easie Pronunciation hath melted it into Brograve which represents the Etymologie of the Name to have been in its Original perfectly Saxon. In the year 1479 there was a License granted as appears by the Records of Rochester to William Brograve by the then Bishop of that Diocess to erect an Oratory or Chapple at his Mannor-house of Kelseys the Vestigia or Reliques of which are yet obvious to an inquisitive Eye and from this William did the Title and possession in an even Current come down to Mr. Thomas Brograve who being not many years since deceased his Widow Mrs. Martha Brograve now in respect of Jointure enjoys the present Possession of it Foxgrove is the last place of Account in this Parish it had in elder times Proprietaries of this Sirname for I find John de Foxgrove paid respective Aid for it in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black Prince Knight After this Family succeeded Bartholomew Lord Burwash and he held it at his Decease which was in the twenty ninth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 44. and from him it descended to his Son Bartholomew Lord Burwash who in the forty third year of the abovesaid Prince passed it away to Sir Walter de Paveley and in his Family it remained untill the latter End of Richard the second and then it was conveyed to Vaux of the County of North-Hampton and there made its abode untill the latter End of Henry the sixth and then it was alienated to John Grene Esquire and he died possest of it in fourth year of Edward the fourth and in this Family did the Title reside untill the Beginning of Henry the eighth and then it was demised to Beversea and Humphrey Beversea I find held it in the eighteenth year of Henry the eighth and his Descendant passed it away to Luke Hollingworth and he about the Beginning of K. Edward the sixth sold his Interest in it to Alderman Sir Jo. Oliff of London and he dying without Issue Male Joan matched to John Leigh of Addington Esquire was his sole Heir and in Right of this Alliance did it come down to Sir Francis Leigh late of East-Wickham whose Widow Dowager the Lady Christian Leigh is now in Possession of it Bexley and in ancient Deeds written Bekesley lies in the Hundred of Rokesley and did in Times of elder Inscription belong to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury for Anno 805. K. Kenulfus gave Bexley to Arch-Bishop Vefred ad opus Ecclesiae Christi and his Successor to improve his Interest in this Mannor obtained a Market to be held weekly at this place upon the Tuesday and a Fair upon Holy-Rood-Day yearly in the ninth year of Edward the second as appears Pat. 9. Edw. 2. Num. 49. and here the Title it lodged untill it came to the Crown in the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth by Exchange with Tho. Cranmer then Arch-Bishop as appears by the Records of Christ Church and was passed away by King Iames to Sir Io. Spilman his Majesties Jeweller originally extracted out of Germany and he suddenly after conveyed it to that resplendent Luminary of Englands Antiquities Mr. William Camden Clarenceux King of Arms and he upon his Decease gave it to Brasennose Colledge in Oxford from whom the Lady Christian Leigh of East-Wickham holds it now as Lessee Blinden Court in old Deeds written Bladindon is the next object of our observation It was in elder Times the Possession of Jordanus de Bladindon or Blindon who about the first year of Richard the first passed it away to Walsingham in which Family it was resident untill the latter end of Henry the fourth and then it was carryed over by Sale to Ferbie of Pauls Crey and one of this Family about the Beginning of Henry the sixth transported it by the same Alteration to William Marshall and he not long after conveyed it to Rawlins but it setled longer here for it remained linked to the Demeasne of this Name almost untill our Grandfathers Remembrance and then it was by Purchase made the Inheritance of May who not many yeers since alienated his Concernment in it to Wroth and is at present part of the Demeasne of John Wroth Esquire descended from the ancient Family of the Wroths of Durants in Essex Hall Place in this Parish is the last place which summons our Remembrance It was in times of a more ancient Character the Inheritance of a Family called Athall the last of which was Thomas Athall who in the fourty first year of Edward the third conveyed it to Thomas Shelley of Gaysam in Westerham and in this Name after the Title like a fixed Inmate had for many Generations dwelt it came down to William Shelley Son of John Shelley Esquire who in the tweny ninth year of Henry the eighth passed it away to Sir John Champneys of London from whom it descended to his Grandchild Mr. Richard Champneys Esquire who some few yeers since alienated his Interest here to Mr. Robert Austin of London Brasted in the Hundred of Codsheath was a Mannor which anciently related to the Family of Clare who were Earls of Glocester and Hertford and held is in grand Serjeanty of the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury as they were originally and de Jure Stewards to the Lord Arch-Bishop at the Time of his Installment and Inthronization Ric. de Clare dyed possest of it in the forty seventh year of Henry the third and so did Gilbert de Clare in the twenty fourth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 107. From whom it came down to Richard de Clare who in the nineteenth year of Edward the second ended in Margaret his sole Heir matched to Hugh de Audley who in her Right was not only Earl of Glocester but likewise Lord of this Mannor and enjoyed it in the twenty first year of Edward the third but he likewise going out in a Female Heir stiled Margaret She by matching with Ralph Stafford Earl of Stafford wedded the Title to his Inheritance nor did it dislodge or depart from it until it escheated to the Crown upon the Attainder of Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham who was convicted of high Treason in the thirteenth year of Henry the eighth where it had not long rested but the abovesaid Prince by Patent setled the Right of it on Sir Henry Isley who being interessed past recovery in the Design of Sir Tho. Wiat forfeited both Life and Estate to the Crown and then Queen Mary upon his Conviction granted it to John Lennard Esquire from whom it is now transported by Descent to his Successor Francis Lennard Lord Dacres who is the instant Lord of the Fee There is another Mannor and Seat in Brasted venerable enough for its Antiquity anciently called Stockets but now Crow-place it was so denominated from the Stockets which first held it Walter de Stocket and sometimes in old Deeds written Stock and Stoke possest it by the fourth part of a Knights Fee in the Time of Edward the
Denne who deceasing without Issue Male Margaret his only Daughter and Heir brought it over to her husband Edw. Hougham after whose death it is to devolve to two Daughters who are the surviving Issue of that Wife namely Elizabeth matched to Mr. Edward Rose of Chistlet and Ann wedded to Mr. John Betentham now of Canterbury The Dungeon is another Mannor in Canterbury It was formerly belonging to an ancient Family called Chich Ernaldus de Chich was a man of principal note under Henry the second Richard the first and K. John and the Aldermanry of Burgate in Canterbury did in elder times appertain to this Family Thoma Chich was was Bailiff of Canterbury 1259. and again in the year 1271. was a principal Benefactor to the Church of S. Mary Bredin in Canterbury whose Name in an old Character together with his Effigies are set up in the west Window as his Coat is likewise in Stone-work in the Chancell John Chich was Bailiff of Canterbury in the twenty third and again in the twenty sixth year of Edward the third in the year 1320. Robert Malling then Commissary of Canterbury gave Sentence upon clear Evidence by ancient muniments and otherwise that the Hospital of St. Laurence in Canterbury should not only receive the Tithes of the Mannor of the Dungeon but likewise of 300. Acres adjacient to it but this was not without the Tye or Tribute of some Remuneration for in Autumne John Chich who was then Lord of the Dungeon was to receive for his Servants five loaves of Bread two Pitchers and an half of Beer and half a Cheese of four pence and he himself was to receive unum par Cirocecarum ferinarum one pair of Holyday Gloves and one pound of Wax in Candles and for his Servants three pair of Gloves Thomas Chich this mans Son was Sheriff of Kent in the forty fourth year of Edward the third and held his Shrivealtie at the Dungeon but in Valantine Chich this mans great Grandchild not only the male line but likewise the possession of this place failed for he about the beginning of Edward the fourth passed it away to Roger Brent Esq and he died seised of it as appears by his Will recorded at Canterbury in the year 1486. But in this Family it was not long after this resident for in the beginning of Henry the eighth by an old Court Roll I find one John Butler of Heronden in Eastrye possest of it and he conveyed it to Sir John Hales Chief Baron of the Exchequer and when Leland visited Kent which was in the thirtieth year of Henry the eighth he lived here and from him is it now come down to his Successor Sir James Hales the instant Proprietarie of it The Moate alias Wyke is a third Mannor within the precincts of Canterbury and had owners of that Sirname For I read in Testa de Nevill that Stephen de VVyke possest it in the twentyeth year of Henry the third and paid respective Aid for it at the marriage of Isabel that Princes Sister and in the Book of Aid where there is an Enumeration of the ancient owners there is a Recital of Stephen de Wyke William le Taylour John Tancrey and Richard Betts who had an Interest in it but before the beginning of Richard the second all these Families were mouldred away and vanished For in that Kings Reign I find it by the Court Rolls of this place in the hands of Sir Richard de Hoo and Richard Skippe and they about the latter end of Richard the second by deed conveyed it to Simon Spencer and he some few years after alienated it to John Standford Gentleman who suddenly after Passed it away to Richard Smith in whose hands it had not long continued when the same Devolution brought it over to John Eastfield Esquire Son of Sir William Eastfield who was Knight of the Bath and Lord Maior of London in the year 1438. and from him it was by Sale carried off to William Rogers and he by a Fine levied in the thirty third year of Henry the sixth demises and sells it to Philip Belknap of Canterbury Esquire Maior of that City in the year 1458. and Sheriff of Kent in the thirty fourth year of Henry the sixth he married Elizabeth Daughter of John Woodhouse Esq by whom he had Issue Alice his only Daughter and Heir who was matched to Henry Finch of Nitherfield Esq Father of Sir William Finch Banneret who in his Mothers right was invested in the possession of the Moâ—t and from him is it now by Successive right devolved to the Right Honourable John Lord Finch created Baron of Fordwich by the late K. Charles when he was Lord Keeper of the great Seal of England St. Dunstans in Canterbury was the Ancient Seat of the noble Family of Roper VVilliam Rosper or de Rubra Spathâ for so the Name is written in old Dateless Evidences and Elnith his Wife the Daughter and Heir of Edward de Apuldore flourished in the Reign of Henry the third and were great Benefactors to the Priorie of Saint Martins in Dover Iohn de Rubrâ Spathâ or Rosper did eminent Service in Scotland under Edward the third for which that Prince rewards him and William Clifford as appears by a Deed recorded in the Earl of Dorsets Pedigree about the twenty ninth year of his Reign with the third part of those Forfeitures that were due from the Jews then inhabiting in London for the Violation of some Penal Statutes enected against them Edmund Son of Ralph Roper was an eminent Man in the Reign of Henry the fourth and Henry the fifth under whom he was Justice of the Peace for this County and died the third year of Henry the sixth 1433 and lies buried in this Church of St. Dunstans John Roper his Son and John VVestcliffe as the Records of this Family instruct me were Correctors and Surveyours of the Customes of the Cinque Ports in the ninteenth year of Henry the seventh Jo. Roper his Grandchild was Attorney General to Henry the eighth and Prothonotary of the Kings Bench as appears by the Inscription on his Monument in St. Dunstans Church 1524 and VVill. Roper who was Sheriff of Kent the first and second year of Philip and Mary and matched with Margaret Daughter of Sir Thomas More Lord Chancellor of England who as the Inscription on her Monument was Graecis Latinisque Literis Doctissima succeeded his Father in the Office of Prothonotary of the Kings Bench which he discharged with much of Fidelity and Care fifty four years and left it to his Sor Thomas Roper Esquire 1577 in which year he died and from this Thomas is this Mannor of St. Dunstans which for so many Centuries of years hath constantly confessed the Signorie of this Name now descended to his great Grandchild Mr. Edward Roper Esquire Capell in the Hundred of Folkstone was parcel of that Estate which celebrated the Family of Averenches to have been its Proprieraries which continued no longer in the
John de Vescy held for term of her Life begotten upon Dergavile his Concubine Daughter to Dunwald a petty Prince in Ireland he made a Feoffment of all his Lands in England to Anthony Beck Bishop of Durham to the use of William Vescy of Kildare his base Son and also infeoffed King Edward in Kildare in Ireland and in Sproxton in Scotland for Licence of his good Leave and Assent to the other Feoffment William de Vescy of Kildare was slain in the Warrs of Stripling in Scotland The King of England himself being then present in Person By which means the State being in the Bishop of Durham he disposed of Alnewike Castle in the North to Henry de Percy that had married Idonia de Clifford and considering that the Estate of Lands at Eltham came from the Crown the said Bishop reserving an estate for life disposed of them back again to the Crown he himself dyed there the twenty eighth of March 1311. In the fifth year of Edward the second and had bestowed great cost in building there The Stone-work of the outward Gate being Castle-like is a remnant of the work of that Time The Palace it self being much more modern and Augmented by several additions of the Kings of England who in a manner kept here their constant residence and here were made the Statutes of Eliham the precedents for Government of the Kinâ—s House to this day The Bishop of Durham being dead K. Edward the second kept his residence here 1315 9 Edw. 2. and his Q. was here brought to bed of a Son called John of Eliham K. Edward the third intending to give a princely reception to K. John of France which had been Prisoner in England and came over to visit the King 1363. and dyed before his return entertained him here at Eltham K. Henry the fourth kept his last Christmas at Eliham 1412. K. Henry the fifth his Son and Successor lay there at Christmas likewise when he was fain to depart suddenly for fear of some that had conspired to murther him K. Henry sixth made it his principal place of residence and granted the Tenants of the Mannor of Eltham a Charter of renovation of a Market in the seventeenth of his reign which containeth more ample priviledges than any such grant that yet I have seen as will be likewise evident to those who will peruse the original Record of that year in the Tower of London K. Edward the fourth greatly to his cost repaired the House Pat. Anno 21. Edw. 3. pars 2. Memb. 2. and inclosed Hornpark so called being the Site of the Mannor of West-horn which was anciently in the Kings Demeasne For King Edward the third in the twenty first year of his reign granted liberty to all his Tenants of this Mannor to be toll-free throughout England K. Henry the seventh set up the fair Front there towards the Moat and was usually resident there I find in a Record in the Office of Arms that he did usually dine in the Hall and all his Officers kept their Tables there and at such time as he created Stanley Baron Monteagle by reason of some Infection then reigning in and near the City of London none were permitted to dine in the Kings Hall but the officers of Arms who at the serving in the Kings second Course of meat according to the Custome came and proclaimed the Kings style and the style of the said new Lord. King Henry the eighth built much at Greenwich with Bricks made here at Eltham and then neglected this place yet he lived here sometime and kept a royal Christmass at this place 1515. There is an ancient place in this Parish called Henleys which in the time of