hold in Knights Service of him and his Successors which was very usual and customary for the Arch-bishops and other great Prelates to do until King Edward the first growing jealous of the Power and Grandeur of the Clergie who endeavoured by their Bounty and magnificent Donations to oblige both the principal of the Nobility and Gentry and chain them up by these extraordinary Engagements to their Devotion caused the Statute called Quia emptores Terrarum in the one and twentieth of his raign to be made which restrains and supersedes for the future all new Creations of Mannors But to proceed VVilliam de Cobham being thus enstated in this Mannor in Gratitude to the first Donor altered his Name from Cobham to Pluckley Sir Richard de Pluckley this mans Grandchild flourished in the raign of King Stephen and Henry the second and founded the Church at Pluckley and from this man did VVilliam de Pluckley lineally branch out in whom the Male-Line concluded so that Agnes his Daughter and Heir by matching with John Surrenden Esquire cast Pluckley into the Possession of that Name and Family where it had not long sojourned when the same Vicissitude brought it over to Haut for James Haut wedded Joan Heir General of John Surrenden and so became Possessor of Pluckley but in this Name the Title was as volatile and mutable as in the former for this man went out in Daughters and Co-heirs one of them was wedded to Gouldwell and Christian the other was matched to John Dering Esquire in whose Right he was entituled to the Signory of Pluckley Now if you will inquire where lay the ancient Land of Dering if my Assertion might be credited I should affirm that it was at Stamford by Hieth where they were Lords of some part of the little Mannot of Heyton for by an old Roll I find that Normanus de Morinis married Kineburga Daughter and Heir of Deringus and his Son as was Customary in those Times called himself Deringus de Morinis and matched with Elveva Sister and Heir of Alanus de Heyton and so was invested in the Propriety of the Mannor of Heyton from whom it successively came down to Richard Fitz Dering who was Son of Dering and great Grand-child to this man who was the first who deserted the Sirname de Morinis and assumed that of Dering and died possest of the Mannor of Heyton in the forty second year of Henry the third And from this Richard Fitz Dering is Sir Edward Dering Baronet now lineally extracted who is the instant Lord of Pluckley and Surrenden Dering where Sir Edward Dering Knight and Baronet not many years since deceased raised that elegant Structure as eminent for its Magnificence and Beauty as it is for its Contrivance and Curiosity Pevington was formerly a Parish and had a Church dedicated to St. Mary though it be now languished into Dis-use and grown an adjunct to Pluckley The Patrons as well as Proprietaries of it were the Pevingtons a Knightly Family who borrowed their Sirname from hence The first whom I meet with is Sir Ralph de Pevington who flourished here in the raign of King John and King Henry the third and was Father to Sir William de Pevington who likewise died possest of this Mannor in the fifty fourth year of Henry the third from whom descended John and William Pevington who dying without Issue in the seventh year of Henry the fourth Amabilia their Sister matched to John Gobion became their Heir and she lies buried in the Church of Austin-Friars at Canterbury and is mentioned to have been a liberal Benefactresse to that Cloister about the Time of her Decease which was 1405. and had Issue by him Julian their only Daughter who was about the twenty seventh year of Henry the sixth matched to William Brent from whom descended Thomas Brent in whom the Name and Male-Line together was extinguished so that Margaret Brent matched to John Dering was the visible Heir of his Estate amongst which this Mannor of Pevington was enwrapped which came down in Right of this Alliance to Sir Edward Dering Knight and Baronet who upon his Decease gave it after the Death of his Mother the Widow Dowager of Sir Anthony Dering to Mr. Henry Dering the eldest Son by his last Lady Malmains in Pluckley was the Inheritance of a Family of that Sirname Eleanor Wife of John de Malmins died seised of it in the fourteenth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 51. And after by Court-rols I discover Henry Malmains to be possest of it from whom it descended to Richard Malmains who died as the Date upon his Tomb-stone in Plukley Church discovers to us in the year 1440. and left John Malmains his Heir after whom I descry no farther mention of this Family at this place The next Family which succeeded in the Inheritance was Dering not by any Right derived from Haut for they had espoused the Heir of that Name before Malmains was extinguished nor could