Aldersey of Swanton Court in Bredgar Esquire Castwisell is a third place in Biddenden worth our Consideration it was in Times very ancient Parcel of that Estate which did in this County relate to the Moiles extracted from Moiles Court at Bodmin in Cornwall and certainly did as high acknowledge the Signory of this Knightly Family as any Land they held in this County for though by some old Deeds not bounded with any date I find the Name of John de Castwisell affixed as Teste yet by those old Deeds and Muniments which have an Aspect upon this Mannor I discover that Walter Moile Knight in the sixth year of Edw. the third did grant to Reginald and William Sand all those Lands Tenements Rents and Services which Simon Gidinden ad Formam late held of the said Sit Walter as of his Mannor of Castwisell and by a subsequent Deed dated in the twenty third year of Henry the sixth I find that Margaret Widow of William Scapis of Burmersh did grant to Walter Moile which was the Judge all that Messuage and Land she held in Biddenden and by a Deed of a more modern Inscription that is one which comences from the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth I find that Thomas Moile of Eastwell Gentleman afterwards dignified with the order of Knighthood by the abovesaid Prince conveyed it to Stephen Rogers Gentleman and from him is Mr. Jonathan Rogers now possessor of this place originally descended Bidborough is the last place which shuts up the Lowy of Tunbridge here were Lands which were the Inheritance of a Family called Chauney the first of whom with whom I meet with in Record is Thomas le Chauney who paid respective Aid for it at making the Black Prince Knight as appears by the Book of Aid in the twentieth year of Edward the third and continued in his Family divers years after his Exit for in the latter end of Henry the fourth I find George Chauney possest of it but after him I can trace out no more of this Family who held it the next who succeeded in the Possession were the Palmers as is manifest by some old Court Rolls which represent one Thomas Palmer to have been Lord of the Fee in the Reign of Ed. the fourth and Henry the seventh but made no long stay in this Name for about the Beginning of Henry the eighth it was alienated to John Vane Esquire and the descendant of this Family Sir Ralph Vane being attainted in the fourth year of Edw. the sixth it escheated to the Crown and Queen Elizabeth in the first year of her Rule granted it to Henry Cary Lord Hunsdon of whom more hereafter Ramhurst is another little Mannor in Bidborough which the Book of Aid informs me in the twentieth year of Ed. the third to have been possest by a Family called Warehall and remained in their possession until the Reign of Henry the fourth and then it was passed away to Colepeper whose Ancestor John Colepeper died seised of some Estate here in the forty eighth year of Edward the third as appears Rot. Esc Num. 29. and in this Family was the Propriety resident until the latter end of Henry the eighth and then it was transferred by Sale to Lewknor from whom in that Age which came within the Verge of our Grand-fathers Remembrance it was alienated and demised to Dixon in Right of which Conveyance it is the instant Possession of Mr. Edward Dixon Esquire There is an House in this Parish called Bounds and in ancient Deeds called Bunds which as Tradition avers was the utmost Margin or Limit which bounded that League of Earth which hath been since known by the Name of the Lowy of Tunbridge and was given by Will. Rufus to Gilbert Earl of Briony and Eu because his Castle of Briony had been before by Violence torn from him by Robert Duke of Normandy because this Earl had been a Promoter or at least a Fomenter of the Designs of his Brother King William The Mannor of Bidborough it self had the same owners with that of Tunbridge as namely the Earls of Clare Audley and Stafford and escheating by forfeiture to the Crown upon the attaint of Edw. Stafford Duke of Buckingham in the twelfth year of Hen. the eighth it was by Q. Elizabeth granted in the first year of her Reign to Henry Cary Lord Hunsdon whose Son George Cary Lord Hunsdon dying without Issue Male his onely Inheritrix Elizabeth wedded to Thomas Lord Barkley linked it to his Patrimony and he in the Beginning of King James conveyed it to Sir Thomas Smith Grand-father to Robert Smith Esquire who lately died possest of it Bilsington in the Hundred of New-church was folded up anciently in that Patrimony which acknowledged the Dominion of John Mansel a man of eminent Note in the Reign of Henry the third as appears by that Chain of offices which adorned his Greatness for he was Constable of Dover-Castle Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports Provost of Beverley for the abovesaid Prince and Queen Eleanor his Wife and Treasurer of the Church of York but he not long enjoyed it for he in the twenty seventh year of Henry the third made God his Heir and devested himself of the propriety of it to settle it on the Priory of Bilsington which was of his Foundation and Endowment and by dedication entituled to the Patronage of the Virgin Mary and was furnished with white Canons or Canons Pramonstratenses and in this condition did it remain until not onely this but all other Orders in this Nation having warped and revolted from their original Integrity and those closer Engagements and narrower Restraints the Rules of their primitive Institution tyed them up in a dissolution of Mannors called for a Dissolution of Demeasn but now whether those who did so zealously pretend to correct their Lives did not more seriously intend to reform the Ecclesiastical Patrimony and arraign them not according to the Guilt of their Crimes but the Hainousness of their Estates will fall under a sober Consideration that the Excesses of the Romish Clergie were high their Imperfections many and their Irregularities clamorous is without controversie now what the Causes were which unfastned the Ligatures of streighter Discipline which like so many Nerves did both move and tie together all the Limbs of the Body Ecclesiastick I shall now briefly discover The first Cause of this Depravation was the removing and abating those Persecutions which had so long with a sad and bloody pressure grated upon Christianity under the Scepter of ten Heathen Tirants and we know that the Fable tepresents to us that when the Laurell the Guerdon and Salary of Triumphs and the Sweat of the Laborious shoulder withered and shrunk into Decay the Figgettee sprang up our of its Ruines which is the Emblematick Type of Softness and Effeminacy and we read that the Lamps of Tullia and Terentia burnt with a clear and uninterrupted Flame as long as they were Recluse to the Cloisters of their