King Edward the third was a Marnor belonging to John de Henley whose House was moated about the situation is yet extant below the Conduit-head but he dying without Issue it came by his guift to King Edward the third and was annexed unto the Mannor by William de Brantingham his Feoffee The Mannor East-horn and Well-hall was in the year 1100. possest by Jordan de Iriset or Brinset first establisher of the Order of Knights Hospitallers here in England In Ages of a lower Descent that is in the reign of Edward the third it was held by Iohn de Poultney and from that Family about the reign of Richard the second it devolved by Sale to Chichley Iohn Tatterst all married Agnes the Daughter of Iohn Chichley of Wolwich Son of William Chichley Alderman of London and by her had VVell-hall and East-horn he had Issue by her two Daughters Ann was married unto Sir Ralph Hastings and Margery was married unto Iohn Roper Esquire and Agnes their Mother was remarried to VVill. Kene who likewise had Issue by her from whom the Mansells of Wales are extracted and by this Descent are of the Blood and Kindred of Henry Chichley Lord Arch-bishop of Canterbury Founder of All-Souls Colledge in Oxford but VVell-hall and East-horn were united to the patrimony of Roper and have continued here so fixed that they are the present Inheritance of Edward Roper Esquire To this Mannor the Chancel of St. Michael in the South-side of Eltham Church belongeth called sometimes Tatershalls Chancel In the windows the Matches before mentioned are impaled in Coloured glass The utmost extent of this Hundred East-ward reacheth to Shooters-Hill so called of the Thievery there practised where Travellers in elder Times were so much infested with Depraedations and bloody mischiefs that order was taken in the sixth of Richard the second for the enlarging the High-way according to the Statute made in the Time of King Edward the first so that they venter still to rob here by prescription Pat. 6. R. 2. pars 2. Mem. 34. and some have been so impudent to offer to engage the Sun shining at mid-day for the repayment of money called borrowed in a Theevish way to the great charge of the Hundred that still was in the Counter-bond and King Henry the fourth granted leave to Thomas Chapman to cut down burn and sell all the Woods and Under-woods growing and confining to Shooters-Hill Pat. 7. H. 4. pars 2. Memb. 12. on the South-side and to bestow the money raised thereby upon mending the High-way Surely Prince Henry his Son and Sir John Falstaffe his make-sport so merrily represented in Shakespear's Comedies for examining the Sandwich Carriers loading at this place were not the Surveyers Mottingham in the Hundred of Blackheath is a Hamlet and member to Eltham enjoying like priviledges which are annexed to both these places as being of ancient Demealn It was formerly written Modingham denoting that it was proudly situated for so we interpret Mod in old English It passed away from the Crown with the Mannor of Eltham to Jo. de Vescy and returned back again with it inhabited in the time of K. Edw. the third by the Family of Bankwell and after in the reign of H. the sixth by the Chesmans the last
second granted them to Sir Robert Belknap the Judge upon whose Attainder they were granted in Fee to Robert Ballard Esquire Pincernae suo his grand Boteler That is the Mannors of Westcombe and Spittlecombe in Greenwich two Watermills in Detford with their Appurtenances in Charlton and Writle-mersh after which that Name continued a long time in this place of whom you may read more among the Sheriffs of Kent untill about the fourth of Philip and Mary Westcombe was altenated by Nicholas Ballard to John Lambert Esquire whose Successor Thomas Lambert not many years since alienated it to Hugh Forth from whom it is lately gon over by Sale to Mr ...... Biddulph of London Soon after the Conquest this Greenwich was parcell of the Possessions of the Bishop of Liseux in France and bore Service to Odo then Bishop of Baieux and Earl of Kent After the Mannor belonged to the Abbot of St. Petres of Gaunt in Flanders till such time as King Henry the fifth seising into his Hands by occasion of War the lands of the Priors Aliens bestowed it together with the Mannor of Lewsham and many other Lands also upon the Priory of the Brotherhood to the Monks of Shene which he had then newly erected to which it remained till the Time of King Henry the eighth who annexed it to the Crown unto which it now belongeth and is called the Honor East-Greenwich Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were both born here and King Edward the sixth a Miracle of Princely Towardnesse ended his Life in the same House King Edward the third 1376 in the fifty first year of his Reign founded the Religious House of Friers Aliens or Dominican Friers Sir John Norbury Knight high Treasurer of England is reckoned a Benefactor to the same after the Dissolution of this House and its Annexion to Shene by King Henry the eighth Another House of observant Friers was erected here by King Edward the fourth as we read in Jo. Rosse Circiter Annum Regni Edwardi quarti venerunt Fratres observantes Ordinis Minorum ad Greenwich habebant Cantariam Capellam Sancti Crucis And King Henry the seventh builded that House for them adjoyning to the Pallace which is yet there to be seen There are moreover in the Town two Colledges or Almes houses for the Sustentation of poor Persons the one builded by William Lambert Esquire which he named the Colledge of Queen Elizabeths poor People and as the Prying Adversaries of out Religion then observed was the first Protestant that built an Hospital The other standing by Thames-side was founded by Henry Howard Earl of Northampton Lord Privy Seal Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports and Knight of the Garter And inlarged and Beautified the Castle which is famous in the Spanish Fables from whence there is a most fair and pleasant Prospect open to the River winding in and out almost redoubling of it self the green Medows and Marshes underlying the Citty of London and Country round about Described by Berkley in his Euphormio And also for a L'env'oy to Greenwich you may read the Verses of Leland the Antiquarian Poet adjoyning to Greenwich Blackheath of which the Hundred taketh the name so called of the colour of the Earth or Bleacheath of the high and cold Situation for bleak signifieth cold Also Campus Martis it may well be called for besides the Burthen of the Danish Camps it hath born three rebellious Assemblies One in the time of King Richard the second Moved as shall be farther declared in Offham by John Tylar whom William Walworth then Maior of London slew with his Dagger in Smithfield and thereupon upon the Tradition comes that the City had given them for an Augmentation to their Eschochen a Dagger in the Dexter-point or Canton so to be born by them for ever Jack Cade that Counterfeit Mortimer and his Crew conducted the second who araying themselves here and passed to London where they did to Death the Lord Say and others and executed their malice upon the Records and Monuments of the Law Burning down the Office of Armes which was then kept at Cole-Harbour burning destroying their Rolls Registers and Books of Armory Their main Drift and Design being to bring in Parity And their Insurrection was here assembled by Michaell Joseph Black-smith and the Lord Audley under the Reign of King Henry the seventh at which time they and their Complices received their just Desert the Common Numbers of them being discomfited and slain and the Leaders themselves taken drawn and hanged Of this last there remaineth yet to be seen upon the Heath the place of the Smith's Tent called commonly his Forge and of all there the great grave-Hills of such as were buryed after the overthrow These Hills in the West-Country upon diverse Champions and Plains where is no small Store of the Like are called Barowes of the old English word Burghes which last word melted into Buryings being a Spring of the old Stock we do yet retain alive The first and last of these Commotions were stirred of Griese the Common people conceived for the Demand of two Subsidies Of which the one was unreasonable because it was taxed upon the Polls and exempted none The other was unseasonable for that it was exacted when the heads of the common people were full of Perkin Warbeck The third and middlemost grew upon a grudge that the People took for yielding the Dutchie of Aniou and Maine to the King of Sicily The coming of whose Daughter after that the King would needs have her to Wife notwithstanding his precontract made with the Earl of Armenac was not so joyfully embraced by the Citizens of London upon Blackheath wearing their red Hoods Badges and blew Gowns as in Sequele the Marriage and whole Government it self was known to be detested of the Country Commons by bearing in the same place Harnesse Bowes Bills and other Weapons Thus far the Story of Blackheath proves but sad and tragical That which remains is of a more glorious and splendid condition consisting of Ovations and Triumphs for when the Emperour of Constantinople came to require Aid against the Turks King Henry the fourth with all Princely respect went to meet him at this place and so conducted him to London And when King Henry the fifth returned from his victorious Conquest of France the Lord Maior and Citizens of London went forth in their best Equipage to attend his Reception at this place at which time the King made many Knights Bannerets And K. Hen. the eighth that excelled in all Triumphal matters met Anne Cleve daughter to the Dake of Cleve Graveney in the Hundred of Boughton was in the year of our Lord eight hundred and eleven by Archbishop Vlfred bought of King Kenwolfe as the Book of Christ-church sets it forth ad opus Ecclesiae Christi to the repair of the Cathedral In the year of Grace eight hundred and thirty Werhardus a Priest of much Power in England by the injunction of the Arch-bishop gave Graveney
as appears by the Escheat Roll of that year marked with the Number 76. and left Mawde de Twitham heir to his large Possessions in this County who by marrying with Simon Septuans of Checquer in Ash by Sandwich invested him not only in the Signory of Dean-Court but likewise in his other Demeasne which lay dispersed in severall Branches over this County and he had Issue by her Sir William Septuans who matched with Anne Daughter and Heir of Sir Nicholas Sandwich and had Issue by her John Septuans Esquire who likewise wedded Constance Daughter and Heir of Thomas Ellys of Sandwich and had Issue by her John his eldest Son to whom he gave Hells Twitham Chilton Molands in Ash and other Lands in Kent Thomas his second Son who had Dean-Court in Mepeham and other Lands in this County and Gilbert Septuans his third Son who had his Mannor of Chequer in Ash above-said and from them it is sometimes writ At Chequer and afterwards Harfleet for some eminent Service by him performed at a Town of that Name in Normandy as the private Evidences of this Family do seem to insinuate under the conduct of Henry the fifth and so Successively by Custome and Prescription this Name became hereditary to all of the Name of Septuans who were either directly or Collaterally linked in Alliance to this Gilbert And in the Name of Harfleet alias Septuans did the Inheritance of this Mannor of Dean-Court sundry Ages reside till some few years since it was by one of this Name alienated to Mr. Francis Twisden third Brother to Sir Roger Twisden of Roydon-Hall Knight and Baronet Merworth stands in the Hundred of Littlefield and gave Seat and Sirname to a worthy Family of Gentlemen whose Ancestor branched out from a Family called St. Laurence William de Merworth is in the Register of those Kentish Knights who were embarked with Richard the first at the Seige of Acon upon which it is probable the Crosse Corslets were taken into the paternall Coat of this Family In the fifteenth year of King John one Roger the Son of Eustace de Merworth brought a Quare Impedit against the Prior of Leeds for the Adyouson of the Church of Merworth Roger de Merworth obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannor of Merworth in the eighteenth year of Edward the first In the twentieth year of Edward the third as appears by the Book of Aid John de Merworth paid respective Aid for a whole Knight's Fee at Merworth and Crombery in Hadloe which he held of the Earl of Glocester at making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third and an Inquisition taken after this mans Death for his Mannor of Merworth though the Inquisition for his Mannor of Maplescombe and other Lands was not taken untill the forty ninth of Edward the third finds John Malmains of Malmains in Pluckley to be his Heir who in the forty sixth year of Edward the third sells it to Humphrey Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex and he about the beginning of Richard the second conveys it to Nicholas de Brembre Son of Sir John de Brembre who at the Battle of Trent as Mr. Selden relates in his Titles of Honour pag. 556. made himself eminent by a signall encounter with John de Beaumonour in the year 1350. And endevouring to support the prerogative of Richard the second in an Age wherin his Crime was too much Loialty against the Assaults of some of the Factious and Ambitious Nobility sunk under the waight of their Hatred and Opposition and being attainted of High Treason this in the tenth year of the abovesaid Prince Escheated to the Crown and the same King in the thirteenth year of his Raign granted it to John Hermensthorpe who immediately after conveyed it to Richard Fitzallan Earl of Arundell Lord Treasurer and Lord Admirall of England whose Son Thomas Fitzallan dying without Issue Joan one of his Sisters and Coheirs matching with William Beauchampe who was created by Writt Baron of Abergavenny in the sixteenth year of Richard the second knit this Mannor to the Patrimony of that Family where it continued till Richard Beauchampe this mans Son dying without Issue-male in the ninth year of Henry the fifth bequeathed it to Elizabeth his Sole Daughter and Heir who matched afterward to Edward Nevill Baron of Abergavenny from whom the Title both of the Barony and Merworth flowed down to his Great Grandchild Henry Nevill who died the twenty ninth year of Queen Elizabeth and left this Mannor to Mary his Sole Daughter and heir married to Sir Thomas Fane unto whom King James in the first Parliament which he held Restored Gave Granted and so forth the Name Style Title Honour and Dignity of Baroness le Despencer and that her Heirs Successively should be Barons le Desp neer for ever She had Issue by Sir Thomas Fane of Badsell in Kent Sir Francis Fane eldest Son Knight of the Bath whom King James in the twenty second year of his Raign December the 29. created Earl of Westmerland and Baron Burghurst being likewise by his Mothers Descent extracted from the female heir of that old Barony for Edw. le Despencer who maried Elizabeth Heir of Bartholomew Lord Burghurst and Rich. Beauchampe who married Isabell Daughter and Heir of Thomas Lord Despencer and his eldest Son Sir Mildmay Fane Knight of the Noble Order of the Bath now Earl of Westmerland doth not onely enjoy the Concomitant Titles of Despencer and Burghurst but the Mannor of Mereworth likewise with all the Royalties of it which were not inferiour to any which hathreceived Honour by its owners for it is holden in Chivalrie by an entire Knights Fee and a Free-warren which was formerly granted to it is yet extant and the Conveniences of a Park and Conies are not wanting Jotes-Court in this Parish of Merworth had as appears by severall old Deeds some without Date Owners who were written Jeotes and by contraction of the Name call'd Jotes but before the latter end of Richard the second this Family was crumbled away and gone and then it came to have the same possessors with Merworth as namely Fitz-Allan Beauchampe and Nevill the last of which who enjoyed it was Sir Tho. Nevil third Son of George Nevill Baron of Abergavenny which Sir Tho. was one of the Privy Councel to Henry the eighth and Speaker of the Parliament and he in the thirty third year of that Prince conveyed it by Sale to Sir Robert Southwell who in the thirty fifth year of Henry the eighth by the same Fatalitie passed it away to Sir Edmund Walsingham of Scadbery whose great Grandchild Sir Tho. Walsingham Knight hath not many years since alienated all his Concernment in it to his Son in Law Mr. James Masters Swanton-Court is the last place considerable in Merworth It lay couched in that Revenue which related to the Knights Hospitalers untill the publique Dissolution supplanted it and surrendred it to the Crown and K. Henry the eighth about
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