it be by any Female Heir atchieved for there were but two Co-heirs of this Branch of Malmains who were wedded to Monins and Gouldwell And if it be answered that Dering married the Heir of the eldest House To that I answer that Nicholas Malmains who was of the elder Line deceased in the twentieth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 15. and left only a Daughter and Heir who was matched to William de Grandison so that it is evident by the Premises that this Mannor of Malmains devolved to Dering the instant Proprietary not by any match of Haut or of this Family it self by any Female Heir or Coheir of Malmains but by Purchase only Shurland is the last place of Account It hath been the Patrimony of Betenham of Betenham in Cranbroke for many Hundred years Stephen de Betenham is mentioned in Court-rols which take their Rise or Date from the Government of Hen the third and certainly this is that Stephen de Betenham which is mentioned to be one of the Recognitores Magnae Assisae an Office of very great Importance in elder Times in those Pipe-rols which relate to the raign of King John and from this Stephen hath the Title of this place by a constant and even Chain of Ages threaded together into an unbroken Succession come down to Mr. Betenham who holds the present Signory and Possession of it Plumsted in the Hundred of Lesnes was in the year of Grace 960. given by King Edgar to the Abbot and Convent of St. Augustins in Canterbury as Thorne their Chronicler testifies under the Notion of four ploughed Lands which afterwards Godwin Earl of Kent violently tore from their Patrimony and setled upon his Son Tostius but it was restored to that Seminary by William the Conqueror and remained fastned to their Revenue until the rough hand of Henry the eighth by a publick suppression unlinked it and then it was by that Prince in the thirty sixth year of his raign granted to Sir Edward Boughton of
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-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
was father to Will. de Septuans who was seised of it when he deceased which was in the twenty fifth year of Edw. the third but it seems it was not long permanent in the Tenure of this Name for immediately after the Gowers had it and Iohn Gower when he died was in the enjoyment of it which was in the forty third year of Edward the third from whom not many years after it was by purchase transported to Iohn Brockhul Esquire and with the Demeasn of this Family did the right of this place many years appear to be interwoven till Anne Daughter and Heir of Henry Brockhull married to Sir Iohn Taylor and then both the Name and Estate were swallowed up in this Family where the possession for sundry Ages remained till lately it was conveyed by Sale to Freake issued out from the Freakes of the County of Dorset who by marrying the Darghter of Sir Thomas Colepeper of Hollingbourne has planted himself in this County There was a Castle anciently in Thurneham which as Darel affirms in his Tract de Castellis Cantii had both its Name and Foundation from Godardus a Saxon being called Godard Castle which is so despicable an Heap that not the least Crums or Fragments continue of the Ruines which might signifie to us the lest symptome of its former strength and Grandeur Tunstall in the Hundred of Milton did about the twenty ninth of Henry the third confess it self to be under the Dominion of Walter de Grey who was Lord Paramont of this place but long did not remain invested in the Signory of it for in the forty fourth year of Henry the third I find Iohn de Burgh descended from Hubert de Burgh in the possession of it and he that year by the favourable compliance of that Prince obtained a Charter of Free-Warren to his Mannors of Norton and Tunstall but before the latter end of Edward the first this Family had deserted the Inheritance of this place and then the next which succeeded proprietarie of it was Thomas de Brotherton Earl of Norfolk who ending in Daughters and Co-heirs Margaret one of them being first matched to Iohn de Segrave and afterwards to Walter de Mayney descended from VValter de Meduana or Mayney who held twenty Knights in this County in the reign of Henry the third brought this to be the Demeasn of her second Husband Walter de Mayney a person on whom the Beams of Majestie reflected with so vigorous impression that he was summoned to sit in Parliament as Baron in the reign of Edw. the third and in whom that Prince reposed so great a confidence that as Daniel represents to us in his Chronicle he and his Son Edward the Black Prince fought under his Colours in a private Habit against Monsieur de Charmy a Frenchman near Calais in Picardy in the twenty third year of his reign and deceased full of Fame and of Years in the forty fixth of that