came after to be the Possession of Roger Lord Leybourne and from him did descend to Juliana Leybourne his Sole Heir who matching with William Clinton Earl of Huntington made it his Inheritance but he deceasing in the twenty eighth of Edward the third without Issue and his Lady after dying and leaving no visibleor avowed Alliance knit to her by the indisputable tye of Consanguinity to claim it it escheated to the Crown and K. Richard the second in the twenty first of his Reign granted it to the Royal Chappel of St. Stevens in Westminster where it remained till the Dissolution and then it was granted in the second year of Edward the sixth to Sir Edward Wotton from whom by a successive Right of Descent it was transmitted to his great Grandchild Thomas Lord Wotton of Marley whose Widow the Lady Mary Wotton does at this instant possess it Lastly Chilston is an eminent Seat and Mannor likewise situated within the Precincts of this Parish In the fifty fifth year of Henry the third Henry Hussey had a Charter of Free-Warren to his Mannor of Chilston and his Grandchild Henry Hussey died seised of it in the sixth year of Edward the third and in this Family was the Inheritance in an undivided Succession resident till our Grandfathers Memory and then Henry Hussey by Sale translated the Proprietie into John Parkhurst whose Successor Sir William Parkhurst alienated it to Richard Northwood whose Son Mr. Oliver Northwood by the same transmission passed it over to Cieggat he very lately disposed of his Concernment in it to Mr. Manly of London who very lately hath conveyed it to Mr. Edward Hales Grandchild to Sir Edward Hales of Tunstal Knight and Baronet Buckland in the Hundred of Feversham was as Sidrach Petits Inquest into the Mannors of Kent informs me as high as the Reign of Henry the third the Possession of John de Buckland who it seems extracted his Sirname from hence and is likewise mentioned in Testa de Nevil to have held Land in this Track in the twentieth year of Henry the third But before the end of Edward the second this Family was vanished from this place and immediately after they were gone out the Frogenhalls of Frogenhall in Tenham were entituled to the Possession and Richard Frogenhall was seised of it at his Decease which was in the thirty fourth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 37. and from him did it descend to John Frogenhall Esquire who was with Edmund Brook Lord Cobham then Ceneral of the Kentish Forces under Richard Earl of Warwick at the Battle of North-Hampton where the House of Lancaster by that vigorous Assistance the Kentish men that day afforded the House of York received so fatal a Wound that all the Art of the Lancastian Partisans could hardly ever after close it and this Man had Issue Thomas Frogenhall who about the Beginning of Henry the seventh passed it away to Gedding and Thomas Gedding in the twenty fifth year of Henry the eighth held this Mannor and conveyed it by Deed to Henry Atsea of Herne and he in the thirtieth of Henry the eighth was possest of it at his Death and from him did the Thread of Descent guide the Title down to his Grandchild William Atsea who in the tenth year of King James conveyed it by Sale to ....... Saker of Feversham Gentleman whose Son Mr. Christopher Saker in our Fathers Memory alienated it to Sir Basill Dixwell of Terlingham in Folkstone Knight and Baronet who upon his Decease about the year 1641 gave it to his Kinsman Mr. John Dixwell Esquire in whom the Possession is still resident Buckland by Dover is situated in the Hundred of Bewsborough and was a Branch of that spacious and wide Demeasn which made the Patrimony of Hamon de Crevequer so considerable in this County and he held it at his Decease which was in the forty seventh year of Henry the third Rot. Esc Num. 33. Afterwards I find the Wilghebies or Willoughbies invested in the Possession and Thomas de Willoughbie was seised of it at his Decease which was in the seventh year of Edward the second But the Title had no long residence in this Family for in the Reign of Edward the third I find it in the Tenure of Barrie of Sevington for Agnes Wife of William Barrie was possest of it in Right of Dower as appears by an Inquisition taken after her Death in the forty eighth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 7. After the Barries were worn out the Callards or Calwards now vulgarly called Collard became Lords of the Fee a Family of deep Extraction in this Track and who were in elder Times entituled to the Possession of Land and Houses in Canterbury as appears by a Composition made between the Monks of St. Austins and those of Christ Church in the forty first of Edward the third recited by Mr. Somner in his Survey of that City Pag. 192. wherein it is mentioned that the Abby of St. Austins had purchased Land and Houses of Iohn Calward But to proceed after this Family had for divers Descents held this Mannor in a fair repute John Callard Esquire being one of those who accompanied Sir Henry Guldford of this County to serve Ferdinand of Castile in his War commenced against the Moors where for some Signal Service performed against those Infidels he had this Coat assigned to him and his Posterity by Clarenceux Benolt vid. Girony of six pieces Or Sables over all three Blackmores Heads decouped in our Fathers Memory they surrendred the Possession of this place by Sale to Fogge who not many years after passed away his Concernment in it by the same conveyance to Mr. William Sherman of Croyden Esquire Steward both to George Abbot and William Laud Successively Arch-Bishops of Canterbury Dudmanscombe is another Mannor in this Parish which in elder times made up the Revenue of the Priorie of St. Martins in Dover and continued annexed to that Cloister until the general Suppression and then being torn from the Church it was again exchanged with Thomas Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury by Henry the eighth in the twenty ninth of his Reign and so remained wound up in the Demeasn of that Sea untill that ruinous and fatal popular Tempest which arose in these Times supplanted it and cast it into the Possession of a secular Interest Burham in the Hundred of Lark field is in Doomsday Book written Burgham and was in the twentieth year of William the Conquerour held by Ralph de Curva Spina In Ages of a lower Approach to us I find it under the Signorie of Jeffrey de Say and he died possest of it in the twenty third year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 48. and for the future remained so chained to the Propriety of this Family that it was esteemed Parcel of their Barony of Birling and when Jeffrey Lord Say in the Reign of Richard the second ended in two Female Coheirs one matched to John Lord Clinton
