardens But the Daughter and Heir of this Line was married to Say from whom it came to be called Says-Court which Name it still retaineth And was by reason of the Commodiousnesse of the Meadows belonging to it and Stalls there erected made a place in the Time of the late King for feeding Sheep and Oxen served by Composition for the Kings House William Duke of Suffolk held the Mannor of West-Greenwich and one Messuage in Deptford Anno 29. Hen. 6. by West-Greenwich which was ment by that which we now call Deptford Strand and by Deptford is ment the upper Town where a fair strong Stone Bridge lately erected doth acknowledge the sole Royal bounty of K. Charles by this Inscription This Bridge was re-edified at the only charge of King Charles in the fourth year of his Reign Anno Dom. 1628. In former Times it w as repaired at the Charge of the Contry adjacent For I find by a Record in the Tower Esc Anno. 20. Edw. 3. n. 66. Quod Reparatio Pontis de Depeford pertinet ad homines Hundredi de Blackheath non ad homines Villarum de Eltham Moding-ham Wolwich The Treasurer of the Navy hath here a commendable and convenient House for his Residence at the Dock to view the building and repayring the States Ships and what is most expedient for the Manufacture of Cordage Anchors and other Provisions for Ships by which means the Town is so greatly increased in small Tenements and the Statute for Cottages excepting Market-Towns and such places as are used for building of Ships that for number of Inhabitants and Communicants it may compare with diverse Counties in the Kingdome which great Increase of the Parish caused them to new build another Isle on the North-side the Church to which the East-Indian Company of Merchants were good Benefactors And the Chancel enlarged with beautifull Additions partly at the Cost of Sir William Russell Knight and Baroner Treasurer of the Navy and the circumspection of Doctor Valentine the late learned and worthy Incumbent of the place Adjoyning to the Church The Company of Navigators and Seamen incorporated by King Henry the eighth have a Hall or House for their meetings and Consultations Certainly the use of this Society is most considerable and commendable for the Common-wealth upon all Occasions may from them receive necessary Intelligence of all the Roads Waterings Depths and Conveniences of most part of the Maritime places in the Known World One thing more I have to mention and that is Hacham which was in K. Hen. the seconds Time the Seat of Hacham lying upon the Confines of Kent and Kent-fields or Kent-lands within this County as Kent-Hatch in Westerham is the very out-side of this Shire As that place towards Surrey called Kent-House designs the Bounderies of this County between Bekenham and Croydon Divers Inquisitions taken since that time have found Hacham to be in Kent And I believe the Mannor of Bredingherst before mentioned was formerly in this Shire which is now slipt into Surrey
untill King Henry the eighth tore it off by the Publique Dissolution and united it to the Royall Revenue where it had its fixed aboad untill the thirteenth year of King James and then it was granted to Mr. William Salter who not many years after passed it away to Mr. James Crispe from whom in our Memory partly by Purchase and partly by Exchange it went over to Mr. Jo. Child in whose Descendant the Propriety is still permanent Gravesend had anciently a Market on the Thursday and a Fair yearly on the Day of St. Edward the Confessor both granted to this Town in the thirtieth year of Edward the third Gillingham was a Mannor always relating to the Arch-bishops of Canterbury though the Donation by the Book of Christ-church be not specified If we survey the Pages of Dooms-day Book they will give us this Gilling ham est proprium Manerium Archiepiscopi in tempore Ewardi Regis se defendebat pro VI. Sullings est appretiatum hoc quod Archiepiscopus habet inde in Dominio VIII lb. c X.s. The Arch-bishops of Canterbury had here an eminent Pallace and held their Residence at it and gave Consecrations here to Bishops as we find it recorded in the Book called Textus Roffensis or the Text of Rochester East-court and West-court in this Parish were anciently knit together and resided in a Family called Gillingham Richard de Gillingham Son of Thomas de Gillingham held it at his Death which was in the twelfth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 176. And left it to his Son Thomas Gillingham who resolved into two Daughters and Coheirs Margaret married to John Thorpe who in her Right had West-court and Isabell matched to William Crensted who brought along with her East-court But as all things have their Fate and Vicissitude they did not long acknowledge the Dominion of either of them for Thorpe sold West-court to Nicholas Lawson of Whoorn-place in Cuckston who not long after by the same Devolution passed it away to Duling of Rochester by whose Female Heir it is now come over to Mr. Stephen Alcock but Thorp Ferme on which he had planted his own Name he alienated to Short and from this Family it went away again by Sale to May of Rochester Greensted endowed Benedict Webb his Sisters Son and in that Relation his Heir with the Title and Propriety of East-court whose two Grand-children Thomas and Christopher Webb by a mutuall and joynt Concurrence devested themselves of their Right and by Sale surrendered it up to Will. Painter Esquire Great Grand-father to Mr. Allington Painter the instant Proprietary of it Twidall is another Mannor of eminent Account and had Owners likewise of that Appellation The first that I find of the Name in Mr. Painter's Evidences which held both this and Dane-court is Robert de Twidall and he slourished here about the Reign of Henry the first and he had Issue Adam de Twidall from whom was lineally extracted Richard de Twidall who in the fourth year of Richard the second passed away this and Dane-court to John the Son of Robert de Beaufitz originally descended from Reade in Marden But in this Family the Possession was not very permanent for in some Descents after the Name went out into into Joan Beaufitz and other Coheirs and she by matching with Robert Arnold of Sussex did enstate the Possession of both these places upon this Name and Family and he bequeathed them as Dower to his Daughter Elizabeth Arnold and shee in the thirteenth year of Henry the seventh conveys them over to her Brother Henry and his Son William Arnold in the eighteenth year of Henry the eighth transports his Right in them by Sale to Thomas Benolt Clarenceux King of Arms from whom the like Conveyance in the twentieth year of that Prince brought itto Sir Hen. Wiatt one of the Privie Councel to Hen. the 8 whose Son Sir Tho. Wiat in the thirtieth year of that King exchanged them for other Lands with the Crown from which immediately after they were conveyed by Grant to Christopher Sampson who not many years after transplanted his Interest by Sale into Thomas Parker who conveyed away his Right in Twidall to William Painter Esquire great Grand-father to Mr. Allington Painter who now enjoys it but Dane-court was by Purchase brought over to Short in whom it had not long continued but the same Fatality carried it away to May of Rochester The Grange in this Parish sometimes written Grench did in the Conquerours time appertain to the old Lords called Hastings Ancestors of the Lord Hastings now Earl of Huntington In the Book called Testa de Nevill kept in the Exchequer we read that one Manasser de Hastings held Grench by Serjeanty under King Hen. the third and the particular Office in some more modern Records is described viz. that it is held of the King and not of the Cinque-ports as some do suggest by Serjeanty to find two men and two Oars in the Ship which carries over the King from Dover to Whitesand by Callis From Hastings it came over by Purchase to Richard Smelt Alderman of London whose Daughter and Heir Margaret Smelt carried it away to Richard Croyden likewise an Alderman of London in whom the male-line failing Margery his Sole Heir was matched to John Philipott Esquire Alderman of London in the Reign of Edward the third and Lord Maior of London in the Reign of Richard the second by which Prince he was invested with the Order of Knighthood for being so signally instrumental in the Ruine of Wat Tiler Jack Straw and his seditious Complices and had after the Addition of Gules A plain Crosse between four Swords Argent Pomell'd Or as a Coat of Augmentation annexed to his Paternal Coat viz. Sable a Bend Ermin for setting out a Fleet of Ships at his own expence and vanquishing John Mercer and his piratical Rabble who had so infested the narrow Sea that the Trade of the Merchant was brought into a deplorable Condition and had sunk had he not buoyd it up again by his Care and Magnanimity Yet how laudable soever the work were it escaped not the Envy of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster who questioned him at the Couucel-Board for that he being a private Person had embarked himself in an Attempt of so much Concernment without Order and Licence first obtained by the State but by the noble Favour he received from his honorable Friends there especially Rychard Fitzallan Earl of Arundell whose Arms he placed in his House as a Monument of Gratitude and left him a Legacie in his Will he was fetched off with Reputation But to proceed in Right of the former Alliance he was planted in the Possession of this Mannor and from him it devolved to his Grandchild John Philipott Esquire And he in the eleventh year of Henry the sixth exchanged this Mannor with Sir Richard Bamme Son of Adam Bamme Lord Maior of London for Twiford in Middlesex and from him it
Hadlow for Nicholas de Hadlow I find had a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at Medgrove and Broadoake in the one and twentieth year of Edward the first After Hadlow was extinguished the ancient Family of Hardres of upper Hardres were ingrafted in the Inheritance and one Edmund Hardres as I discover by an old Court-roll held it in the fourth year of Henry the 4 th and after him his Grand-child George Hardres died possest both of the Lands at Medgrove and Broadoake in the one and twentieth of Edward the fourth and in this Name was the Possession constant until the Beginning of Henry the eighth and then they were passed away by Sale to Sir Edward Boughton of Burwash in Plumsted and his Son Thomas Boughton Esquire in the seventh year of Edward the sixth alienated them to Reginald Highgate and William Hanwick and they not long after conveyed them to ...... Roper Esquire from whom they are now by Descent transmitted to his Successor Mr. Edward Roper of Well Hall in Eltham Shalford and Medgrove were alwaies annexed to Hackington above mentioned of which they were accounted but as Limbs or Ingredients and in the fourteenth year of Queen Elizabeth were granted in Lease for Life to Sir Roger Manwood for Life but the Fee-simple remained in the Crown until about the Beginning of King Charles and then they were granted to Sir Edward Sidhenham and Mr. Smith and they not long after passed them away to Mr. Robert Austin then of London but now of Bexley in this County Hadlow in the Hundred of Hadlow Borough Littlefeild gave both Seat Sirname to a Family ancient and conspicuous enough in this Track but whether the same with that Family which was seated at Hadlow-place in Crundall is altogether ambiguous certain I am that Edmund de Hadlow died seised of it in the thirty second of Edward the third and from this Name in the subsequent Age it came to the Crown but whether by Escheat Exchange or Purchase no Beam scattered from any private or publique Record can so far enlighten my Knowledge as to discover Henry the sixth in the twenty fifth of his Raign granted this and many other Possessions lying about the Skirts of the Lowey of Tunbridge to Humphrey Stafford Duke of Buckingham and with this Name it went along till Edward Stafford being infortunately offered up a Sacrifice to the Malice and Ambition of Cardinal Wolsey in the Raign of Henry the eighth and the Losse of his Head having been the expiation of some Vanities which he had been too much Guilty of the Right by his Attaint flowing back into the Crown it was invested in the twentieth year of Henry the eighth by Royal Concession in John Vane Esquire whose Successor Sir Henry Vane not many years since sold it to Thomas Petley whose descendant now enjoyes it Peckham in this Parish was part of the Patrimony of the Noble Family of Peckham and one John Peckham as the Book called the Survey of the Mannors of Hadlow taken in the fourteenth year of Edward the fourth informs me anciently possest it from which Name it was by Sale rent away and incorporated into the Interest of Colepeper for John Colepeper as the above mentioned Survey instructs me sold it to Leigh and after the Possession had been for some intermission of Time riveted into this Family it was by the same Alienation taken away and by John Leigh transmittted to Sir George Rivers whose Son Sir John Rivers did lately upon his Decease as his Heir successively claim it The Mannor of Fromonds is mentioned likewise in the abovesaid Survey It gave Sirname to Fromonds Ancestor to Fromond of Cheame in Surrey but whether it yeelded Seat likewise is the Question Certain it is it staid not long in this Name for Richard Fromond sold it to Colepeper nor was it long fixed or constant in this Family neither for Richard Colepeper after the ebbing away of some successive Generations cast the Possession by sale into John Fromond again originally extracted from the above mentioned Richard Fromond and to this Name this Seat and its Interest continues for ought I can yet discover at this instant fastned and united Causton is the next because it owned a Family of that Sirname that claims our Consideration It was in Ages of higher Ascent the Demesne and Interest of some of this Name but whether the Caustons of the County of Salop were issued from hence or these of this Seat extracted originally from thence is yet under dispute and the more because Eviderce of Deeds which is the Lant horn not only of Antiquity but sometimes of Reason likewise is wholly wanting It is without Controversie this Mansion was not long in the Caustons for the thread of Succession was interrupted and broken and Hugh Causton by Sale conveyed it over to the Wattons of Addington nor was it long resident here for William Watton sold it to Thomas Peckham branched out from the Peckham of Yaldham in Wrotham from whom by a like Mutation that changed the Scene and Face of the Title it was alienated to Vane and after some stay in that Name lately by Purchase made the Propriety of Maynard of Mayfeild in the County of Sussex Totlingbery had the Repute of a Mannor also and was the Mansion sometime of that Name till Time the great Channel of all Things that either sinks or preserves them carried it down from John Totlingbery to the Family of Roberts of Glastenbury in Cranbrook and the same stream of vicissitude wafted it not long after from Walter Roberts the Last of that Name which enjoyed it to John Vane Esquire where no Record or Evidence suggesting yet any thing to the contrary I think it yet continues Goldhell may be looked upon as a place of some importance since some Families of Estimate have been Possessors of it for first it was the Possession of the Bealds so they are styled in the Survey And when this Family began to moulder away the Title by Sale shifted it self to the Fromonds a Name eminent enough in this Track and when they began to languish away into the common Familty of Families John Fromond sold it to the Colepepers of Oxenhoath And this Branch of the Colepepers concluding at last in three Daughters and Coheirs one of them being wedded to Cotton of Lanwade in the County of Cambridge made this Part of the Revenue of that Family but they desiring to contract their Interest into a nearer Circumference cast this by sale into the Possession of Sir George Chowne to whose Successor it very lately entitled it self Goding and Crombery are Mannors of some Signal Respect since they acknowledged themselves to be part of the Patrimony of Fromond a Family by an eminent Succession of Gentry noble and conspicuous which being by Time broken and disordered it not long after was by Thoma Fromond sold to John Goding From whom after the series of that Name was by the same alteration interrupted it was
conveyed to the Peckhams where it hao not long made its Residence but the Title by purchase like an Orbe never much in repose rowled it self from Thomas Peckham into Vane where for some years it has rested The Mannor of Moateland◠shall be the last mentioned though not in the above specified Survey yet in mine in Relation to this Parish The first Family that I track in the Record to be Possessors of it were the Bakers of East-Peckham in which Name the Propriety of it lay wrapt up till Richard Baker did devest himself of his Right and passed it over by Sale to Burgesse where it had not long dwelt but the same Change untwined it For Thomas Burgesse alienated it to Henry Leigh and in his Successor till a clearer Ray of more Modern Intelligence directs me to believe the Contrary I think the Possession is resident There are two other Seats of Venerable Account in this Parish The Mannor of the Rectory is the first which in the year 1287. was by Thomas de Inglethorp Bishop of Rochester as the Records of that Church signifie appropriated to the Knights of St. John otherwise called the Knights Hospitalers and remained locked up in their Demeasne until the publique Suppression snatched it away and united it to the Crown where it lodged until the second year of Edward the sixth and then it was granted to Sir Ralph Vane whose Descendant about the middle of Queen Elizabeth passed it away to Roger Twisden Esquire Captain of a Troop of Kentish Gentlemen at the Camp formed at Tilbury to oppose the Hostile Eruptions of the Spanish in the year 1588. And from him it is now come by Descent to be possest by his Grandchild that learned and accomplished Gentleman Sir Roger Twisden of Roydon Hall Knight and Baroner The second is Fish-Hall the Mansion formerly of John de Fisher so called because he was invested with a Priviledge by Gilbert de Clare Earl of Glocester and Lord of the Lowey of Tunbridge to have the Fishing freely and uncontrouledly within his Jurisdiction or as far as it did extend so that from this Immunity or Franchise his Posterity contracted the Sirname of Fisher and for some Ages did the Right of it remain interwoven with the Demeasne of this Family till Richard Fisher sold it to John Vane Esquire from whom the same Revolution not long after transported it to Rivers of Chafford and now the Title is ingrafted into a yonger Branch of that Family Halling in the Hundred of Shamell has nothing remarkable in it but the Mannor of Langridge aliâs Bavent for so it is written frequently in Records and indeed not without some Reason to support the Orthography for in Times of elder Prescription it gave both Seat and Sirname to a Family that had that Appellation and there is some Track or Print yet of the Ruines of a Mansion-house in that Feild which is at this Day called Bavents and Roger de Bavent died in possession of it in the thirty first year of Edward the third and when this Name was worn out the next which we find in Succession to be Proprietary of it was Langridge a Branch spouted out from that Stem of Langridge which was anciently planted in the County of South-hampton And when this Family was decayed and vanished and had left nothing to evidence to us that it had once a Being here but the adopting this Mannor into its Name the Possession went into Melford and here after it had had some short abode it abandoned this Family and cast the Interest of it into the Patrimony of Raynwell whose Successor after some short Flux of Time as appears by the Book of Aid kept in the Exchequer sold it to Robert Wotton in the seventeenth year of Henry the seventh and he suddainly after alienated this and other Lands to Whorne of Cuckston nor was the Title any length of Time lodged in this Name for a Fate of the same condition with the former carried it over to Vane from whom it flowed away in the same Current and by Sale emptied it self into Barnewell nor was it lesse permanent there for the same inconstant Tide wafted it down to Nicholas Lewson and Sir Richard Lewson his Grand-child desirous to wrap up all his Interest within the County of Stafford alienated his Kentish Lands to several persons and sold those which were part of his Demesne here to Barber The Mannor of Halling it self was given to the Church of Rochester by Egbert King of the West Saxons in the year of our Lord 838. and has continued parcel of the Churches Patrimony in an uninterrupted Succession of Time till the year 1643. and then the Title was raveled and discomposed Halden in the Hundred of Blackborne and Barekley has nothing worthy in it that may oblige a Remembrance but only Hales-place from whence as from their Fountain the several Streams of the Hales that in divided Rivulets have spread themselves over the whole County did originally break forth But where this Hales-place is now placed or in what Angle of the Parish it is situated I confesse I cannot instruct my self unlesse it be that Great House which was the Original Seat of the Scots before they planted at Congerherst in Haukherst and which Reginald Scot sold to Sir Edward Hales Indeed it is often mentioned in the Pedigree of Hales and likewise in the Deeds of that Family as lying in Halden which is evidence enough that there was such a Mansion in this Parish though peradventure through Neglect and Disuse and by altering its Possessor it have at present lost its Name Halstow in the Hundred of Hoo was anciently part of the Barony of Bardolph but did not long rest here for Isolda the Daughter and Co-heir of Hugh de Bardolph being married to Henry Lord Grey this was thrown into that Scale with other Demesnes of vast Estimate which did after swell the Revenue of this Baron into a huge Dimension But as all sublunary matters have the Fate of an uncertain inconstancy written in indelible Characters upon them so had this for Richard Lord Grey this mans Successor sold it to John Lord Cobham and he died possest of it in the thirty sixth year of Edward the third from whose Heir an equivalent Vicissitude resigned it up to the illustrious Family of Zouch and William La Zouch extracted from the Zouches of Haringworth in the County of North-hampton died actually possest of it in the fifth year of Richard the second and after the Title had been some years knit to the Relation and Interest of this Family it was at length torn off by the rough Hand of Time and by Sale surrendered up to Norris from whose Heir by as quick a Transition it conveyed it self over to Sir Edward Hales Grand-father to Sir Edward Hales Baronet now surviving Halsted in the Hundred of Codsheath was the Inheritance of a good old Family called Malavill who were of no contemptible Account in this part of the