Prince but determined in Anne Mayney his Sole Inheritrix who by matching with John Hastings Earl of Pembroke linked this Mannor to his Inheritance but he dying in the thirteenth year of Richard the second Reginald Grey and Richard Talbot were found to be his Heirs and they bring a pleading in the fifteenth year of the Prince abovesaid against John le Scroope who pretended some Title to his Estate and having rescued it from collateral Claim about the beginning of Henry the fourth conveyed it to Sir Robert Knolles who in the seventh year of that Prince passed it by Fine then levied to Sir William Cromer Lord Maior of London his Son William Cromer Esquire who was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty third year of Henry the sixth and was afterwards in the twenty seventh year of that Prince barbarously assassinated by Jack Cade whilst he endeavoured to impeach that Arch-Incendiarie in his March towards London He married Elizabeth Daughter of James Fiennes Lord Say and Seal by whom he had Issue Sir James Cromer Father of Sir Will. Cromer who was Sheriff of Kent the ninteenth year of Henry the seventh and the first year of K. Henry the eighth and George Cromer who was Arch-Bishop of Armagh in Ireland This Sir William had Issue James Cromer Esquire from whom descended Will. Cromer Esq his Son and Heir who was Sheriff of Kent the ninth and twenty seventh of Q. Elizabeth and had Issue Sir James Cromer of Tunstall Knight Sheriff of Kent in the second year of K. James in whom the Male-line determined so that Francis his Daughter by his first Wife matched to Sir Mathew Carew Elizabeth his Daughter by his second Wife wedded to Sir Iohn Steed of Steed-hill and Christian born likewise by that Venter married to Sir Iohn Hales eldest Son to Sir Edward Hales of Wood-Church became his Co-heirs Upon the partition of the Estate Tunstall was shared by Sir Iohn Hales from whom it is now descended to his Son and Heir Sir Edw. Hales Baronet who lately hath begun to erect upon the ancient Foundation a Frabrick of that stupendious Magnificence that it at once obliges the eye to Admiration and Delight Vfton is a place of Repute Seated in this Parish but it is raised up to a higher estimate since we find it was anciently parcel of the patrimony of Shurland for Robert de Shurland had a concession by Charter of Free-Warren to sundry of his Lands in Kent amongst which there is a recital of Vfton afterwards in Times subsequent to this by the Heir General of Shurland it was cast into the possession of Cheyney and Will. de Casineto for so this Name is rendred in Latine Records or William Cheyney held it at his Death which was in the eighth year of Edward the third and after for many Descents it had layn included in the Interest and proprietie of Cheyney it was by a Daughter and Heir put into the Demeasn of Astley from whom again the like flux of Circumstances bore away the Inheritance and transferred it to Harlackenden the instant Lord of Vfton Gore-Court in this Parish in Times of elder Derivation was the Seat of a Family whose Sirname was At-Gore and sometimes in ancient Court-rolls written De la Gore called so from their Habitation which was situated near some publick way Gare Gate and Gore importting no more in the Saxon Dialect then some common passage But to proceed Henry At-Gore held Gore-Court when he deceased which was in the thirty first year of Edward the third and for several Generations was the Inheritance knit to his Name till the common Fatalitie of Time brought it to expire in Alice Gore the Heir General of this place and of Iohn Gore the last of the Male-line who enjoyed it and she disposed of her Concernment in it to Will. Croyden in which Family after the possession had resided it was alienated to Wood descended from the Woods of Muston in Hollingbourne in whom the right of Gore-Court continues still invested Tunbridge gives Name to that
the rudenesse of the Words which are here transcribed out of the East Window where they stand engrossed in an antiquated Character Margareta La Famma Gillam de Brockhilla fio Fera sata Shapella From hence branched forth the Brockhills or Brockhulls for anciently they were written so both ways both of Cale-hill and Aldington Septuans in Thurnham But the Male Line fayling here in Thomas Brockhull Elizabeth his Sole Daughter and Heir brought it to be possest by Richard Selling in which Family after the Interest of it stayed untill allmost our Fathers Remembrance it was by the same Devolution carried off to acknowledge the Propriety of Tournay Sandhurst in the Hundred of Selbrittenden was with much other Land granted by King Offa in the year 791 to Christ-church in Canterbury But Betherinden was always of temporal Interest for it afforded both Seat and Sirname to a Family of this