first from Chelsfield it passed away to Otho Lord Grandison who paid respective Aid for this Mannor by the sixth part of a Knights Fee at the making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third but there it had but a frail abode for Sir Thomas de Grandison this mans Son conveyed it over by Sale to Richard Lord Poynings whose Daughter and Heir Eleanor matched to Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland and in his Line was the Right of it for some Descents interwoven till in the Reign of Henry the seventh it was by Sale resigned up to James Walsingham Esquire whose Son Sir Edmund Walsingham alienated it to Giles in the Reign of Edward the sixth which Giles descended from Giles of Lords in Shelvich where for many years before they had been planted and from Giles about the latter end of Q. Elizabeth it came over by purchase to Captain Henry Lee of London who going out in Sisters and Coheirs it is now come by two of them to Serjeant John Clerk of Huntington-shire the principal Possessor and Mr. Thomas Norton of London Ferneborough is but a Chappel of Ease devoted to the honour of St. Giles but belongs to the Mother-Church of Chelsfield which is dedicated to St. James as appears by the Records of the Church of Rochester It was a principal Seat of the Lord Grandison who made this the Head of their Barony William de Grandison held it at his death which was in the ninth year of Edward the third * Otho de Grandison obtained a the grant of Market to Ferneborough in the eighteenth of Edw. the first which was renewed to Hen. Earl of Lancaster in the eighteenth year of Edward the third and the grant of a Fair added at the Feast of S. Giles the Eve and Eight dayes following Otho Lord Grandison this mans Son obtained a Charter of Free Warren to it in the eighteenth year of Edward the third but long after this it did not remain linked to the Inheritance of this Family for in the Reign of Richard the second I find Fleming invested in the Possession whose Tenure was very transitory for not long after by Purchase it was brought into the Demeasn of Petley from whom by as swift a Fatalitie it went away to Peche of Lullingston which Family determined in Sir John Peche in the Reign of Henry the seventh who dying Issueless Elizabeth his Sister and heir brought this and a spatious Inheritance to her husband John Hart Esquire from whom M. William Hart now of Lullingston Esquire is lineally extracted and in right of this Alliance is at this present entituled to the Possession and Signorie of Ferneborough There is a third Mannor in this Parish called Godington which was anciently the Habitation of a Family which was represented to the world under that Name Simon de Godington paid respective Aid for his Mannor of Godington at the making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third as the Book of Aid informs us and after this Family expired at this place Richard Lord Poynings became Lord of the Signorie of it from whom with Eleanor his Daughter and Heir it went over to Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland but did not long fix in that Family for for almost two hundred years last past the Possession hath been constantly united to the Name of Haddon a Family of principal Account in this Track as may appear by their Arms viz. A Leg couped and wounded which are Registered in the old Rolls and Ordinaries of Kentish Armorie alwayes with this addition Haddon of Kent and sometimes of Godington in Kent Hewat is another small Mannor in Cheslfield One Jeffrey de Hewat was possest of it in the Time of Henry the third ut apparet ex Charta sine Data which was for many Descents the Petleys of Down originally from whom it devolved to a Cadet of that Family who planted himself at Moulsoe in this Parish and there is a Deed in the hands of Mr. Thomas Petley of Vielston of John Coldigate of Coldigate a Farm in Halsted which bears Date from the eleventh year of Henry the fourth to which one William Petley of Chelsfield is Teste After it had been resident for sundry Generations in this Branch of Petley which sprouted out from those of Down the Title in that Age which ushered in this was by Sale from Edward Petley transferred to Mr. Thomas Petley of Vilston in Shorham another Branch shot out from the principal Stem of the Petleys at Down and he left it to his second Son Mr. Ralph Petley of Riverhead in Sevenoke not long since deceased whose Heir who is Proprietary of this place is at this instant in his Minoritie Northsted is situated likewise in Chelsfield and in the reign of Edward the third confessed a Family called Francis for its Proprietaries Simon Francis held it at his death which was in the thirty second year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 33. and acquired it by Purchase of Otho de Grandison who held this and Chelsfield as appears by the Book of Aid in the twentieth year of the former Prince but about the beginning of Henry the fourth this Family had surrendred the possession of this Mannor to Vuedall or Udall a Noble Familie and Masters of much Land both in Surrey Sussex and Hant-shire Sir John de Vuedall was one of the Knights who was with Edward the first at the Siege of Carlaverock Sir Peter D'Vuedall sat as Baron in Parliament the eighth and ninth of Edward the second Nicholas Vuedall was Constable of Windsor under Edward the third John Vuedall was Sheriff of Sussex and Surrey the second fourth and seventh years of Henry the fifth and again the first fifth and twelfth year of Henry the sixth William Vuedall was Sheriff of Sussex and Surrey the eighth of Henry the sixth and he in the sixth year of that Princes Government conveyed it to John Shelley of Bexley whose Successor William Shelley about the latter end of Henry the eighth passed it away to Mr. John Leonard of Chevening whose great Grand-child Henry Lord Dacres not many years since conveyed it to the Lady Wolrich who upon her decease setled it on her Kinsman Mr. ....... Skeggs of the County of Huntington Chelsfield had a Market obtained by Otho de Grandison in the eighteenth year of Edw. the first to be held there weekly on the Monday and a Fair to be observed there yearly by the space of three dayes at the Feast of Saint James Choriton in the Hundred of Folk-stone was the Inheritance of an ancient Family called Scotton Robert Scotton who was Sheriff of Kent the seventh eighth ninth and tenth years of Edward the first lived here and held his Shrievalty at this place and was of eminent Rank in this Track for he was Lieutenant of Dover Castle under the Prince abovesaid and held this Mannor under the Estimate of a whole Knights Fee of the Lord of