and desired the people to express their Joy because on that Day by the efficacious prayers of the Church Richard the first formerly King of England and many others were ransomed from the Flame and Torment of Purgatory In Sedingbourn Church there was a Monument of Sir Richard Lovelace inlayed richly with Brasse who was an eminent Souldier in his Time and Marshal of Calais under Henry the eighth with his Pourtraiture affixed in Brass which the Injuries of Time and the Impiety of Sacrilegious Mechanicks have utterly dismantled and defaced Selling in the Hundred of Boughton did in Ages of the highest Discovery acknowledge the Signory of the Putots and William de Putot was in Possession of it at his Death which happened in the thirteenth year of Henry the third After the Putots the Lords Badelesmer were invested in the possession Guncelin de Badelesmer was possest of it in the twenty ninth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 50. and left it with a spatious Inheritance to his Son Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer who having involved himself in a ruinous Combination with some others of the mutinous Nobility against Edward the second lost both his Life and Estate in that unsuccesful Defection but this Mannor was restored to his Son in the second year of King Edward the third and was known by the Name of Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer but did not long enjoy his new acquired Inheritance for in the twelfth year of the above-mentioned Prince he died without Issue and left his Estate to be shared between four Sisters and Co-heirs whereof Margaret the eldest was espoused to Sir John Tiptoft and he in her Right entered upon the possession of this place and died possest of it in the thirty third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 39. from whom the Title came down to John Tiptoft created Earl of Worcester in the year 1450. and invested afterwards with the Office and Dignity of Lord Treasurer and Lord Constable of England but asserting too eagerly the Cause and Quarrel of the House of Yorke he was crushed and overwhelmed with that weight with which the Partisans of the Lancastrian Faction did endevour to sink and oppresse the Supporters of that Family and was offered up a Victime to the successful Fury of Richard Earl of Warwick who being an Apostate of the House of Yorke was the principal Engine upon whom the Designs and Interess of the Lancastrian Party then moved Upon the untimely Death and attaint of this Earl which was in the year 1570. this Mannor was annexed to the Revenue of the Crown and though Edward Tiptoft this mans Son was the next year after his Fathers unhappy Exit restored by Edward the fourth both in Blood and Dignity yet I do not discover any Restitution made of Selling so that it rested in the Crown until Edward the sixth in the fourth year of his reign granted it to Sir Anthony St. Leger who immediatly after passed it away to Sir Anthony Sonds of Throuley one of the Justices of the Peace of this County and Gentleman of the Bed-chamber to this Prince and his Father Henry the eighth from whom it is now come down by Paternal efflux of the Title to Sir George Sonds Knight of the Bath who is entituled to the present possession of it Oven-court in this Parish anciently gave both Seat and Sirname to a Family which was known by that Denomination but whether they were extracted from the Owens of Wales and contracted this Name of Oven by vulgar Acceptation no Record does manifest certain it is they were as appears by old Rentals and other Muniments possessors of this place as high as the reign of Henry the third The next Family which after this was worn out did step into the possession was Drilond of Cookes-ditch in Feversham a Name of generous Extraction for in the reign of Edward the third John the Son of Stephen de Drilond demises some Land at Crouchfeild in Feversham by a Deed bearing Date from the twenty fifth year of that Prince to William de Makenade and in that Instrument he writes himself Knight After Drilond was extinguished which was about the beginning of Edward the fourth the Foggs became Proprietaries of it and remained for divers years Lords of the Fee until at last the alternate Devolution of Purchase brought it to be the Inheritance of Crouch where it did not long fix for in the year 1588. Giles Crouch alienated it to Michael Sonds Esquire afterwards Knighted from which Family in our Fathers Memory it was conveyed by Sale to Franklin from whom the same Devolution hath brought it now to Lambe who holds the instant Signory of it Before I passe from Selling I must inform the Reader that the greatest Honour which this Town acquired was that it was the Cradle of William Selling bred up amongst the Monks of Christ-church who obtained Licence from the Chapter of that Covent to travel into Italy and prosecute his Studies at Bononia where he arrived to that perfection of Knowledge that he was advanced to be Prior of Christ-church and was after sent by Henry the seventh in whose Eyes his Worth was very visible as his Embassador to the Pope Those incomparable Books which were placed in the Library which related to the Covent by his Care and Munificence amongst which was Tullies invaluable Tractate de Republica not long after his Death by an Accidental Fire found an unhappy Sepulchre in their own Ashes He died as full of Fame as of Years in the year of Grace 1494. And hath his Epitaph registred by the industrious Pen of Mr. Somner in his Survey of Canterbury Smerden in the Hundreds of Calchill Blackborne and Barckley did Anciently relate to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and was part of that Revenue which did keep up the Grandeur and Magnificence of that Sea rescuing it from all cheapness and contempt which induced John then Arch-bishop of Canterbury this being so eminent a part of the Spiritual Patrimony to obtain a Grant of a Market to be observed here weekly on the Monday as appears Pat. 6. Edwardi tertii Num. 47. But the principal place which was alwayes of secular Interess within this Parish is Romden which was the Patrimony of an Ancient Family called Hengherst and in more modern Times Henherst who were entituled to large Demeasnes at Woodchurch Stapleherst Yalding and other places in this County but made no long aboad here at Romden for William Son of Osbert de Hengherst so he cals himself in his Deed without Date demised it to John de Calch and in this Family it continued until the latter end of Richard the second and who after Calch succeeded in the Inheritance because I can collect no farther Knowledge from original Evidences I confess I am ignorant so that I am forced to leap over divers Kings reigns into that of King Henry the eighth and then in the twenty fourth year of that Prince I find that John the Son of Stephen
third but alass neither the Nobleness of the Name nor wideness of the Franchise could keep this Family from departing from this place for about the latter end of Henry the fourth I find it in the Tenure of the eminent Family of Apulderfield but setled not long here for Sir William Apulderfield about the middle of Edward the fourth concluded in Elizabeth Apulderfield who was his Sole Daughter and Heir who by matching with Sir Jo. Phineux Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in the Reign of Henry the seventh made it his Demeasn but the Title of this place did not long fix here for he dying without Issue Male Jane his only Daughter became his only Heir who by espousing of Jo. Roper Esq of St. Dunstans in Canterbury linked it to the Demeasn of this Family from whom in a continued Current of descent the Proprietie of it is now flowed down to William Roper a Cadet or younger Branch of this Stem Shorne in the Hundred of Shamell was as high as the Reign of K. John the Patrimony of the Noble Family of Nevil Jordanus and in some old Deeds written Jollanus de Nevil held the Mannor of Shorne as appears by the Pipe-Roll of that year and John de Nevil was his Son and Heir who held this Mannor in the thirtieth year of Henry the third but after him I can track no farther Mention of this Family at this place for in the fifty fourth of Henry the third as appears by the Pipe-roll of that year I discover Roger de Norwood to be Lord of the Fee this was that Roger de Norwood who disdaining to have his Lands held in that Lazy and sluggish Tenure of Gavelkind changed it into the more active one of Knights Service in the fourteenth year of Henry the third still reserving to himself by that Licence by which he obtained a Grant of the first to reserve the ancient Rent whereby his Lands held even in the Time of the Conquerour and he in the thirteenth year of Edward the first died possest of this Mannor and all its Perquisites at Oisterland in Cliff and other places and left it to his Son and Heir Sir John de Norwood who together with his eldest Son Sir John de Norwood accompanied that triumphant Prince Edward the first in his Victorious Design undertaken against the Scots in the twenty eighth of his Reign The Mannor of Shorn holding by this Tenure viz. to carry a White Banner forty Dayes together at their own Charges whensoever the King should commence a War in Scotland as appears by an Inquisition taken after the Death of Roger de Norwood in the thirty fifth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 23. Parte secundâ And this was customary not onely in England but elsewhere for Mr. Selden in his Titles of Honour observes out of Prelusius's his Discourses upon the State of Poland in the year 1530 Albert Marquess of Brandenburg and Mr. of the Teutonick or Dutch Order in Prussia receives his Investiture into that Dutchy per Vexilli Traditionem by the Delivery of a Banner from the Hands of Sigismund K. of Poland and his Brother George at his being enstated in that Signory by this Ceremony was suo Fratrum Nomine Vexillum contingere in his own and the Name of his Brother to place his Hands upon the Banner and when the above-mentioned Banner was delivered to an Heir who had not his Title and Right free from the Claim of an ambiguous and perplexed Competition he was onely admitted ad Contactum Extremitatum Vexilli ejusdem to touch the utmost or extream parts of this Banner The Tenure which was annexed to this Investiture was this to assist the K. of Poland with an hundred Horse whensoever he should personally advance into the Field against an enemie But to return John de Norwood was the last of this Name whom I find setled in the Inheritance of Shorne and he enjoyed it at his Decease which was in the second year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 35. But before the latter end of the Reign of that Prince it was removed from the possession of Norwood and by Sale plac'd in the Noble and ancient Family of Savage of Bobbing Court but not long after Sir Arnold Savage determining in Eleanor his Sole Inheritrix who was first wedded to Sir Reginald Cobham by whom she had no Issue and after to William Clifford Esquire she by this Alliance united it to the patrimony of this last Family and here it lay involved until the beginning of Q. Elizabeth and then it was passed away by George Clifford to Nicholas Lewson Esquire Grand-father to Sir Richard Lewson of the County of Stafford who desiring to circumscribe and collect his scattered Interest which lay dispersed in several parcels in this County into the closer circumference of Staffordshire alienated this Mannor almost in our Remembrance with all its Adjuncts at Oisterland in Cliff and other perquisites and out-Skirts to Mr. Woodier of Rochester in whose Lineage and Name the Title of it at this instant lies treasured up Ockington in this Parish was a Limb that made up the Body of that Revenue which anciently did swell into so vast a Bulk and Dimension in this Track and acknowledged for proprietaries the Noble Family of Cobham as appears by an Inquisition taken in the sixth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 45. where Stephen de Cobham was then found to have been possest of it at his Death and from him was the Title in a successive stream of Descent wasted down to the Reign of Hen. the seventh and then it was by Sale transplanted into Sir Henry Wiat where it flourished being supported with the Sap and Verdure of so Noble a Family until the fourth year of Edward the sixth and at that Time it was by Sale torn off from this Name for then Sir Thomas Wiat alienated it to Sir Anthony St. Leger and he passed it away to George Brooke Lord Cobham about the seventh year of Edward the siâ—â—â— whose great Grand-child Sir William brooke Knight of the Bath dying in the year 1643 without Issue Male it cescended to Sir John Brooke restored to the Barony of Cobham by the last King in the year 1644 as being Reversioner in entail Roundal though now shrunk into neglected Ruines was in elder Times the first Seat of the noble Family of Cobham from whence upon its Decay they were transplanted to Cobham Hall and was the Cradle of Men very eminent in their respective Generations of whom take this brief prospect * Ex veteri Rotulo penes Ed. Dering Militem Bar. dejunctum Henry de Cobham is enrolled in the List of those Kentish Gentlemen who were concerned with Richard the first at the Siege of Acon * Rotulus Pipae de Scutagio Wallia Reginald de Cobham accompanied Henry the third in his expedition against the Welch in the forty second year of his Reign Sir Henry Sir
peradventure may be attributed to the Evaporations of youth which is alwayes volatile and airy rather then to any setled and contracted Habit of vitious Distempers and mutinous passions which was lodged within Him But to proceed when Willesborough had by a successive thread of many Ages been guided along through several Descents down to John Brent he died and left John Brent his Heir who expiring without Issue Margaret his eldest Sister became the Inheritrix of all his possessions and she being matched with John Dering Esquire of Surrenden Dering this place by Female right became transplanted into the Patrimony of that Name and Family and Sir Edward Dering about the year 1635 conveyed it to Robert Scot of Canterbury Esquire whose Son and Heir Thomas Scot of Canterbury Esquire is now proprietary of it Wilmington in Hundred of Dartford resolves it self into two Mannors which exact a peculiar Cognisance and the first is Rue Hill so it was anciently written though now by vulgar Acceptation it is called Rowe Hill It was in Ages of a higher Track the patrimony of an illustrious and generous Family called Gise who were in those times as eminent for the largeness of their possessions as they were for the Antiquity of their Extraction and from hence were the Gises of the Counties of Hereford and Gloucester originally sprouted out Anselmus de Gise had a Charter of Free Warren granted to his Lands at Rue Hill in Wilmington in the twenty second year of Edward the first but it appears the Possession of this place invested and fortified with this Grant was not long after united to this Family for John Gise this mans Grand-child sold it to Nicholas Brember who in the twelfth year of Richard the second being blasted with an impeachment of high Treason fell an Oblation to the fury of those Lords who upon pretence of asserting the publick Liberty sought to fetter up the majesty and prerogative of their Prince within those narrow Restraints and Limits which they prescribed to empale it in and pare off the power of the Crown which like Sampson's Locks being shaved Kings remain like other men Upon his attaint Rue Hill resolved into the revenue of the Crown and King Richard the second in the fourteenth year of his reign granted it to Adam Bamme of London and in his Lineage was the Inheritance of it sundry Generations wrapt up till in our Grand-fathers memory it was alienated to Brett from whose successor the same Alteration rowled the possession not many years since into Smith The second is Highlands which was parcel of the Demeasn of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem and upon the Dissolution of their Alberge here in England was granted about the thirty fifth year of Henry the eighth to Sir Thomas Moile and Sir Maurice Dennis the last of which passed away his Concernment in it to Sir Thomas Moile by whose Daughter and Co-heir called Amy Moile it came to be possest by Sir Thomas Kempe who left it to his Son and Heir Sir Thomas Kempe who conveyed it to his Brother Mr. Reginald Kempe who in our Fathers memory passed it away to Lancelot Bathurst Esquire Father to Sir Edward Bathurst who is the instant proprietary of it Wodnesborough lies in the Hundred of Eastrie and spreads it self into many places of no despicable Account First there is Shelving which was as high as any Evidence can waft us to discover