Denomination and John de Bethrinden dyed seised of it in the year of Edward the third But not long after did it reside in this Family for this Name expired in a Female Inheritrix who was matched to Finch who united this Seat to his Demeasne and here it lay untill the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth and then it was rent off by Sale and placed in Pelham and from this Name a Mutation of the same Circumstance took it away and in our Fathers Remembrance annexed it to the Inheritance of Fowl and remains still with the Descendants of that Family Aldrinden is a third place of Account in Sandhurst had Owners of that Sirname of whom Roger de Aldrinden as the private Deeds of this place do inform me was the last in the Male descent who left it to his Daughter and Heir Christian Aldrinden and she in the twenty second year of Edward the third passed it away to John Sellbrittenden who not long after alienated it to Thomas Bourne and he held it as appears by an old Court-roll in the first year of Richard the second and from him did it by the Chain of Descent passe along untill it arrived at John Bourn who dying in the fourth year of Edward the fourth settled it by Will on Joan his Female Inheritrix matched to Thomas Allard and by this Alliance did it descend to his Son Henry Allard who had Issue John Allard who alienated his Right in it by Sale to John Twisden Gentleman in the thirtieth year of Henry the eighth from whom it came down to his Successor Mr. William Twisden who about the Beginning of King James sold it to Mr. Thomas Downton Esquire Father of Mr. Richard Downton of Istleworth Esquire Justice of the Peace for the County of Middlesex now Proprietary of it Combden is another Mannor in this Parish which was anciently possest by Fulk de Ballard that Fulk who as appears by the Book called Testa de Nevill in the Exchequer paid a respective supply for Land in Sandhurst at the marriage of Isabell Sister to King Henry the third in the twentieth year of that Prince but not long did the Propriety of this place rest in this Family for in the reign of Richard the second I find it in the Possession of the Whitfields an ancient Family descended from Whitfield in Cumberland of which Stock was Sir Ithan de Whitfield who in behalf of the Barons then knit together in an hostile confederacy against their Prince as an old French Manuscript informs me tue Borough-bridge 15. Edwardi secundi il est oit contre le Roy defended Borough-bridge against Edward the second And ever since the Government of that Prince above-mentioned was this place constantly fastned by the Thread of many Descents to the Patrimony though not of this Family yet of this Name until Sir Ralph Whitfield deceasing not many years since bequeathed it by Will to his Daughter Mrs. Dorothy Whitfield who hath now brought it by Marriage to be the possession of John Fotherly Esquire Here is a place in this Parish which however it be now under a cloudy and obscure Character was in Ages of a higher Gradation the Inheritance of the Noble Family of Twisden and certainly here they lived when they writ de Denna Fracta and from them it hath borrowed the Title of Twisden-street or Borough which it retains to this Day Indeed Twisden in the Original Saxon imports no more but the broken Valley or the Vale distinguished into two peeces Shadockherst in the Hundreds of Blackborn Chart Longbridge and Ham was the Inheritance of a Family called Forstall and sometimes written at Forstall which were of no contemptible Extraction in this County for in several Ancient Deeds I find John at Forstall and Richard at Forstall to be Witnesses and it is probable they were Possessors of this Mannor though the private Deeds reach out to our View no higher discovery then the reign of Henry the fifth for in the third year of that Prince's reign Joan Forstall passes it away by Deed to Stokys vulgarly called Stokes and in that Family was the Interest of it many years clasped up until at last the ordinary Vicissitude of Purchase brought it to be the Demeasne of Randolph who had an Estate likewise about Burham near Maidstone And from this Name about the beginning of King Edward the sixth it went away by Sale to Sir John Taylor who in the twenty fifth of Queen Elizabeth passed it away to John Taylor Esquire Ancestor to Thomas Taylor Esquire who is now invested in the Possession of it and from whom I confesse I have received my Intelligence concerning those who were the former Proprietaries of it Criols-court in this Parish was one of those Seats which related to the Patrimony of Bertram de Crioll and he died seised of it in the twenty third year of Edward the first and left it to his Son John de Crioll who deceasing about the beginning of Edward the third without Issue it devolved to Joan his Sister