of which Name which held this place was Tho. Chesman whose Female-heir Alice brought this Seat to her Husband Rob. Stodder Ancestor to Will. Stodder Esq not long since deceased who was proprietary of it A strange and marvellous Accident happened at this place upon the fourth day of August 1585 in a Field which belongeth to Sir Percival Hart. Betimes in the morning the ground began to sink so much that three great Elme-Trees were suddenly swallowed into the Pit the tops falling downward into the hole And before ten of the Clock they were so overwhelmed that no part of them might be discerned the Concave being suddenly filled with water the Compass of the hole was about 80. yards and so profound that a sounding line of fifty Fathoms could hardly find or feel any bottome ten yards distance from that place there was another piece of ground sunk in like manner near the high-way and so nigh a dwelling house that the Inhabitants were greatly terrified therewith Edenbridge in the Hundred of Westerham was ever esteemed a Chappel of ease to the Parish of Westerham The first that I discover by the beams of Record to have been possest of Edenbridge were the Stangraves who had here their capital Mansion which was known by their Name John de Stangrave obtained a Charter of Free-warren to Edenbridge in the twenty sixth year of Edw. the first Sir Rob. de Stangrave was his Son and Heir who was with Edw. the first at the Siege of Carlaverock in Scotland and there for his generous Service received the Order of Knighthood and dyed seised of Edenbridge and Stangrave the twelfth year of E. the third Rot. Esc Num. 52. After the Stangraves were vanished the Dynleys were setled in the Signory of these above-mentioned places Jo. de Dynley had a Confirmation of the Chatter of Free-warren to Eden-bridge in the fourteenth year of Edward the third and immediately after passed away his Interest here to Hugh de Audley Earl of Gloucester Lord of the Mannor and Castle of Tunbridge by whose Daughter and Heir the Lady Margaret Audley Stangrave and Edenbridge came to acknowledge the Signory of Ralph Stafford Earl of Stafford and he dyed seised of them in the forty sixth year of Edward the third and in this Family of Stafford as they were successively Earls of Stafford and Dukes of Buckingham was the propriety of these places resident untill the twelfth year of Henry the eighth and then Edward Duke of Buckingham Lord high Constable of England having unadvisedly consulted with a Monk and a Wizzard touching the Succession of the Crown fomented so Vast a Stock of Fears and Jealousies in the Brain of that Cautious Prince that they could not be extinguished but by his Blood which was poured out on a Scaffold as the last expiation of that Treason which was by Cardinal Wolsey pinn'd upon him and likewise of his Prince's Fury Upon this his untimely Exit his Estate escheated to the Crown and King Henry the eighth not many years after granted Westerham Eden Bridge and Stangrave which were parcell of the Confiscation to Sir John Gresham Knight from whom they by Descent are now devolved to Marmaduke Gresham Esquire who enjoys the instant Possession of them Delaware is a Seat of very venerable Account in this Parish It was the Seat of Gentlemen of that Name as high as the Reign of Henry the second as appears by old Evidences now in the Hands of Mr. Seyliard of which Robert de la Ware was the last who about the latter end of Edward the third went out without Issue-male so that Dionysia Delaware who was matched to William Paulin became Heir to this place In Paulin it remained constantly resident till the beginning of the Rule of Henry the sixth and then William Paulin determined in a Daughter and Heir likewise who was wedded to John Seyliard of Seyliard in Hever which is still in the Possession of Mr. Seyliard of Gabriells in this Parish and who descended from Ralph de Seyliard who flourished about the Reign of King Stephen In an old Pedigree of Seyliard now treasured up amongst the Evidences of Delaware there is enrolled the Coppy of a Deed without date by which Almerick d'Eureux Earl of Gloucester who flourished in the Reign of Henry the third demises Lands to Martin at Seyliard and other Lands called Hedinden to Richard at Seyliard who were Sons of Ralph from which Ralph John Seyliard Esquire now Proprietary of this anââent Mansion of Delaware by a Steady and unbroken Current of many Descents in a Direct Line is originally extracted The Mannor of Sharnden in this Parish was parcell of that Estate which belonged to the Lords Cobham of Sterborough Castle not far distant and continued folded up in the Patrimony of this Family till the Government of Edward the fourth and then Thomas Lord Cobham of Sterborough deceasing without Issue-male Anne matched to Edward Lord Borough of Gainsborough became his Heir in which Name and Family the Title of this place successively streamed down till almost our Times and then the Lady Katharine Borough to whom it was assigned by Thomas Lord Borough her Husband to defray Debts and other Uses passed it away to Sir Edward Richardson Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench whose Grandchild the Lord Edward Richardson Baron of Cromartie in Scotland does now possesse the Signory and Inheritance of it Elham in the Hundred of Lovingborough is anciently written Helham which denotes the Situation of it in a Valley amongst Hills Though now the Magnificent Structures which in elder Times were here be dismantled and have only left a Masse of deplored Rubble to direct us were they stood yet in Dooms-day Book it is written that the Earl of Ewe a Norman and neere in Alliance to the Conquerour held it and left the Reputation of an Honour unto it as the Record of the Aid granted at the making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth of Ed. the third doth warrant For the Mannor of Mount adjacent to Elham is said to be held of the Honour of the Earl of Ewe by Knights Service In Testa de Nevill there is mention of Gilbert Earl of Ewe who then paid respective Aid in the twentieth year of Henry the third at the Marriage of Isabell that Prince's Sister From this Gilbert Earl of Ewe it went away to Edward eldest Son to Henry the third who obtained a Market and Fair to Elham by Charter in the thirty fifth of Henry the third and after he had fortified it with these Priviledges in the forty first year of the abovesaid Prince conveys it by Sale to Boniface of Savoy Arch-bishop of Canterbury Boniface to decline the Envy and Emulation of his English Opposites which he and the rest of those Forreiners and Aliens had contracted upon themselves by their practicall Turbulencies in the Managery of the principal Affairs of State under Henry the third passed it away by Sale to Roger Lord Leybourne a great Partisan and