the Demeasn of Houghham of Hougham by Dover a Family rooted in as deep Antiquity as any in this Track Robert de Hougham is enrolled in an ancient Register of those Kentish Gentlemen who supported the cause and Quarrel of Richard the first at the Seige of Acon Sir Robert de Hougham his Son died possest of it in the second year of Edward the first and left Robert Hougham his Heir who determined in Daughters and Co-heirs so that Benedicta Houghham one of them being married to John Shelving this became his Demeasn where he erected a House upon which he fixed his Sirname and called it Shelving which in those Times was of considerable Repute though since by the frequent impressions of Age it is shrunk into Decay and Obscurity from Shelving one Moitie of it by Sale was transmitted to St. Leger and so continued distinguished in the Interest of it till both Shelving and St. Leger did by a mutual Concurrence pass away their joynt right in it to Dynley where it had not long been Seated but the like Fatality transferred the Possession of it to White and here the Title of it was as unfixt and unstable also for from this Family by purchase it was carried into the Revenue of Knight who in our memory altered his Interest in it by Sale to Mr. Solomon Hougham of Sandwich primitively issued out in a Collateral Line from Sir Robert Hougham upon whose late Decease his Son and Heir Mr. Richard Hougham is now possessor of it Ringleton does secondly exact some Remembrance It was anciently the Interest of Perot for Thomas Perot held it at his Death which was in the fourth year of Edward the third but when this Name was extinguished in a Daughter and Heir William Langley by matching with Her entituled himself to the Possession of this place in which Family the Inheritance for sundry Generations was settled till the Vicissitude of Time by Sale conveyed it into the Demeasn of John White who was originally a Merchant of the Staple and did by several Acts of exemplary Munificence evidence himself to be a liberal Benefactor to Canterbury But long it was not fastned to the Possession of this Name for his Successor alienated it to Butler of Heronden in Eastrie from which Family Ringleton by the same Mutation was brought to own the Possession of Neame and his Son Daniel Neame sold it to Spencer of Sandwich whose Successor Nicholas Spencer dying without Issue his Sister who was wedded to Hughs descended from Hughs of Middleton Stony in the County of Oxford who was branched out from the Hughs of North-Wales by a Relative right deduced from that Alliance has planted the present Possession in the Patrimony of that Name and Family Thirdly upper Hamwold may fall under a Disquisition because it was wound up in the Estate and Propriety of Greenshield whose principal residence was at Greenshield in Whitstaple corruptly called Grimgil where I have spoken more largely of this Family onely this I shall add that Henry Greenshield who died in the last year of Edward the fourth was a munificent Benefactor to the poor and other indigent and necessitous people of the Town of Sandwich to whom he bequeaths by his last Testament very liberal Donations for their relief and support After this Family of Greenshield was mouldered away at Hamwold I find the Elis's invested in the Possession but whether by Alliance or Purchase I cannot discover After they went out the Family of Francis was by Purchase from them seated in the Inheritance to whose Interest it was not many
original In Ages of a lower step these Comites were frequently call'd Reguli In Cantia saith Malmsbury Omnis justitia laborabat sub cujusdam Gorongiregimine qui tamen sicut omnes Reguli insulae Vortigerno substernebantur Afterwards when Hengist had establish'd his Kentish Kingdome the Title of Earl began to commence in Otho and Ebusa Brothers to the abovesaid Hengist as the same Malmesbury observes in his Tract de Gestis Regum Cap. 3. And the Title of Earl was anciently expressed by the word Comes amongst the Saxons for to King Ethelberts Charter for the foundation of the Abby of St. Augustins cited by Reynerus there are these subscriptions Ego Hamigilus Dux laudavi and then Ego Ocea Comes consensi Ego Graphio Comes benedixi and there is an old Epitaph quoted by Mr. Selden in his Titles of Honour the substance of which is this that Alwain which was Founder of Ramsey-Abby was Comes Aldermannus totius Angliae but in decursion of Time this word Eolderman being used by others besides those to whom it was proper and analogical it began to languish into disuse and the Title of Thane and Earl was assumed which last hath remained in force untill this day Now the relief of a Thane who was certainly an Earl by office rather then Title if he were of the first rank that is had the custody of some County under the King which he paid to the Crown was four Horses two sadled and two unsadled two Swords and four Spears and as many Shields And if he were of the second rank he paid two Horses one sadled and one unsadled one Sword two Lances as many Shields and fifty Marks in Silver sometimes if he were a Thane of an inferior rank he paid eight-pound and frequently three-pound The relief which an Earl paid constantly to the Crown after the Norman Conquest was as Mr. Selden in his Titles of Honour does demonstrate out of severall Records was an Hundred pound Now the benefit which did accrue to the Count or Earl besides a Barren and naked Title to support the dignity of his Person in its due Magnificence and Splendor was the third penny arising out of the Profits of the County Algar Earl of Mercland as Dooms-day Book informs us had the third penny of the County of Oxford and the Borough of Stafford under Edward the Confessor And Mawde the Empresse when she created Milo Earl of Hereford assigned to him for the support of his Honor the third penny of that County Many examples of the like condition are discoverable in Mr. Selden's Titles of Honour whither I refer the Reader And as they had the third penny so they had frequently the Castle of the County annexed to their Title but when by experience the Kings of England were instructed how fatally pernicious it was to have so many local powers concurrent with theirs that by the strength of their retreat and the number of confederates and Partisans seem'd even to out-poise the Royal Authority it was by a Statute made in the 13 th year of Richard the 2 d. for the future interdicted and prohibited Now if you will enquire when Earls or Counts from being absolute became Feudal Sr. Henry Spelman in his Glossarie will tell you that it was Tempore Othonum sub excessu Merovinae stirpis in Galliâ that is about the year onet housand Now as concerning the Ensigns of Investiture with which the Earl was created it was anciently only with the Cincture of a Sword but about the latter end of Edward the first the Coronet began to be in use for Aymer de Vallence Earl of Pembrook who died in the 16 th year of Edward the 2 d. had one as appears by an instrument of William de Lavenham cited by Mr. Selden in his Titles of Honour by which he acknowledges the receit of it from Sr. Henry Stacheden in the 12 th year of Edward the 2 d. Richard Earl of Arundel died in the 49 th year of Edward the 3 d. and by his last Will dated the fifth of December gives his Noblest and Richest Coronet to his Son the Lord Richard Fitz-allan his second to the Lady Joan his eldest and the 3 d. he bequeaths to the Lady Alice his youngest Daughter What the Counts Palatine were I shall now demonstrate they were taken immediately à Palatio from whence they assum'd their name and were customarily such as had the nearest relation to the Prince either by friendship or Affinity and to whose care and administration he did entrust such or such a Province and the more to improve and enable them in the discharge of their Duty did unite some privileges and Franchises to their office as erecting Courts of Judicature appointing Judges to sit in them and determine by signal decision upon causes both Criminal and Civil and others of the like nature that were of that luxutiant latitude that they had the Stamp and Character of something which resembled Regality fixt upon them He that will discover by example more of this honorary Title may read Mr. Seldens Titles of Honor whither to decline all superfluity of discourse I refer to the Reader I have now done with the Title I shall now proceed to unwind the Register of those who were Earls of Kent subsequent to Earl Godwin 1067 1 Odo Bishop of Baieux halfe Brother to William the Conquerer Lord chief Justice and Lord Treasurer of England 1141 2 William de Ipre 1227 3 Hubert de Burg Lord Chief Justice of England 1321 4 Edmund de woodstock Son to King Edward the first 1330 5 Edmund Plantaginet 1333 6 John Plantaget  7 Thomas Holland Earl of Kent in right of Joan his wife who was Daughter of Edmund of Woodstock 1360 8 Thomas Holland 1397 9 Thomas Holland Duke of Surry 1400 10 Thomas Holland Lord High Admiral of England 1461 11 Will. Nevill Lord Fauconbridge 1464 12 Edmund Grey Lord Ruthin Lord Treasurer of England created Earl of Kent by King Edward the 4 th  13 George Grey  14 Richard Grey  15 Reginald Grey  16 Henry Grey  17 Charles Grey  18 Henry Grey  19 Anthony Grey Clerk Parson of Burbage in the County of Leicester Grandchild of Anthony 3 d. Son of George Earl of Kent above mentioned  20 Henry Grey  21 Anthony Grey Earl of Kent now living 1658. but in his Minority Having represented in Prospect the Comites and Consules the Earls and Consuls which were originally to manage those Provinces subordinate to the Romane Government I shall now take cognisance of those which were anciently styl'd Vice Comites Proconsules and had care of the Provincial revenue in relation to which they were term'd Questores Provinciarum and the jurisdiction of some Causes only as our Sheriffs have of divers Actions Viscontiel and inquiry of Causes Criminal but not determination of them In the Saxon times they were sometimes call'd Ealdormen and in Latine Vice Comites which was applyed
to them not as they were subservient to the Earl but as they administered justice when he was either dead or absent 'T is true if we dissect the word Earldom we shall discover the last syllable Dome is deduc'd from Dominion and implies that the Marshal and Civil Government being anciently subordinate to Counts and Earls there was some Analogy and resemblance in the Official Dignity of an Earl and a Sheriff and certainly the word Sheriff imports no lesse a word contracted from the Saxon word Schyregereve or Schyregrave The word is best interpreted by the Laws intituled the Confessors where we read thus Sicut modo vocantur Greves qui super alios Praefecturas habent ita apud Anglos antiquitûs vocabantur EALDORMEN quasi seniores non propter Senectutem cum quidem adolescentes essent sed propter sapientiam they were call'd anciently EALDORMEN say those Laws not in respect of years but wisdome And we find Henry the 3 d. made his Son Prince Edward the five last years of his Reign Sheriff of Bedford and Buckingham The black Prince was often Sheriff of Cornwall under Edward the 3 d. And Prince Henry in the life of his Father Henry the 4 th is found to have been Sheriff of Cornwall and it was done by these Sagacious Princes with this intent that their Sons when they should ascend the Throne might be more dexterous in the Course and Conduct of the revenue of the Crown And as these Princes were invested with this Office so we find both Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbots Earls and Barons held this Dignity nay sometimes Queens and Countesses Dowagers too with an allowance of a Shire-Clerk which after resolv'd into him we call the under-Sheriff And it was usual long since as the Statute-Law now likewise asserts it that the Census or Possession of some Demeasne in the County admits a capacity to hold the office and answer the King the Profits of the County otherwise they are illegal and lyable to exception and in this respect sometime the King committed four Counties to one man if he were possest of Lands in them all as Hubert de Burgo was at one time Sheriff of Kent Norfolk Suffolk and Lincoln and was allow'd a meet person to be his Substitute or Shire-Clerk in the ninth of Henry the third If any shall demand how long there have been Sheriffs under this quallified Notion as I have before represented and pourtray'd them I must remit them to King Alfred the Founder of Englands peace and the divider of it into Shires and Provinces not to Gervas of Tilbury whose definition of the Name is very deficient making the office meerly suppletory to the Count or Earl nor to Polidore Virgil who being by birth an Alien would obtrude a false opinion upon us that the offices of the Chancellors and Sheriffs were instituted since the Norman Conquest For evidence to the confutation of him we may read the Testimonies remembred by the most learned Selden in the subscription of King Edreds Charter to the Abby of Crowland there after Abbots Dukes and Counts follow Ego Afor vice Comes audivi ✚ And in another Saxon Charter to the same Abby there is this clause inserted Ego Livingus Clericus istud Chirographum manu meâ subscripsi Domino meo Theroldo tradidi which Records do indisputably I think subvert his Assertion The next Annotation upon our proconsulary Officer is the continuation of those that in elder time held it many years together as for example the Cornhills did in Kent whereby their own Sirname was discontinued and the officiary Name le Sheriff le Viscount swallowed up the other and the relict of Reginald de Cornhill le Viscount in a Concession of Land to the Chappel of Lukedale in Littlebourn is styl'd in the Latine Instrument Vice Comitissa Cantii and a Mannor of his in Minster in the Isle of Thanet has from this Sirname obtain'd the Title of the Sheriffs Court But when it was found inconvenient for one man to hold the place any long time in regard of his Account and other enormities emergent provision was made by Statute that none should serve two years together but should be two years at least devested of the Office ere he served again in the same County Touching the Sheriffs Letters of attendance injoyning all Arch-Bishops Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts Bishops Barons c. to assist him it shews in Lankskip and Perspective afar off the Latitude anciently of his authority but since the institution of Lords-Lieutenants the Beams of his power have shone forth with a more dim and contracted light So much shall suffice for the explication of its Name as it is Officiary Now a word or two how it became Honorary because as from the Consul or Count Time and Royal Authority hath extracted the Princely Dignity of Earl which being for the most part enstated in elder times on the Kings kindred hath caused the use of that addition ever since to all of that rank So likewise the State and Degree of a Vicount hath a participation of that Attribute and are call'd Cousen by the Soveraign and in the Scrutiny made by the Chancellor of the Order of the Garter at every Feast of St. George during the time of Vespers if there were any stall void A Viscount is admitted as the lowest degree of Princes The first that under this Title had Parliamentary Dignity and Precedency of all Barons with us was John de Beaumont created Viscount-Beaumont in the 18 th year of Henry the sixth without any relation to the Office The Circle or Coronet of this Degree being by its figure distinguish'd from an Earls as a Marquesses is from a Dukes They that would take an exact survey of the official part of this ancient Minister in all its Dimensions and Appendages let them consult Dalton who has very exactly and usefully discovered to the world all the Ingredients which make up this Office I shall before I proceed to draw out the Catalogue of the Kentish Sheriffs represent to the world a summary List of Arch-Bishops Earls Bishops and others of high eminence which manag'd this Office either personally or virtually as well in other Counties as in Kent And first Queen Isabel had the Sheriffwick of Cornwall divers years before her Husband Edward the 2 d. was thrust out of the world by an unnatural death and some years under the Reign of her Son King Edward the 3 d. Margaret Widow of Edward Earl of Cornwall held this Office in the County of Rutland the five last years of Edward the first and as many years in the beginning of King Edward the 2 d. And after the next three years Margaret the wife of Peirce Gaveston Earl of Cornwall answer'd King Edward the 2 d. the Profits of that County Elizabeth Countesse of Salisbury had the County of Wilts committed to her Anno. 1216. the 21 of Henry the third and John Dacus was her substitute William Earl of Salisbury was Sheriff