Sydley Baronet who now is entituled to the Right and Propriety of it Hastingleigh in the Hundred of Bircholt did anciently confesse the noble Family of Haut to be its Proprietaries and was in their Possession untill the beginning of Henry the fourth and then Edward Haut passed it away to Robert Poynings of Ostenhanger and in the Revenue of this Family was enwrapt untill the Decease of Sir Edward Poynings in the twelfth year of Henry the eighth and he dying without any Issue of his Body lawfully begotten and there being none that could justly entitle himself by Right of Blood or Alliance to his Possessions it devolved by Escheat to the Crown and K. Edward the sixth in the last year of his reign by Royal Concession invested the Right of this Mannor in the City of London and there it is still resident Hawkherst in the Hundred of Barnefield was granted by William the Conquerour to the Mannor of Wye which with all its Appendages was to hold of the Abby of Battle and remains though that Abby be supprest a Member or Limb of that Court to this Day Congerherst in this Parish was a Mansion that formerly gave Seat and Sirname to a Family so called and which in a Successive Series did relate to this Name untill Mildred Congerherst Sole Daughter and Heir of Thomas Congerherst matching with Thomas Scott made this the Propriety of that Family to which it is still united The Royalty and Rents of Haukherst upon the Suppression of the Abby of Battle were in the thirty third year of Henry the eighth granted to * He was likewise Privy-counsellor to those three Princes and one of the Executors of Henry the eighths Will. Sir John Baker Attorney Generall and Chancellor of the Exchequer to that Prince King Edward the sixth and Queen Mary but Differences and Clashings breaking out between the Descendant of Sir John Baker and the Heir of the Lord Hunsdon Lord of Wye touching claims to bury all future Animosities in Amity and mutual Compliance Sir Henry Baker in the seventeenth year of King James conveyed it to Henry Cary Lord Hunsdon now Earl of Dover who some years since passed it away to Sir Thomas Finch Father to Heneage Earl of Winchelsey now Lord of the Fee Haukherst had a Market anciently now shrunk into Disuse on the Tuesday and a yearly Fair three Days viz. the Vigil the Day of St. Lawrence and the Day subsequent to it both procured by the Abbot of Battle as the original patent instructs me in the fifth year of Edward the first Hawking in the Hundred of Folkstone contains two little Mannors within its Verge which must not be passed over in Silence The first is Bilchester which belonged to the Knights Templers but upon their Suppression in the second year of Edward the second it escheated to the Crown and remained there untill new provision was made by the Statute called Statutum de Terris Templariorum passed in the seventeenth year of the abovesaid Prince to enstate it on the Knights Hospitalers and make it part of their Revenue and accordingly was united to their Patrimony nor was any hand so bold as to tear it off untill the generall Suppression of this Order in the Raign of Henry the eighth did invest it in the Crown and that Prince in the thirty third year of his Reign granted it to Sir Anthony Aucher in Lease and he not long after assigned it to Thomas Sommersall by whom it was made over to Richard Simonds but the Fee-simple continued in the Crown untill the year 1648. The second is Fleggs Court which was folded up in that Demeasne which related to the Abby of St. Radigunds and upon the Suppression of that Cloister was exchanged by Henry the eighth in the twenty ninth year of his Reign for other Lands with Thomas Cranmer Arch-bishop of Canterbury and so remained free from violation untill these Times wrapt it up in the Demeasne of that See Hedcorne in the Hundred of Eyhorne containd within its Limits First Modenden vulgarly called Mottenden where was a Monastery for Monks of the Order of Crouched Friers and founded by Sir Ric. de Rokesley the Head of which Covent was called Minister and in the cloudy Times of Popery was much resorted unto by the enchanted Vulgar by reason of some special Priviledges they were endowed with as of granting of pardons and others of the like Nature all which met with their Sepulcher in the Ruine of this Abbey and that fatall and destructive Wound it received in its finall Dissolution from the Hand of Henry the eighth which Prince upon its escheating to the Crown granted it in the thirty sixth year of his Government to Sir Anthony Aucher And he in the second year of Edward the sixth passed it away to Sir Walter Henley by whose Daughter and Coheir it came to Thomas Colepeper of Bedgebury Esquire who in the sixth year of Edward the sixth conveyed it to Christopher Sackvill Esquire from which Family in our Grand-fathers Remembrance it came over by Sale to Franklin and his Successor George Franklin dying without Issue bequeathed it by Testament to his Kinsman Sir William Sydley whose Grand-child Sir Charles Sydley Baronet is intituled to the instant Fee-simple of it Kents Chauntry is a second Place of Account in Headcorne called so because here was a Chauntry founded by one John Kent in the sixth year of Edward the fourth and a large Demeasne settled upon it to support the Chauntry Priest that was to officiate there all which upon the suppression was in the two and thirtieth year of Henry the eighth granted to Sir Anthony St. Leger whose Son Sir Warham St. Leger about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth passed it away by Sale to Beresford of Westernham from which Family in our Memory it went away to South-land and he very lately hath alienated it to Mr. ...... Belcher now Minister of Gods Word at Ulcombe Kelsham is a third Seat in this Parish which may challenge our Consideration because it was the Residence formerly though now transformed into a Farm-house of Gentlemen known by this Sirname who might have been ranged and marshalled amongst the prime Gentlemen of this County and bare for their Coat Armour Sable a Fesse engrailed Argent between three Garbes Or. One of them stood depicted in coloured Glasse in the Church windows with his Arms upon his Tabard but by the Assaults of Age and other wild and sacrilegious Impressions is now utterly defaced and demolished nor is the Family in any better condition that having many years since deserted the Possession of this Place for about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth it was conveyed to Johnson from whom very lately it is come over by Purchase to Stringer Rishford is a fourth Mannor circumscribed within the Bounds of Headcorne which in the twentieth year of Edward the third was possest by a Family called Pend who as it appears by the Book of Aid paid a respective supply for
by his Successor sold to Henry Chichley Arch-bishop of Canterbury who gave it as Dower to his Niece Florence Chichley married to Jo. Darrell of Cale-hill and he assigned it for the Lively-hood of his second Son whose Posterity have ever since enjoyed it Here was also in this Parish the Mansion of the Chitcrofts a Family of worth and eminent degree Their Blazon was precisely the same with the Colepepers of Bay-hall not far distant as if they had been a Cadet of the same House This is a matter which falls within the Cognizance of my Profession and because I meet with diverse ancient Houses in this County which did the like as well as in other Counties I cannot leave it without setting down such Notes and Observations as have been made upon it having met with so many Examples of that kind in the Survey of this Province For instance St. Nicholas of St. Nicholas in the Isle of Thanett in the very Eastern part of the Shire and Peckham in the Western side of this County bear the same very Coat Armour because peradventure they held Land of the Lord Say to whose Arms they did desire their own might be assimilated Tutsham of Tutsham-hall in West-Farleigh and Eastangrave of Eastangrave in Eden Bridge bear both alike Brenley of Brenley in Boughton under Blean and Ratling of Ratling in Nonington have no distinction Peyforer of North-court in Eseling and Lenham of Lenham lay claim to an Identitie of Impresse or Coat Armour and lastly so did Watringbury of Watringbury and Savage of Bobbing-court Now the Reason of this neere similitude was to preserve the Memory of those though otherwise of different Families who had given them Education or else by particular Feoffments had endowed them with Land or lastly as an acknowledgement of the Service and Fealty they owed them because they held their Lands by some petty Rent Charge or Homage of some principall Mannor of which they whose Coat-Armour they had thus imitated were Proprietaries West-Langdon lies in the Hundred of Bewsborough and was a Mannor belonging to the Abbey of West-Langdon which was founded by Sir William de Auberville of Westenhanger Knight to the Honour of St. Mary and St. Thomas the Martyr of Canterbury and filled with white Cannons or Cannons Praemonstratenses in the time of Richard the first Hugh de Auberville the Founder's Son and Sir William Auberville Son to this Hugh were Benefactors to this House and this last Sir Williams only Daughter and Heir being married to Nicholas de Crioll of Bellaview nere Limne Hill brought this Monastery to be under the Patronage of the Criolls whose Demeasn upon the Dissolution being made the Incom of the Crown it here resided till Queen Elizabeth granted it with all the priviledges annexed to it in the thirty third year of her Rule to Samuel Thornehill of London Esquire father to Sir Timothy Thornehill upon whose Decease his Lady Dowager had West-Langdon assigned to her by Right of Jointure as being enstated before upon her in Marriage East-Langdon in the Hundred of Cornilo did in elder Times augment that Patrimony which fell under the Signiory of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury In the year of Grace 824 Ulfred then Arch-bishop of Canterbury exchanged this Mannor and Eythorne with the Monks of Christ-church for the Mannor of Berham as the Records of that Priory discover to me and being thus united to their Demeasne it lodged there untill the Government of Henry the eighth and then upon the Suppression of the above mentioned Cloister it was surrendered up with the Remainder of its Revenue into the Hands of that King and he in the thirtieth year of his Government granted it to Mr. John Masters and Mr. Thomas Masters of Sandwich from whom it is now by Descent devolved to be the Inheritance of his Descendant Richard Masters Esquire Apulton and Southwould are two small Mannors which are seated within the Limits of East-Langdon and were scarce worth any memorial but that they were formerly marshalled under the Demeasne of the eminent Family of Male-mains in whom the possession was seated till Henry Malmains being embarked in the rebellion of Simon de Montfort against Hen. the second had expiated that Defection with the forfeiture of his Estate had he not been pardoned and absolved by the Mediation of the Abbot of Langdon to which Covent in Gratitude his Son and Heir Sir John Malmains in the sixth year of Edward the third gave for ever * Apylton and Southwood I find upon a second Survey lie both in Waldershare Apylton and Southwould the last of which was in the first year of Richard the third exchanged by the succeeding Abbot with * It is probable the Ancestor of Monins purchased Mansuers Langdon of Mansuer a Family in East-Kent Robert Monins Esquire for Mansuers Langdon These three places upon the Suppression of this Abby were by Henry the eighth in the twenty ninth year of his reign exchanged with Tho. Arch-B of Canterbury but were re-assumed by the Crown by another exchange 1 mo Eliz. though Southwould or Southwood was unjustly snatched away from Edward Monins Esquire in whose revenue it was found at the dissolution upon pretence it had been the former demeasne of the Abby of Langdon The Borough of Marton or Marton-street so called by Contraction but more truely Marshtown is circumscribed also within the Limits of East-Langdon and gave Name to a Family which from the Situation of the place did borrow their first Appellation and were in old Registers and other records written de Marisco And that it was frequent to mould a Sirname from the Site of the place and after to communicate it to their posterity as well as from the place it self is most evident for Gilbert de Marisco who was Lord of Wolwich in the reign of Edw. the first did assume that Sirname from the Situation of that place which was environed in a considerable part of it with moist and watery Mersh-land and so from the low level of this Borough did the Marshes now possessors of this place or the more principal part of it by right of Inheritance grown hoary and reverend by a prescription and possession of above three hundred years as appears by their own private Evidences in elder Times contract the denomitation of de Marisco which in Ages of a more modern Pedigree was melted by Usage Custome and common Consent into the instant Sirname of Marsh Langley in the Hundred of Eyhorne was in elder times the Inheritance of a Family called Ashway Will. de Ashway is by the book styled Testa de Nevil represented to have held it and have paid an auxiliary supply for it at the Marriage of Isabel Sister to Henry the third in the twentieth year of his reign After this Family was withered and shrunk into decay the Lords Leybourne were entituled to the Signory of it and Will. de Clinton Earl of Huntington held it at his death which was in the twenty eighth year
Heir it came to be the Possession of Stringer and he ending likewise in a Female Heir she brought it to Scot a Cadet of Scots-Hall who suddenly after sold his Right in it to VVilcocks by whose two Daughters and Coheirs in the Memory of these Times it came to be divided between their two Husbands Bates and Knight The Mannor of Belgar or Belgrave is Situated likewise in Lidde it was given with the Mannor of Bilsington to the Priorie of Bilsington by John Maunsell the Founder of it and was exchanged by the Abbot and Canons for other Lands not long before the Suppression with VVilliam St. Leger by whom it was alienated to VVilliam Middleton and Edward Arthur who after they had been some small time Seated in their new Acquists by jont-consent passed away their Right in it to Sherley of Sussex who in our Fathers Memorie by Sale transferred the Inheritance to Abdy descended from the Abdys of Abdy-House in the Parish of VVaith in Yorke-shire whose Heir both to the Name and Belgar also is Sir Christopher Abdy a person who for his generall Knowledge may be called without the circumstance of Flatterie an Exchequer of humane Learning Scotney was the Seat of a Family so called for in the Book of Aid there is a recitall of one Richard de Scotney who held Lands in the Mersh not far distant afterwards it came to the Ashburnhams of Sussex but whether by Purchase or by Marriage of the Heir of Scotney is incertain though I rather believe it devolved to them by Marriage because Scotney in Lamberhurst divided by a remote distance from this place was likewise theirs from Roger Ashburnham it came to Henry Chichley Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and he by Gift tied it to his Foundation of All-Souls Colledge in Oxford to whose Revenue it remains at this instant time united Nod in this Parish of Lidde was for sundry Ages the Residence of the Derings before they were transplanted to Pluckley and here are Lands Situated within the Verge of this Parish which by an undivided prescription of many Ages have been named Derings and Derings-Mersh a certain Evidence to enforce the Antiquity of this Family But when they grew more delighted with the Situation of Pluckley than this place it was by ........ Dering in the fourth year of Philip and Mary alienated to Mr. Peter Godfrey of Lidde and Surrenden was tyed for his peaceable Possession in it Lastly here is Manerium Summi Altaris so it is written in old Latine Deeds or the Mannor of the high Altar which for many Hundreds of years has been united to the Vicarage But whether it were given to find Vestments for the Priest to Offociate in at the high Altar or for a supply of wax Tapers or for provision of Books to celebrate Mass with or lastly for all these Uses united and complicated together I know not because the original Instrument which fortified the Donation is lost and so both the Use and Doner are become incertain There was a Water in Lidde called Guestling whose Course the Prior of Christ-Church did by an Inquisition taken in the ninth year of Edward the second consult how to alter If you will discover what price was set on Timber in elder times an old Epitaph affixed to a Tomb-stone in Lidde Church will represent it to you The Inscription Recorded in old English speaks thus Of your Charity pray for the Soul of Tho. Briggs who died on the Feast of St. Leonard the Confessor the year of our Lord 1442. and did doe make the Roffe of this Chirch as far as 45. Copplings goeth which did cost 45. Marks Lidden in the Hundreds of Folkstone and Bewsborough was a Mannor which in elder Times made up that vast Patrimony which related to the Knights Templers in this County but upon the totall Extirpation of that Order here in England in the Raign of Edward the second it was by the Statute called Statutum de Terris Templariorum made in the seventeenth year of that Prince's Government settled by that solemne Act upon the Knights Hospitalers and remained treasured up in their Revenue untill the Disbanding and finall Dissipation of this Order in this Nation by Henry the eighth And then being by that Prince rent away it was in the thirty sixth year of the same Prince granted to John Wilde Esq for Life onely and the Remainder in Fee to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and his Successors for ever in whose Patrimony according to the tenour of the original Concession it lay involved untill that popular Tempest which arose in these Calamitous Times shook it off and cast it into a secular Interest Coclescombe and Swinkfield-Mennes were of the same Complexion with the former that is they were first enwrapped in the Demeasne of the Knights Templers and afterwards supplanted and fastned to the Revenue of the Knights Hospitalers to whose Interest it continued firme untill the Whirl-wind of the publique Suppression in the Raign of Henry the eighth ravished them away and then that Prince in the thirty third year of his Raign by Royall Concession made them the Inheritance of Edward Monins Esq from whom by Successive Devolution they are now come down to his Descendant Sir Edward Monins of Waldershare Baronet Swanton-Court is the last Place in this Parish which Summons our Remembrance It was as appears by private Deeds Muniments and other Authentick Testimonies the Seat and Habitation for severall Descents of a Family deeply rooted in this Track whose Sirname was Greenford and it is possible were originally extracted from a Mannor known by that Denomination in Middlesex who after they had flourished by a large Decursion of Time under a fair and unstained Estimate at this place transmitted the Proprietie of this Mansion to John Greenford Esquire in whom this Family found its Tombe and Period for he dying without Issue-male in the eleventh year of Edward the fourth Alice his Sole Daughter became his Heir and She by matching with John Monins Esquire linked this Seat to his Inheritance and to this Family and to his Descendants hath the Title ever since been so constantly wedded that it hath suffered no Divorce but remains at this instant united to the Patrimony of Sir Edw. Monins of Waldershare Baronet Lyminge lies in the Hundred of Court-At-Street and was anciently Famous for Land which was given here by Edbaldus Son of Ethelbert King Kent to his Sister Edburga upon which she erected a Nunnery and Dedicated it to the Honour of St. Mildred But the Mannor which belonged to it was upon the Suppression granted by Henry the eighth to the See of Canterbury and Arch-Bishop Cranmer in the twenty ninth of that Prince's Government exchanged it for other Lands with the Crown and the above-said Henry the eighth in the thirty sixth year of his Raign granted it to Sir Anthony Aucher who after in the Rule of Queen Mary was slain at Callis whilst he endevoured to make good that City and the English Interest
Welle in this Parish which was alwayes under the Jurisdiction of Lay Proprietaries It was first the position of John de Welle sometimes written At Well from the position of his Dwelling which perhaps was in a bottom but this Man in the forty fourth year of Hen. the third made Ranulph Joremer his Feoffe in Trust who sold it for his Use to Reginald de Cornehill by whose Daughter and Heir it came to Garwinton of Beakesbourne and in this Name after it had been fixed some four Descents it went away to Haut for William Garwinton died without Issue and so Margaret his Kinswoman matched to Richard Haute who was a second stock of the Hauts of Bourne became his Heir but long the Right of it was not united to his Family For Richard Haut this Mans Son left likewise onely a Daughter and Heir called Margery who altered the Possession and brought it with Her to her Husband William Isaack who had by her Edward Isaack and he determined in two Daughters and Coheirs Mary married to Thomas Apulton of Waldingfield in the County of Suffolk and the other first matched to ....... Sydley and after to Sir Henry Palmer who by Donation from his Wife was endowed with the Fee-simple of Well Court and his Successor in our Father's Memory alienated it to Lievetenant Colonel Prude slain at the Siege of Maestricht who left it to his Son Mr. Searles Prude whose two Daughters and Coheirs are by his Will after his Widow's Decease entituled to the Inheritance Reginald de Cornehill in the forty fourth year of Henry the third exchanged Lands with John de St. Leger for Lands at Lukedale in Littlebourne where he founded a Chantry which was endowed with a new accession of Land by his Wife Matilda de Cornehill and was confirmed by Patent from Henry the third Lose in the Hundred of Maidstone was in old Saxon Records written Hlos which imports as much as the Lot or Portion It was as the Book of Christ-Church informs us given by Ethelwulf King of the South-Saxons to Sneta a Widow and her Daughter and they gave it back again to the Monks of Christ-Church in Canterbury to apparel them In the Conqueror's Time upon the general Survey recorded in doonesday-Doonesday-Book it was accounted as part of the six Sullings of Ferneleigh Pimps Court that gave Name to the Knightly Family of the Pimps is in this Parish although they made Nettlested their more frequent place of abode William de Pimpe held this and other Lands by a whole Knights Fee in the twentieth year of Edward the third at the making the Black Prince Knight and from this William was John Pimpe Esquire who was Sheriff of Kent in the second year of Henry the seventh lineally descended who sold this Place to Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham Lord Constable of England whose dysastrous Fate having engaged him to make some dark Applications to a Wizard and a Monk about the Succession of the Crown Henry the eighth a Prince of much Jelousie and Fury like an Industrious Spider spun out Venome enough out of this unhappy Address of his to poyson him with the Guilt of High Treason and so made the forfeiture of his Life and Fortune pay the price of his Vanity upon whose Ruine his Estate was not long after his Death and Attaint which was in the thirteenth year of Henry the eighth by that Prince granted to his Confident and Favourite Sir John Rainsford who after a brief enjoyment of it passed it away to Sir Henry Isley who being attainted in the second year of Q. Mary for supporting by his Assistance and Concurrence the Defection of Sir Thomas Wiat this reverted to the Crown and the same Princess in the second year of her Government granted it by Patent to Sir John Baker whose Successor Sir John Baker Baronet hath lately passed it away to Thomas Floyd of Gore Court Esquire Luddenham in the Hundred of Middleton with the appendant Mannor of Bishops-Bush was a Branch of that spatious Revenue which did in these parts own the Northwoods for Possessors and Roger de Northwood in the forty first year of Henry the third amongst divers Parcels of Land which he altered from the Nature of Gavelkind into Knights Service of the which there is a particular Recapitulation in the Book of Aid changed ninety Acres of Mersh Land which lay partly in Iwade and partly in his Mannor of Luddenham into that Tenure After the Northwoods the Frogenhalls were Possessors of this place and William Frogenhall had this amongst other Lands in this Track which he died seised of in the eighth year of Richard the second his Son and Heir was William Frogenhall Father to Thomas Frogenhall the last of the Name at this Place for he left no Issue Male so that the Daughters became his Coheirs One of whom was Anne who married Thomas Quadring of London and so this place became hsi Inheritance as being her Proportion of Frogenhalls Estate but it quickly found an other owner for Joan Quadring his onely Daughter and Heir by marrying with Richard Dryland of Cokesditch in Feversham incorporated it with the Demeasn of that Family since which Alliance it hath by a constant Succession been fixt in the Possession of the Name of Dryland untill of late years by an Heir General it came to own the Signory of Kirton Luddesdowne in the Hundred of Taltingtrough was though now a petty obscure Village more noted formerly when it was the Patrimony of the Barons Montchensie of Swanscamp-Castle Warren de Montchensie one of them obtained a Charter of Free-Warren to this Mannor of Ludsdowne in the thirty seventh year of Henry the third afterwards this Mans Successor William de Monchensie held it and sat in Parliament as Baron of Swanscamp and dying in the year 1287 without Issue Male left this and diverse other Places to Dionys his Sole Daughter and Heir who was married to Hugh de Vere but died without Issue in the year of our Lord 1314 by which means the Title of this Place diverted to Joan de Montchensie Sister to William above-named and She matched in Marriage with William de Valentia Earl of Pembroke half Brother to King Henry the third and by him had Aymer de Valence who expired in two Female Coheirs one of whom called Isabel was married to Lawrence de Hastings who in her Right was afterwards Earl of Pembroke and Proprietary of the Fee-simple of this Place from whom it descended to his Grand-child John Hastings Earl of Pembroke who dying in the fourteenth year of Richard the second left his Estate in Kent in which this was involved to his two Kinsmen Reginald Grey and Richard Talbot and upon the Division of it this Mannor was lincked to the Patrimony of Grey and remained untill the Beginning of Henry the fixth interwoven with the Revenue of this Family and then I find it under the Signory of that eminent Peer and glorious Souldier Thomas Montacute Earl of Salisbury