Juliana de Leybourn after his Decease remarried to William de Clinton Earl of Huntington who in her Right was likewise possest of them but likewise Deceased without any Issue by her in the twenty eighth of Edward the third after whose Death it is more then probable she continued a Widow For in the Inquisition taken in the forty third year of Ed. the third she is styled Comitissa de Huntington and was found upon a serious winnowing both of her Direct and collaterall Alliances to have no Heirs that could directly pretend to the Title so that her Estate here laps'd to the Crown and King Edward the third in the fiftieth year of his Rule granted the Mannors of Northcourt Denton and Plomford to the Abby of St. Mary Grace on Tower Hill where they rested untill the Dissolution and then King Henry the eighth granted them to Sir Thomas Cheyney one of his Privy Councel whose lavish and unthrifty Son Henry Lord Cheyney after his Estate mouldered away by Retail in the eighth year of Queen Elizabeth passed them away to Martin James Esquire whose great Grandchild Mr. Walter James is at this instant the indisputable Proprietary of them Huntingfield in Estling gave Sirname to that illustrious Family of Huntingfield and stands a Monument to this Day to inforce and perpetuate its Memory to Posterity though the Name be long since extinguished and gon out in two Daughters and Coheirs being entombed in Coupledick and Norwich The capital Seat of this Family was at West-Wickham on the Skirts of Surrey where I shall make a more ample mention of them but they had other parcels of Land which lay scattered in the severall Parishes of Northsleet Mepham Ludsdown Cobham and other places and it is probable this Family was possest of an Estate likewise in Somersetshire For in Mr. Bishe late printed Notes upon Upton one Walter de Huntingfield is represented as Teste to that memorable Compact which bears Date the twenty eighth of Aprill in the forty second year of Henry the third and was made between Henry de Ferneburgh and the Abbot and Covent of Glastenbury to defend the Lands of the abovesaid Abbot against all the Claim or Pretence of the Bishop of Bath and Wells with the Dean and Canons of the same place or any of their Champions and certainly this Walter de Huntingfield is he who is mentioned to have paid respective Aid in the Book called Testa de Nevist for much Land which he held in Kent at the Marriage of Isab the Kings Sister in the twentieth year of Henry the third The last of this Family who was possessor of this Mannor was Sir John Huntingfield who was summoned to sit as a Baron in Parliament in the thirty sixth year of Edw. the third and he passed it away to Sir Sim. de Burley in whom it was resident until the tenth year of Richard the second and then he being by Parliament convicted of high Treason for seeking in a Time when too much Loyalty was ruinous to support the shaking Prerogative of his Prince against the Assaults and Impressions made upon it by some of the ambitious Nobility This Mannor with Northcourt likewise in this Parish which was granted to him upon the Decease of Juliana Countesse of Huntington escheated to the Crown and there made its aboad untill the twenty first of Richard the second and then that Prince setled it by a new Grant as appears Pat. 1. An. 21. Ric. 2. Memb. 35. Pars tertia On the Dean and Canons of St. Stephens in Westminster and continued chained to their Revenue untill the Link was by the general Dissolution of Religious Gonventions in the Reign of Henry the eighth untied and broken and then being cast into the Demeasne of the Crown it was in the thirty fifth year of Henry the eighth granted to Alured Randolph and John Guldford Esquires and they not long after conveyed their Interest in it by Sale to Sir Thomas Moil from whom the same Fatality in the seventh year of Edward the sixth carried it away and transplanted it into John Wild Esquire and he not long after transmitted his Concernment in it to Gates and from this Name the Propriety about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth was by the Vicissitude of Sale conveyed to Martin James Esquire Examiner of the Chancery from whom the Title by descendant Right is flowed down to his great Granchild Mr. Walt. James who is now in the Possession of it Estling had the Grant of a Market obtained to be held there Weekly and a two Days Fair at St. Crosse by the Mediation of Fulke de Peyferer in the thirty second of Edward the first Diven Arnold is a third place of mark in Estling It is called so because it was in Ages of a very venerable Inscription the Inheritance of a Family called Dive and it had the Addition of Arnold because one Arnoldus de Dive possest it and is often mentioned in Deeds without date and was Teste to a Deed whereby John de Valoigns does convey Lands to Robert de Dive Prior of the Hospiral of St. Johns of Jerusalem which is justified by a fine levyed between the said John and this Robert in the ninth year of Henry the third And in this Family did it continue untill the Beginning of Richard the second and then it was alienated to Sharp of Nin-place in great Chart in which Name the Signorry and Title was for sundry Generations constant untill about the latter end of Henry the seventh it was conveyed away to Thurstan of Challock a Name of great Antiquity in that Parish from whom not many years after it went over by Sale to Jo. Wild Esquire and he in the entrance of the Government of Queen Elizabeth by the same Revolution disposed of his Right in it to Gates who alienated it after to Croyden who in our Fathers Remembrance transmitted it by Sale to Bunce and continues still in the Revenue of that Family Eastry gives the Name to the whole Hundred wherein it is seated and was given to the Church in the year of Grace nine Hundred seventy and nine by King Egelred that is Etheldred Father to Edmund Ironside Et est de Cibo Monachorum say the Records of Christ-Church that is it was granted to the Monks for the Support of their Kitchin and was in the first Intention of the Gift I believe invested in the Ecclesiastical Revenue purposely to expiate that Murder which was at this place acted upon the Persons of Ethelbert and Etheldred Brethren of Egbert King of Kent by one Thunner as if that dark Tincture of Guilt which the effussion of this Royall and Innocent Blood had stained the earth with could not have been assoiled without so munificent a Donation In the time of Edward the Confessor this Mannor was held by the Monks of Christ-Church under the Notion of Seven plough-Plough-lands nor was it represented under a lesse Bulke in the Reign of William the Conquerour and was rated