and Heir who was matched to Sir Richard de Rokesley but he likewise determined in Agnes Rokesley who was one of his two Female Co-heirs and she by matching with Thomas de Poynings entituled that Family to the possession of that wide Estate which devolved to her in Right of her Mother and from him did it descend to his Successor Sir Edward Poynings Son of Robert Poynings a man very eminent in the Government of Henry the seventh For this Sir Edward in the first year of his Rule immediatly after he had triumphed over Richard the third in Bosworth-field was chosen one of his Privy Councel to manage the publick Interest of the Nation Afterwards he most vigorusly opposed James Lord Audley and his Cornish Squadrons being then in Defection to Henry the seventh in the tenth year of his reign And this Sir Edward held it at his Death which was in the twelfth year of Henry the eighth though his Office was not found until the fourteenth of that Prince and then it being discovered that the whole Stock and Lineage
third year of Henry the sixth Joan the Wife of Sir Iohn Grey one of the Sisters and Coheirs of the abovesaid Edmund was invested in the possession in the fourth year of the abovesaid Prince Not long after this it came to own the Signory of the Tiptofts and continued fastned to their patrimony until the renth year of Edward the fourth When Iohn Tiptoft Earl of Worcester being empeached of close Confederacy and Combination with the abovesaid Prince then forced into Exile was by the Parliament then principally moulded out of the Lancastrian Faction attainted and beheaded and his estate here confiscated to the Crown and there was lodged until the first year of Queen Elizabeth and then it was granted to Anthony Brown Viscount Montague who in the year 1592 deceased and left it to his Son and Heir Anthony Brown Viscount Montague and he setled it upon his second Son Mr. Stanislaus Brown who now is in the enjoyment of it East-wickham is situated in the Hundred of Little and Lesnes and celebrates the memory of the noble Family of Montchensey and was wrapped up in their Demeasn William de Montchensey held it at his Death which was in the fifty second year of Henry the third and left it to his Sole Daughter and Heir Dionis matched to Hugh de Vere but he dying without Issue in the seventh year of Edward the second as appears Rot. Esc Num. 51. the Title and possession diverted to VVilliam de Valentia Earl of Pembroke half Brother by the Mothers side to Henry the third who had matched with Joan Sister and Heir to VVilliam de Montchensey before named from whom it descended to his Son Aymer de Valence who dying without Issue Isabell one of his Sisters and Coheirs who was affianced to Laurence de Hastings summoned to sit in Parliament by Edward the third as Earl of Pembroke upon the approportioning the estate entituled her Husband to this Mannor and from him was the Title carried down to his Grandchild Iohn de Hastings Earl of Pembroke who was in possession of it at his Decease which was in the thirteenth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 30. And Reginald Grey was found to be his Heir in which Family it remained until the Beginning of Henry the sixth and then it was passed away to VVilliam Lord Lovell who was often summoned to sit as Baron in Parliament in that Prince's reign and from him it came down to his Grandchild Iohn Lord Lovell summoned to sit in Parliament as Baron in the second year of Edward the fourth and he about the Beginning of his reign passed it away to Iohn Lord Howard afterwards created Duke of Norfolk who being a close and eager Complice of Richard the third sunk in his Ruines in the Battle commenced at Bosworth and Henry of Richmond having by that successeful Combat ascertained himself to the English Scepter seised upon this Mannor by Escheat in the first year of his Reign as relating to a person who had actually appeared in Arms against him and being thus united to the Crown it lay couched in its Revenue untill the seventh year of Edward the sixth and then it was granted to Sir Martin Bowes who not long after passed it away to Alderman Oliff of London who left it to Joan his Sole Daughter and Heir matched to John Leigh Son and Heir of Nicholas Leigh of Addington in Surrey Esquire Father to Sir Oliff Leigh who much enhaunsed the Magnisicence of the ancient Fabrick with increase of Building and left it to his Son Sir Francis Leigh whose Widow the Lady Christian Leigh in Right of Dower is now in Possession of the Signory of it VVest-Wickham in the Hundred of Rokesley is much enobled by being anciently entituled to the possession of the eminent Family of Huntingfield Peter de Huntingfield held it who was Sheriff of Kent the eleventh twelfth and thirteenth years of Edward the third and is registred in the