Fremingham died seised of it in the thirtieth year of Edward the third and when this Family went out the Pimps of Pimps-Court and Nettlested by Purchase became Lords of the Fee from whom the same Fare brought it to acknowledge the Signory of the Isleys of Sundrich and here it continued till Sir Henry Isley in the Raign of Q. Mary being attainted of High Treason it became Confiscated to the Crown and She in the second year of her Government granted it to Sir Walter Henley Knight of Coursehorne in Cranbroke in whose Name and posierity the Possession has remained Successively planted till this Day Seventhly Chillington is not to be omitted because I find it in the Register of those Lands which acknowledged the Lords Cobham for Lords of the Fee And when John de Cobham had obtained a Charter of Free-warren in the seventeenth year of Edw. the third to all his Lands in Kent The Mannor of Chillington is Recorded in the Catalogue amongst them After them it came as the Court-rolls and private Evidences of this place inform me to acknowledge the Signory and Jurisdiction of the Mapelysdens of Digons and remained circumscribed in their Revenue till Queen Mary began to weild the English Scepter and then George Mapelysden being entangled beyond all retreat in the unsuccessfull Expedition of Sir Thomas Wyat miscarried in that Attempt and lost his Estate by Forfeiture to the Crown and Q. Mary granted it to Sir Walter and Gervas Henley Esquire who not long after sold his Interest in it to Nicholas Barham Esquire Serjeant at Law to Queen Elizabeth and his Successor alienated this place to Hawle of Wye whose Grandchild Mr. George Hawle lately deceased held the Fee-simple of it Lastly within the Ambute or Limits of Maidstone stands an ancient Castellated House called the Moate It did in times of great Antiquity relate to that Patrimony which confessed the Signory of the noted Family of Leybourne for Roger de Leybourne obtained the Grant of a Market weekly on the Tuesday and a Fair yearly to continue three Dayes at the Feast of St. Cross in the fifty first year of Henry the third as appears Pat. 51. Hen. tertii Memb. 10. But before the beginning of Edw. the third this Name was withered and shrunk into Decay at this place and then Bartholomew Lord Burghurst or Burwash Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and one of the first Founders of the Order of the Garter came to possesse it and Inhabited here in the twenty ninth year of Edward the third and possessed the Signory called Shofford on which the Castle stands and which one John de Shofford held by Knights-Service in the twentieth year as appears by the Book of Aid of Edward the third After the Lords Burghurst the Woodvills were possest of it and removed from Grafton in the County of North-Hampton where they had long continued and lived here A fair Monument of Woodvill on the North-side the Chancell of Maidstone-Church affirms it and when King Henry the sixth created Richard Woodvill Constable of the Isle of Wight a Baron of this Nation and elected him into the Order of the Garter his Style was Lord Rivers Grafton and De la Moat which Act of Grace and Favour mollified a Sentence and Fine of 1000. lb. imposed upon him for matching with Jaquet Daughter of Peter of Luxenbourg Earl of St. Paul Widow of John Plantagente Duke of Bedford without the Kings Licence But when King Edward the fourth had married Elizabeth his eldest Daughter being widow to Thomas Marquesse Dorcett he created him Earl Rivers and Lord of the Isle of VVight which Titles he had observed were concomitant in some of the Styles of the Lords Rivers or de Ripariis who were the Ancient Earls of Devon and assumed to bear in an Escocheon of pretence upon his own Atchievement the old Coat ascribed commonly to Baldwin de Ripariis Earl of Devon viz. Gules a Griphen Segreant Or which I note for Criticks in Armorie to descant on and return to the Historie of the Place When this good man for so he was noted to be was miserably massacred by Robert Ridisdale Captain of the Lewd People of North-Hampton-shire who took him at Edgcot-Field and struck off his head at North-Hampton Their Will being their Law and Mischief Minister to their wild Designs all his seven Sons who survived him died without Issue and then Sir Henry VVyat becomes owner of this place Grandfather to Sir Thomas VViat afterwards his Successor in the Possession of it whose dysastrous Tragedy is presented at Boxley upon whose untimely Exit Hugh VVarham in the second year of Queen Mary by Grant from the Crown enters upon it from whom Alderman Rither afterwards Lord Maior of London and known by the Name of Sir VVilliam Rither Purchased and Repaired it and left it to his Daughter and Coheir the Lady Susan Caesar whose eldest Son Tho. Caesar Esq and his Mother concurring together disposed of their Right in it by Sale to Sir Humphrey Tufton Knight second Son to Sir John Tufton Knight and Baronet and Brother to Nicholas Tufton Earl of Thanett who was Father to John the present Earl There was a Family Sirnamed de Maidstone whose Blazon upon a Monument in Vlcombe Church is Sables a Cheveron between three Cups covered Argent Crowned Or VVilliam de Maidston the Kings Valect being sent to the Court of Rome with certain Instruments and other expresses deceas'd in his Journey as appears Pat. Anno quinto Edwardi primi prima Pars. Pinenden-Heath confines upon Maidston and is eminent for the Punishment of Malefactors and the frequent Assemblies of Free-holders who here convene to elect such Persons for Knights of the Shire as may represent the County in Parliament But it was in elder times more famous for that great Convention of English and Normans who met there in the fourth year of Wil. the Conquerour to decide the great Controversie which then broke forth between Lanfranc Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and Odo Earl of Kent touching some Lands and Priviledges which the said Arch-Bishop alleaged were by an unjust Usurpation by the above-said Odo ravished away from the Church which because it gives us a full Prospect of that exorbitant and wide power which the Clergie of those times did entitle themselves to I shall endevour to pourtray it in as Brief and narrow a Landskip as I have pencill'd it out by Textus Roffensis an old Book in Manuscript so called where it is more voluminously represented At Pinenden-Heath says Textus Roffensis in the fourth year of William the Conquerour there was an Assemblie of the gravest and discreetest of the English and Normans by a signall Decision and Debate to deternine of that Controversie which did formerly arise between Odo Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent touching some Lands and Priveledges which were detained from the Church by the said Earl and Lanfranc Arch-Bishop of Canterbury The said Dispute or Debate lasted three Dayes after the
the thirty second year of his Raign granted it to Sir Robert Southwell who in the thirty fifth year of that Prince conveyed it to Sir Edmund Walsingham of Scadbery whose Successor Sir Thomas Walsingham of the same place hath lately passed away all his Interest here to his Son in Law Mr. James Masters Roger de Merworth obtained a Market weekly and a Fair yearly to his Mannor of Merworth in the eighteenth year of Edward the first as appears by an old originall patent in the hands of the Earl of Westmerland Middleton is so called by Reason it is placed in the middle of the Shire and gives Name to the whole Hundred which is divided into five Baylywicks one whereof is called the Bailiwick of Shepey because it comprehends that Island Antiquity has set a noble Attribute upon it for in ancient Records it is styled Regia Villa de Middleton and here at Kemsley Downe derived from Campsley viz. the pastures where the Camp was kept Within the Parish of Middleton is the very place where in the Time of King Alfred Hasten the Dane that so much infested France arrived and fortified in such manner as he before had at Apuldore where he erected a Castle whose Fragments and Reliques are yet visible Our ancient Chroniclers inform us that this Town was in a good Condition till the Ragin of Edward the Confessor in whose days during the Disgust between him and Earl Godwin such as confederated with the Earl at home burnt the King's House here at Middleton a castellated Pallace beneath the Church whilst he and his Sons ransack'd and ruin'd many other places upon the Seacoasts and Skirts of the Shire In Times of a latter Date John de Burgo the elder had a Grant by Patent of the Mannors of Middleton and Marden in the second year of Edward the first and after Margaret Queen of England had a Grant by Patent likewise in the tenth year of Edward the second and after her Queen Philippa Wife to Edward the third had probably this Mannor in Dower for in the nineteenth year of that King's Raign as appears Pat. Anno 19. part prima memb 26. she grants it for some term of years to William de Clinton Earl of Huntingdon with all the Liberties annexed to it reserving only some royal Franchises which were so inherent to the Crown they could not be separated for an Annual Rent of 200. lb per Annum after his Time was expired it reverts to the Crown and there it remained for ought I can yet discover till the English Scepter was put into the Hands of K. James and then he grants the Mannors of Middleton and Marden for ever to Philip Earl of Pembroke not long since deceased There is within the Limitts of this Parish a Mannor called Northwood Chasteners which Name complies with the situation for it stands North from the Town in a Wood where Chest-Nut Trees formerly grew abundantly Stephen the Son of Jordan de Shepey desirous to plant himself out of the Island in some place not far distant built here a Mansion-house moated about Ez veteri Rot. penes Edo Dering Mill. Baronettum defunctum and a goodly well-wooded Park stored with plenty of Deere and wild Bores and had Licence from the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and religious Men of Christ-church to erect a Free-Chappell which some old People hereabouts who remembred it in the declining Age described to my Father when he visited Kent to be a curious peice of Architecture for Form and Beauty * Rog. de Northwood is listed in the Inventory of those worthy Kentish persons who were engaged with K. Ric. the first at his Seige of Acon in Palestine His Successor was Sir Rog. de Northwood who was ever fast and faithfull to H. the third and having always given himself to a military and martial Profession conceived it was ignominious to hold his Lands here by a lazy and unactive Socage Tenure and therefore in the forty first year of Henry the third changed them from Gavelkind to Knights Service He dyed in the thirteenth year of Edw. the first and his eldest Son Sir John Northwood succeeded both at Northwood and at Shorn and in the time of Ed. the first together with his eldest son Sir Jo. de Northwood was with that K. in his Wars in Scotland at the Seige of Carlaverock The Mannor of Shorn holding by this Tenure viz to carry a white Banner forty Days together at their own Charge when the King should make War in Scotland Sir Jo. de Northwood was called by Writ to sit in Parliament as Baron the first of Edw. the second and his Son John de Northwood was often summoned to sit as Baron in Parliament in the raign of Ed. the third Certainly a numerous Race of worthy Successors were Possessors of this Mannor of Northwood some of which lye buryed crosse-leg'd in Milton Church that had taken upon them to defend the Sepulchre of Christ or otherwise profest themselves for the Wars in the Holy Land And at last it devolved to John Northwood who as all things are wound upon a fixed and determined Period concluded in two Daughters and Coheirs one married to Barley of the County of Hertford and Joan the other was matched to Sir John Norton whose Ancestors were derived from one Nicholas de Norton who flourished in King Stephens Days and had much Land about Norton and Feversham as appears by the Book of St. Austins This Sir John Norton's Son for diverse remarkable Services performed in Flanders was knighted by Mary Queen of Hungary then Lady Regent of the Low-countries for Charles the fifth by the Name of Sir John Norton and his Grandchild Sir Thomas Norton some thirty five years since alienated it to Manasser Northwood Esquire collaterally branched out from the abovesaid John Northwood and his Son Mr. Robert Northwood passed away the Premises by Sale to Sir John Tufton third Brother to Nicholas Tufton Earl of Thanet whose second Son Sir Charles Tufton upon the late Decease of his eldest Brother Sir Benedict is now entered upon it Helmes or Holmes is a Mannor which is partly situated in Iwade and partly in Milton and had still the same Proptietaries as namely Savage and then Clifford whither for Satisfaction I referre the Reader only this I must add that about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth it was rent off by Sale and planted in the Revenue of Thompson Ancestor to Mr ...... Thompson of Royton Chappel in Lenham who is at this instant in the enjoyment of it Kempsley in this Parish puts in its Title to be of Roman extraction and there is something in the Name and in the Situation which does seem to support this originall nor hath Time with its destructive Impressions so defaced it but that there are some Reliques yet remaining of a Camp and other antiquated Fortifications Middleton in the fifteenth of Edward the first had a Market granted by that Prince to be held there
Warden of the Saxon Shore by Pancerollus in his Book called Notitia Provinciarum under the Name of Anderida and sometimes written Anderidos and here was the Castle which the Saxons called Andreds Ceaster and the great Wood which stretched out in length from hence into Hampshire 80. miles was named Andreds-wald and by the Britons Coid Andred other reasons are laid down for the Identity of the place extracted from the Name which the English Saxons gave it who termed it Brittenden that is The Britons Vale from whence the whole Hundred adjoyning is called Sellbrittenden that is The Britons Woody Vale. Here for Defence of the Coast against the Eruptions of Saxon Rovers the Romans placed the Prapositus Numeri Abulcorum and hither the River of Lymen long fince called Rother was sufficiently Navigable But soon after the Romans deserted Brittain it shrunk into Decay being ruined by the English Saxons and yet a marke of the Losse is covertly couched under the Name of the principal Mannor called Losenham of which something is to be remembred when we have done with the History of this place which I have thus abbreviated Hengist being fully determined to expell all the Britons out of Kent and thinking it would much conduce to the improvement of his Design to recruite his Army with Troops of his own Nation called Ella the Founder of the South-Saxon Kingdome and his three Sons with a strong Power out of Germanie and then gave a sharp Assault against this Anderida but was intercepted at that instant in his Designe by those vigorous Impressions which the Britons out of their Ambushments in the Woods then made upon him In Fine after many Prejudices and Losses both given and taken Hengist divided his Army and not onely discomfited the Britons in the adjacent wood but also at the same Time forced the City by Assault and became so enflamed with revenge that nothing but the Extinction of the Inhabitants by a publick slaughter and the totall demolishing of the Town could supersede or allay so great an Animosity The place lying thus desolate was shewed as Henry of Huntingdon reports many Ages after to inquisitive Passengers till in the year 791 King Offa gave this and other Lands to the Arch-bishop and Monks of Canterbury ad Pascua Porcorum for the Pannage of their Hoggs In the Time of the Conquerour the Arch-bishops and Monks of Canterbury held this Mannor of Newenden and it was rated in the extent of it but at one Sulling and was an Appendage to Saltwood and in the Patrimony of the Church did the Title of it remain locked up till the general Dissolution in the Raign of Henry the eighth and then it was unloosned and by Act of Parliament fastned to the Revenue of the Crown where till these infortunate Times it did successively continue Losenham in this Parish was the ancient Seat of the Auchers an eminent and numerous Family this was both in Kent Sussex Nottingham and Essex where they made Coppt-Hall by Epping the Seat and Head of their Barony and it is very probable they derive this their Name from Aucherus that was Consul or Elderman of Kent and led the power of the County wherewith at Richborough nere Sandwich he foiled and defeated the Danes as Alfred of Beverley writes In the Book called Nova Feoffamenta collected in the Raign of Henry the second it is there recorded that that Prince Rot. pipae de Scutagio Walliae An. 42 Hen. 3. gave William Fitz Aucher the fourth part of a Knights Fee in Essex called Lagfare Richard Fitz Aucher his Grandchild is in the Number of those Kentish Gentlemen who were engaged with Henry the third in his Expedition into Wales in the forty second year of his Raign Will. Fitz Aucher See Camdens Britannia pag. 307. another of this Family held the Mannor of Boseham in Sussex by Grant from William the Conquerour and his Rent-service or Acknowledgement was to pay into the Exchequer in whose Time he lived forty pound of tryed and weighted Silver Henry Fitz Aucher fills up the Roll or Inventory of those Kentish Gentlemen who assisted Edward the first at his Seige of Carlaverok in Scotland in the twenty eighth year of his Raign and for his Service there was made Knight Banneret Peter Aucher or Auger for so in old Records they are promiscuously written was Valet to King Edward the second an Office equivalent in its Trust and Dignity to those we called Gentlemen of the Bed-chamber to our late Kings and it seems was mistaken for a Knight Templer in the fourth year of that Prince because he nourished a spreading Beard in that Age an eminent Adjunct of that Order but Edward the second rectified this Mistake and affirmed that his diffused Beard did not evince he was a Knight Templer as appears Pat. 14. Hen. 2. parte secunda Memb. 20. And if it could any way multiply or improve the Eminence of a Family that was so deeply rooted in Antiquity before I could tell you that sundry of this Name and Family were Conservators of the Peace and concerned in other Comissions both to levy Taxes imposed by Parliament and to have Inspection into Sewers both in the Raign of Edward the third and Richard the second but I avoid the recital lest this Book might swell into too large a Bulk by these curious and unnecessary Disquisitions It is enough to inform you that after this Mannor had for many Centuries of years been wrapt up in the Patrimony of this Family it went away by Ann Sole Daughter and Heir of John Aucher of Losenham to Walter Colepeper second Son of Sir John Colepeper of Bayhall in Pepenbury from which Alliance Sir John Colepeper created Lord Colepeper at Oxford by the late K. Charles claims at this instant the Inheritance and Lordship of Losenham There was in this Parish a House of Carmelite Friers called so because they came from Mount Carmel in Palestine and was the first Seminary of that Order here in England who by their Rule were styled Brothers of Mary the blessed Virgin to whom this Covent was dedicated It was founded in the year of our Lord 1241 and in the twenty sixth year of the Government of Henry the third by Sir Thomas Alcher or Fitz Aucher for the Name was often promiscuously written so but never Albuser as Mr. Camden and Mr. Speed have printed it though I do not deny but such a person might be a Benefactor to the Foundation Newenham in the Hundred of Feversham was parcell of that Demeasn which related to the Abbey of Boxley and continued united to it till the Suppression by Henry the eighth and then it was granted by that Prince to Sir Thomas Wiatt in the twenty eighth year of his Government and he by his unhappy Defection in the first year of Queen Mary forfeited it to the Crown where it remained till Queen Elizabeth by royal Concession invested the Possession in her faithfull Servant John Astley Esquire
old German practise is also asserted by Tacitus And that it was customary amongst the Danes Several Urns discovered in Jutland and Sleswick not many years since do easily evince which contained not only Bones but many other Substances in them as Knives peeces of Iron Brass and Wood and one of Norway a Brass guilded Jews-harp When this Custome of Burning of the Dead languished into Disuse is incertain but that it began to vanish upon the Dawning of Christianity as Vapors and Mists scatter before a Morning Sun is without Controversie but when the Light of it did more vigorously reflect like a Meridian Beam on all the gloomy Corners and Recesses of Paganism and Infidelity then this Use of Urn-Burial was wholly superseded and found a Tomb it self in the more sober and severer practise of Christianity And thus much shall be said concerning these Urns digged up at Newington The Mannor of Levenoke in this Parish ought in the last place to be taken Notice of but the Deeds being dispersed into the Hands of those who are Strangers both to this County and my Design I cannot give the Reader that satisfaction in this particular that I aime at Only thus much I can inform him that by an old Court Roll in the Hands of Mr. Staninough of this Parish lately deceased I discovered that in the Raign of Edward the third and Richard the second it was the possession of John Beau Fitz and it is probable by the Heir General of this Name it devolved to Arnold of Rochester and more to fortifie this some ancient Country people at my being there did assure me they had it by Traditional Intelligence from their Predecessors That that Knight purchased it of one Arnold but of that there is no certainty only this is positive that about the latter end of Henry the eighth that Knight enjoyed it and in this Name it remained until almost our Memory and then it was conveyed to Gouldsmith and he alienated it to Barrow whose Descendant having morgaged it to Mr. ...... Alston of London he very lately hath transplanted all his Right by Sale into Mr. ........ Lisle of Middlesex now deceased Nockholt in the Hundred of Ruxley was a Branch which was incorporated into the Revenue of the Lord Say William de Say died possest of it in the twenty third year of Edward the third and from this man was it transmitted to his Grand-child Geffrey Say who concluded in a Sole Daughter and Heir called Elizabeth who was married to William Fiennes Esquire and so in her Right was Nockholt united to the possession of this Noble Family from this man was Richard Fiennes descended who enjoyed this Mannor successively from him and married Joane the Sole Female heir of Thomas Lord Dacre of Hurstmonceaux in Sussex who was extracted from Edward Lord Dacre who was summoned to Parliament by the Title of Lord Dacre of Hurstmonceaux in the Raign of Edward the second and in her Right was this man summoned to Parliament by the Name of Richard Fiennes Lord Dacres in the Government of Henry the sixth And here did both the Barony of Dacre and the Inheritance of Nockholt continue till Gregory Fiennes Lord Dacres deceased in the thirty sixth year of Queen Elizabeth and left by Testament Margaret his Sister matched to Sampson Lennard Esquire he having no Issue Heir to his large possessions amongst which this Mannor was involved from Sampson Lennard who was created Lord Dacres in the second year of King James it is now come down by Successive Inheritance to be the instant Patrimony of his Grand-child Francis Lord Dacres the present Baron of Hurstmonceaux There are two other Mannors in this Parish but of small importance called Brampton and Shelleys-court or at Ockholt both which had Owners who engrafted their own Sirname upon them There is a recital in the Book of Aide of one John de Brampton who held Land at Nockholt and Ditton in the Raign of Edward the first From this Family Brampton came by a Female Heir to be the Inheritance of Petley who about the latter end of Henry the sixth conveyed it to Oliver alias Quintin and hath been for almost two Hundred years as appears by the Evidences now in the Hands of Mr. Robert Oliver of the Grange in the Parish of Leybourn in the Tenure and Possession of that Name and Family Shelleys Court called in the Evidences likewise at Ockholt was as high as the Raign of Edward the third as the originall Deeds now in the Hands of Mr. Rob. Austin of Bexley inform me the Inheritance of Shelley and remained united to the Possession of that Family till the Government of Queen Mary and then by Sale the whole Demise was passed away by Sir John Champneys Lord Maior of London by William Shelley the last of this Name at this place from whom it devolved to his Son Sir Justinian Champneys who left it to his Son Mr. Richard Champneys Esquire and he almost in the Remembrance of that Age we live in alienated his Concernment in it to the present Possessor Mr. Gooday of Suffolk Nonington in the Hundred of Wingham and Eastry hath diverse places in it of considerable Repute The first is Fredville called in old Deeds Froidville from its bleak and eminent Situation Times of an elder Inscription represent it to have been the Possession of Colkin vulgarly called Cokin who it is probable erected the ancient Fabrick and brought it into the Shape and Order of an Habitation this Family was originally extracted from Canterbury where they had a Lane which bore their Name being called Colkins Lane and likewise had the Inheritance or Propriety of Worth-gate in that City William Colkin founded an Hospital neer Eastbridge which celebrated his Name to Posterity and was called Colkin's Hospital he flourished in the Time of K. John and was a liberal Benefactor to the Hospitals of St. Nicholas St. Katharine and St. Thomas of Eastbridge in Canterbury as is recorded by Mr. William Somner in his Survey of that City Page 116. But to proceed John Colkin dyed possest of Fredvill the tenth of Edward the third and in his Posterity was the Title resident untill the latter end of Richard the second and then it was conveyed to Thomas Charleton and he by a Fine levyed the second of Henry the second transplants his Interest into John Quadring in whose Name it made its aboad untill Joan Quadring the Heir General of Thomas Quadring this man's Successor carried the Title along with her to her Husband Richard Dryland and he about the latter end of Edward the fourth alienated it to John Nethersole who by Fine levyed in the second year of Richard the third conveyed it to William Bois Esquire descended from I. de Bosco or de Bois so written in some old Copies of the Battle Abby Roll and in others R. de Bosco or de Bois who entered into England with William the Conquerour which William had Issue Thomas Bois who dying in the