distant from Terowan or Terwin in the fifth year of Henry the eighth which was Signally testified by that Prince when by his Favour and Command there was annexed this Augmentation to his paternall Coat viz upon a Canton Azure a Demy Ram Saliant Argent armed Or between two Flower de Lis of the last over all a Batton or Truncheon which intimates to us that that Captive-Duke was one of the Marshalls of France Dexterways in Bend of the Second Chaddington is a second place of Account and represents to our Remembrance the Lords Cobham who were in elder Times Lords of the Fee John de Cobham dyed seised of it in the twenty eighth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 42. And from this John did it successively flow down to Henry Lord Cobham who was attainted in the first year of King James upon whose Conviction this Mannor escheated to the Crown and that Prince some few years after granted it to his Kinsman Lodowick Duke of Lenox but he dying without Issue it descended to his Nephew James Duke of Lenox lately deceased whose Dutchesse Dowager during the Minority of the Duke her Son holds the present enjoyment of it Goddington is a third place which calls for our Consideration It was parcel of the Patrimony of the ancient Family of Charles Robert Charles who was possest of Land about Hilden in Tunbridge and was Bailiff of the Forrest or Chase there to Robert de Clare Earl of Gloucester was seised of it at his Death which was in the twenty ninth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 74. From whom it devolved to Nicholas Charles who dying without Issue in the eleventh year of Richard the second Alice one of his Sisters and Coheirs brought this to be the Inheritance of William Snaith Sheriff of Kent in the ninth year of K. Henry the fourth descended from William de Snaith who was made Chancellor of the Kings Exchequer during Pleasure in the fifty fifth year of Edward the third but this Family likewise going out in a Daughter and Heir she by matching with Watton whose Ancestor held Lands at Rydley nere Ash in the twentieth year of Edward the third annexed it to the Incom of that Family in which Name the Title hath ever since by an even and permanent Succession resided Wainscot is the last place of any Eminence It was a Branch which was engrafted upon that Demeasne which fell under the Signiory of the Colepepers of Alresford Walter Colepeper of Preston in that Parish held it at his Death which was in the first year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 80. And into the Patrimony of this Family did the Right of it by a Succession of many Descents even seem to have bin riveted having continued constant to this Name from the above mentioned Walter Colepeper untill the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and then it was alienated to Randolph from which Family in Times which were within the Circle of our Fathers Remembrance it passed away by Sale to Somers descended from William Somer Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Reign of Henry the sixth who held much Land in the Hundred of Hoo whose Son not many years since passed it away to Mr. Robinson of Rochester Frensted in the Hundred of Eyhorne was honored anciently by being parcel of the Patrimony of the noble Family of Crombwell written so in elder Times though since a softer pronunciation hath been quilted into the Name so that in Times of a more modern Aspect it hath been written Cromwell who had here a Seat called now Meriam Court but in elder Orthography written Mereham Court The first of this Family whom I find possest of it was John de Crombwell who in the eighth year of Edward the second as Sir Henry Spelman in his Glossary in the Word Banneretus cites the Record out of the Office of the Pell was written Banneret Now what these Bannerets were I shall briefly unfold they were formerly called Vexilliferi because their Investiture anciently was by delivering to them a Guidon which was nothing but a Pennon cut off at the end which before flowed out into an acute Angle and now was fashioned and composed into a Square And as anciently thirteen Knights Fees did in the vulgar Estimate make up a Tenure per Baroniam so did ten Knights Fees compose a Banneret out of which he was whensoever the Affairs of the Prince did require to bring into the Field twelve or sixteen Chevaliers or Horsemen and those Persons of no cheap or inconsiderable Account but such as could as Sir Henry Spelman notes ex Praediis Peculio proprio out of their own Patrimony Equipp Horse and furniture of Armes proportionate to the Service they were to be embarked in But to proceed Ralph de Crombwell Son of the abovesaid John in the ninth year of Edward the second obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands here at Frensted and Meriam Court but his Family after the Grant of this Franchise did not long possesse their Inheritance here for Richard de Crombwell this mans Son about the Beginning of Edward the third passed it away to Hugh Girund in whom the Title was as sickle and volatile for he determining in Mawd his Sole Daughter and Heir she by matching with Henry de Chalfhunt made it his Patrimony and he in his Wifes Right was seised of it at his Death which was in the forty ninth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 14. And in this Family did the Propriety of Meriam Court and other Lands at Frensted continue invested untill the Entrance of Henry the sixth and then it was passed away to Hadde now called Hadds and William Hadde held Meriam Court and the Land annexed to it here at Frensted at his Decease which was in the thirty fourth year of Henry the sixth and in this Family was the Possession constantly resident untill that Age which fell within the Circle of our Grandfathers Knowledge and then it was conveyed to Archer from which Family some few years since it went off by Sale to Thatcher Yokes Court is another ancient Seat in Frensted which as high as any Beam either of Publick Record or private Muniments can conduct me to a Discovery I find acknowledged the noble Family of Northwood and owned the Interest of that Family untill the thirty fifth of Edward the third and then Roger de Northwood dying without Issue-male bequeathed it to his only Daughter and Heir Albina Northwood who by matching with John Digge of Diggs Court in Berham united this Seat to the Interest of that Name and Family and they to keep Life in her Memory a small Preferment beyond the Fate of humane Frailty that had improved their Paternal Inheritance with so great a Supplement of Additional Estate erected a fair Monument over her Ashes in Berham Church and adorned it with a French Epitaph which instructs the Reader whose Dust sleeps beneath the Marble Repository Indeed in this Act this Family