Scroles of those Kentish Gentlemen who accompanied Edward the first in his Victorious Expedition into Scotland in the twenty eighth year of his reign when he reduced Carlaverock by a successeful Seige for which his merit was repayed with the Honour of Knighthood his Son and Heir was Walter de Huntingfield who in the eleventh year of Edward the second obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannor of West-Wickham a Market weekly on the Monday and a Fair yearly on the Vigil and day of St. Mary Magdalen as appears Pat. 11. Edwardi secundi Num. 23. And left it invested with these Priviledges to his Son and Heir Sir John de Huntingfield who paid Aid for three Knights Fees which he held in this County at making the Black Prince Knight and was a Man of that Eminence that he was summoned to sit as Baron in Parliament the thirty sixth year of Edward the third and several other Times during the Raign of the above-named Prince William de Huntingfield this mans Son was summoned likewise many Times to sit as Baron in Parliament about the latter end of Edward the third but dyed without Issue so that Joan and Alize Huntingfield his Cozens matched to Copledike and Norwich were his Heirs and by an old Deed I find that one John Copledike held this Mannor by Right of Partition the last year of Richard the second but it was not long after this fixed in the Patrimony of this Family for in the seventeenth year of Flenry the sixth Thomas Squerrie died possest of it and left it to his Son and Heir John Squerrie who dying without Issue in the fourth year of Edward the fourth Dorothy one of his two Sisters and Coheirs entituled her Husband Richard Mervin upon the Division of the Estate to the proprietie of this Mannor and he not long after passed it away to Richard Scrope who in the seventh year of Edward the fourth alienated it by Fine to Ambrose Creseacre who not long after transmitted it by Sale to Henry Heyden Esquire to whom the principal part of the ancient Pile now visible ows its Erection and from him did it devolved to that eminent Scholler and Souldier Justice of the Peace and Captain of the trained Bands of this County in the Reign or Queen Elizabeth Sir Christopher Heydon who about the latter end of that Princess passed it away to Sir Samuel Lennard Father to Sir Stephen Lennard who is entituled to the present propriety of it Wymingswould in the Hundred of Wingham contains within the Circuit or Limits of it an ancient Seat called Nethersole from its situation near some Pool or descending Pond and was as high as the Time of K. John and Henry the third the possession of a Family which was represented to the world under this Sirname for as it appears by the Original Deeds and Evidences which fortifie the Title of this Mansion Richard de Nethersoll flourished here about the Government of the abovesaid Monarchs and from him was it by a perpetuated Succession chained
Prince made the Inheritance of Mr. John Buckler who about the beginning of Edward the sixth passed it away to Sir William Damsell emploid as Agent from that Prince to the Crown of France and he going out in four Daughters and Coheirs one of them by matching with Burston made it upon the disunion of the the Body of the Estate into parcels a Limb of his patrimony and remained so until our Fathers remembrance and then it was conveyed to Moil of Buckwell and was not many years since conveyed by Robert Moile Esquire alienated by Sale to Sir Thomas Finch afterwards Earl of Winchelsey Father to Heneage Finch Earl of Winchelsey now Proprietary of it Raymonds is the last place of Account in Wye which afforded a Seat and gave a Sirname to a Family so called and were eminent in this Parish many hundred years since as being Stewards to the Abby of Battle for Lands near this place and it is probable this place was the original Seminary or Fountain from whence the Raimonds of Essex Norfolk and other Counties in this Nation deduced their primitive Extraction But to advance in my discourse this Family of Raymond having long since abandoned the Signory of this place it hath been for sundry Descents the Inheritance of Beck and is still entituled to the propriety of one of this Name and Family Y. Y. Y. Y. YAlding in the Hundred of Twyford It was in old Saxon Orthography written Ealding from the Watry Situation of the Meadows It was made eminent by being parcel of the Inheritance of the Earls of Gloucester whose Sirname was de Clare under whose Signory it remained till Gilbert de Clare Earl of Gloucester and Hertford who deceased in the eighth year of Edward the second and left Margaret de Clare his sole Heir who was married to Hugh de Audley who became in right of his Wife Lord of the propriety of Yalding and Earl of Gloucester likewise but enjoyed neither no considerable space