Nephew Sir Nicholas Miller to whom we ascribe the new Additions which are set out with all the Circumstances both of Art and Magnificence and is now possest by his Son and Heir Hump. Miller Esquire Pencehurst is seated upon the utmost Boundary of the Lowy of Tunbridge and was an eminent Mansion of a very Ancient Family whose Sirname was Penchester of whom there is mention in the Great Survey of England taken in the twentieth year of William the Conqueror vulgarly called Doomes-day Book and in this Family did the possession reside until the two Daughters and Co-heirs of the famous Sir Stephen de Penchester who was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle in the Raign of Edward the second and who died seised of it in the year of that Prince's Government Rot. Esc Numb ... divided the Inheritance Joane the eldest was matched to Henry Lord Cobham of Roundall in Shorne and she carried away Allington-castle Alice the other Daughter and Co-heir was wedded to John Lord Columbers and she had Pencehurst and other Lands for her proportion And he had Issue by her Thomas de Columbers who by his Deed dated at Pencehurst in the eleventh year of Edward the third passes away his Right in it to Sir John de Poultney and he in the twelfth year of the above-mentioned Prince obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannor of Pencehurst and in the twentieth year of Edward the third paid Aid for it at making the Black Prince Knight and held it at his Decease which was in the twenty third year of that Prince and left it to his Son William Poultney who immediatly after alienated it to Guy Lovain who had Issue Sir Nicolas Lovain who held Pencehurst in the forty fourth year of Edward the third and married Margaret eldest Daughter to John Vere Earl of Oxford re-married to Henry Lord Beaumont and after to Sir John Devereux Knight of the Garter Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports Constable of Dover-castle and Steward of the Kings House in the eleventh year of King Richard the second In the sixteenth year of whose raign he had Licence by Letters Patents to fortifie and embattel his Mansion-house at Pencehurst His Daughter and Heir was matched to Walter Lord Fitz-water from whom the Earls of Sussex descended and he had a Brother named Sir Walter Devereux from whom the late Earl of Essex was derived and the Arms of this Sir John Devereux were not long since extant in a Window on the North-side of Pencehurst Church But he only enjoyed this Mannor in Right of his Wife for after her Death it devolved to Philip St. Clere of Aldham St. Clere in Eightham who married Margaret Daughter of Sir Nicolas Lovain above-mentioned Sister and Heir to her Brother Nicolas Lovain who died without Issue And by her he had John St. Clere who passed away his Right here to John Duke of Bedford third Son to Henry the fourth and he enjoyed Pencehurst at his Decease which was in the fourteenth year of Henry the sixth but dying without Issue it came down to Humphrey Duke of Gloucester fourth Son of Henry the fourth who was strangled in the Abby of Bury by the procurement and practises of the Duke of Suffolke and he likewise going out without Posterity it returned to the Crown And Henry the sixth in the twenty fifth year of his raign granted it to Humphrey Stafford Duke of Buckingham whose infortunate Grandchild Edward Duke of Buckingham endeavouring by a specious Semblance of Vanity and Ostentation guilded with all the Cunning and Pompe of Magnificence to make himself popular and entering afterwards into Consultation with a Monk and another who pretended to the dark Art of Necromancy about the Succession of the Crown poured in so many Jealousies into the Bosome of Henry the eighth which were multiplied to the height of Treason by the malice of Cardinal Wolsey that nothing could allay or appease them but the Effusion of this mans Blood in the twelfth year of that Prince upon a Scaffold Upon whose infortunate Exit this Mannor escheated to the Crown and here it remained until King Henry the eighth granted it to his faithful Servant Sir Ralph Vane who being entangled with John Duke of Somersett in that obscure Design which was destructive to them both in the fourth year of Edward the sixth this was again seised upon by the Crown as escheated by his Conviction and remained with its Revenue until the above-said Prince in the sixth year of his Government by Royal Concession planted the Inheritance in Sir William Sidney his Tutor who was likewise Lord Chamberlain of his Houshold and one of his Privy Councel from whom it is descended to his great Grand-child the Right Honorable Robert Earl of Leicester designed Lord Lievtenant of Ireland by the late King Charles and he is the instant Proprietary of it Pencehurst Halymote is another little Mannor in this Parish and had still the same Owners with Pencehurst and upon the Tragedy of Edward Duke of Buckingham devolving by Escheat to the Crown lay couched in the Royal Revenue until the State not many years since passed it away by Grant to Colonel Robert Gibbons Pepenbury vulgarly called Pembury is seated in the Hundreds of Watchlingston and Twyford and contains within the Limits of it that noted Seat called Bayhall which was the Ancient Seat of the Ancient Family of Colepepers The first of which whom I find made eminent by Record is Thomas de Colepeper who was as appears by the Bundels of incertain years in the Pipe-Office one of the Recognitores Magnae Assisae in the raign of King John a place if we consider the Meridian of those Times for which it was calculated that is before the establishment of the Conservators of the Peace of eminent Trust and Concernment And certainly this man was Father of that Thomas Colepeper who was brought upon the Stage and his Tragedy represented at Leeds Castle where he was sacrificed to the Anger of Edward the second because he was a more faithful Castellan to the Lord Badelesmer then he was a Loyal Subject to his Soveraign and with his Life he lost his Estate here at Pepenbury Yet I find by the close Rols of the seventeenth year of Edward the second Memb. 5. that there was much of his Land here and in other places by the Indulgence of that Prince restored to his Son Thomas de Colepeper but yet the Mannor and this Seat remained lodged in the Crown yet certainly it was no contemptible parcel of Land that was granted back for Richard the second by Royal Concession gave Licence to Thomas Colepeper to inclose fifty Acres of Land into a Park at Pepenbury But to advance In the twenty fifth year of Henry the sixth the Crown devests it self of its Right to both these places and transplants it by Grant into Humphrey Stafford the Duke of Buckingham from whom they descended to his infortunate Grand-child Edward Duke of
Num. 14. And from him did it by a constant Tide of uninterrupted Interest surrender it self up to Sir Edward Poynings who in the fourteenth year of Henry the eighth dyed without any lawful Issue and as it appeared too then without any collateral Alliance that could by any Title knit by never so far distant an Affinity to him lay the Foundations of any pretended Claim to his estare so that it escheated to the Crown and K.H. the eighth in the thirty second and thirty third of his Rule granted it to I. Limsey who not many years after passed it away to Alderman Garret of London Ancestor to Sir Iohn Garret of the County of Hertford Baronet in whom the possession of this place is at this instant resident Preston in the Hundred of Wingham was the Inheritance of the Lord Leybourn William de Leybourn had a Grant of a Market and a Fair to his Mannor of Preston in the thirty fifth year of Edward the first from whom it descended to his Son Roger de Leybourn who went out in a Daughter and Heir called Juliana Leybourn so often mentioned in this Discourse who first matched to John de Hastings a Kinsman of Laurence de Hastings Earl of Pembroke That he was not his Son is most evident for then he must by Consequence have been her second Husband for William de Clinton who was her second Husband and hath been by publike Records always so reputed deceased by the Testimony of all in the twenty eighth of Edward the third Juliana his Wife in the forty third year of that Prince Rot. Esc Num. 57. And John de Hastings in the forty ninth year of Edward the third which upon a serious Computation of Time makes it impossible that this John de Hasting whom all conclude to have been her first Husband should be that John who was Son to Laurence Earl of Pembroke nor could it be any other William de Clinton then this before mentioned First because he was the last Earl of Huntington of the Name Secondly if we should make him to be any other he must be designed Husband for this Juliana after the Death of this John de Hasting who survived this Juliana six years as appears by the former ballancing of Time which will appear altogether absurd and impossible Thirdly all do concurre that this VVilliam de Clinton who was her second Husband was Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports in the twelfth year of Edward the third Admiral of the Narrow-Seas Westward in the fifteenth year and had the Custody of all the Kings Forrests Southwards beyond Trent in the seventeenth year of that Prince's Government which could be no other than this VVilliam Earl of Huntington who although he were fruitful in Offices he was not so in Children for he dyed without Issue by this Lady Juliana who after his death remained in the State of Widowhood for ought I can yet discover untill her decease for in the Escheat-roll mentioned before she is styled Comitissa de Huntington upon whose death none appearing either directly or collaterally who justly could entitle themselves to her Patrimony the Crown claimed it as an escheat and Richard the second granted it to Sir Simon de Burleigh Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports who being afterwards attainted in the tenth year of that Prince it was re-invested in the royal Revenue and was not long after by Richard the second granted to the Abby of St. Mary Grace on Tower-hill and some part of it to the Priory of Canons Langley and sometimes written Childrens Langley and here it dwelt untill the general Suppression and then King Henry the eighth in the thirty fifth year of his reign granted it to Sir Thomas Moile whose Daughter and Coheir Amy Motle incorported it into the demeasne of her Husband Sir Thomas Kempe where it had had no long aboad when this Sir Thomas dyed without Issue-male and left his estate to be divided between four Daughters and Coheirs Anne one of whom carried this away to Sir Thomas Chichley of the County of Cambridge whose Son Thomas Chichley Esquire hath lately by Sale transmitted his Right in it to Mr. ..... Spence and Mr. Robert Spence of Baukham in Sussex Preston by VVingham had the Grant of a Market procured to it on the Monday and a Fair of three days continuance at the Feast of St. Crosse in the thirty fifth of Edw. the first Sir Simon de Burleigh had the Grant of a Market renued to this place on the Friday and a Fair by the space of three days at the Feast of St. Mildred the Virgin in the tenth year of Richard the second Petham gives Name in part to that Hundred wherein it hath its Position being called the Hundred of Bredge and Petham and was always a Mannor folded up in the revenue of the Arch-bishop though I confess I cannot trace out in the wilderness of Antiquity who was the first Donor If you peruse the Pages of Doomes-day Book you wil find it there thus represented Petham est proprium Manerium Archiepiscopi in Tempore Edwardi Regis se defendebat pro VII Sullings nunc similiter est appretiatum XX lb. And this is enough to refute that mistake in Eadmerius not long since printed by Mr. Selden which I believe is only by Accident and not voluntary which says that Anselm mortgaged or pawned Peckham to the Monks of Canterbury which was long before given to them by Q. Edgiva Indeed it should have been printed Petham that being always as you have seen a Mannor of the Arch-bishops till it was engaged which it seems was never redeemed for it continued in the revenue of the Monks in Christ-church until the Dissolution and then it was transplanted into the revenue of the Crown and lay there until K. James in our Fathers memory granted it to Tho. Thompson Esq Ancestor to Mr. Thompson Esq who now enjoys the possession of it Swerdling is a Mannor in this Parish of as eminent Account as any in this Track and was the Capital Mansion of the Noble and ancient Family of Valoigns Ruallo de Valoigns was Sheriff of Kent in the first year of Henry the second and in the Pipe-rolls of that year is written of Swerdling and he was witness to King Stephen's Charter Rot. Pipae de An. 13. Hen. tertii whereby he grants the Mill at East-Bridge in Canterbury to the Monks of Christ-church Waretius de Valoigns is in the Catalogue of those Kentish Gentlemen who assisted Richard the first at the Siege of Acon in Palestine Robert de Valoigns had the Repute of a Baron in the thirteenth year of Henry the third and under that Notion held the fourth part of a Knights Fee of Wallingford Castle Allan de Valoigns was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty first thirty second thirty third and thirty fourth years of Henry the third and held his Shrievalty at Swerdling Waretius de Valoigns in the forty fifth year of Henry the third by
Rot. Esc Num. 25. The next Family in Succession after this which was entituled to the Possession as is evident by the original Deeds now in the Hands of Lea was Molineux derived from those of Sefton in Lancashire but he remained so inconsiderable a Space in the Inheritance that like Cato in the Theater he only stept into it that he might go out again for about the Beginning of Edward the third as appears by the testimony of an ancient Court-roll Benedict de Fulsham was invested in the Patrimony of it in the thirtieth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 20. And from him did it streame down in the Channel of successive Interest to his Descendant Richard Fulsham who likewise was in the Enjoyment of it at his Decease which was in the fifth year of Henry the fifth Rot Esc Num. 17. But after his Exit I find no farther mention of any of this Family to have been possest of this place for in the ninth year of Henry the fifth Reginald Love died seised of it and transmitted it to his Successor who held it untill the latter end of Henry the sixth and then the Revolution of Purchase brought it to be the Demeasne of William Venour and it was found to be his Possession at his Death which was in the first year of Edward the fourth Rot. Esc Num. 24. But after his Departure the Title was very unsetled and inconstant for within the Circle of some Moneths after it was by Sale from this Name rolled into the Tenure of Markham descended from the ancient Stem of the Markhams of Nottingham-shire where after a very transitory aboad it was by the same Fatality carried into the Possession of Tate who about the first year of Edward the fourth passed it away to Sir Richard Lea Lord Maior of London descended from an ancient Family of that Name in the County of Worcester and his Son was Sheriff of Kent in the nineteenth year of Edward the fourth and held his Shrievalty at his new acquired Mannor of Much Delce and from him by an even thread of Descent has the Title and Propriety been conducted down to Richard Lea Esquire who is the instant Proprietary of it Horsted borrows its Name from Horsa Brother to Hengist the Founder of the Saxon Kingdome here in Kent who fell by the Sword of the Britons at Alresford as an expiatory Sacrifice to ballance the Losse of Cartigerne Brother to Vortimer General of the Confederate British Forces who was offered up in that signal Encounter as an Holocaust to the Saxon Fury and there is something which even at this Day lies wrapt up in the Name that induces us to believe that Horsa after his slaughter recieved the Rites of his Funeral at this place and in our Grandfathers Memory there were the scattered Remains of diverse huge Massie Stones which Storms and other Impressions of Time have now altogether demolished and these certainly were in elder Times composed into the Figure of a Monument to shroud the Ashes of this Horsa as those at Cits Cothouse above Alresford were framed into the same Proportionate Mould to secure the Dust or at least to point out to Posterity the Memory of Cartigern The Mannor it self was enwraped in the Patrimony of the noble and ancient Family of Apulderfield William de Apulderfield obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at Horsted in the thirty eighth year of Henry the eighth In Times of a lower Descent I discover it in the Possession of Warren for John Son of Edmund Warren held it at his Death which was in the twelfth year of Edward the third After Warren had quitted the Inheritance I find the Fulshams by Purchase to be entituled to the Fee-simple of it and Benedict de Fulsham enjoyed in at his Decease which was in the thirtieth year of Edward the third and paid relief for this and Much Delce under the Notion of the fourth part of a Knights Fee at making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of the above-said Prince After this Family was worn out it had successively the same Possessors with Much Delce so that it came with that Mannor by Purchase from Tate to Sir Richard Lea Knight and from him is the Title by successive Descent transported to Rtchard Lea Esquire the present Possessor Snodherst is another Mannor which lies partly spread into Chetham and partly into the Limits of Rochester was as high as I can trace any Record a Branch of that Demeasn which fell under the Dominion of Badelesmer and though Bartholomew Lord Badēlesmer had by his perfidious Disloyalty forfeited it in the Reign of Edward the second yet was it in the second year of Edward the third restored to his Son Bartholomew Badelesmer who in the twelfth year of that Prince dyed without Issue and left it to his Brother Giles Badelesmer who likewise deceasing without Issue Sir John Tiptoft in Right of Margery his Wife one of his Sisters and Coheirs entered upon the Inheritance of it but before the twentieth of Edward the third had alienated it to Benedict de Fulsham for he in that year as appears by the Book of Aid paid respective relief for it at the making the Black Prince Knight After Fulshams were extinguished at this place it had the Fate to own the Jurisdiction and Interest of those who were the Successive Proprietaries of Much Delce so that it is now knit to the present Inheritance of Richard Lea Esquire Little Delce is the last Mannor which is circumscribed within the Precincts of this City It was in Ages of a very high Calculation the Possession of the noble illustrious and ancient Family of Sherington written in old Deeds Pipe-rolls and other Evidences Serington and sometimes Scherington but most frequently Sherington whose original and principal Seat was at Sherington-hall at Cranworth in Norfolk though they had other Mannors which bore their Name which anciently were folded up in their Demeasne as namely Sherington in the County of Buckingham Sherington in Sussex Sherington in the County of Hereford and Sherington in Lancashire yet as I take it in their Possession But to proceed Odo de Serington or Sherington for the Names are Synonyma or coincident held this Mannor in the thirty first year of Henry the first and was enterred in the Cathedral of Rochester and when Robert Glover Somerset Herald collected his Miscellany of Church-notes in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth there were some Reliques of his Monument offered up to the Survey of a curious and Inquisitive Eye which now the Sacrilegious Barbarity of impious Mechanicks and the injurious Hand of Time together have wholly dismantled After Sherington was worn out I find a Family called Pugeis invested in the Inheritance and there is mention in the ninth year of Edward the first in Kirkbies Inquest a Book kept in the Exchequet of one Richard Pugeis who then held it but before the latter end of Edward the third this Family had deserted the