Roper Baron of Tenham in whom it is at this instant resident There was a Castle anciently here at Apledore which when the Danes in the reign of Etheldred Father of Edmund Ironside made this County the Scene of their Devastations was mingled by the flame they put it into in the year 892. in its own Rubbish yet like a Phaenix it rose into new shape and frame again out of its Ashes and continued in the Register and under the notion of the Castles and Fortresses of this County until the year 1380. and then as How relates in his Chronicle who likewise represents the former Tragedie the French making an hostile Eruption on this part of the County made it once more a pitied and calamitous heap of flame and ruine out of whose dismantled reliques the Church now visible was not only repaired but as some from ancient Tradition affirm wholly reedified a probable Argument of the ancient Grandeur Magnificence and Strength of this now totally-demolished Fortresse I had almost omitted the Mannor of Frenchay which likewise lies within the Circle of Apledore and had in elder Times as appears by old evidences Owners of that Sirname but the greatest Glory that it atchieved was that ever since the reign of Edward the third untill the Government of Henry the eighth it acknowledged the Family of Haut for its Proprietaries the last of which was Sir William Haut who concluded in two Daughters and Coheirs whereof Joan the youngest matched to Sir Thomas Wiat shared his estate at this place but he being attainted in the second year of Queen Mary this was confiscated to the Crown and lay there untill the twenty fourth of Queen Elizabeth and then it was granted back to George Wiat Esquite whose Son Sir Francis Wiat not many years since passed it away to Thomas Floyd of Gore-court in Otham Esquire and he in the year 1636 alienated it to Sir Edward Hales of Tunstall Knight Baronet whose Grandchild Sir Edward Hales is now in possession of it Apledore had anciently a Market to be observed here weekly granted to it by Edward the third in the thirty second year of his reign which since is vanished into Disuse by Intermission Adisham in the Hundred of Downhamford was given to the Monks of St. Augustins as appears by Christ Church Book by Ethelbald Son of Ethelbald King of Kent Anno Domini 616. Cum Campis Silvis Pascuis c. as the Record mentions ad illam pertinentibus ad Cibum Monachorum Ecclesiae Christi Cantuariae liberam ab omnibus servitiis fiscali Tributo exceptis tribus istis Consuetudinibus id est Communi Labore de quo nullus excipiatur Pontis Constructione vel Arcis and whereas we frequently trace in ancient Chartularies these three Letters L. S. A. which may at first appearance seem to wrap up some gloomy and mysterious sense they import no more but this that Lands which were given by Charter to the Church should be Liberae sicut Adisham that is be fortified with the same Franchises and Liberties as Adisham Originally was The Austins for some Hundreds of years have been Tenants for this and the Mannor of Godmersham to the Church as if to improve and gratifie the Memory of Augustin their first Abbot the Monks of Christ Church were determined to plant some of their Patrimony in that Name though perhaps but of accidental Coincidence Aldington is the next place to be remembred in the Hundred of Street and Bircholt Franchise more eminent because here are chosen the Officers yearly relating to the Mannors of Romney Mersh Queen Edgiva mother to King Edmund and King Edred gave this Town to Christ Church in Canterbury in Grosse with other Lands Anno Dom. 961. But in the General Survey of the Churches Lands in the Conquerours Time the Arch-Bishops had twenty one Sullings or Plough-Lands there and was valued together with the Appurtenances at Stouting and Lyming at 107 l. and 25 Burgesses held of it The Arch-Bishops of Canterbury did usually retire to their Mannor-house here and had both a Park empailed and a Chase for Deer called Aldington Frith by which Name we express Places where Deer ranged at large as in a Forrest But when the Kings of England intended to pare off something of the Revenue and Power of the Arch-Bishops which was in their Estimate of too vast and wide an Extent this Mannor with many other was passed away by Exchange to the Crown in the twenty ninth of Henry the eighth by Thomas Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Ruffins-Hill in this Parish was the Seat of the Godfrey's ancient Gentlemen whose Estate by two Daughters and Coheirs came to the Clerks of Kingsnoth and the Blechendens But whether descended from Godfrey le Falconer the Son of Balder unto whom K. Henry the second assigned gave and granted much Land in these Parts to hold in Serjeantie by the Service of keeping two Hawks for the King and his Successors I cannot positively say Much of the Land lay in Hurst and the Mannor is called Falconers Hurst and those that for many Generations held it resolved into the Name of Michel-Grove whose Heir General brought this and other fair Demeasns to Shelley's Ancestor of Michel-Grove in whose Name it resides at present The Coat very well alluded to their ancient Name and Tenure and is Quarterly Argent and Azure over all a Falcon Or. Hurst was formerly a Parish and the Church was dedicated to St. Leonard but it is now languished into Decay and Ruine and the Inhabitants assemble for the Performance of divine Offices at Aldington Ainsford in the Hundred of Axtane lieth upon the River of Darent and gave Seat and Sirname to a worthy Family that continued till the Time of Edward the second It hath the Ruines of an ancient Castle which reckons them and the Arsicks to have been the Founders There is another Seat in this Parish of venerable Antiquity called Arkesden whose owners bore the same for their Sirname and were of the Number of the Grand Assise in King John's Time after them the Cobhams were possessors of it and Reginald de Cobham had License the fourteenth of Edward the third to Castelate his House and paid respect of Aid for the same the twentieth of Edward the third at the making the Black Prince Knight From the Cobhams of Sterborough it came by the Heir General to the Lord Burgh or Borough from whom by Sale it devolved its Right on Sir Samuel Leonard Father of Sir Stephen Leonard which Sir Stephen enjoys it at this Day Southcourt and Mayfield are two Mannors lying in the Precincts of this Parish and did anciently relate to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury from whom by exchange they passed over to Dunham and from that Family to the Wiats in which Name and Family they remained till upon the Attainder of Sir Thomas Wiat they escheated to the Crown which by Grant invested their Right and Interest in J. Leonard of Chevening from whom they are
at Peckham Rey in Camberwell The Reception of Prisoners from the County of Surrey being for a good Space used to be at New Cross hath begot an opinion that there was the out-side of Kent but those that will justly denote the Ambitus and Bounds must not think it begins at Kent-street because it is so called of the Road-way into Kent Nor that Kentish Town by High-gate is part of this Shire though it pertake of the Customes of Gavel-kind Nor at Sir Thomas Waterings Kanc. Inq. 7. R. 2. n. 30. post Mort. E. fillii Tho. Dolsil where the Pilgrims to St. Thomas of Canterbury that disobedient and pertinacious Arch-bishop watered their Horses But a small Bridge beyond Hatcham in the Road to London neere which is a Road or Way to Bredingherst which by an Inquisition taken in the seventh of King Richard the second appeareth to be in Kent In the forty third of Edward the third it appears that the Mannor of Hachesham was granted to the Prioresse of Dertford Caus 43. E 3. M. 6. and many parcels of Land that came by Escheat as held of that Mannor lying in Surrey after the Death of Jo. the Son of Jo. Adam were confirmed to that Foundation by the King all which returning into the Hands of Henry the eighth upon the publike Suppression this Mannor with its Appendages was for ever setled by the Crown on the Company or Brother-hood of the Haberdashers in London East-Greenwich is the next Town to Detford so called because it standeth more East-ward then the other formerly spoken of In Latin named Viridis Sinus in Saxon Grenawic that is the Green Town upon the Turning Creeke of the River In the Time of the Danes Invasion they often made their Road at this place and made it remarkable by their Cruelty shewed unto Ealphege Arch-bishop of Canterbury whom in the year of our Lord a thousand and twelve they cruelly executed with most exquisite Torments whose Death together with the cause thereof Ditmarius Mersepurgius who about the same time lived hath thus in the eighth Book of his Chronicles described I understood saith he by the relation of Sewald a pitifull Deed and therefore memorable namely that the perfidious Crew of Norman Souldiers under Thurkill as yet their Captain took that excellent Prelate Arch-bishop of the Citty of Canterbury named Ealphege with the rest and them after their wicked manner imprisoned and bound yea and put him to endure Famine and unspeakable pains This good man moved with humane Frailty promiseth unto them a Summe of Money and for the obtaining thereof did set down a Time between That if in this Space he could not by some acceptable Ransome escape this momentary Death he might yet in the mean while purge himself with many a Grone to be offered as a lively Sacrifice unto the Lord. But when as the Time and space appointed were come and gon this greedy Gulph of Pirats called forth the Servant of the Lord and in threatning-wise demand this Tribute promised unto them to be speedily and out of hand paid Then he as a Meek lamb Here am I quoth he ready to undergo even for the Love of Christ whatsoever ye presume now to do against me that I may deserve to become an example of his Servants and nothing am I troubled at this day And whereas I seem unto you a Lyer it is not my own Will but great need and Poverty that hath done it This body of mine which in this Exile I have loved over much I present as culpable unto you and I know it is in your Power to do with it what yee intend but my sinfull Soul that regardeth not you I humbly commend to the Creator of all things As he was thus speaking the whole Rabble of these prophane Wretches hemmed him round about and getteth together diverse and sundry weapons to kill him which when their Leader Thurkill saw a far off he came quickly running and crying do not so I beseech you and here with my whole heart I deliver unto you all my Gold and Silver and whatsoever I have here or can by any means come by save my Ship only that you would not sin against the Lord's annointed But this unbridled anger of his Mates harder then Iron and Flint was nothing mollified with so gentle Words and fair Language of his but became only pacified by shedding his innocent blood which presently they altogether confounded and bleanded with Ox-heads Stons as thick as Hail and Billets hurled at him And to the memory of this said Ealphege is the Parish Church here consecrated But far more splendid hath this sumptuous Pallace been ever since Humphrey Duke of Gloucester Brother to King Henry the fifth builded the same and called it Placence And likewise the Castle and inclosed the Park For doing them both he had the King's Charter XI Hen. 6. Rex concedat quod Humfridus Dux Glocestriae Elianora uxor ejus possdent Karnellare Manerium suum de East-Grenwich Imparcare CC. Acras terrae inter Manerium suum praedictum For it was not lawfull for any man to fortifie his House or raise a Castle or place of Defence without Licence from the Crown for Fear of inward Sedition and was therefore inquirable before the Escheator in the twenty fourth Article of his Office Item de Castellis Dominicis Karnellatis sine Regis licencia The word having its derivation from Charneux whichin French signifieth the indented Form of the Top of a Wall which hath vent and crest commonly called Imbattelling because it was very serviceable in fight to the Defendant within who might at the loops or lower places and other cranies in the Walls and Bulworkes annoy the Enemy that assayled the same and might also shroud himself under the higher Parts thereof Afterward King Edward the fourth bestowed some cost to enlarge this work Henry the seventh followed and beautified the House with the Addition of the Brick Front to the water side But King Henry the eighth as he exceeded all his Progenitors in setting up sumptuous Houses so he spared no Cost in Garnishing Greenwich Queen Ann in the time of King James builded that new Brick-work towards the Garden and laid the Foundation of the House of Delight towards the Park which Queen Mary hath so finished and furnished that it far surpasseth all other of that kind in England In Memory of the many Camps that have been here Certain places within this Parish are called Combes namely East-Combe where that godly good Gentleman William Lambert Esquire dwelt that gave us the first Description of this Country in his Perambulation and made this work the more easy to any that should endevour further Progresse therein Facile est inventis addere difficile invenire Westcombe with its Appendant Members related to the noble Family of Badelesmer and upon the Attainder of artholomew Lord Badelesmer escheating to the Crown they lay clasped up in its Revenue untill King Richard the
Master or Conservator of her Jewells whose Son Sir Jo. Astley upon his Decease bequeathed it to his Nephew Sir Norton Knatchbull Knight and Baronet who is the instant Proprietarie of it Champions-Court is the second place of Account in this Parish It was in elder Times the Mansion and Demeasne of a generous Family whose Sirname was Campania and was certainly a Family of eminence in elder Times Robert de Campania is inserted in the Register of those Kentish Gentlemen who accompanied Richard the first to the Seige of Acon John de Campania his Grandchild obtained the Grant of a Market to Newenham weekly on the Thursday and a Fair yearly to continue the Vigil the Day of St. Peter and Paul and the Day after and was one of those Knights of Kent who was embarked in the Seige of Carlaverock in Scotland with Edward the first in the twenty eighth year of his Raign In Times of a younger Aspect the Name by Depravation and vulgar Use languished into Champion and so continued till it expired in Daughters and Coheirs one of which was Katharine Champion who by matching with Robert Corbett descended from the Corbetts of Morton Corbett in the County of Salop upon the Division of Champions Estate united this to his Revenue where it had not long rested but the same vicissitude brought this Name to determine in female Coheirs likewise two of which called Joan and Elizabeth were espoused to Samuell Slap and Ralph Hart. Samuell Slap had Issue Joan Slap who dyed childlesse and so this Mannor was cast into the Possession of Richard Hart Son of Ralph Hart the Successor of Richard Hart in our Fathers Memory alienated his Interest in it to Sir Henry Spiller and he not many years since conveyed all his Right and Title to it by Sale to Mr. Weckerlin descended from the Weckerlins a Family of good Ranke and Account in Upper Germany A third place of Note in Newenham is Sholand whih was in the Raign of H. the third as an old datelesse Deed discovers to us the Patrimony of Adam de Stomynton and after this Name went out the Bournes of Sharsted in Dodington not far removed from this place were about the twentieth year of Edward the third possest of this Lordship from them by purchase the Propriety was carried over to Chevin descended from the Chevins of Chevins-court in Marden and Thomas Chevin of this place married Thomasin Coheir of Champion of Champions Court in this Parish From Chevin the Interest of Sholand did descend by Sale to Maycott and from them by the same Fate to Adye a Family of Note and very much Antiquity as to the Name in this Track whose Right it had not long acknowledged but by the same Devolution the Title was invested in Steere from whom by Purchase it came over to Sayers descended from those of York-shire who in that Age our Fathers lived in sold his Concernment in it to Mr. Hugison of Dover in whose Heirs the Propriety of this place is at this instant resident Newington-Belhouse lies in the Hundred of Folkston and was in the Raign of King John and Henry the third the Possession of Hubert de Burgo Lord Chief Justice of England and from him it descended to his Son John de Burgo who in the fifty fifth year of Henry the third passed it away by Sale to Thomas de Belhouse by the Name of Newington juxta Hieth And probably this may be a Reason why this Family after they had adopted this Mannor into their own Name assumed a Coat which had some Affinitie with that of