of Time for he died in the twenty first year of Edward the first and left no Issue Male so that Margaret Audley became his Heir who by matching with Rafe Earl of Stafford cast it into his patrimony and he at his Death which was in the forty sixth year of Edward the third in her right was found to be possest of it and in this Family did the Inheritance fix it self till the reign of Henry the eighth and then Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham descended in a direct line from the abovesaid Rafe Stafford having by his own improvidence and miscarriage laid himself open to the Malitious Assaults of Cardinal Wolsey He by blowing of wild Conjectures into the Ears of King Henry the eighth blew up the fire of his rage into that height and fury that nothing could extinguish it but the Blood of this Peer poured out by an untimely Effusion upon the Scaffold upon whose infortunate Decease his Estate by Forfeiture and Escheat devolved to the Crown And K. Henry the eighth suddenly after granted Yalding to his Kinsman Hen. Somerset E. of Worcester whose Father Charles Somerset he in the seventh year of his Government by a new Creation had adorned with that Title from whom not long after it was by purchase incorporated into the Patrimony of Nevill Baron of Aburgavenny whose Successor is John Nevill both in the Barony and in the Inheritance of Yalding Woodfold is a place not to be declined without some Consideration because it was a place formerly of no contemptible repute for Anselmus de Quintin originally issued out from the ancient Family of Boupton in Wiltshire held it in the twentieth year of Edward the third by the fourth part of a Knights Feee as the Book of Aid testifies at the making the Black Prince Knight and here after the Possession divers years had resided it shrunk away from this Family and by purchase was carried into the Inheritance of Burton where likewise it was some Generations settled till the same Vicissitude made it as inconstant here as it had been to the former Family and by Sale transported the right of it to Vane a younger Branch of Vane Earl of Westmerland in whose Name and Posterity the Patrimonial Interest of it continues still wrapt up Lodingford is another mannor in Yalding which belonged to the priory of Bermondsey and upon the Suppression of that magnificent Cloister was annexed to the revenue of the Crown but made no long abode there for Henry the eighth granted it to Tho. VVood Esquire and he not long after alienated it by Sale to George Fane Esquire Ancestor to the right Honourable Mildmay Fane now Earl of VVestmerland the instant Lord of the Fee Yalding had the Grant of a Market to be observed there weekly procured to it by Hugh de Audley and a Fair to continue three Days yearly viz. the Vigil the Day of St. Peter and Paul and the subsequent to it as appears Pat. 12. Edw. secundi N. 57. The Description of the ISLANDS ELmeley is an Island not farre removed from Feversham but yet is situated in the Hundred of Milton it was in elder Times parcel of the Demeasn of Peyforer Fulk de Peyforer held it at his Death which was in the fifth year of Edward the first from whom it was transported by Descent to his Son Fulk de Peyforer who likewise was in possession of it at his Decease which was in the ninth year of Edward the second but before the latter end of Edward the third this Name and Family was shrunk into a Daughter and Heir called Julian who by matching with Thomas St. Leger annexed that Interess that Family had in this Island to his Inheritance and from him the like Vicissitude carried it off to Hen. Aucher who had espoused Joan his Coheir but before the latter end of Hen. the fifth his right in Elmeley was by Sale transplanted into Cromer of London who likewise before had purchased some proportion of Estate which the Heirs of * Sir Rob. Knolles Feoffee in Trust for Grey and Talbot passed away 1000 Acres in Elmeley to Sir Will. Cromer 7. Hen. 4. Hastings had in this Island by a right deduced from Mayney for Sir VValter de Mayney Knight of the Garter died the forty ninth year of Edward the third and left onely a Sole Daughter and Heir called Anno who by matching with John Hastings Earl of Pembroke brought Tunstall and much other Land here in Elmeley and elsewhere to be the patrimony of that Family But to proceed Elmeley being thus entirely made the Demeasn of Cromer continued linked to this Family many Descents until Sir James Cromer the last of this Name almost in our memory died and left three Daughters and Coheirs surviving for Martha the fourth died unmarried to share his Estate Frances was matched to Sir Mathew Carew Elizabeth married Sir John Steed and Christian espoused Sir John Hales and so these three dividing Elmeley the Descendants which claimed from Carew and Steed have