Possession and transmitted his Concernment in it by Sale to Richard Charles and he enjoyed it at his Decease which was in the fifth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num 92. And so did Nicholas Charles his Successor in the eleventh year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 16. And Robert was his Son and Heir who dying without Issue it was united to the Demeasne of Richard Ormeskirk in right of Joan Sister and Heir of the above-mentioned Robert and he in the third year of Henry the fourth alienated it to Henry Perey Earl of Northumberland and he not long after passed it away to Rickhull in which Family it rested untill the seventeenth year of Henry the sixth and then it was by Deed conveyed from William Rickhull Esquire to Thomas Glover and Henry Hunt who had then the Custody or Guardianship of Rochester-Bridge and to the successive Wardens of it towards the Preservation and Reparation of its Fabrick for ever so that at this instant it is parcel of that Revenue which rescues this noble Structure from Decay and Ruin Nashenden next offers it self up to our Remembrance In the raign of Edward the second I find it entituled to the Possession of a Family called Aspall and in the twentieth year of Edward the third John Aspall paid respective Aid at making the Black Prince Knight But before the latter end of Richard the second this Family had surrendred the Inheritance of this place to Peckham the last of which Name which held it was John Peckham who as the Records of Rochester-Bridge informs me in the raign of Henry the sixth made it part of that Demeasn by Sale which was to support with its Income the Fabrick of Rochester Bridge in whose Revenue you may at this instant still find it resident Rolvenden gives Name to the Hundred wherein it is placed and is resolved into several places of eminent Consideration which do not only call for a Survey but even exact it The first is Halden called in Records the Mannor of Lambin alias Halden and the Reason of this Denomination is because it assumed the first part of this Name from Lambinus de Langham who held it under the Distribution of a whole Knights Fee as the Book called Testa de Nevill demonstrates in the twentieth year of Henry the third at the Marriage of Isabell that Prince's Sister at which Time he accounted so for it After this Family was departed from the possession of this place which was about the beginning of Edward the third the Haldens were by purchase setled in the Possession and William de Halden Son of John de Halden died seised of it in the fiftieth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 45. and left it to his Son John Halden but he expiring about the beginning of Henry the fourth in Joan his Daughter and Heir she by matching with John Guldeford Esquire made it parcel of his Patrimony and from him it devolved by Descent to Sir Richard Guldeford who was Knighted at Milford-haven by H. the seventh and was afterwards one of the Privy Counsel to that Prince In the eighth year of his reign he with Courage and Prudence opposed James Lord Audley and his Cornish Squadrons in that Eruption which they made upon this County and in the Battle waged near Deptfordbridge between King Henry the seventh and those Rebels represented such signal Testimonies of personal Magnanimity that he was by that Prince made a Banneret at Black-heath His Son Henry Guldeford Esquire in the first year of Henry the eighth went into Spain and engaged himself under Ferdinand and Isabella King and Queen of Castile and Aragon in their Wars commenced against the Moores and demeaned himself with that Fidelity and exemplary Resolution in all Conflicts entertained with those barbarous Infidels that upon the Reduction of the Province of Granada the above-mentioned Prince for his signal Service performed in his and the Christian Quarrel added to his Paternal Coat as an Augmentation A Pomgranet slipped upon a Canton being the Arms of that regained Province and likewise dignified him with the Order of Knighthood In the fourth year of Henry the eighth he was again invested with the abovesaid Order by that Prince and in the fifth of his reign he commanded one of the Royal Navy called the Regent in which Ship he acted Things worth the future Remembrance in that Sea-fight which was waged between the English and French near Brittain and in the same year as appears by the Original Patent bearing Date the twenty eighth of May he was made Standard-bearer of England and carried it at the Siege of Terwin His Son Sir Edward Guldeford in the fifteenth year of Henry the eighth received the Order of Knighthood for his Service at Tourney and was Captain of the Horse under the Duke of Suffolk at the second Siege of Terwin which was in the fifteenth year of that Prince and not long after reduced Boghan-castle taking the Advantage of the Winter which had sealed up the Marshes which environed it and made it almost inaccessible in a Frost In fine this worthy Souldier and Patriot dying without Issue-male left this Mannor of Halden to be enjoyed by Jane his Sole Inheritrix matched to John Dudley Duke of Northumberland and he having unhappily engaged himself in that ruinous Design which was to devest Queen Mary of the Royal Diadem and place it on the Head of the Lady Jane Grey wedded to his Son Guilford Dudley was in the first year of that Queen for that insolent Attempt which proved unsuccessful attainted and beheaded his Estate here being confiscated to the Crown the Mannor was given by that Princess to Sir John Baker her Attorney General Ancestor to Sir John Baker Knight and Baronet who at this Instant enjoyes the Mannor but the Demeasne of it was granted to Sir Henry Sidney whose Grandchild Robert Earl of Leicester not many years since conveyed it to Sir Thomas Smith of London whose Grand-child Robert Smith Esquire lately died possest of it There are twelve Denns which hold of this Mannor of Lambin aliàs Halden and at the Court-day elect twelve Officers called Beadles to collect the Quit-rents which relate to it The Names of them here ensue Midsell in Rolvenden Stallenden in Rolvenden Ramsden in Benenden West Bishoppenden in Benenden Folkinden in Benenden and Sandherst Holnherst in Benenden Elderherst in Halden and Tenterden Ilehinden in Woodchurch Mensden in Tenterden Strenchden in Tenterden Smeeth in Stone in the Isle of Oxney Blackbrooks and Pisenden in Witresham Casingham is a second place of Estimate In Ages of a very high Ascent I find it had Owners of the same Sirname for in Testa de Nevill I find that William de Casingham held the Mannor of Casingham now corruptly called Keinsham with Orlovingden another inconsiderable Mannor annexed unto it in the twentieth year of Henry the third and paid respective Aid for it accordingly under the Notion of the fourth part of a Knights Fee
Grand-child who died possest of it in the forty second year of King Henry the third and left it to his Son Peter Dering who likewise held this Mannor almost all the reign of Edward the first and from him did it descend to his Son and Heir Richard Dering who was Brother to Sir Robert Dering who was one of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem and this Richard about the eighth year of Edward the second passed it away to William Scot of Smeth from whom by an uninterrupted and unbroken Clew of many Generations was the Possession carried down to those Scots who were Proprietaries of it in that Age wherein our Grand-fathers flourished and then it was demised by Sale to Smith which Family it still confesses for Possessors Stansted in the Hundred of Wrotham represents to our Remembrance an Ancient Family called Grapinell who were once Owners of this place and flourished here under the Scepter of Henry the third and Edward the first but going out in Daughters and Co-heirs Margeria one of them by marching with William de Inge who was a Judge in the raign of Edward the second knit this Mannor to the Inheritance of this Family and he died seised of it in the fifteenth year of Edward the second Rot. Esc Num. 42. and left it to his only Daughter and Heir in an old Pedigree called Isolda but more truely Joan for in the Inquisition taken after the Death of Eudo la Zouch to whom she was matched which was in the twentieth year of Edward the second Rot. Esc Num. 31. it is found that he held this Mannor in Right of his Wise Joan Sole Heir of William de Inge. And from this Eudo did Thomas la Zouch Baron of Haringworth descend who died possest of it in the sixth year of Henry the fourth Rot. Esc Num. 17. and so did his Son Henry Lord Zouch who was the last of this Name who was possest of this place at his Decease which was in the twenty sixth of Henry the sixth After the Zouches the Colepepers were by purchase from them entituled to the Possession and Richard Colepeper was found to hold it at his Death which was in the second year of Richard the third and from this Family about the beginning of Henry the seventh it passed away to Thomas Leigh whose Son John Leigh gave it to his natural Son Richard Leigh in the year 1575. and he not long after alienated it to Bing of Wrotham from which Family it is very lately carried away to William James of Ightam Esquire one of the Justices of the Peace of this County a Person who for his Affection to Learning and Antiquity cannot be mentioned without an Attribute Soranks in this Parish was the Seat of a Family which borrowed its Sirname from hence and had the Repute of a Mannor in the reign of Edward the third For Roger de Sorancks held this Mannor as is evident by the Book of Aide kept in the Exchecquer in the twentieth year of Edward the third by Knights Service of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury But after the reign of that Prince it was not very constant to the Interest of this Name for about the beginning of Richard the second I find it in the possession of Thomas Mortimer Lord of the Mannor of Mortimers in Cowling and he in the twentieth year of the abovesaid Monarch passed it away to William Skrene and when this Name was worn out at this place the Family of Wood was ingrafted in the possession and rested there until the latter end of Henry the seventh and then it was by Thomas Wood passed away to Robert Barefoot in which Family the Title was as transient for Thomas Barefoot this mans Son in the third and fourth of Philip and Mary alienated it to Henry Fanshaw who almost in our Fathers Remembrance conveyed the Fee-simple unto Launce Stansted had the Grant of a Fair obtained by William de Inge the Judge in the ninth year of Edward the second to be held yearly for the space of three Dayes at the Assumption of the Virgin Mary as appears Cart. 9. Edwardi secundi Num. 40. Stapleherst in the Hundred of Twyford was as appears by Ancient Deeds and Inquisitions as to some part of it folded up in the large Patrimony of Fremingham whose capital Residence was at Fremingham or Farningham where I have treated more largely of them but when the Male-line of this Family determined in John de Fremingham Joan his only Sister matched to John Isley Esquire Son of Isley was found to be his Heir in the second year of Henry the fourth and in her Right Roger Isley Son and Heir of this John entered upon it and from him the Land here by a successive Thread of Descent was wafted down to the Noble but infortunate Sir Henry Isley of whom more presently but another parcel of this Mannor did acknowledge the Signory of Pimpe of Nettlested and William Pimpe died possest of it in the year of our Lord 1375. as part of his Knights Fee called Pimps and in his Line did the Title flow constantly along until it devolved to Reginald Pimpe Esquire who about the twelfth year of Henry the seventh demised it by private Deed to John Isley Esquire from whom it came down to his Grand-child Sir Henry Isley who being entangled too fatally in the ruinous Design of Sir Thomas Wiat was in the second year of Queen Mary attainted and his Interest in this Mannor connscated to the Crown which was granted out of it again that present year to Sir John Baker Ancestor to Sir John Baker Baronet who is still entituled to the Propriety Isley had formerly in this place Boxley Abby was formerly concerned in some Demeasne likewise here at Stapleherst as appears by an Inquisition taken in the third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 134. which upon the suppression of that Abby it was with the Mannor at Boxley relating to that Convent by Henry the eighth granted to Sir Thoma Wiat who being attainted in the second year of Queen Mary it escheated to the Crown and then it was by that Princess the same year granted to her Atturney General Sir John Baker whose Successor Sir John Baker of Sisingherst now enjoyes it as couched in his Mannor of Stapleherst Newsted is a Mannor in this Parish which was annexed to the free Chappel erected at this place by Hamon de Crevequer and invested with ample Privileges which Donation of his and all the Franchises united to it was confirmed as appears by the first Book of Compositions kept in the Registers Office at Rochester in the forty first year of Edward the third But when the Statute in the first year of Edward the sixth had overturned all Chauntries this Mannor was swallowed up in the Revenue of the Crown and then the abovesaid Prince by his Royal Concession planted it in the Patrimony of Sir Edward Wotton Ancestor to Thomas Lord Wotton of Boughton Malherbe who setled it
in Marriage on Katharine-Wotton his eldest Daughter and Co-heir espoused to Henry Lord Stanhop and she by her Feoffees in Trust hath demised the Fee-simple to Mr. Robert Oliver of Leybourn Loveherst is another Mannor in this Parish was parcel of that Estate which by its Income supported the Priory of Leeds and upon the Suppression was by Henry the eighth granted to Sir John Gage in the thirty fourth year of his reign and he in the thirty sixth of that Prince demised it to Thomas Colepeper Esquire who not long after alienated it to Thomas Wilford Esquire from whom about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth it passed away by Sale to Mr. John Baker in whose Descendants the Title is yet resident Engeherst presents it self next to our View it is now vulgarly called Henherst in Ages of an higher Ascent Engeherst for some old Deeds without Date bounding some Land in this Parish of Stapleherst make it situated juxta Terras Osberti de Hengherst supra Dennam de Engherst and from this Den or Vally did that Ancient Family called Engherst or Hengherst take the first Extraction of its Name who bore as appears by several Seals for their paternal Armory Barrie of six peeces and having continued in the possession of this place for many Descents at last the Inheritance was transmitted to Henry Hengherst and he in the twenty third year of Henry the sixth by his Feoffees in Trust setles it on his Kinsman John Nash and in his Family I find it in the reign of Edward the fourth and Henry the seventh and here for want of clearer Intelligence I must leap to the reign of Queen Elizabeth and then the Fee-simple was invested in Roberts and from this Family about the latter end of that Princess it went away by purchase to Moodye who in our Fathers Memory alienated it to Samuel Ovenden by whose Daughter and Co-heir Elizabeth Ovenden it is now come to own the Heirs of her late Husband Mr. Partrich Tindall Spilsill-court is the last place of Account in this Parish it was as appears by very Ancient Deeds the Residence of a Family of that Name which before the end of King Edward the second was crumbled into Decay and then the Stangraves succeeded in the Possession for Robert de Stangrave at his Decease held some Estate at or in Spilsill in the twelfth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 52. But about the latter end of Edward the third this Family was likewise mouldered away and then it came to own the Signory of Maynie descended from Walter de Meduana or Maynie a man of that Repute as appears by the red Book in the Exchecquer Fol. 84. that he held twenty Knights Fees in this County but Mayneys situated in Bredgar was the Ancient Seat of this Name who having possest for so many Successions and Descents this Seat did not many years since transplant their Interest in it by Sale to Sharpeigh by whose Daughter and Heir it is now become the Inheritance of Mr. George Thompson of London Swalcliff in the Hundred of Blengate was given by Eadbald King of Kent as Thorn the Chronicler of St. Augustins informs me to the Cloister of St. Mildred at Minster in Thanett and was when her body was translated by King Canutus to the Abby of St. Augustins in Canterbury brought over along with it and knit to the Patrimony of that Cloister and the Monks of that Covent granted it away to be held in Fee by a Family which took its Denomination from thence and were called Swalclive and they held it the twentieth year of Henry the third as Testa de Nevill informs me and paid an auxiliary Contribution for it at the Marriage of Isabell that Prince's Sister but before the end of Edward the first this Family was expired and then the Family of St. Lawrence was setled in the Possession Thomas de St. Lawrence held it as appears by the Book of Aid kept in the Exchequer in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black Prince Knight and dyed possest of it in the twenty second year of that Prince Rot. Esc Num. 9. And from him did it descend to his Grandchild Thomas St. Lawrence who setled it in Marriage with Katharine his Daughter and Heir matched to Sir William Apulderfield who determining in Daughters and Coheirs Elizabeth one of them espoused to Sir John Phineux Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench brought it to confesse the Signory of that Family but he deceasing without Issue-male Jane his only Daughter and Sole Inheritrix being matched to John Roper Esquire this Mannor became by this Alliance inoculated into his Patrimony and was resident in this Name untill the Beginning of King James and then it was conveyed to Mr. Benedict Barnham by one of whose four Daughters and Coheirs its Right and Title devolved to Soam of Suffolk who not many years since alienated his Concernment in it to Perry who hath lately transmitted it by Sale to Gould In the year 946. King Eadred gave Land at Swalclive to Heresigus one of his Servants and he again gave it to the Abby of St Augustins conditionally that a place of Sepulture might be reserved for him within their Cloister Snave in the Hundreds of Aloes-Bridge Ham and Newchurch was as high as I can discover a Portion or Member of that Patrimony which confessed the Signory of Haut and so continued untill Joan Daughter and Coheir of Sir William Haut being made the Wife of the unhappy Sir Thomas Wiatt a man of an unstained though an unsuccesseful Virtue this by Female Right became parcel of his Demeasne but when he and his Patrimony were demolished by that impetuous Gust of Misfortune which sunk them both into a heap of Ruines in the second year of Q. Mary this upon his Conviction of high Treason being escheated to the Crown that Princesse in the third year of her Government passed it away to Sir Henry Sidney Knight of the Garter and Lord Deputy of Ireland whose Successor the Right Honorable Robert Earl of Leicester not many years since conveyed it to Sir George Stonehouse Snavewick in this Parish was anciently wrapped up in the Demeasn of the Abby of St. Augustins but being pared off in the general Suppression by the rough Hand of Henry the eighth It was in the thirty fifth year of his reign granted for Life only to Sir Walter Henley but upon his Decease it returned to the Crown and lay there untill the late King Charls about the Beginning of his reign granted it to Mr. Patrick Black a Scotchman who not long after granted it in Lease to Sir Edw. Yates of Barkeshire and conveyed the Fee-simple in Reversion to Mr. Rob. Austin now of Hall-place in Bexley Swanscamp in the Hundred of Acstane hath contracted an eminent Character of Reputation since Sueno or Swain fixed here his Camp when he invaded England to expiate by a plenary Revenge that Blood which in so prodigal an Effusion
Whitfield of Canterbury There is a second Seat in Snodland called Holoway-court and in the Book of Aid mention is of one Henry de Holoway that held it in elder Times about the Beginning of Henry the third but upon a serious perusal of the evidences and Muniments which did relate to this Mansion I found it as high as they reached that is to the reign of Edward the third to be the Inheritance of the Tilghmans and several very old Panes of Glasse are coloured with that Coat of Arms which the Tilghmans are entered with in the last Visitation of Kent and in this Name was the Possession for many Descents permanent till some forty years since or more it was by Sale conveyed to Clotworthy extracted from the Clotworthies of Devon who by Testamentary Donation transmitted the Interest of it to his Sisters Son Mr. Thomas Williams Stone in the Hundred of Feversham was when it flourished most but a Chappel of Ease to Tenham but it is grown up to some Repute since Simon de Langton Arch-deacon of the Church of Canterbury Brother to Stephen de Langton the Arch-bishop gave to the Monks of Christ-church in Canterbury in the year 1227 omnes Decimas Majores Minores de Copton Eylwarton infra Limites Capellae de Stone Now this Copton and Eylwarton were Mannors anciently given to the Monks of Canterbury by Edmund Son of Q. Edgiva ad victum corum for the supply of Diet in the year of our Lord 980. Wildemersh in this Village deserves a Remembrance in that it was part of the Patrimony of the ancient Family of Donett for it was in the enjoyment of John Donett at his Death which was in the thirty fifth year of Edward the third But not long did it fixe there for Jâ—mes Donet his Successor dyed without Issue-male and left only a Daughter and Heir called Margery who being married to Iohn St. Leger this in her right went into the Possession of that Family from whom the ordinary Revolution of Sale conveyed it to Richard Dryland from which Name by the like Chanel the Inheritance slowed into Sir Anthony Aucher Predecessour to Sir Anthony Aucher of Bourne and here for ought I yet can collect is the Fee-simple of it setled Stone in the Hundred of Acstane had formerly a Castle which acknowledged the Northwoods for its founders as their Arms insculped in the old Stone-work now dismantled did easily demonstrate In the twentieth year of Edward the third Iohn de Northwood paid respective Aid at making the Black Prince Knight for his Mannor and Castle and although it now lye wrapped up in its own Ruines yet the Shell or Skeleton of it within which Sir Richard Wiltshire laid the Foundation of that Frabrick now extant represents to the eye some symptoms of its former strength and magnificence From Northwood it passed away by Sale to Butivant corruptly called Bonivant and from this Family a Fatalitie like the former carried it down to Cholmley from him by as quick a Current the Fee simple was transported to Chapman whose Widow Elizabeth Chapman being re-married to Jo. Preston he in her Right as I find by some Court-rolls was possest of it but her Son Thomas Chapman about the latter end of Henry the eighth concluded in Anne his Sole Heir who by matching with Mr. William Carew devolved the right on his Family from whom in right of that Alliance it is now descended to his Successor Mr. Henry Carew Littlebroke in this Parish did first own a Family of that Sirname as is evident from ancient Dateless Deeds wherein Laurence at Broke is re-presented to have been Possessor of it but this Family before the end of Edward the third had deserred the Possession and transplanted it by Sale into Northword and John Northwood about the latter end of Richard the second passed it away to Roger Apylton which Roger lies buried as the Date on his Tomb informs us in Crayford Church in the year 1400. And from him does Sir Henry Apylton Knight and Baronet not onely claim his Descent but his Interest in this Mannor also The Mannor of Cotton is embraced within the Precincts of Stone likewise It was as high as any private or publick Record can conduct us on to a Discovery the Possession of Killingworth of Hackstaple at Sutton at Hone and in this Family was the Title by a successive Derivation of several Descents preserved until the entrance of Henry the eighth and then it was conveyed by George Killingworth Esquire to Sir Richard Wiltshire from which Family not long after the Propriety of this place was by a Fate proportionate to this planted in Apylton Ancestor to Sir Henry Apylton Knight and Baronet now Lord of the Fee Stoke in the Hundred of Hoo was given to the Priory of St. Andrews in Rochester by Eadbert K. of Kent in the year 762. And upon the suppression being surrendred to the Crown it was by Henry the eighth setled on his newly erected Dean and Chapiter of Rochester But here are two places which are of secular Interest The first is Malmains which yielded both Seat and Sirname to a Family which fell under that Denomination for I find John de Malmains Son of Henry died possest of it in the tenth year of Edward the second and in this Family it remained until the latter end of Richard the second and then it was conveyed to Iden a Family of generous Rank in elder Times about Rolvenden and here it lay couched in the Demeasn of this Family until the latter end of Henry the eighth and then it was passed away to Jo. Park who dying without Issue Male setled it on Elizabeth his Sole Heir matched to John Roper Esquire from whom by paternal succession the Inheritance is come down to his Descendant Christopher Roper Baron of Tenham Tuders is the second which anciently confessed a Family of that Appellation to be its original Possessors whose Name was in all probability primitively Theodore for I have seen an ancient Roll of Kentish Arms wherein Tuder of Stoke bears the same Coat with Owen Theodore vulgarly called Tuder viz. Azure a Cheveron between three Helmets Argent But to proceed When this Family dislodged from this place for want of Intelligence I confess I know not onely in the Reign of Henry the eighth I find it possest by Woodward in which Family the Title remained invested until the entrance of Q. Elizabeth and then it was conveyed to Wilkins from whom by a quick Alienation it went away and resigned up its Interest by Sale to Bright and in the Revenue of his Descendant is the Proprietie of it yet wrapped up Stourmouth in the Hundred of Blengate was a piece of that large Revenue which owned the Signory of Hussey In the fifty fifth year of Henry the third Henry le Hussey obtained a Charter of Free-Warren to his Mannor of Stourmouth and his Grandchild Henry le Hussey died possest of it in the sixth year of Edward the