Hubert de Burgo videlicet Or upon a Bend Gules three Lozinges Argent and Gules which I suppose was done to preserve the Memory of him of whom it was first purchased But to proceed Sir Thomas de Belhouse great Grandchild of the above-mentioned paid respective Aid for this Mannor by the Name of Newington-Belhouse in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black Prince Knight and died possest of it in the forty eighth year of that Princes Raign from whom a descendant Right brought it down to his Heir John de Belhouse who enjoyed it so narrow a space of Time that it is left upon Record that he died seised of it in the forty ninth year of Edward the third and Robert Knevit a younger Son of Sir John Knevit Lord Chancellor of England who had married the Heir Generall of this Family was found to be his Heir and it was this Robert or else probably his Son who in the seventh year of Henry the fourth had a Patent of Confirmation of Liberty of Free-warren to his Lands at Newington formerly granted to Thomas de Belhouse After the Line of the Knevits was extinguished at this place which was about the beginning of Henry the eighth this Mannor devolved to the Cloptons for Edmund Knevit of Stanwaymagna in Essex had three Sisters who were Coheirs to him and their Father Edward Knevit Esquire Thomasin the eldest was matched to Sir William Clopton of Kentwell in Suffolk for his second Wife and Katharine the second Sister was married to John Clopton Esq eldest Son of the above-said Sir William and Dorothy the third was matched to Thomas Carnaby but these desiring to Contract all their Patrimony within the Verge of Suffolk alienared this Mannor in the twenty seventh year of King Henry the eighth with much of their Land in the Mersh to Thomas Lord Cromwell who being attainted in the thirty second year of Henry the eighth this Mannor escheated to the Crown and lay couched in its Revenue untill the first year of Queen Mary and then it was granted to Edward Lord Clinton who in the last year of the above-said Princesse conveyed it with all its perquisites to Henry Herdson whose Grandchild Francis Herdson almost in that Age we entitle to our Fathers Remembrance alienated it to Mr. Henry Brockman Grandfather to the instant Proprietarie James Brockman Esquire Sene and Bithborough were two ancient Seats which related to the Knightly Family of Valoigns of whom I shall speak more in my Discourse of Petham but before the latter end of Edward the third this Family was extinguished and then one of the two Daughters and Coheirs upon the Distinction of the Estate parcells brought these two places to be the Inheritance of Sir Francis Fogge who lies buried Cross-legg'd in Cheriton-Church with the Arms of Fogge and Valoigns empal'd upon his Tombe and from him did the Propriety and Title in an uninterupted Channell stream down to George Fogge Esquire who alienated Sene in our Grandfathers Memory to Honywood and Bithborough to Mr. Henry Brockman who added much to the ancient Building so that it is now become the Seat of that Family Bertrams in Newington is so called because it was parcell of the Estate of Bertram de Crioll who died possest of it in the twenty third year of Edward the first and left it to Joan his Heir espoused to Sir Richard de
Partisans of the House of Lancaster but rather was driven into it by the Tempest of his ill Fortune Having represented the City in its Modern Face or Aspect I shall now draw the Curtain something wider and discover its Pourtracture in its calamitous Sufferings occasioned by the Invasions not only of an entaged Enemy but likewise which is worse by the Onsets of its own incensed Prince and these two mixing together have much disordered the Ancient Glory and Splendor of it In the year 680. Eldred King of Mercia harrassed Kent and by an impetuous Inroad laid it wast And as particular Lamentations are not distinguishable in universal Groans so in this publick Depopulation of the County then Kingdome the Tragedy and Devastation acted by that Prince at that Time upon this City was not resented with that Regret as so deplorable Ruine might seem to exact which had it been singly poured out upon this City it could not have been repeated or rehearsed without a bleeding Heart and a weeping Eye In the year 986. King Etheldred infested Rochester with a Siege having entertained some discontent or disgust against the Bishop and would not dissolve his Leaguer until the said Bishop had expiated his Offence with the Sacrifice of an hundred pounds a Sum of importance in those dry Times though inconsiderable in these profuser ones of ours where commonly the pecuniary Supply that is extracted from the Subject is steeped in his Tears In the year 999. the Danes invaded Canterbury and though by the vigorous Resistance and Magnanimity of the Defendants their Assaults were made null yet at length by the treacherous Combination of an insidious Party within it was rather betrayed then subdued and miserably depopulated by the Barbarous Adversary the Signatures of which Devastation are yet visible and though the wideness of the Orifice which that wound had made be something closed up with the Hand of Time yet there is a huge Scar left to represent to Posterity the Greatness of the former Ruine After they had thus harrassed and defaced that City they to improve â—heir Victory advanced to Rochester where the Inhabitants astonished with an Example of so much Terror after some faint Opposition against the Danish Impressions and Onsets gave themselves up to Flight and this City to a Calamitous Depopulation In the year 1130. Henry the first with the Arch-bishop of Canterbury were present at the Consecration of St. Andrews Church in Rochester which was then brought to perfection having been before much empaired by the Iron Teeth of Time But then the Fury of the Elements began to enter into a Corrivalship or Competition with the Fury of Enemies for by a casual Eruption of an Accidental Fire the whole City almost found an infortunate Sepulchre in its own Ashes But it seems like a Phaenix it rose again into new Beauty and Order out of these Ashes and Embers but did not long continue in this Condition for in the year of Grace 1177. which was in the Time of Henry the second it was again assaulted by the Outrage and Fury of this implacable Element the Impressions and remaining Signatures of which Conflagration are obvious to the Inspection of an Inquisitive Eye even until this Day In the year 1225. it was by the Indulgent Bounty of King Henry the third invested with a Wall and that this Fortification might be of more Concernment it was likewise secured or fenced with a Ditch In the year 1251. A Solemn Tornament was held at Rochester wherein the English entered the Lists against those Strangers or Forrainers who having in that Age a great Concernment in the Eare of Henry the third had likewise a strong Interest in his Heart and by consequence a powerful Impression or Influence upon the publick Affairs of those Times wherein they managed the Honor of this Nation with so much Courage and Gallantry that they forced them with Shame and Confusion to retire into the City and as if that were not a Shelter of sufficient Importance to seek for their Security in the Castle The Castle THat there was in the Age before the Norman Invasion the Rudiments or if I may so say the Embrio of a Castle represented to the World under imperfect Lineaments or Dimensions here at Rochester is most certain For the Records of the Cathedral inform us that Egbert King of Kent in the year 763. gave certain Lands to Eardulfe Bishop of Rochester situate within the Wals of the Castle of that City which argues that there was some Trench or Fortification even in those Times which was in Strength by the Analogy of Proportion equivalent to the Fortresses of that Age and so might merit by Resemblance the Name of a Castle though the Bulk and Grandeur of it was added in Times of a more Modern extraction For in the Time of the Conquest I find that the Bishop of Rochester received Land at Alresford for Land at Rochester proportionate to it to erect a Castle on which was in all probability onely to enlarge the Boundaries of the old one which peradventure was thought too contemptible in those active Times to secure so important a Pass as this of Rochester was without the Additional Supply of some new Strength And that these Augmentations did acknowledge if not for their Founder or Author yet at least for their eminent Benefactor Odo Bishop of Bajeux and Earl of Kent half Brother to the Conqueror is without Controversie a man who was afterwards dignified and adorned with the Office of Lord Chief Justice of England a place of the most eminent Trust in that Age and which was often managed by the Kings of England personally themselves and from the Marble Seat in Westminster-hall did deliver their Decisions and Determinations of Law from whence in Ancient Seals and other Sculptures they are often represented to us sitting in Judicature upon this Marble Seat and hence result those Customary Expressions in Original Writs and other Processes Coram Nobis and Teste Rege and sometimes me Ipso apud Westmon and some other Phrases and Tearms in our Ancient Law-books of the same Complexion as namely such a one Allocutus est Nobis sedentibus supra Sedem Marmoream which justifies that the Kings of England did sometimes personally sit and assist in Judicature in that Court we now call the Upper Bench where like a great Orb or Glob of Light they dispersed their Beams of Mercy and Justice into all the parts of our English Horizon and dispelled all those Crievances which like so many Fogs or Clouds exhaled from corrupred Nature seemed to eclipse the Serenity of this Nation But I wander too much I now return This Accumulation of Offices and Dignities could not so ingage this above-mentioned Odo to the Interest of William Rufus his Nephew but that he first enwrapped himself in a Combination with some of the discontented Nobility whose Endeavors were to ravish the Scepter out of the Hand of that Prince and place it in
Patent conveyed in the thirteenth of Richard the third to John Brockman In Times of a lower step that is in the reign of Henry the eighth I find it in the Possession of John Newland but whether by Purchase from Brockman or not for want of Intelligence I cannot discover And in this Family the Propriety continued until the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then it was conveyed to Sir George Perkins from whom almost in our Memory the same Mutation brought it to confess the instant possession of Mr. ...... Aldridge of Tilers near Reding Rucking in the Hundred of Hamme in Ancient Records written Roking was by the Piety and Charitable Munificence of King Offa in the year seven hundred eighty and one given to the Prior and Monks of Christ-church and was in the Original Donation granted ad Pascua Porcorum for the Pasture of their Hoggs and it continued clasped up in their Revenue until the Tempest of the general Dissolution arose and overtook it for there being a Surrender of the Revenue of this Covent into the Hands of Henry the eighth in the thirty third year of his reign he united it to the Dean and Chapiter of Christ-church which he shortly after established and moulded out of their Ruines and here it continued until a late Storm arose again and tore it off Barbedinden is another eminent Mannor within the Boundaries of this Parish which had in Ages of a more Ancient Inscription Proprietaries of the same Denomination William de Barbodinden held it at his Death which was in the ninth of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 3. And left it to his Son and Heir John de Barbodinden who in the twentieth year of Edward the third as appears by the Book of Aid paid an Auxiliary supply for it at making the Black Prince Knight After this Family was extinguished Robert Belknap the Judge succeeded in the Possession of it and I do not find that though the Crown upon his Attaint seised upon much of his Estate that ever his Interest here was ravished away from him for he was in Possession of this place at his Death which was in the second year of Henry the fourth and disposed it by Will to his Son John Belknap who about the Beginning of Henry the sixth alienates it to Engham amongst whose Demeasne the Propriety of this Mannor had not many years dwelt but the Title was by Sale supplanted and cast into the Possession of Sir Matthew Brown Knight and his Son Thomas Brown Esquire in the last year of Edward the sixth passed it away by Sale to Anthony Lovelace Esquire Ancestor to Richard Lovelace who some few years since alienated his entire Concernment in it to the late Possessor Mr. Richard Hulse descended from the ancient Family of Hulse of the Borough of Hulse lying within Namptwich in the County of Chester S. S. S. S. SAltwood in the Hundred of Hene hath an open Prospect into the Ocean which flowed up much nearer then now it doth and imparted its Nature to its Name for in Latin it is written de Bosco Salso The Arch-bishops of Canterbury had here formerly a magnificent Castle which Time hath much dismantled and a Park well stored with Deere now vanished and gon Many Mannors in this Track are held of it by Knights Service which justly made it to be counted and called an Honour It was granted to the Church in the year 1096 by one Halden who for Grandeur and opulency was reckoned one of the Princes of England The Value and extent of it are more particularly set forth in the Records of the Church of Canterbury in the Conquerour's Time and they speak thus In Limwarlaed in Hundred de Hede habet Hugo de Montfort de Terra Mouachorum I Manerium Saltwode de Archiepiscopo Comes Godwinus tenuit illud tunc se defendebat pro VII Sullings That was Godwin Earl of Kent who by a possessory right held many Towns along this Coast nunc sunt V. tamen non Scottent nisi pro III. Et in Burgo de Hede sunt CC. XXV Burgenses qui pertinent huic Manerio de quibus non habet Hugo nisi III. Forisfacta for it lies in the Franchise of the five Ports and the King was to have their Serice est appretiatum XXVIII lb. IIII. This was Hugh Montfort who was one of those powerfull Men which entered England with William the Conquerour In the Time of K. Henry the second Henry de Essex Baron of Ralegh in that County Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports pro Tempore and the King's Standard-bearer in right of Inheritance held this Castle of the Arch-bishop who having in a leight Skirmish against the Welsh in Flintshire not only cast away his Courage but his Standard also was appealed of high Treason and in a legal Duell or Combate vanquished by his Challenger and being possest with regret and shame contracted from this Defeat shrouded himself in a Cloister and put on a Monks Cowle forfeiting a goodly Patrimony and Lively-hood which escheated to King Henry the second But Thomas Beckett acquainting the King that this Mannor belonged to his Church and Sea that Prince being beyond the Seas directed a Writt to K. Henry his Son the Draught of which is represented to us by Matthew Paris whither I referre the Reader for Restitution But in regard of new emergent Contests between King Henry the second and that insolent Prelate it was not restored unto the Church untill the Time of Richard the second The Castle was magnificently inlarged and repaired by William Courtney Archbishop of Canterbury in the Time of Richard the second as his Will doth declare and his Arms in Stone-work eminently demonstrate and remained after his Decease annexed to the Archiepiscopal Revenue untill Thomas Cranmer in the twenty ninth of Henry the eighth exchanged it with that Prince And his Son King Edward the sixth in the fourth year of his Raign granted it to Edward Lorâ— Clinton who not long after conveyed it to Mr. Henry Herdson whose Grandchild Mr. Francis Herdson passed it away about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth to Robert Cranmer Esquire by whose Daughter and Heir Ann Cranmer it devolved to Sir Arthur Harris of Crixey in Essex whose Son Sir Cranmer Harris not many years since alienated it to Sir William Boteler Father to Sir Oliver Boteler Baronet the instant Lord of the Fee There is an old vast Mansion House of Stone at Brochull in this Parish on the side of a Steep Hill which was the Seat and ancient Residence of a Family as eminent for Antiquity as any in this Track and extracted their Sirname from hence and were called Brochull who flourished here in Knights Degree and in some Parliaments in the Time of Edw. the third and Edw. the fourth sate there as Knights of the Shire Margaret the Wife of William builded or caused to be built an Isle on the Northside the Parish Church You may rove at the Time by