descended to John Bamme Sheriff of Kent in the second year of Richard the third And he gave it to his Daughter Katharine Bamme who passed it away by Grant to Kempe and Wiatt Sir Thomas Kempe sold his moiety to Sir Thomas Wiatt who having forfeited this to the Crown by his unhappy Defection in the second year of Q. Mary it lodged in the royal Revenue untill Queen Elizabeth in the twenty fourth year of her Rule granted it back again to the Lady Joan Wiatt and her Son George Wiatt Esq who in our Fathers memory alienated it to Hayward from which Name by the Heir Generall of this Family it is lately brought to acknowledge Mr. Will. De Lawn of London for its present Proprietary There was a Chappel belonging to Grench which upon the Inquisition returned into the Court of Augmentation but upon the Suppression in the Reign of Hen. the eighth was affirmed to have been erected by Sir John Philipott I confesse I have seen no other Record to evince any thing to the Contrary and therefore I acquiesce in that Testimony Vpbery is the last Mannor in Gillingham which was a Limb of that Demeasn which related to the Nunnery at Minster in Shepey and when the whirlwind of the common Dissolution in the Reign of Henry the eighth had shook this into the Revenue of the Crown that Prince in the thirty eighth year of his Reign passed it away by Grant as appears by the original Patent to Sir Thomas Cheyney whose Son Henry Lord Cheyney exchanged it with other Lands with Queen Elizabeth and shee as is manifest by the Patent now in the Custody of Brasen-nose Colledge granted it to Sir Edward Hobby who about the latter end of her Reign conveyed it to the Reverend Alexander Nowell Dean of Pauls and he dying without Issue in the year 1601 left it for ever to Brasennose Colledge in Oxford with this Proviso that one of his Alliance should hold it in Lease from that Society for ever paying to the Colledge an 100 Marks per Annum according to the Tenure of which Testamentary Restriction it is now enjoyed by Col. Tho. Blount of Wriklemersh Esquire Gillingham had a Market procured to it to be held weekly on the Thursday and a Fair to be observed yearly at the Feast of St. Crosse and seven days after by John Lord Arch-bishop of Canterbury in the eleventh year of Edward the first as appears Cart. Num. 3. Lidsing is the last place of Account in this Parish it was in Ages of a higher Ascent the Inheritance of an ancient Family called Sharsted Simon de Sharsted possest it at his Death which was in the twenty fourth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 42. In Ages of a lower Computation I find Roger de Say to be possest of it and he about the fiftieth of E. the 3d. gives it to Rob. Belknap the Judge who about the tenth year of Richard the second was by Sentence from Parliament exiled into Ireland for too vehemently asserting the Prerogative of the Crown which in the Estimate of those Times was thought to have opened those sluces too much which would have let in the Inundations of an arbitrary Power upon the people's Liberties But this Mannor was again restored by that Prince who looked upon this person as his Martyr to him as its ancient Possessor in the twenty second year of his Reign and he by his Deed bearing Date the eighth of October in the second year of King Henry the fourth gives it to the Priory of St. Andrews in Rochester for one Monk who was a Priest to celebrate Masse for ever for the Soul of his Father John Belknap and for the Soul of his Mother Alice Wife of the said John and likewise for the Soul of himself and all his Successors in the Cathedrall of Rochester This upon the Dissolution of the former Priory was by Henry the eighth upon his Institution of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester granted to them for their support and Alimony and rested in their Revenue untill these Times There was another Chauntry founded at Twidall by John Beaufits which he makes provision for by his last Will the twenty second of November in the year of our Lord 1433 and orders it to be dedicated to John the Baptist and likewise that one Priest should there celebrate Masse for the Soul of Himself his Wife Alice his Father John his Mother Isabell and his Uncle William Beaufitz the Seats in the Chappel and other Remains declare it to have been formerly a neat and elegant Piece of Architecture Here was a signall Encounter as the Annals of St. Austins testifie between Edmund Ironside and Canutus the Dane wherein after a Sharp Debate the Dane was broken and discomfited At Gillingham likewise as Thomas Robburn a Monk of Winchester testifies was acted that bloody Tragedy by Earl Godwin who slew all those Normans who arrived with Edward unto the tenth man for which his Name as well as his Conscience stands bespatter'd and stain'd with an indelible Character of Ignominy and Cruelty to all Posterity Goodwenston in the Hundred of Feversham was the ancient Seat of Chich. The first of Eminence was Ernaldus Chich who was a man of principall Account in the Reign of Henry the second Richard the first and King John nor were they more eminent here then they were at Canterbury where they had large Possessions and unto them did the Aldermanry of Burgate appertain Thomas Chich of Goodwenston was a prime Benefactor to the Church of St. Mary Bredmin in Canterbury where his Name together with his Effigies are in an old Character set up in the West-window as his Coat is likewise in the Chancel insculped in Stone-work He was Bailiff of Canterbury an Office not contemptible in those Times in the year 1259 and again in the year 1271. Thomas Chich this mans Son was Sheriff of Kent in the forty fourth year of Edward the third and held his Shrievalty at Goodwenston Thomas Chich this Mans Son was Sheriff of Kent likewise in the fifteenth year of Richard the second and he was Grandfather to Valentine Chich who matched with Philippa Daughter and Heir of Sir Robert Chichley Brother to Henry Chichley Arch-bishop of Canterbury but dyed without Issue-male so that his three Sisters and Coheirs wedded to Kemp Judde and Martin shared his Inheritance and by a joint Consent about the Beginning of Henry the eighth passed away their Estate here and at Ewell in this parish to Pordage of Rodmersham and from this Name about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth it passed away to Fagg descended from the Faggs of Willesborough where I find by the Court Rolls of the Mannor of Brabourne that one Andrew Fagge held Lands there of that Mannor in the Reign of Edward the third But to go on the Faggs had not long been planted in their new atchieved Purchase at this place when Robert Fagge concluded in two Daughters and Coheirs Ann who was matched to Sir