Sheriff of Kent in the thirty fourth year of Henry the eighth and again in the fifth year of Edward the sixth but being unhappily entangled in the dysastrous Attempt of Sir Thomas Wiat was upon the frustrating of that Designe and the Dissipation and Discomfiture of those Forces who were to support it in the second year of Queen Mary convicted and attainted of high Treason and executed at Sevenoke upon whose Tragedy this Mannor with all its Appendages escheated to the Crown but was the same year restored to his Son William Isley Esquire who was Sheriff of Kent part of the seventh year of Queen Elizabeth after whose decease the Title of this place which had so many Centuries of years like an Inmate dwelt in this Name and Family ebbed away to another Proprietary for in our Fathers Memory it was alienated by Sale to Brooker who not many years since passed it away to Mr. John Hide second Son to Mr. Bernard Hide one of the Commissioners of the Custome-house to his late Majestie Brook-place in Sundrich so called from its contiguous Situation neer some Drill of Water did acknowledge for many discents the Signory of Isley the last of whom who dyed possest of it was William Isley Esquire who held it at his Decease which was in the fourth year of Edward the fourth Rot. Esc Num. 34. After whose Exit it came to John Isley Esquire who not long after passed it away to John Alphew and he determinig in two Daughters and Coheirs one of them by matching with Sir Robert Read Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the reign of Henry the seventh linked it to his Patrimony but he likewise went out in four Daughters and Coheirs Katharine one of which was matched to Sir Thomas Willoughbie Lord Chief Justice likewise of the Common Pleas and so he in her right was possest of this place from whom it came down to his Successor Thomas Willoughbie Esquire who about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth conveyed it by Sale to Mr. Hoskins of Oxted in Surrey descended from an ancient Family of that Name in Hereford-shire whose Successor Mr. Charles Hoskins being lately deceased the Fee-simple rests now in his Son and Heir Hethenden or Henden is another Mannor in Sundrich which was folded up in the Demeasn of the powerful and illustrious Family of the Clares who were Earls of Gloucester and Lords of Tunbridge by whose Heir general it devolved to Audley and this Family by the same Fatality languishing into a Female Inheritrix she by matching with Stafford cast this Mannor into his Revenue and in this Name was the Propriety resident untill Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham was infortunately attainted in the thirteenth year of Henry the eighth it was by escheat annexed to the Demeasn of the Crown and made its aboad there untill King Henry the eighth in the thirty fifth year of his reign granted it to Sir John Gresham and he dyed possest of it in the first year of Queen Elizabeth after whose Decease it remained constant to the Interess of this Family until the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then it was alienated to Sir Thomas Hoskins of Oxsted in Surrey in the Descendants of which Family the Signory and Propriety is at this instant remaining The Roman Fosse or Way which extended or stretched out it self from Oldborough in Igtham to Baston in Heys and afterwards to Woodcot in Surrey did cut thorough this Parish for not many years since in digging near Come-banke a Seat so called which did formerly relate to the Isleys and is situated in Sundrich were discovered many Roman Urns of an antick Shape and Figure from whence we may probably collect thus much that there was formerly erected some Fortresse at or near Combe-banke its Situation being fitted for such a Design by the Roman Generals to secure their forces in their March to Noviomagum or Woodcot against any Impression or Eruption of the Britons Sturrey in the Hundred of Blengate was a Mannor by a Prescription of many Generations wrapt up in the Patrimony of Apulderfeild a Family whom we shall have occasion often to mention thoroughout the Body of this Survey and here it continued till this Name met with its Tomb in a Daughter and Heir known by the Name of Elizabeth who was wedded to Sir John Phineux and although he likewise concluded in a Female Heir matched to John Roper Esquire who drew along with her a great portion of the Estate yet this still remained fixt in this Name and Family even till our Fathers Memory and then John Phineux Esquire died and left this and other vast possessions to his Daughter and Sole Heir Elizabeth Phineux who brought them over to her Husband Sir John Smith eldest Son of Sir Thomas Smith and Grand-father to Philip Smith Viscount Strangford who by Right planted in him by so worthy a Predecessor does entitle himself to the Interess and possession of it Mayton in this Parish though now of no great Importance yet formerly gave both Seat and Sirname to a Family that passed under that Appellation from whom by Sale the Inheritance was transplanted into Diggs where for some Descents without any Interval it made its abode till it was by Leonard Diggs Grand-father to Sir Dudley Diggs sold to Goodhugh by whose Daughter and Heir it became the Demeasne of Baggs which Name likewise going out here into a Daughter and Heir she by matching not long since to Farmer has made it to own him for its instant proprietary Sutton by Walmer lies in the Hundred of Cornilo and was the Inheritance of a good old Family called Stroude Peradventure it assumed its Denomination from the Shore not far distant and was sometimes in the Saxon Denomination called Strond and as often Stroude John de Stroude held it as the Book of Aide denotes in the reign of Edward the first and when this Family was worn out the next who were invested in the possession were the Criols and Nicholas Criol or Keriel held it at his death which was in the third year of Richard the second whose Grand-child Sir Thomas Keriel being an active Champion of the Cause and Quarrel of Edward the fourth against the House of Lancaster was slain in the second Battle of St. Albans where the Title of both Parties was put to the bloody decision of a Field who leaving only two Daughters and Co-heirs one matching with John Fogge Esquire incorporated this into his Revenue from whom by purchase the Right was setled in Whitlock where it tarried not long but was by the like devolution transplanted into Maycot from which Name the same Fate of Sale carried it into the possession of Stokes who in our memory by the like alienation transmitted his Interess here to Meryweather Sutton commonly called East-Sutton lies in the Hundted of Eyhorne and was formerly the Braybrookes Henry de Braybrooke one of the Lord Wardens of the Cinque Ports had Lands here and in this Track as the
Mannor in Tunbridge and was as high as I can track any Record the possession of the Noble Family of Vane who are written in very old Deeds A Vane and was certainly their ancient Seat before by matching with the Heir of Stidolfe they became possessors of Badsell Henry A Vane makes his Will in the year 1456. He was the Son of John A Vane who flourished at this place in the reign of Edward the third but his Predecessors enjoyed it as appears by Original Evidences many years before From Henry Vane it came over to John a Vane whose Son John Vane in the tenth year of Henry the seventh conveyed it by Sale to Dixon descended originally from the Dixons of Scotland Gentlemen of no despicable Account in that Nation and in their possession hath it ever since the first purchase been constantly setled Dachurst aliàs Hilden-borough had the same Possessors still with Tunbridge and being forfeited in the thirteenth year of Henry the eighth by Edw. Stafford Duke of Buckingham its Demeasne was in the fourteenth year of that Prince granced to William Skeffington Esquire in whose Descendant the propriety is yet resident but the Mannor it self rested in the Crown until not many years since it was conveyed by the State to Colonel Robert Gibbons of Hole in Rolvenden Bardens and Hadloe are two little Mannors in Tunbridge both which had Owners of that Sirname John de Barden held the first as the Book of Aide informs us and paid respective Aide for it at making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third and the dateless Evidences relating to Hadloe do assure us both of the Antiquity and Truth of the second And in the Tenure of the first did Bardens remain until the reign of Henry the fourth and then changed its Owner and came entirely to be possest by Hadloe but remained not long in his Name for John Hadlow dying without Issue Alice his Sister married to John Woodward became his Heir and she in her Widowhood about the latter end of Henry the sixth passed away Bardens to John Hopdey and he in the thirty eighth of Henry the sixth alienated his Right to William Hextall but Hadloe devolved to John Woodward Son of John Woodward abovesaid and he in the thirty seventh of Henry the sixth demises all his Interess in Hadloe to William and Henry Hextall and he the same year by Deed releases all his Right in Hadloe to William which William not many years after dying without Issue-male Margaret his Sole Daughter and Heir brought these two Mannors to be the Inheritance of her Husband William Wherenhall Esquire whose Son William Whetenhall Esquire about the middle of Henry the eighth passed away Bardens to Andrew Judde Esquire who erected the Alms-houses here at Tunbridge and Hadloe to William Waller Esquire Judde died without Issue-male and left his Estate to Alice his Sole Heir matched to Thomas Smith Esquire vulgarly called Customer Smith and he upon his Decease gave Bardens to his second Son Sir Thomas Smith of London in whose Descendants the Title yet is resident but Hadloe descended to Richard Waller Son to William abovesaid who about the forty second year of Elizabeth alienated it to George Stacy and he about the beginning of King James demised it again to Bing whose Successor Mr. John Bing in our Remembrance passed it away to Mr. David Polhill Esquire whose Grand-child Mr. David Polhill upon the late Decease of that his Grand-father is now entituled to the possession of it Hollenden is the last place in Tunbridge to be taken notice of which spreads its appendant Demeasne into the Parish of Leigh and was in Ages of a very high Gradation parcel of the Patrimony of the ancient Family of Fremingham for in the fifty fifth year of Henry the third I find that Ralph de Fremingham obtained a Charter of Free-warren to several of his Mannors in Kent in the Register of which was Hollenden In Times of a more modern Aspect that is about the reign of Henry the fourth I find it by some old Court-rols to be the Cheyneys and there are several parcels of Land that relate to this Mannor which are adopted into their Name and are called Cheyneys Fields and in this Family did the Mannor continue until the latter end of Henry the eighth and then it was alienated to Waller to whose Inheritance it continued united until that Age which fell within the Circle of our Fathers Cognisance and then it was passed away to Crittenden which Family at this instant is entituled to the Signory of it But part of the Demeasne which is spread into Leigh was about the beginning of Henry the seventh conveyed to Stacy whose Successor almost in our Remembrance alienated it to Turner and he not many years since demised it to James Pelset Tuydley anciently written Twidley lies in the Hundreds of Wachlingstone and Twyford and was not worth the Consideration were it not for Badsell where a Family who extracted their Sirname from hence had long since their Habitation from whom by a Daughter and Co-heir the Inheritance went into Stidulph from whom the Stidulphs or Stidolfes of Surrey are originally branched out a Noble Family certainly and of eminent Genealogy there being frequent mention in that Book which they call the Survey of the Lowey of Tunbridge taken in the fourteenth year of Edward the fourth of this Name and Family but when the successive mutation of Time had crumbled the Name of Stidolfe at this place into a Daughter and Heir called Agnes upon her espousals with John Vane Badsell became incorporated into the Interest and Concernment of that Family and by a Communicative Right issuing out from this Alliance does Milmay Fane now Earl of Westmerland entitle himself to the instant proprietie and possession of Tuydley and Badsell Kippings Crosse in Tuydley hath been as appears by several old Dateless Evidences and other Monuments for many hundred years the Seat and Inheritance of Kippings who bore for their Coat Armour as it appears exemplified and confirmed to Robert Kipping of Brenchley Gentleman the fifth of September in the thirty seventh year of Henry the eighth Loringeè Or and Azure upon a chief Gules A Lion passant Or langued and armed Azure But this Family after such a vast continuance here and at Brenchley not many yeart since determined in two Daughters and Co-heirs Dorothy the eldest was married to Edward Darrell Esquire second Son to Sir Robert Darrell of Calchill and Mr. James Darrell fourth Son of Sir Robert above mentioned and now secondly to Thomas Henshaw of Kensington Esquire descended from the ancient Family of Henshaw of Henshaw in Cheshire V. V. V. V. ULcomb in the Hundred of Eyhorne was the patrimony of St. Legers writen in Latin Records de Sancto Leodegario Sir Robert de Sancto Leodegario entred into England with Will the Conquerour and was of that high repute that according to the received Tradition of this Family he
assaults his Rear with that Courage that he forced that Duke to a Disorderly Retteat leaving his Canon and Carriages behind him as the Reward of his Valour and Fortune In the twenty seventh year of Henry the sixth he was sent over into France with fifteen hundred men as a fresh supply to buoy up the sincking Affairs of the English in that Nation with which he recovered many pieces of strength but overlaid with Multitude in an Encounter at Formigney by the Earl of Clermont and the Constable of France after he had with unparallel'd Testimonies of personal Courage endeavoured to preserve the Fortune of the Day he received a Defeat the Enemy buying his Victory at so dear a rate that it almost undid the Purchaser Lastly his Fate cast him into that Civil Contest which broke out between the two Houses of York and Lancaster and being satisfied with the Justice of those principles upon which the first had engaged in Arms became an eager Assertor of its Claim to the Diadem and having enbarked himself with Richard Earl of Warwick then the Atlas of that Faction in defence of it at the second Battle of St. Albans perished in the Ruines of that Field and by an unstained though a Calamitous Fidelity became the great Example of Loyalty to the House of York And he dying without Issue-male one of his Daughters and Co-heirs by matching with John Fogge of Repton Esquire brought this Mannor upon the partition of the Estate between Fogge and Bourchier who wedded the other to be annexed to the Demeasn of that Family and upon his Decease it descended to his Son Thomas Fogge Serjeant Porter of Callis who dying without Issue-male Anne Fogge who was one of his two Daughters and Co-heirs Aregrim a Saxon held the Mannor of Minshull in Cheshire as Dooms-day Book testifies in the Time of the Conquerour ut liber homo first matching with William Scot and afterwards to Henry Isham brought this to be parcel of the Inheritance of her second Husband but his Son Edward Isham about the latter end of Q. Elizabeth concluding in Mary Isham his onely Inheritrix she by espousing Sir George Perkins united it to his Patrimony and he setled the Reversion of it after his Wives decease upon Mary his Daughter married to Sir Richard Minshull of Cheshire created Baron of Minshull 1642 descended from that eminent Souldier Michael de Minshul who for his glorious service performed in the Quarrel of Richard the first at the Siege of Acon had the assignment for ever of the Crescent and Star for the Coat-Armour of this Family And he and the Lady Mary Perkins concurring in a joynt Sale passed it away in the second of King Charles to James Hugison of Lingsted whose Son John Hugison Esquire by descendant right is entituled to the Possession of it Waltham in the Hundreds of Bredge Petham and Stowting was anciently a Member of that Revenue which acknowledged the Interess of the Knights Templers as appears by a Survey taken of this Mannor in the year of Grace one thousand one hundred and eighty and registred in the Book styled de Terris Templariorum which is preserved in the Remembrancers Office in the Exchequer and in that Survey there is mention made of Ivo de Haut who held Lands at that Time of Temple Waltham lying at Petham not far distant which justifies the Antiquity of that Name in this Track Upon the total suppression and extinction of this Order here in England on pretence of some prodigious Crimes stuck upon it which whether they were imaginary or real must be discussed in that Critical Day when the secrets of all Hearts and the Bottome of all Secrets shall be opened this Mannor of Waltham was in the seventeenth year of Edward the second by Grant invested in the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem commonly called the Knights Hospitalers and here in this Order it rested until the reign of Henry the eighth and then being dissolved by that impetuous Tempest which like a Hurricano fell upon this and all other Conventual Orders in this Nation it was swallowed up in the Revenue of the Crown and there lay couched till the latter part of Queen Elizabeth and then it was in the forty second year of her swaying the English Scepter granted to John Manwaring Esquire from whom by Hope Manwaring his Daughter and Heir the Interess went to Humphrey Hamond upon whose Decease she was re-married to Sir Robert Stapylton a Person who hath erected his own everlasting Tomb and Epitaph in those exquisite Translations of his of Pliny's Panegyrick to Trajan Juvenal's Satyrs and lastly Strada's History of the Wars and other Transactions of the Low Countries who by purchase from his Son in Law Mr. Manwaring Hamond holds the instant Fee-simple of it Eshmerfeild is another eminent Mannor in Waltham and cals for some Respective Account because in Ages of a higher pedigree it confessed it self in the Revenual of the signal Family of Crioll for Bertram de Crioll possest it at his Death which was in the twenty third year of Edward the first and though he expired in a Daughter and Heir yet it continued still in the Tenure of a younger House until Bennet Daughter and Co-heir of Sir Thomas Crioll who was slain at the second Battle of St. Albans brought it to her Husband John Fogge Esquire whose Son Thomas Fogge about the beginning of Henry the seventh alienated his Right and Concernment in it to Sir Thomas Kempe in which Family the Inheritance remained until the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then it was passed by Sir Thomas Kempe this mans Grandchild to Roger Twisden Esquire whose Grandchild Sir Roger Twisden Knight and Baronet conveyed it to Sir John Ashburnham to whose Widow the Lady Ashburnham it accrued upon his Decease as having been before by speciall Compact made part of her Dower so that she at this instant hath the Use of the emergent profits and income of it Whetacre is another small Mannor that lies within the Circle of this Parish not worth the memorial were it not for a Family which extracted its Sirname from hence for I find Nigellus de Whetacre mentioned in the Book of Aide to have held Lands here in the twentieth of Edward the third In Times of a lower Date that is about the reign of Henry the sixth I find the Family of Hels or Hils descended from the Hels of Hels-court in Woditon to be planted in the possession and in this Name was the Interest of it constant until the beginning of Edward the sixth and then it was alienated to Prude whose Successor couveyed it to Alderman Cockain of London from whom the same Stream of Vicissitude carried it into Beacon Watringbury in the Hundred of Twiford was in Ages of a very high Gradation the Patrimony of a Family which enjoyed that Sirname and held not only the Mannor of Watringbury it self but Chart and Fowls which lie within the Precincts of this Parish
Digge who promiscuously writ themselves in elder Times sometimes of Barham and sometimes of VVestwell as appears by many of their ancient Evidences and other Muniments yet extant In the reign of Edward the third there was one Adomarus de Digge who frequently writ himself of Westwell but whether it were he that was the Judge or not I cannot positively aver In fine after this place had for many Ages acknowledged the Signory of this Family it came down to John Digge in whom the Male-line ended so that his Female Heir being wedded to Henry Aucher annexed it to the Revenue of that Family and from him hath the Title by a Thread of many years been guided down to Mr. ...... Aucher Dean-court may be registered likewise in the Catalogue of the principal Mannors of this Parish It was in Times of elder prescription the Inheritance of Hussie who likewise was entituled to the possession of Dean-court in Wingham now the Mansion of the Oxendens by purchase from this Family Henry Hussie a man of great power as appears by that large Estate he was Lord of both at Wingham Lenham Boughton Malherbe and elsewhere died possest of this Mannor in the eighteenth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Numb 36. and from him did it in an even and an undivided Current glide along in this Name until the latter end of King Henry the eighth and then it was passed away by Sale to Milan in which Family the propriety of this place is now resident Nash-court is the next place in Westwell that cals for our Survey in old Deeds I find a Family that sometimes writ At Ash and sometimes Nash into which the former Name resolved who were possessors of it In Times of a lower Step that is in the thirty second year of Edward the third as appears by the close Roll of that year Rot. Esc Num. 94. Alanus de Hanekin held it but before the latter end of Richard the second this Family had quitted the possession by Sale to Brockhull of Calchill and was not long after that is about the twelfth year of Henry the fourth by Henry Brockhull conveyed to John Darell Esquire Sheriff of Kent in the eleventh year of Henry the fourth and Brother of Sir William Darell under-Treasurer of England and in this Name it was permanent until the last year of Edward the sixth and then it went away by Sale to Sharpe of Nin-house in great Chart and hath been now for five Descents resident in that Family Beamonston vulgarly called Beamston is partly situated in West-well and partly spread into East-well but the greatest part of the Demeasne is circumscribed within the Bounds of this Parish And in the twentieth year of Edward the third as appears by the Book of Aide was held by Thomas at More at making the Black Prince Knight But before the fourth year of Henry the fourth this Family was extinguished for at the Marriage of Blanch that Prince's Daughter as appears by the Roll of Blanch Lands kept in the Exchequer John Amias was possest of it and paid respective Aide for it as having purchased it of At-More and in this Name did it reside until the reign of Henry the seventh and then it was conveyed by Sale to John Moile Esquire Father to Sir Thomas Moile who left this with much other Land to Katharine his Daughter and Co-heir matched to Sir Thomas Finch in Right of which Alliance it is now devolved to be the Inheritance of his great Grand-child Hencage Finch the instant Earl of Winchelsey Perytowne lies likewise within the Limits of Westwell and is registered in the Catalogue of those Lands that William de Aldon died possest of in the thirty fifth year of Edward the third and continued chained to the Inheritance of this Family until about the twenty seventh of Henry the sixth it was passed away with much other other Land to Cardinal Kempe who setled it in the twenty eighth year of that Prince on his newly erected Colledge of Wye and rested there until the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth and then it was resigned into the Hands of that Prince and he in the thirty eighth year of his reign granted it to Thomas Cawarden or Carden Esquire and he not long after conveyed it by Sale to Sir John Baker of Sisingherst whose Successor Sir John Baker Baronet hath this present year 1657. alienated it to Nathaniel Powell of Ewherst in Sussex Esquire Woditon or Wolton is the last place of any Note in Westwell It was originally parcel of the Inheritance of a Family called Wolton or Woditon Ivo de Woditon held it in the year 1236. and left it to his Son John de Wolton who had Issue Richard de Woditon or VVolton a man of principal Note in the twentieth year of Edward the third who held both this Mannor and VVoditon by Berham which he held of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury by Knights Service at making the Black Prince Knight And in this Man's Successors did the Propriety constantly reside until the latter end of Henry the sixth and then some part of it was conveyed to John Hampton and he about the beginning of Edward the fourth passed it away to Richard Rasel who died possest of it as appears by his Will in the twentieth of that Prince but there was some part remained unsold until William Wolton dying 1540 ordered it by his Deed to be passed away to Feoffees in Trust to discharge Debts which accordingly was performed and the Remainder conveyed to Rasell in the Descendants of which Name and Family the entire proprietie is at this instant remaining Werehorne in the Hundreds of Ham and Blackbourne was partly under the Jurisdiction of the Church and partly under the Signory of temporal and Lay Proprietaries that Moitie of it which was of secular Interest belonged to a Family called Bedford Rich. de Bedford obtained a Grant of a Market to it weekly on the Tuesday and a Fair of three days continuance at the Feast of St. Matthew as appears Cart. 52. Henrici tertii Memb. 12 which was renued and confirmed to the abovesaid Person in the eighth year of Edward the first and he in the seventeenth year of that Prince died possest of it as is manifest Rot. Esc Num. 20. But after him it was of no long date in the Tenure of this Family for in the reign of Edward the second I find it in the possession of Hugh de VVindlesore or VVindsor but was not long chained to their Patrimony neither for about the beginning of Edward the third it was alienated to Moraunt of Moraunts Court but about the beginning of Richard the second Sir Thomas Morant Son of VVilliam Moraunt Sheriff of Kent the twelfth and thirteenth year of Edward the third to whom that Prince issued out a Mandate that but one Bell should be rang in any Steeple towards the Sea-Coast in Kent determined in a Female Heir who was matched to James Peckham of Yaldham Sheriff of Kent