her Brother is now entered upon it Brabourne is the second place of Account The first whom I find possest it was Baldwin de Betun Earl of Albemarle Falcatius de Brent who so vigorously asserted the Cause and Quarrel of King John against his Barons and afterwards merited very much of his Son Henry the third at the Battle of Lincolne where a considerable part of those Forces which Lewis the Dolphin of France had transported into England to support the Confederacie of the Seditious Barons was dissipated and discomfited But afterwards all National Animosities being charmed into Slumber by a general Peace he desiring still to improve the Flame of War since from that he expected both Heat and Light seised on the Castle of Bedford which was not wrung from him without the Expence of much Blood and Treasure to expiate which Crime his Estate here and else where was in the fifth year of Henry the third forfeited to the Crown as being the Price of so great an Insolence And then the abovesaid Monarch granted it wholly to Baldwin de Betun Earl of Albemarle and Hawis his Daughter and Co-heir brought it to her Husband William Mareschall Earl of Pembroke but Gilbert Mareschall this mans Successor dying without Issue Roger de Bigod Earl of Norfolk in Right of Mawde his Mother who was his Sister and Heir entered upon it and he in the eleventh year of Edward the first gives it to Otho Lord Grandison After this Family was worn out I find by an ancient Court-roll one Walter de Pevenley or Pemley possest of it in the reign of Edward the third and he it is possible erected the House which in old Deeds is written Pevenley or Pemley-court But before the beginning of Henry the sixth this Family was extinguished and gone and then the Ashe's were the succeeding Proprietaries a Family which before were Lords of much Land in this Track and in ancient Deeds were written de Fraxino from their Habitation near some place planted with those Trees and it is probable derived their Descent from Thomas de Esse who was one of the Recognitores Magnae Assisae in the fourth year of King John as appears by the Pipe-rols of that Time and certainly to this Name did a considerable part of the Fabrick of the House owe its first Original as appears by the Coat in divers of the Windows videlicet Azure three Cheverons Argent In fine after this Seat and Mannor had for many years been resident in this Family it was about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth alienated to Sir ...... Boswell whose Grand-child dying without Issue his Sister the Lady Margaret Boswell is now become the Heir General of this place Rumpsted and in very old Evidences written Rumpshot was the Inheritance of a Family which was known by that Sirname It is superfluous to inform the World how many by old Deeds are represented to have been possessors of this place amongst whom Sir William de Rumpsted is most eminent who flourished here in the reign of Edward the third and as the constant and successive Tradition of the Inhabitants of this Parish is was Foster-father to William de Sevenoke who was found a desolate and forlorn Orphan in the hollow Body of an Oake and received both Reception and Education from the Charity and Benevolence of the above-mentioned Person In whose Lineage the propriety of this place did not long after settle for by an old Court-roll I find it in the reign of Henry the sixth in the Tenure of Nisell but this Family not long after determining in a Female Heir she by matching with Bere brought it to acknowledge it self to be of the Interest of this Family but staid not long in the Name for about the beginning of Henry the eighth it was made by purchase the possession of Peckham from whom not many years after by the same fatality it went away to Bedell Nicholas Bedell in the third and fourth of Philip and Mary demised it to John Stacy of Hollenden and John Stacy in the fourth and fifth of Philip and Mary conveyes it to Richard Lone and his Successor Mr. Richard Lone hath very lately by Sale transmitted his Interest here to Thomas Lambert formerly of West-Combe in Greenwich Esquire Knoll is the last place of Account in Sevenoke It had in Times of elder Inscription the same Owners with Brabourne and Seale not far distant as namely Falcatius de brent Baldwin de Betun Earl of Albemarle William Mareschall Earl of Pembroke and Roger de Bigod Earl of Norfolk who in the eleventh year of Edward the first granted it with Seale and much other Land which devolved to him in Right of Mawde his Mother who was Sister and Heir to her Brother Gilbert le Mareschall Earl of Pembroke to Otho de Grandison and in his Descendants did it continue until the beginning of Richard the second and then it was conveyed by Sir Thomas Grandison to Geffrey de Say yet I do not find that the possession of this place was entirely planted in Grandison for an Inquisition taken after the Death of Reginald de Cobham in the thirty fifth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 62. Parte primâ represents him to have had some share or concernment in it yet how ever it were thus broken into parcels the Inheritance of this Mannor was wholly after this placed in Geffrey de Say as appears by some Court-rols which commence from the reign of Richard the second but he determining in Daughters and Co-heirs Joan one of them upon the Division of his Estate brought this as an Addition to the Patrimony of her Husband Sir William Fiennes and in this Family when the possession had had a Respite until the reign of Edward the fourth it was by Sir William Fiennes passed away by Sale to Thomas Bourchier Arch-bishop of Canterbury who added much of Pompe and Magnificence by a new Supplement or Superstructure to the ancient Pile or Fabrick and dying bequeathed it to the See of Canterbury as a convenient Pallace for his Successors but when William Warham Arch-bishop of Canterbury in the reign of Henry the eighth saw that the Grandeur of this Mansion was looked upon both with an Eye of Emulation and Envy by the Laity of those Times he to allay that Murmure and Regret in the twelfth year of the abovesaid Prince exchanged it with the Crown and here it rested until Edward the sixth in the second year of his reign granted it to Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset Protector of the Realm in the Minority of that Prince Who being convicted of Felony in the fourth year of that King it escheated back to the Crown and then it was in that year by a new Grant setled on John Dudley Duke of Northumberland but he being intoxicated with the Fumes of Ambition broke out into such treasonable and seditious practises against the Right and Title of Queen Mary that they could not be explated but with the Losse of his
we style the Lowy of Tunbridge and is a small Territory within it self called in old Latine Records Districtus Leuca de Tunbridge and was formerly subservient to the Dominion of those noble Persons who were Lords of the Fee The first of which was Richard de Clare Earl of Brionie in Normandy to whom it was by William Rufus granted upon this emergent Occasion This Richard was an earnest Abettor and supporter likewise of the Designes of this Prince upon his Brothers Territories in Normandy and so by consequence an active partisan of his which made the Breast of Robert Duke of Normandy to boile with such Animosity and passion against Him that the Flame of his Hatred kindled the Flame of a War which could not be extinguished but by the Depredation of this Earl's Estate and the utter subversion of his Castle of Brionie which was left an Heap of Flame and Ruines which caused William Rufus to risent his Calamitous Condition with so much Regret and Commiseration that he granted him as much Land here at Tunbridge as would spread into a League both in the Extent and Longitude of it and in the Breadth and Latitude of it likewise and Gemeticensis reports that this Richard brought over the Rope with which he was to measure it in the same Ship which transported him and his Retinue From this Richard who founded the Castle the right of Tunbridge was by Descent translated into his Son Gilbert de Clare the first Earl of Hertford and here did the Signory many years find a residence till Isabel Sister and Coheir of Gilbert de Clare by matching with Hugh Audley brought this to be the Inheritance of that illustrious Family where it had not long remained but Margaret Daughter and Heir of Hugh Audley by marrying with Ralph Stafford made it a Branch of their patrimony nor did it depart from this Family till the Vanitie of Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham embarked him in that Design which the Malice of Cardinal Wolsey aggravated with those Circumstances of Hatred by blowing of wild Conjectures into the Ears of Henry the eighth who was naturally a jealous Prince and emulous of any new blooming Glory that he was stained with the black Tincture of Treason which sunk him into an untimely Sepulcher and his Estate by forfeiture into the possession of the Crown Edward Duke of Buckingham being thus convicted in the twelfth year of Henry the eighth there was a great Controversie started forth in the thirteenth year of that Prince's reign as appears by our Law-books in the Parliament then convened whether or not there were ground enough in the Crimes objected against him to establish an Attainder upon and it was carried in the Affirmative that there was upon which this Castle with all the Mannor of Dachhurst alias Hilden-borough with all the appendant Services and Quit-rents united to them did escheat to the Crown and remained there until Queen Elizabeth dissevered the Mannor of the Castle from her Interest and made it by Grant the possession of her Kinsman Henry Lord Hunsdon whose Son George Lord Hunsdon about the beginning of King James passed it with his Daughter and Heir to Thomas Lord Berkley who conveyed it to Sir John Kenedie from whom not long after by the same Conveyance it fell under the divided Signory of Ferrers Gosson and Johnson and they by a mutual Consent sold their Interest in it to Sir Peter Vanlore by whose three Daughters and Co-heirs matched to Sir Henry Zinzin Sir Alexander Sterling and Robert Crooke Esquire it is now divided between those three Families Although the Onsets of Time and the Assaults of Enemies together hath thrown the Beauty and Strength into such a rude Confusion that it now lurks in its own Rubbish yet formerly it was eminent for being the Scene of much Feude and Contention between the Kings of England and the Barons then in Arms against them In the year 1088. Odo Bishop of Bajeux and Earl of Kent making a Defection from William Rufus to those Barons who sought to support the Title of his eldest Brother Robert placed one Gilbert in this Castle for the Defence of it which enforced that King to invest it with a Siege and compelled the Castellan to a Surrender and afterwards having taken Odo himself imprisoned him in this Fortress from whence he afterwards made a successful Escape In the year 1215. Falcatius de Brent during the Military Contests King John had with his Nobility by Force wrung this Castle from the Earl of Gloucester and maintained it for some Time with signal Evidences of Magnanimity to the Kings Behoof and Use In the year 1231. upon the Decease of Gilbert the then Earl of Gloucester seised the Wardship of his Heir and entrusted the Custody of this Castle to Hubert de Burgh Earl of Kent This occasioned an eager and impetuous Contest between the King and Richard Arch-bishop of Canterbury the Arch-bishop pretended because the Castle held of his See therefore he de Jure ought to have the Custody of the Heir in his Wardship To which the King replyed that the whole Earldome held of him and that he might commit the Custody of the Lands to whomsoever he pleased This caused the Arch-bishop boyling with much Heat and Passion to Appeal for Redress to Rome where he managed this Controversie with that vigorous dexterity that the Pope issued out a solemn determination on his behalf but his Decease in his Journey homewards superseded the Execution of the Papal Sentence The above-mentioned King Henry in the year 1259. granted Licence to Richard de Clare Earl of Gloucester to wall and embattle his Town of Tunbridge in these Words in that Charter Claudere Muro et Kernellare which latter Word being made Latine out of the French Charneaux imports that indented Form of the Top of a Wall which hath Vent and Crest commonly called embattelling very serviceable to the Defendants within not only to annoy the Enemy but likewise to shroud and secure himself from the Fury of any outward Assault This Mode of Fortification was in elder Time with much Caution prohibited within this Nation out of a Jealousie that it might foment any inward Sedition and was therefore amongst many other Articles inquirable before the Escheator de Domibus Kerneliatis But the War breaking out not long after this between the King and Simon de Montfort to whose Interest the Earl of Gloucester was by a Solemn Combination closely united the Grant of the above-mentioned King was made ineffectual and not the least Symptoms of the intended Wall are at this instant visible In the year 1263. the War growing hot between Henry the third and Simon de Montfort the King sets down before Tunbridge-castle and forces it to snrrender to discretion and therein found amongst others the Countess of Gloucester From whence I collect that in those Times it was esteemed if not the only yet at least a principal Mansion of those great Lords of Tunbridge the
to Clerke and so in all their Deeds subsequent to this Match have written Clerke alià s Woodchurch ever since But as all Families have their Descent and Period as well as Gradation and Ascent so had this for after this Mannor had for so many hundred years continued in this Family which had been productive of Men which had been planted in places of the greatest Eminence by which they were obliged to perform Service to their Country it came down at last to Humfrey Clerk Esquire who about the year 1594 passed it away by Sale to Walter Harlackenden Esquire by whose Daughter and Heir called Deborah Harlackenden it was united to the Revenue of Sir Edward Hales Knight and Baronet upon whose late Decease it is now descended to his Grand-child Sir Edward Hales Baronet who is entitled to the instant Signory of it Pleurinden in this Parish is a Branch of that Estate which fell under the Signory of the ancient and Knightly Family of Engham very frequently in old Deeds and other Monuments written Edingham and sometimes Hengham In a Deed wherein there is mention of a Match between ....... one of the Co-heirs of Sir Stephen de Penchester and Henry de Cobham and wherein some Land is conveyed over to Cobham there are these Persons recorded to be Testes to it William de Savage William de Oure Otho de Grandison and Roger de Hengham The Deed is very ancient and though not confined to any strict or precise Date yet commences from the reign of Edward the first and from this Roger did Vincent Engham Esquire lineally descend who in the ....... year of Q. Elizabeth passed it away by Sale to Roger Twisden Esquire Grand-father to Sir Roger Twisden Baronet in whom is fixed the instant Propriety of it Tounland is another Mannor in Woodchurch which had anciently Owners of that Sirname Rafe de la Thun died seised of this Mannor and other Lands in Woodchurch the forty third year of Hen. the third After him I find Richard de Tunland possest of it in the reign of Henry the third and Edward the first and had Issue Thomas de Tunlâ—nd who died seised of it in the fifth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 13. and left it to his Son and Heir John de Tunland who was an eminent Benefactor to the priory of Leeds to which Covent he added this Mannor to improve their Revenue at the time of his Decease which was in the forty seventh year of Edward the third and here it remained until the Dissolution and then it was granted by Henry the eighth to Thomas Lord Cromwell and after his Attaint in the thirty second year of his reign being escheated it was in the thirty fifth of Henry the eighth regranted to Sir Thomas Moile Chancellor of the Court of Augmentation and he in the thirty sixth year of Henry the eighth passed it away by Sale to William Goodwin and Tho. Ancos and they not long after alienated their Right in it to Lucas in which Family it continued but until the Beginning of Q. Elizabeth and then it was conveyed by Sale to Thomas Godfrey whose Son James Godfrey in the tenth year of Q. Elizabeth transferred it by the like Devolution to Mary Guldford and she again in the eleventh year of that Princess demised it to Richard Guldford and he not long after sold it away to Shelley of Michelgrove and John Shelley as I find by a Court Roll relating to this place held it in the