the third and twelfth of Richard the second and was as the private evidences of this Family inform me originally descended from Hugh de Peckham who was Constable of the Castle of Rochester under K. John in the first year of his reign and he in her right became entituled to that Interest Moraunt had in this place and in this Family it remained until those Times which approached near the Confines of our Grand-fathers remembrance and then it was passed away to Ellis from whence in Opposition to the other Moitie which was of spiritual Concernment it was called Werehorne Ellis and from this Family not many years since it was carried off by Sale to Tufton in right of which purchase the right honourable John Earl of Thanet is now invested in the possession of it The other Moietie which belonged to the Church was given in the year of Grace 1010 by Elphegus Arch-Bishop of Canterbury to the Monks of Christ-Church and was for the provision of their Garments And if you will discover how this was rated in the twentieth year of VVilliam the Conquerour the Record of Dooms-day Book will discover In Limwarled says the Note in Hundred de Hamme habent Monachi Sanctae Trinitatis de vestitu eorum 1. Manerium de VVerehorne 1. Sulling est appretiatum LXs. This Mannor being by the Monks and Prior of the Convent aforesaid surrendred into the Hands of Henry the eighth in the twenty ninth year of his reign it lay couched in the Demeasn of the Crown until the seventh year of K. James and then it was by Grant passed away to Tho. Paget and Thomas Twisden who in opposition to the other Moity which was of temporal Interess called this Werehorn Twisden and they not long after passed it away to Sir Thomas Tufton Grand-father to the right honourable John Earl of Thanet the instant Possessor of it Tinton in VVerehorne was a Mannor which anciently belonged to the Priory of Horton near Hieth but upon the suppression all its Demeasn being annexed to the Crown this was lodged there until the beginning of K. James and then it was by that Prince conveyed by Grant to Sir VVilliam Sidley of the Frierie in Alresford Grand-father to Sir Charles Sidley Baronet the present Lord of the Fee Capell in this Parish gave Seat and Sirname to a Family so called whose Demeasn lay spread into Ivie-Church Linton Boxley Horsmonden Capell by Brechley Capell in the Isle of Shepey and this Parish John de Capell flourished here in the reign of Henry the third who was as appears by the Leiger Book of Boxley an eminent Benefactor to that Covent and from him descended Sir VVilliam at Capell an eminent Knight of this County in the reign of Edward the third and Richard the second who left it to his Son Richard at Capell and he dying without Issue in the fifteenth year of Richard the second Sir John Orlanston in right of his Wife who was his Sister and Co-heir entred upon his Inheritance at this place and left it to his Son Richard Orlanston Esq who deceased without Issue in the seventh year of Henry the fifth and so upon the Division of the Estate VVilliam Scot who had espoused Joan one of the Sisters and Co-heirs was planted in the Inheritance of this place and from whom it is now devolved to be the possession of Edward Scot of Scots-Hall Esquire Ham is another eminent Mannor in this Parish which gives Name to the whole Hundred and was as high as the Ray of any Intelligence will guide us to discover folded up in the paternal Demeasn of the ancient Family of Orlanston VVilliam de Orlanston obtained a Charter of Free-Warren to his Lands at Orlanston VVerehorne and other places in the fifty first of Henry the third and being fenced in with this Immunity it came along by the Steps of Several Descents to Richard Orlanston Son of Sir John Orlanston who dying without Issue in the seventh year of Henry the fifth as is manifest Rot. Esc Num. 16. Joan one of his two Sisters matched to William Scot of Scots-Hall and Margaret the second wedded to William Parker of Parkers in this Parish became his two Co-heirs and upon breaking the Estate by mutual Division into parcels this in the second year of Henry the sixth was annexed to the Patrimony of Scot and from him did the Thread of successive Descent transmit to Mr. Edward Scot of Scots-Hall Esquire who still by paternal right enjoys the Inheritance of it Parkers is another Mannor which next summons our remembrance which afforded a Sirname as it gave an Habitation to a Family so styled Edward Parker held Lands in Werehore Westerham and other places at his Decease which was in the ninth year of Edward the second as appears Rot. Esc Num. 1.14 and in this Name was the Title and Inheritance constant until the reign of Henry the eighth and then I find by several Court-rolls one John Engham to be fixed by purchase in the possession and in this Family did it remain uninterrupted until the beginning of K. James and then it was by Sale conveyed to Taylor who not long after demised it to Collins from whom not long since it came by purchase to Squire and he not many years since passed it away to Dr. ...... Kingsley Arch-Deacon of Canterbury in whose Descendants the Proprietie of it is still resident Hampton Coclescombe is the last place considerable in Werehorne which gave Name originally to a Family which here had their Habitation and likewise were possessors of much Land at Westwell and other places and having lived here many Descents the possession of this place at last devolved to John Hampton who about the latter end of Edward the fourth passed it away to John May of Bibrook whose successor John May concluding about the latter end in a Daughter and Heir called Alice matched to John Edolph it came to be the Inheritance of that Family but did not long confess the Signory of it for this John Edolph deceased without Issue-male and left it to his sole Daughter Elizabeth matched to William Wilcock who expiring likewise in two Female Heirs Martha matched to Edward Ratcliff Doctor of Physick and Physitian to Q. Elizabeth and K. James and the second matched to William Andrews they divided this Mannor as parcel of his Inheritance William Andrews in the twenty ninth year of Q. Elizabeth demised his proportion to Rowland Bridges and Robert Philipson And Edward Radcliff alienated that part of it which accrued to him in the forty third year of Q. Elizabeth to Edward Rolt and Andrew Mersh Westerham gives Name to the whole Hundred wherein it is placed and was in elder Times the patrimony of a Family called Camville which was of some eminence in this Track William de Camville and G. de Camville entred England with VVilliam the Conquerour Thomas de Camville was one of the Recognitores magnae Assisae in the seventh year of K. John
situation on the Salt Sea Wingham from its position between two Rivolets that incompass the Eastern part of it like wings Corniloe that is The Corney Hill loe that is Cumulus Bewsborough now called Bewfield and Whitfield from the French word Beau for white and fair Longport that is Long Town by Canterbury toward Sandwich Folkestone that is a Town Populous and full of Folk so was this for in it there were four Churches a Monastery and some out-Chappels Lovingboroe however different in Orthography This name be now from Lyminge it must be found there or no where else And because Opinion without proof is but discourse and descant Harken to the Evidence at Lyminge which Edmerus a Monk of Christ-Church in Canterbury calls Lovingborough and the Records of that Church Nonnesborough was the first house of vailed Virgins in England called Nunnes and though the name of Lyminge was forlet and forlorn and Nuneborough passed currant and in short space one liquid being changed into another N. into L. Loneburgh and that by a second mutation in Lovingborough you have the disquisition and true result Stowting so called from some old Fortresses and Roman ramperes there Heane in British signifieth old Birchholt Franchise or Barony is by that addition known from a former Hundred where the name is Etymologized Street that is A place where the Romans Praetorian way lay from Lyme to Cant. now called Sonestreets began in place of which we call the viaregia Worth signifies a place made strong and Teneable by fortifying Ham that is Home Capitale Messuagium Langport ut ante St. Martine A place of Account heretofore by Romeney New Church that is of later foundation Aloe bridge written antiently Alulphs bridg that is the Bridge of Alulphus some Saxon. Oxney the Oxens water Ackridg that is The Ridg of Okes which in old English are called Akes Addesham from the old English and that is the old ham and so is this in Records Addington of like Radix onely Ham implies an open place as Ton an inclosed one from Tinan the Saxon word to hedg and inviron Alkham written Healkham the Town in a Corner from Healk in Saxon a Corner Allington is derived from the River Aigle contracted into Ayl Aldington here antiquity gives the Name for Aud we say Ald and now call it it Allington Allhallows from the Churches Dedication which some call All Saints but the first is in the Hundred of Hoo the second in Shepey Apuldore written in Saxon Records Apuldre that is the Town fruitful in Apples Ash from that kind of Tree Ashhurst a wood of Ashes Aylesford from the Ayl River so called after past Maidstone which imparteth its name to Aynesford originally written Anglesford The English mens Ford. Badelesemere that is in old Eng. the Circuite of Bad unfertile Pasture Badchild written in Saxon Bekenceld the chill or unhealthy water Bapchild in Saxon Beckchill the unhealthy chill water a small stream they called a Becks and Chill implieth cold and Aguish Berfreiston the Friers Court-Town Bereham derived from Bere a Court and Ham a Village Barming woody Pasture or rather Berme-Ing the moist pasture Berme importing moisture Becksbourne for distinction from the other Bornes taking its Name from the Family of Beke that held part sometime call'd Livingebourn from Arch-Bishop Livinus that built a Pallace here for himself and his Successors Beausfield from the fair open prospect which it hath to Sea and Land Bekenham from the Beke or small stream arising there Belsington The fair Prospect or rather the Town by the watry pasture from Eyle in Saxon importing watry Benenden from the Saxon word Binan within or two-fold The Parish hath several Dennes in it Bethersden written anciently Beatrixden that is Beatrix's Valley Betshanger originally Vitalshanger from one Vitalis owner of it near the conquest hanger because seated on the hanging hill Berested I find it near the Conquest to be of the possession of the Crevequers of Leeds and I might deduce it from Bury or Bere old English for the Lords Court or dwelling and then it fignifies the place where the Court is as Berewick is the way to the Court if you consider the Soil you may call it Barren Sted Bexley contracted from Bekesley Beke signifies a stream and Ley pasture Bicnor and Bicknore from Becn and Nor Becn signifies a sign or symboll and Nor the North from whence the Saxon word Beacnan to beckon or give some sign Becn signum seu symbolum Becnan signum dare Bidborough that is by the Borough of Tunbridge called Southborough the Saxon th being turned into d. Biddenden in old English Bithanden by the Denns for so is the situation of it in the weld of Kent Birchington The Town where the Birch grew Berling that is The Court lying on the Pasture Bishop borne the Borne belonging to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Blackmanstone written Bleachmanstone that is Man 's bleak Town Bobbing it is probable is deduced from an old Dutch word called Boban which signifies to extend or stretch it self out and Ing a Meadow Bocton that is the Town held by Book or Charter Boughton and Malherbe ill Pasturage Bocton that is Boughton Aloulph from Alulphus a Saxon owner of it Bonington the Town bounded with the Lawnds from the Saxon word Bonna importing the bound Borden from the Breed of wild Bores on the Chesnut hills thereby Burham the Ham by or in the Borough Burmarsh written anciently Burghmersh the Marsh by the Borough Borefield The Bores field Boughton Montchelsey from Montchensy the old Lord of Swanscomb was Lord of this place also Boxley that is the Pastures full of Box trees Brabourne from Bradebourne East and West the Broad Bourne Bradhurst that is the Broad Wood. Bradsted vel locus latus Bredgare the broad way Brenset from the brakish and brinish water Brooke from its being seated near some Brook Brookeland that is Land by the Brook or water Course Bromefield where the Fields are troubled with Broome Buckland that is Bockland Boc is a Book or Charter by which Land was granted Canterbury written Canterberig The Kentish-Men's Berg or Fortress Capell that is de Capello Chart-ham that is the Town held by Charter Great and Little Chart written anciently Cert which in Saxon signifies a Charter Chalk de Calce Challoke that is De Quercis Nudatis Charleton that is Ceorlton in Saxon The Grange or lusty Husband-mans Town from this Radix Churle cometh Charing written anciently Cering extracted from the Saxon word Cerran to turn there being divers wents and wandrings at this place Chellesfield The Chill and cold place Chepsted that is the Market place Locus nundinarius Cheriton that is from the growth of Cheries there Chevening from its lying under that great hill which runneth to Guldeford in Surrey which our Ancestors called Chevins Chidding stone in Sax. Ced-ingston that is the Town on the Brow of the Lawnd Ced in Saxon importing the Brow or Descent Or it is possible from Cedwine some
Saxon Owner Chilham Some have distilled something of Julius Caesar's name conjecturing it to have been called Juliham for Julius-ham Indeed there he lost Julius Laberius Durus Camp-Master or Field Marshal Chillenden so called from the cold place it stands in Chiselhurst from the growth of wood so called Chistelet in the infancy of Christianity was given to the Church of Canterbury by the Name of Cistelet that is the chosen lot or portion Cliffe from the situation upon the Cliffe in the Hundred of Hoo famous for a Synod held there Cobeham Hall and Cobeham Town anciently Coptham that is the Head-Village from the Saxon Copt an Head Coldred a village that standeth high and Bleak in East Kent and may brooke the name of Cold-rode Cosmus Bleane The Churches Dedication is to St. Cosmus and Damian Cowden from that sort of Beast called Cows which are in other places called Keyne Coudham The Cold-ham near Baston Down Cowling The Cow's pasture Crayford in old Deeds Crecanford from the Ford or River Crecan which gives name to St. Mary Crey Pauls Crey North Crey and Footes Crey from one Votes that held it in the Conqueror's time Cucston in Doomsday Book written Cocleston Coclecoe is an old priviledge to be free from answering in a place forrain to where he inhabits Crundall The Dale under a high-Crown'd hill Darent named so from the River on which it stands Dartford contracted from Darentford on which it standeth Davington or Devington extracted from Dew which imports Dew or Moisture Ing a Meadow and Ton a Town Deale sometime written Dale shews the situation to be in a plain valley Denton the Town in a Descending place Deptford that is the Deep Ford. Detling that is lying deep under a high hill Dimchurch written anciently Demchurch that is the Church upon the Dam. Ditton from Dike which in old time was written Dyghton and from thence the contract Ditton Dodington The Town on the Sedgy Lawnd from Dod that signifies the Sedge on the Bank of a River or rather from Duda some Saxon Owner Dover by the Romans called Dubris from the British word Dufir which signifies steep Downe a small Town high situated Eastbridge that is from its Easterne standing in the Marsh East-Church in Shepey from the like Situation Eastwell from the low situation in a bottome pag. 354. Edenbridge that is from the Bridge and River Eden Eden so called quasi Aqua i.e. Ey Saxonicè vallis i. e. Den The Riveror water in the Den or Valley Egarton a Parish bleakly sharply situated Eigtham called so from the eight Hams or Boroughs contained within it pag. 140. Elmesley The Elmey pasture Elmested denominated from Elmested locus Elmeston The Town among Elmes Elham or Helham quia inter Colles locatur Eltham Eldham the old Town Eseling quia in Orienti parte jacet Estling Ewell the watery bottome Eythorne olim scribitur Eigthorne The eighth Thorn Fairefield in the Marsh de bello Campo East and West Farleigh were written Ferneleigh from Ferne Ferne and leigh a Shelter or Covert Farneburgh from the Soil about it yielding Fearne and Brakes Farmyngham The ancient name is Fremingham from the stream running through it as Fremington in Devon from a small stream running through it into Tawe Faulkeham and Falkeham villa populi Fleet both North and South that is from the Thames that sometime came up Fordwich that is the crooked turning river Frensted and vulgarly Wrensted Freons-sted the Freemans place Frittenden derived from Frith a Chace and Den a valley Frensbery anciently Freons-Berig the Freeman's Court. Gillingham derived from some Gill or Rivolet passing through it and emptying it self into the Medway Godmersham Land given to God and that Church bounded by Meres Goodneston that is a good fertile Town and Country Gowdhurst anciently and properly writtten Goodhurst The good Wood. Graveney expounded by the ensuing Town Gravesend quasi Grevesend the Limits of the Liberty The other expressing a moist and watery place of like Liberty Grainey Isle from Corn Greyn so called Greenwich the turning of the River through the Green Meadows Grome the Bridge over a small stream called Grome and by it a Mansion house so called Guston that is Goston where Goss and Furres did grow Hadlow from Heafod contracted into Head and Low importing the small Head or knob Cumulus in Latin Hakington now called St. Stephens the land proportioned into Hages Haga in Saxon denoting a Circle High Halden written anciently Healden that is the Healthful Valley Halling written Healling Heathful Meadow Halsted that is Hail or Healthy place Halstow written Haly stow Holy place High Halistow Holy place given to provide Service Books for Christ-Church in the Saxons time Ham by Sandwich Signifie small Homes or dwellings Ham by Warhorne Signifie small Homes or dwellings Harbledown that is The Hill of pasture and Herbage Upper and Nether Hardres are derived from Erd the earth and Reys little Rils or Brooks Haretsham written Heretsham the Lords Town Hartie Island lying in the Form of a Hart Insula Cordis vel Cordialis or rather from Herets-Ey in Saxon the Lords water Hartley Herets-ley the Lords pasture Hartlip Labium Cordis Hastingleigh is derived from two Saxon words Heastan which signifies the Highest and Leah campus or Locus Hawkhurst that is Hawkeswodd where Hawkes had Eyeries Hawking that is Hawks Meadow Hawtes Bourne The Hawtes after Shelving owed Bourne Hearne so called from the Breeding of Hernes there Bede translates Herne by Casa as if Herne signified a House Hearnehill distinguished from the former by the situation under Boughton hill Hedcorne famous for the best and chief Corn and biggest Poultry Heys yielding plenty of Hay Hever deduced from two Saxon words Hey water and Over signifying some passage over the water Higham that is Highly seated Hinxell that is Hynds-hill Hythe that is Portus a Haven for Ships to arrive in Hollingbourne the Bourn rising in the hole Hoo from Hough in Saxon high Hope in Romney Marsh Ecclesia spei Horsmanden The Horsmans Valley Horton Kirkby that is by the Church Horton by Chartham Horton Monkes the Durty Town from Hore which imports any Filth Hoathfield that is Heathfield Hougham The high Town Hucking anciently Houge-Ing the high Lawnd Hunton or Huntington The Town to hunt in from the Saxon word Huntan Ifield written Eyfeld that is the watry Field Ightham See Eigtham Ickham anciently Yeockham the Town of arable Land from Yeock an Acre of Land Ivychurch written anciently Eyvey Church that is the Church by the water Iwade vulgarly originally Eywade The passage over the water Kempsing from some Camp or Fortress Kenardington from Kein-Erd-ington no Earth in the Town from the Moorish Situation It is probable likewise it might derive its Name from one Cyneward a Saxon Owner Kennington from Cinningston the Kings Town Keston Keysers Town by Baston the old Roman Colonie Kingsdown by Farningham Kingdowne by Milsted The Kings Hill Kingston by Barham The Kings Town Kingsnoth the Kings portion