eighteenth of Q. Elizabeth and in the Descendant of this Name and Family is the Inheritance of it if I be not misinformed at this instant placed Henherst is the last place considerable in Woodchurch which was the possession of a Family of that Denomination of whom I have spoken at Stapleherst where they enjoyed another Mannor of this Name and of which Family this here was but a Cadet or younger Slip and was written sometimes Henherst and as often in old Deeds Engherst and continued Owners of this place until the reign of Henry the seventh and then it devolved to Sir Thomas Hengherst who was the last of that Name which held this place for he dying without Issue Male Humfrey Wise who had matched with his Daughter and Heir in her right was invested in the Inheritance of it but he deceasing likewise without Issue Male his sole Inheritrix united it by marriage to the Revenue of her Husband Mr. Robert Masters Great Grand-father to Mr. Edward Masters of Canterbury in whom the propriety of this place is at this prefent continued Henden likewise is an Appendage to Woodchurch from whence certainly the Name of Henden originally streamed out though it be brought down to our Times in so crooked and perplexed a Chanel that we cannot discover it in all the wandrings and Digressions of it though the Family was made more conspicuous by Sir Edward Henden one of the Barons of the Exchequer to the late King Charles who for his clear speculation and insight into the deepest and most mysterious Intrigues of the Municipal Law of England was commonly called the Picklock of it But this is a Diversion The ancient Proprietaries of Henden represented to us by the eldest Records were the Lords Burwash very frequently written Burghherst and Bartholomew Lord Burwash had a Charter of Free Warren granted to Henden in the eighteenth year of Edward the third And when this Family had deserted the Possession of this place the next which successively held it were the Capells of Capells Court in Ivie-Church and Richard Capell died seised of it in the fifteenth year of Richard the second and here after it had been for some Generations fixed the Name resolved into a Daughter and Heir who was matched unto Harlackenden and so it became twisted into the Revenue of that Family and so remained till Deborah Harlackenden the Heir General of Walter Harlackenden a Branch of this Stock by being wedded to Sir Edward Hales Knight and Baronet Grand-father to Sir Edward Hales now of Tunstall Baronet wound it up in the Demeasn and Interest of that Honourable Family The Borough of Harlackenden is situated in this Parish and has been for many hundred of years the Patrimonial Demeasn of that Name and Family as appears by a Tomb in the Church of Woodchurch whose Inscription signifies that one of them lies enterr'd there a little after the Conquest and though the Character be in the proportion and Shape of it very much like that which was in use in the reign of Hen. the fourth and Henry the fifth and so makes the Truth of it disputable yet to this 't is answered that there was an old Tombstone there before with the same Inscription upon it insculped peradventure in a Saxon Character or such an one as was proportionate to that time in which that person died who lies there entombed which being decayed his Successors to perpetuate and inforce the Memory of so ancient a Predecessor fixed this
demeasn at Halden in Dower with Mary his Daughter matched to Sir Hen. Sidney Lord Deputy of Ireland and Knight of the Garter a person of that Value and Eminence that he that would discover him represented in his best Features and proportion must view him in his Worthy and Signal undertakings in Ireland where he will find him better pourtraid than he can be by any faint or drowsie Attributes that drop from my humble and unequal pen and from him did this Mannor in right of this Alliance descend to his Grandchild the right honorable Robert Earl of Leicester who not many years since passed it away to Sir Edward Hendon one of the Barons of the Exchequer who upon his Decease gave it to his Nephew Sir John Hondon of Biddenden and he not long since alienated it to Mr. John Austin of Tenterden from whom it is lately devolved by Death to be now the possession of his second Brother Mr. Rob. Austin of Hall-place in Bexley Brocket is another Mannor in Ebeney which had possessors as appears by ancient Deeds of that Name who likewise were written in Evidences Brocket but whether the Brockets of Brocket-hall in the County of Hartford were descended from these or these from them I cannot discover But the greatest honor which this obscure Mannor hath acquired is that ever since the reign of Henry the fourth untill the thirtieth year of Henry the eighth it acknowledged the noble Family of Guldford and then it changed its proprietaries for that year it was by John Guldford Esquire conveyed to Sir John Hales Baton of the Exchequer from whom it is now come down to own the proprietary of his Descendant Sir Edward Hales of Tunstall Baronet The Island of Shepey comes next to be treated of It called by Ptolomie Toliatis in Latin Insula Ovium in Saxon Sceapige all agreeing in their Verdict that it was so named from its plenty of Sheep It is environed with the mixed Waters of the Thames and Medway on the West the Swale or Genlade on the South and the Main Ocean beats on the East and North more celebrated for the fertility of the Soil then Salurbity of Air which is grosse and thick causing Aguish Infirmities that keep long Residence they get possession Quinborough or rather originally Kingsborough as Konisbergh in Prussia is now corruptly called Quensborough acknowledged King Edward the third for the Founder who having wedded Philippa Daughter of William Earl of Henault and Holland and his occasions often calling him to passe into her Fathers Dominion whose Aid and Assistance he required in the great enterprise for the Recovery of his undoubted right to the Diadem of France heerected this strong and stately Fottresse for defence of the mouth of the Thames and his own secure Accomodation And because the Situation of this place was unhealthy he to allure Inhabitants in the year 1366 enobled the Town with a Charter of Incorporation wherein he indulges by Grant ample priviledges and Immunities unto it as namely to hold two Mercates weekly one on the Munday and the other on the Thursday and two Fairs yearly one at the Feast of St. James the other on the twenty fourth of March and to make Choice of Burgesses to send to Parliament The principal Architect and Surveyout of the work was William Wickham after Bishop of Winchester who had been formerly employed in that kind at the reedifying Windsor-castle when his good patron John de Vuedal was Constable there This man used to inscribe on the edifices thus erected this Inscription This made VVickham whereby some conceived he arrogated to himself the Cost and payment of the Structure and informed the King thereof but his ingenious exposition satisfied that Prince when he shewed him that by his Inspection and Insight into those matters he had obtained both his Ecclesiastical and secular promotions being made Bishop of Winchester first Keeper of the privy Seal and then of the King's Conscience his last Gradation or Ascent being to be Lord Chancellor of England When King Edward had perfected this Castle he instituted a Chief Governour who was for the future to carry the Title of Constable like as at Dover-castle and elsewhere The Catalogue of those who succeeded in that Command I have set down The care and cost of King Henry the eighth in the year 1536 to repair this place when he erected Fortresses for Defence of the Sea Coast drew this Eulogie from the Pen of Leland Castrum Regius editum recepit Burgus Fulmina dira Insulanos Tutos servat ab omni vel omni Constables of Quinborough Castle JOhn Foxly a valiant Souldier and faithful Servant to King Edward the third was the first Constable of Quinborough Castle which Office he received the thirty sixth of Edward the third 50. Edw. 3. John of Gaunt 8. Rich. 2. Robert de Vere 16. Rich. 2. Arnold Savage of Bobbing Court. 20. Rich. 2. William Scroop 1. Hen. 4. Sir Hugh Waterton 4. Hen. 4. Sir Jo. Cornwallis Lord Fanhope Knight of the Garter 10. Hen. 4. Thomas Arundel Arch-bishop of Canterbury 1. Hen. 5. Gilbert Vmfreville 28. Hen. 6. Humfrey Stafford Duke of Buckingham 1. Edw. 4. John Northwood Esquire ... Edw. 4. George Duke of Clarence 1. Rich. 3. Thomas Wentworth 2. Rich. 3. Christopher Collins 1. Hen. 7. William Cheyney 2. Hen. 8. Sir Francis Cheyney 3. Hen. 8. Sir Tho. Cheyney of Shurland Knight of the Garter 1. Reginae Elizab. Sir Robert Constable  Sir Edward Hobbie Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery Baron of Shurland and Knight of the Garter Minster is the next place of Account in this Island and is contracted from the Latin Word Monasterium from whence this Town hath its Appellation and may challenge the third place amongst our English Nunneries For Sexburga Daughter to Ercombert King of Kent to whom and the Virgin Mary the Church of this Parish is devoted and dedicated in the year 664 erected a Religious House at this place and liberally endowed it for the Sustentation of vayled Virgins The second was founded by Eanswith Daughter of Eadbald King of Kent at Folkston And the first had its Institution at Liminge likewise in this County by Eadburga and erected to the Honor of the Virgin Mary and St. Mildred But the Antiquity of this Cell and the Sanctity attributed to it by elder times could not so skreen or rescue it from the Heat of War but it was thrice sacked and dismantled by the barbarous irruptions of the Danes within lesse then an Age which by usual Account is said to be thirty year The first misfortune happened to it in the year 832 when thirty five Sail of them rived here and rifled it The second and third time was in the year 851 and then again in the year 855 by the Armies of them who wintered their Ships within this Island Besides these depredations the complices of Earl Godwin and his Sons in the Time of their proscription and exile which was in the year
which menaced it upon the removal of the Body of St. Mildred in the year 1116 obtained from Henry the first a Charter to hold a Market weekly at his Mannor of Minster which by disuse and intermission shrunk into neglect and oblivion But the greatest blow which was given to it was the final suppression of the abovesaid Abby and then it was rent from that Covent and came to own the Signory of the Crown and was lodged in its revenue untill the ninth year of King James and then it was with the appendant Mannors of St. Johns St. Peters and St. Laurence granted to Sir Philip Cary and John Williams Esquire whose Sons and Heirs Sir John Williams and John Cary Esquire do now divide the Inhetitance of it Sheriffs-court in this Parish but more anciently styled in old Records Sheriffs-hope was the possession of Reginald de Cornhill who had the Custody of this County so long that it was almost hereditary to him so that he lost his own Name and assumed that of le Sheriff from whence this place borrowed the Appellation of Sheriffs-hope but this could not so fence-in the title or chain the possession to this Family but that about the Beginning E. the third it came to confesse the Corbies for proprietaries and Robert de Corbie held it at his death which was in the thirty ninth of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num 9. and had Issue Robert Corbie in whom the Male-line was wound up so that Joan his Daughter and Heir by matching with Sir Nicholas Wotton twice Lord Maior of London annexed it to the demeasn of that Family and from him did the title by an unintercepted Current of Descent glide down to Thomas Lord Wotton who setled it in marriage upon his eldest Daughter Katharine Wotton wedded to the Lord Henry Stanhop and she not many years since conveyed it by Sale to Mr. Hen. Paramour lately deceased Brother to Mr. Thomas Paramour now Lord of the Fee Monkton is a Mannor that almost from the first Infancy of Christianity in this Island was wrapped up in that demeasn which was under the Signory of the Monks of Christ-church in Canterbury and as the Book of Christ-church informs me was given to that Church by Ediva or Edgiva mother of Edmund and Eadred or Edred both Kings in the year 961. And if you will see how it was rated in the Conquerours time the Pages of Dooms-day Book will inform you Monkton says that Register est Manerium Monachorum sanctae Trinitatis that is Christ-church est de Cibo eorum in tempore Edwardi Regis se defendebat pro XX sulling is nunc se defendebat pro X VIII est appretiatum XL lb. This upon the surrender of the patrimony of Christ-church by the Monks of that Cloister into the hands of Henry the eighth in the twenty ninth year of his reign was by him not long after enstated on his new erected Dean and Chapiter of Christchurch and continued untill these Times annexed to their Revenue Monkton had Liberty to keep a Market weekly which was obtained by Grant from Henry the sixth in the seventeenth year of his Rule by John Salisbury then Prior of Christ-church Stonar is the last place to be taken Notice of in this Island and although it be a Parish now without Inhabitants and a member of the Cinque-ports belonging to Sandwich and hath not enough left of its former Buildings to direct you to its original Situation yet was it formerly a Haven-Town and had a Fair held there yearly five Days together before the Feast of the Translation of St. Austin which was granted to this place in the year 1104. In the reign of William Rufus about the year 1090 there arose a Suit in Law between the Londoners and the Abbot of St. Augustins to whom this Mannor was given with the residue of that revenue which belonged to the Nunnery at Minster by King Canutus upon the translation of the Body of St. Mildred to that Cloister as touching the right of the Haven of Stonar wherein by the favourable Aid of the Prince the Citizens as Spot Chronicler to that Abby reports had the overthrow But the utter ruine and subversion of the Town happened in the year 1385 about the ninth of Richard the second at what time the French with 18 Sail of Gallies designing to infest the Maritine parts of Kent landed and layed this Town of Stonar in Ashes which ever since hath found a Sepulcher in its own Rubbish And accuses the bad Government of Sir Simon de Burley the then Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports and Constable of Dover-Castle as cheif Author thereof For when his demands were utterly refused and denyed and not suffered to have the inestimable Ornaments and Riches of St. Thomas Beckets shrine and the Jewels of St. Augustins removed to Dover-Castle upon pretence of safe-keeping them there then he grew slack and remisse in securing the Sea-Coast and Isle of Thanett so that when the Abbot of St. Augustins had raised a considerable Strength of his Tenants about Northburn and bending towards the Island endeavoured to have passed over at Sandwich Sir Simon de Burley would not permit him so that he was constrained by a long and redious March all Night to go about by Fordwich and Sturrey into the Island and made such vigorous resistance that the Enemies fled to their Gallies without doing any farther prejudice to the Islanders Then Sir Simon procures the King to send out his Mandate under the great Seal of England requiring all that had Lands or belonged to Sandwich to be Commorant there and to find competent Arms according to the Quality of their Estates and Faculties upon pain of Imprisonment and Forfeiture of all they had to loose And sends in the Kings Name to the Abbot to remove with his Forces from Thanet to the Guard of Sandwich as a place of more Importance But the Abbot saith Thorne that continued the Chronicle of Spot neither astonished with the power of the Enemy nor seduced with the Inticements or terrified with the Menaces of the Traytor Burley remained in the Island to defend his own and his Tenants possessions After this there is nothing observable at this place untill the Suppression of the Abby of St. Austins and the Resignation of its Revenue into the hands of Henry the eighth when this Mannor with the rest of their demeasn having improved the patrimony of the Crown it was in the fourth and fifth of Philip and Mary granted to Nicholas Crispe Esquire from whom it is now descended to Mr. Nicholas Crispe his Successor the instant Lord of the Fee There was in elder times a Guard assigned for the security of the passage between Sandwich and Stonar for I find that Ed. the second granted VVill. Turke for Life in the seventh year of his reign the passage between Stonar and Sandwich and the Perquisites and Emoluments emergent from it which Grant was in the eighteenth