posterity Potts Court in Babchild vulgarly called Petts Court was parcel of the Demeasn of the Priory of Dertford as appears by an Inquisition taken in the eleventh year of Edw. the fourth Rot. Esc Num. 69. and continued united to it untill the suppression in the Reign of Henry the eighth and then it was cast into the Revenue of the Crown where it lay untill Edward the sixth in the last year of his Reign granted it to Sir Thomas Cheyney whose Son Henry Lord Cheyney about the thirteenth year of Q. Eliz. passed it away to Samuel Thornhil Esquire in whose Descendant Line the Propriety of it is yet continuing Morris Court is a third place of Note in Babchild in elder Times it gave Seat and Sirname to a Family of that Denomination as appears by the ancient Muniments of this Seat but before the latter End of Henry the fourth this Family was vanished and then I find the Enghams setled by Purchase in the Inheritance and John Engham as appears by ancient Court Rolls held it in the Reign of Henry the fifth and Henry the sixth and after him did the Title by successive Inheritance transmit it self to his Posterity even untill those Times which grew near our Grand Fathers remembrance and then it was by Sale translated into Wolgate whose Ancestors had their Habitation at Wolgate Green in Throuley and after it had for some years acknowledged this Family for Proprietaries it was conveyed to Tilghman descended from the Tilghmans of Snodland from which Name it was again by as sudden a transmission alienated to Carselock of Feversham allied to John Carselock the last Abbot of the Priory there at the suppression of it and this Name being lately here by Defailance of Issue totally extinguished the Heirs of this Family as Knowler and others so designed by Testament do now possess it Badelesmer in the Hundred of Feversham was the Seat of that Family which for the great sway and influence they had once in this County although they have their Existence now only in Annals and History deserve a serious Remembrance Giles Lord Badelesmer as the Annals of St. Augustins instruct me was slain in the year 1258. in a Battell against the Welsh whilst he by endevouring to unite them to the English Scepter attempted to assault their Liberty and they as vigorously asserted it Guncelin de Badelesmer dyed possest of this Mannor in the twenty ninth year of Edward the first as appears Rot. Esc Num. 50. and lies buryed in Badelesmer Church with his Portraiture crosseleg'd cut in Wood and so much left of his Name as discovers to us that it is He who lyes there enterred and although there hath such a vast Interval or Decursion of Time intervened since his Sepulture yet neither hath Time nor our modern Zeal more fierce and ravenous then that so defaced it but that the Effigies insculped crosseleg'd is yet obvious visible and this I believe wil sufficiently refute the opinion of the vulgar who believe this Figure on the Tomb-stone to be the representation of some Giant and this Guncelin had Issue Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer that opulent and powerfull Baron of Kent who was witnesse to the Charter of Edward the second by which he confirms the Franchises and Priviledges of the City of London in the twelfth year of his Reign and there subscribes himself Steward of the Kings Hostell and was certainly a very eminent Person for in the year 1316 when Sir Richard de Rodney was invested with Knighthood by the abovesaid Prince the Ceremony of putting on his Spurs was performed by Maurice de Berkley and Bartholomew de Badelesmer but he had not been long swoln to this vast Dimension of power but their arose a Tempest which blasted all his blooming Glories for Isabel Wife and Queen to Edward the second having by severall good Offices performed between her Husband and his disobliged Barons so becalmed and softned all their Animosities that they became intombed in a mutuall Pacification was so inflamed at her denyall of Lodging and Accomodation in Leeds Castle by Thomas Colepeper the Castellan under Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer that she egged and pushed on the King to a Revenge which was done so effectually that the Death of the Castellan was the Expiation of so infortunate an Insolence and the Losse of the Head of the Lord Badelesmer taken Prisoner not long after neer Pontfrait and the forfeiture of his Estate paid the price of his Ambition and thus this magnificent Baron who like a streight and procere Elme grew tall in Title and like its luxuriant Branches did spread wide in the extent of his Power and Revenue was by this Storm supplanted and his Patrimony broken to peices being gathered up by escheat into the Royall Demeasne and in this Shipwrack did this Family lye involved untill the second year of Edward the third and then the indulgent Munificence of that Prince boy'd it up out of those Ruines wherein it appeared almost to have been sunk and by Patent restored him to his Estate here and elsewhere and he in a thankfull acknowledge to Heaven for this Restitution according to the Piety of those Times erected here a House for Black Canons or Canons of St. Augustins as the Record pat 13. Edw. 3. Memb. 6. doth amply testifie and dyed in the twelfth year of Edward the third and left his Estate to his only Son Giles Lord Badelesmere who dying without Issue his four Sisters Margery first marryed to William Rosse Lord Hamlake and then remarryed to Tho. Arundell Margaret matched to Sir John Tiptoft Elizabeth first wedded to William Bohun Earl of Northampton and afterwards to Edmund Mortimer Earl of March and Mawde espoused to John Vere Earl of Oxford became his Coheirs and that Land here at Badelesmer which was not before setled on the Monastery upon the partition was knit to the Patrimony of Vere and he dyed possest of it in the thirty fourth year of Edward the third and left it with the Title of Baron Badelesmer to his Successors one of which was Jo. Earl of Oxford who was attainted in the twelfth year of Edw. the fourth for supporting the House of Lancaster at the Battle of Barnet but was restored both in Blood and Estate but he never was possest of this Mannor for I find that upon the Suppression of this Cloister at Badelesmer it escheated to the Crown and then Henry the eighth granted it to Sir Robert Southwell and he in the second year of Edward the sixth alienated it to Sir Anth. Aucher and he upon his decease gave it to his Son Jo. Aucher who dying without Issue male Ann his sole Inheritrix brought it with her to her Husband Sir Humphrey Gilbert who about the middle of Queen Elizabeth alienated it to Sir Michael Sonds and from him is the instant Signorie devolved to Sir George Sonds Knight of the Bath There is another Mannor in this Parish of Badelesmer called Goddisland and gave Seat and Sirname
it at making the Black Prince Knight And here is much Land in this Parish which bears the Name of Pend a probable Argument of the Antiquity of it in this Track nor did it yeild to Time or desert the Possession of this Place but was constant in the Tenure of it until that Age we call our Grand-fathers and then it was alienated to a Family called Dominie alias Fullaker the last of which Name at this Place was Christopher Dominie alias Fullaker who not many years since passed it away to Mr. John Hulks of Newenham whose Son and Heir Mr. Stephen Hulks does now possesse the Signory of it Herietsham in the Hundred of Eyhorne was anciently a Limb of that Estate which was entituled to the Possession of the Noble Family of Crescy Hugh de Crescy died seised of the Mannor in the forty seventh year of King Henry the third and his Grand-mother Margery was Daughter of William de Cheyney of Patricksbourne Cheyney as appears Claus 52. Henrici tertii Memb. 6. in Dorso But he deceased without Issue and so his Brother Stephen de Crescy became his Heir and Lord of Herietsham and in this Family it continued until the latter end of Edward the second and then the Possession of this Place went from Crescy into Northwood as is manifest by the Book of Aid where Roger de Northwood is represented to have held this Mannor and have paid a proportionate Aid for it at making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth of Edward the third and he deceased seised of it in the thirty fifth year of that King's Raign And in this Name it remained fixed until the Beginning of Henry the fifth and then it was transplanted into the Interest of a Family called Adam who had large Possessions in Essex and bore for their Paternal Coat vert a Plain Crosse Or and John Adam held it at his Death which was in the ninteenth year of Henry the sixth and left it to his Son John Adam after whom I do not find any more of the Family possest of it for in the Raign of Edward the fourth I discover by some Court Rols that James Peckham of Yaldham Esquire was Lord of the Fee and Reginald Peckham his Son that was Sheriff of Kent in the last year of Henry the seventh kept his Shrivalty at Herietsham but after this it was of no long continuance in this Family for in the fifteenth year of Henry the eighth Reginald Peckham passes it away by Sale to Edward Scott Esquire and he not long after transmits it by the same conveyance to John Hales one of the Barons of the Exchequer and from him one Moiety of it went away by Sale in the twenty eighth of Henry the eighth to John Norton Esquire and the other not long after to Sir Anthony St. Leger Norton conveyed his proportion to Ashburnham of Sussex and both St. Leger and Ashburnham in the Time almost of our Fathers Remembrance by a concurrent Sale demised their joint Right in it to Sir John Steed whose Successor Doctour ...... Steed Doctour of the Civil Law is the instant Proprietary of Herietsham East Farbon and Bentley are two little Mannors in this Parish which belonged to the Priory of Leeds and upon the suppression were made parcel of the Revenue of the Crown and remained there until King Edward the sixth in the fourth year of his Raign granted them to Sir Anthony St. Leger whose great Grand-child Sir Warham St. Leger about the Beginning of King James passed them away to Mr. ........ Steed Father to Doctour Steed who upon the Decease of his Nephew Cromer Steed without Issue Male as Reversioner in Entail is now settled in the Possession of these two Mannors West Farbon sometimes in old Deeds called little Herietsham lies likewise in this Parish and was granted in the two and fiftieth year of Henry the third to William de Valentia Earl of Pembrooke But after him I track no more of the Family at this place For in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black Prince Knight it was held by John Pennington and in the fourth year of Henry the fourth when Blanch that Prince's Daughter was married it acknowledged it self to be under the Signory of the above mentioned Family and continued divers years after united to their Interest But in the Raign of Henry the eighth I find them quite vanished from the Possession and a Family called Hede or Head entituled to the Inheritance and in this Name did it make its abode until the Raign of Edward the sixth and then it was conveyed by Sale to St. Leger where it rested until the Beginning of King James and then it was alienated by Sir Warham St. Leger to Mr. Benedict Barneham who left four Daughters and Co-heirs matched to Audley Constable Doble and Soame who equally shared his Estate and this upon the distinguishing of it into just Proportions augmented the Revenue of Constable Harbilton is another ancient Mannor in Herietsham It was in the twentieth year of Edward the third the Inheritance of Thomas de Malmains for at that Time as appears by the Book of Aid he paid a subsidiary supply for this and other Lands at making the Black Prince Knight After this Family was mouldred away which was before the End of Richard the second I find the Family of Maris was settled in the Inheritance William Maris who was Esquire first to Henry the fifth and after to Cardinal Kempe was Possessor of it and so was his Son William Maris Esquire who was Sheriff of Kent in the one and twentieth year of Henry the sixth After this Family I find the Moils about the latter end of the former Prince's Government to have stept into the Inheritance the first of which was Walter Moile who was Justice of the Peace for this County in the Raign both of Henry the sixth and Edward the fourth and left this and a spatious Patrimony besides to his Heir John Moile Esquire whose Son Robert Moile about the Beginning of Henry the eighth alienated it to Geffrey St. Leger Esquire from whom the Title for many years streamed into this Family until in that Time which fell under our Grand-fathers cognizance it was passed away by Sale to Steed Ancestor to Doctour Steed who is the instant Possessor of it Marley and Hopme Mill and in other Copies written Holme Hill did with their Income support the Chaunter of the Canons of Pauls to whose office they were annexed A Place certainly in elder Times of important Account for in the Records of Christ-church from whence Pitseus hath collected his Inventory of the English Writers there is mention of one Joannes de Teneth a Man as exemplary for his Piety as he was eminent for his Learning who was Chaunter to that Covent but this Office being entombed in the Ruines of those Canons of Paul in the General suppression the Revenue which upheld it was fixed in the Crown until King Edward the sixth
was transplanted by Sale into John Norden who in our â—â—â—â—dfathers memory demised it to Pordage Predecessor to Mr ........ Pordage of Râ—â—â—ersham who is now entitled to the Fee-simple of it Mere-Court is a third place of Account in this Parish calle◠〈◊〉 from its Situation near the Sea which our Saxon Ancestors called Mere and is câ—â—â—â—marily used in that sense for any wast heap of Waters as Lakes and Pools that are 〈◊〉 all sides lockt in by the Land by the Dutch to this day But I cannot find that it evâ—â— had any Possessors that extracted their Sirname from hence for in the Raign of Edward the third I find Arnold de Savage held it and so did his Grandchild Eleanor Savage who was matched to William Clifford and he by this Alliance became invested in the Possession and in this Family did the Title lie couched untill the beginning of Henry the seventh and then I can track no farther Evidence of their Possession of this place In the Raign of Edward the sixth I find it to be invested in the Name of Croft and remained tied to the Patrimony of that Family untill David Crofts died in the twenty second year of Queen Elizabeth and left it to Jo. Croft Helen and Margaret his Daughters and they upon the death of their Brother who was an Ideot becomming Joynt-heirs to this place in the forty second year of Q. Elizabeth passed it away to Mr. Stephen Hulks who bequeathed it to his Son and Heir Mr. Jo. Hulks and he upon his Decease which was not many years since gave it to his second Son Mr. Charles Hulks who now is in Fruition of it N. N. N. N. NAtindon in the Hundreds of Bridge Petham and Whitstaple is an obscure Village not far remote from Canterbury and only calls for some Remembrance in this respect that the Mannor of Staplegate is situated within the Limits of it which was the Seat of an eminent Family which bore that Sirname who were Lords not onely of this Place but of much other Land in Romney Mersh and had certainly this Denomination ingrafted originally upon them because they collected the Kings profits and Customes arising out of the Staple of Wooll fixed at Staplegate in Canterbury The first of this Family whom I find eminent is Edmund Staplegate who paid respective Aid for his Mannor of Bilsington and his other Lands in Kent in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black Prince Knight and he was Father to Edmund Staplegate who at the Coronation of Richard the second held that signall Contest before John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster then High Steward at that solemn Inthronization with Richard Earl of Arundell about the Office of Chief Butler as I have before mentioned in Bilsington But to return to that Discourse from whence this emergent Controversie did divert me Edmund Staplegate in the thirteenth year of Richard the second enjoyed this Mannor at his Death but after his Deeease the Title was not long liv'd in this Name for in the Raign of Henry the fifth and Henry the sixth as appears by the Testimony of ancient Court Rolls it was in the Possession of Leichfield who was Master of much Land about Tilmanston and Betshanger and in the twenty second year of Ed. the fourth it was by Roger Lichfield passed away by Sale to William Haut Esquire Father to Sir William Haut in whom the male-line determined so that by Elizabeth his Daughter and Coheir it came to be the Inheritance of Sir Thomas Colepeper of Bedgebury who about the first year of Edward the sixth alienated it to Philip Chowte Esquire and from him the like Fate bore off the Title to Sir Anthony Aucher and he about the latter end of Edward the sixth disposed of his Right in it to Sir James Hales of the Dungeon Ancestor to Sir James Hales of the same place who not many years since demised the Premises to Mr. Smith of High-Gate upon whose late Decease the Title like a Pythagorean-Soul is transmigrated into his Heir Nettlested in the Hundred of Twyford was the ancient Seat of the noble and ancient Family of Pimpe William de Pimpe paid respective Aid for this Mannor and other Lands which lay not far distant from this place which he held by a whole Knights Fee at the making the Black Prince Knight the twentieth of Edward the third Reginald Pimpe was his Son and Heir and served out the Office of high Sheriff of Kent for him in the forty ninth year of Edward the third in which year he dyed It is probable that this William was knighted because there is a Tombe in Nettlested Church with this Inscription affixed to his Tombe-stone Hic jacet Domina Margareta de Cobham quondam Vxor Willielmi Pimpe Militis quae obiit 4 Septembris 1337. From whence it may be probably collected that the above recited William Pimpe though he is not mentioned as a Knight in the Register of the Sheriffs yet afterwards for some exemplary Services by him performed and managed might be invested with the Order of Knighthood From this Man in the continued Succession of a direct Line See more of Pimp in my Discourse of Sea-watches did Reginald Pimpe descend who determined in Ann Pimpe who was his Sole Heir and so this ancient Family which had under a venerable Character of Antiquity for so many Ages flourished at this place as the Monuments in the Church not yet dismantled do sufficiently evince was about the latterend of Henry the seventh extinguished and Nettlested fell under the Patrimony of John Scott of Scotts Hall from whom Edw. Scot Esquire is lineally extracted and in Relation to this Alliance is the instant Proprietary of Nettlested Lomewood is a second place of Account in Nettlested it belonged formerly to a Cloister of black Cannons in Oxford dedicated to St. Friswith which being suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey in the year 1525 when he intended to erect the magnificent Fabrick of the Colledge of Christ-church this Mannor was resigned up to the Crown and was by King Henry the eighth in the twenty seventh year of his raign granted to Sir Edward Nevill who gave it in Martiage with his Daughter Katharine Nevill espoused to John Roydon Esquire of Roydon-Hall in great Peckham and he determining in Elizabeth Roydon his Sole Heir she by matching with Roger Twisden Esquire planted it in his Revenue and from him hath the Interest of Descent transported it along to his Grandchild Sir Roger Twisden of Roydon Hall Knight and Baronet Newenden in the Hundred of Selbrittenden was erected in the place where the old Roman City of Anderida was situated and was called by the Britons Caer Andred very aptly by Leland styled in Latine Noviodunum from the Saxon Nywandun in English by Corruption called Newenden which in the original imports as much as The new Hill in the Valley This was that Station and City of the Romans mentioned in the Banner of the Count or Lord
Book of Aide and the Book called Feoda Militum in the Exchequer do both inform us his Son was Gerard Braybrooke and his Grand-child was Reginald Braybrooke whose Heir Joan Braybrooke married to Thomas Brooke of the County of Somerset but whether this Reginald Braybrooke gave this Mannor to pious Uses or not and principally to the Abby of Leeds adjacent I cannot positively determine upon the Suppression it was granted as being parcel of the Demeasne of the Convent of Leeds by Henry the eighth in the thirty seventh year of his reign to John Tufton Esquire who passed it away by Sale to Mr. Richard Argall whose Heir Elizabeth Argall being married to Edward Filmer Esquire made it the possession of that Family and by a communicative Right from him does his Grand-child Sir Edward Filmer Son to Sir Robert Filmer lately deceased now hold the possession and propriety of it Sutton Valence and Chart by Sutton both lie in the Hundred of Eyhorne the last of which contracted the Appellation from formerly owning William de Valence Earl of Pembroke to be Lord of the Fee who certainly instituted that Castle that now even in its Reliques and Fragments with much of venerable Magnificence overlooks the Plain And when Aymer de Valence his Son concluded in a Female Heir Isabell she was wedded to Lawrence Lord Hastings who in relation to her became not only Earl of Pembroke but Lord of Sutton-Valence also and from him did it descend to his Grand-child John Hastings Earl of Fembroke the last Earl there of that Name who transmitted his Title of that place to Reginald Grey and Richard Talbot who flourished here about the reign of Henry the fourth and they had this Mannor by Testamentary Donation in the fourteenth year of Richard the second In the next Age subsequent to this I find the Cliffords of Bobbing-court to be the Proprietaries and to this Family was the Inheritance in a constant Union fastned till Nicholas Clifford Esquire deceased without Issue-male and left only one Daughter and Heir called Mildred who was first married to Harper secondly to More thirdly to Warren and lastly to Blount but she had only Issue by Harper and More for in her Right Edward Lord More of Mellifont in Ireland and Sir Edward Harper divided the Possession but the first desiring to contract his whole Revenue into Ireland and the other to make this adjacent to his principal Seat of Ruspar-hall in the County of Derby Sir Edward Harper alienated this to Sir Edward Hales Knight and Baronet and the Lord More Chart by Sutton to the same worthy Person Grand-father to Sir Edward Hales Baronet who not only enjoyes the Title of his Ancestors Dignity but that of the Possession in these places likewise Cheyneys-court in this Parish hath been adopted into that Name since it for many Descents acknowledged the Jurisdiction and propriety of that Family and I could unravel a Successive Series of many of that Name but that it is superfluous who were Lords of the Fee it is enough that Sir Thomas Cheyney sold it to Iden which Name suddenly after resolving into two Daughters and Co-heirs one matching with Brown and the other with Barton the last made it parcel of the Patrimony of that Family and when some years it had been continued in the possession of Barton it was in our Memory by Sale brought over to be the Demeasne of Wollett and it is now but whether by Purchase or by the Right of a Female Heir or not I cannot ascertain my self the propriety of Jordan Sutton at Hone lies in the Hundred of Acstane and gives Denomination to the whole Lath wherein it is situated It was long since a Mannor relating to the Revenue of the Knights Hospitallers who had here a Mansion-house called St. Johns where they often made their Retreat when they visited their other Demeasne Land which lay circumscribed within the Verge of this County but their Estate here was much inforced and improved by the Addition of the Mannor of Grandison which whether it came to them by Purchase or Donation from Thomas Lord Grandison who died the forty ninth year of Edward the third is incertain Upon the Suppression of the Alberge of these Knights of St. John of Jerusalem here in England their Revenue was assumed into the possession of the Crown and King Henry the eighth bestowed by Grant on Sir Maurice Dennis St. John's and to him does that magnificent and elegant Pile where now the Countess of Leicester makes her Residence owe the first Institution of its Shape and Beauty though it has been since extreamly inlarged by the Additions both of Bulk and Ornament by Sir Thomas Smith But to proceed St. Johns was conveyed from Sir Maurice Dennis by his Coheir to Thomas Cranfeild whose Grand-child Vincent Cranfeild has lately alienated his Right to Mr. Hollis of London Merchant Haly Sawters is another Mannor in Sutton in Hone a place though now obscure in it self and not re-presented to our Remembrance but by Annals and Record yet in elder Times it was raised up to a higher degree of Estimate when it had Proprietaries whose Nobility and Title added both Value and Lustre unto it The first of which Register whom I trace in Record to be entituled to the Possession was Laurence de Hastings Earl of Pembroke and he died seised of it in the twenty second year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 47. from whom the Title came down to his Son John de Hastings and he likewise was in the enjoyment of it at his Decease which was in the forty ninth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 70. After this Family had deserted the Inheritance I find Richard Fitz Allen Earl of Arundel to be invested in the Possession and he died in the Tenure of it in the one and twentieth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 2. From whom it devolved to Joan his Daughter and Co-heir matched to William Beauchamp Baron of Aburgavenny whose Son Richard Lord Beauchamp dying without Issue Male Elizabeth his Sole Daughter espoused to Edward Nevill Baron of Aburgavenny in her Right be came his Heir and he in the sixteenth year of Edward the fourth died possest of this Mannor of Sawters And here for want of Light both from publick or private Record I cannot discover to my Reader or my self whether or not it passed away immediately from Nevill to Maio whom I find about the beginning of Q. Elizabeth to be planted in the Possession though the Affirmation of some old people of this Parish who derived that Knowledge they have of it from the Tradition of their Ancestors that assert it did Thomas Maio in the twenty eighth of Q. Elizabeth passed it away to Rich. Paramour and he presently after disposed of it by Sale to Sir Henry Brooke who conveyed it to Robert Wroth Esquire and he to Edmund Hunt Esquire who alienated Haly and Sawters to Mr. William Hewson in the thirty fourth year of