conveyed to the Peckhams where it hao not long made its Residence but the Title by purchase like an Orbe never much in repose rowled it self from Thomas Peckham into Vane where for some years it has rested The Mannor of Moatelandâ shall be the last mentioned though not in the above specified Survey yet in mine in Relation to this Parish The first Family that I track in the Record to be Possessors of it were the Bakers of East-Peckham in which Name the Propriety of it lay wrapt up till Richard Baker did devest himself of his Right and passed it over by Sale to Burgesse where it had not long dwelt but the same Change untwined it For Thomas Burgesse alienated it to Henry Leigh and in his Successor till a clearer Ray of more Modern Intelligence directs me to believe the Contrary I think the Possession is resident There are two other Seats of Venerable Account in this Parish The Mannor of the Rectory is the first which in the year 1287. was by Thomas de Inglethorp Bishop of Rochester as the Records of that Church signifie appropriated to the Knights of St. John otherwise called the Knights Hospitalers and remained locked up in their Demeasne until the publique Suppression snatched it away and united it to the Crown where it lodged until the second year of Edward the sixth and then it was granted to Sir Ralph Vane whose Descendant about the middle of Queen Elizabeth passed it away to Roger Twisden Esquire Captain of a Troop of Kentish Gentlemen at the Camp formed at Tilbury to oppose the Hostile Eruptions of the Spanish in the year 1588. And from him it is now come by Descent to be possest by his Grandchild that learned and accomplished Gentleman Sir Roger Twisden of Roydon Hall Knight and Baroner The second is Fish-Hall the Mansion formerly of John de Fisher so called because he was invested with a Priviledge by Gilbert de Clare Earl of Glocester and Lord of the Lowey of Tunbridge to have the Fishing freely and uncontrouledly within his Jurisdiction or as far as it did extend so that from this Immunity or Franchise his Posterity contracted the Sirname of Fisher and for some Ages did the Right of it remain interwoven with the Demeasne of this Family till Richard Fisher sold it to John Vane Esquire from whom the same Revolution not long after transported it to Rivers of Chafford and now the Title is ingrafted into a yonger Branch of that Family Halling in the Hundred of Shamell has nothing remarkable in it but the Mannor of Langridge aliâs Bavent for so it is written frequently in Records and indeed not without some Reason to support the Orthography for in Times of elder Prescription it gave both Seat and Sirname to a Family that had that Appellation and there is some Track or Print yet of the Ruines of a Mansion-house in that Feild which is at this Day called Bavents and Roger de Bavent died in possession of it in the thirty first year of Edward the third and when this Name was worn out the next which we find in Succession to be Proprietary of it was Langridge a Branch spouted out from that Stem of Langridge which was anciently planted in the County of South-hampton And when this Family was decayed and vanished and had left nothing to evidence to us that it had once a Being here but the adopting this Mannor into its Name the Possession went into Melford and here after it had had some short abode it abandoned this Family and cast the Interest of it into the Patrimony of Raynwell whose Successor after some short Flux of Time as appears by the Book of Aid kept in the Exchequer sold it to Robert Wotton in the seventeenth year of Henry the seventh and he suddainly after alienated this and other Lands to Whorne of Cuckston nor was the Title any length of Time lodged in this Name for a Fate of the same condition with the former carried it over to Vane from whom it flowed away in the same Current and by Sale emptied it self into Barnewell nor was it lesse permanent there for the same inconstant Tide wafted it down to Nicholas Lewson and Sir Richard Lewson his Grand-child desirous to wrap up all his Interest within the County of Stafford alienated his Kentish Lands to several persons and sold those which were part of his Demesne here to Barber The Mannor of Halling it self was given to the Church of Rochester by Egbert King of the West Saxons in the year of our Lord 838. and has continued parcel of the Churches Patrimony in an uninterrupted Succession of Time till the year 1643. and then the Title was raveled and discomposed Halden in the Hundred of Blackborne and Barekley has nothing worthy in it that may oblige a Remembrance but only Hales-place from whence as from their Fountain the several Streams of the Hales that in divided Rivulets have spread themselves over the whole County did originally break forth But where this Hales-place is now placed or in what Angle of the Parish it is situated I confesse I cannot instruct my self unlesse it be that Great House which was the Original Seat of the Scots before they planted at Congerherst in Haukherst and which Reginald Scot sold to Sir Edward Hales Indeed it is often mentioned in the Pedigree of Hales and likewise in the Deeds of that Family as lying in Halden which is evidence enough that there was such a Mansion in this Parish though peradventure through Neglect and Disuse and by altering its Possessor it have at present lost its Name Halstow in the Hundred of Hoo was anciently part of the Barony of Bardolph but did not long rest here for Isolda the Daughter and Co-heir of Hugh de Bardolph being married to Henry Lord Grey this was thrown into that Scale with other Demesnes of vast Estimate which did after swell the Revenue of this Baron into a huge Dimension But as all sublunary matters have the Fate of an uncertain inconstancy written in indelible Characters upon them so had this for Richard Lord Grey this mans Successor sold it to John Lord Cobham and he died possest of it in the thirty sixth year of Edward the third from whose Heir an equivalent Vicissitude resigned it up to the illustrious Family of Zouch and William La Zouch extracted from the Zouches of Haringworth in the County of North-hampton died actually possest of it in the fifth year of Richard the second and after the Title had been some years knit to the Relation and Interest of this Family it was at length torn off by the rough Hand of Time and by Sale surrendered up to Norris from whose Heir by as quick a Transition it conveyed it self over to Sir Edward Hales Grand-father to Sir Edward Hales Baronet now surviving Halsted in the Hundred of Codsheath was the Inheritance of a good old Family called Malavill who were of no contemptible Account in this part of the
Hales Baronet in whose Revenue it at this instant is involved Beluncle is another Seat in this Parish whose Antiquity pleads for a Remembrance the first Family whom I find in Record to have been possest of it was Foliot Jordan de Foliot held it in the Time of Henry the second and Richard the first by the fifth part of a Knights Fee and from him did it descend to Richard de Foliot his Son and Heir who in the twentieth year of Henry the third passes it away by Fine to Reginald de Cobham who was Sheriff of Kent from the thirty third year of Henry the third to the fortieth of that Prince and was accounted one of the principal Seats which was couched in the Demeasne of this Family and in divers old Pedigrees and other Deeds they are written Cobham of Beluncle Of this Family was Henry de Cobham who was summoned to Parliament as Baron in the seventh year of Edward the third Stephen de Cobham who was summoned in the eighteenth year of that Prince And Thomas de Cobham who was summoned as Baron in the thirty eighth year of that Prince And in Cobham and then Brook did it continue until Henry Lord Cobham and his Brother George Brooke in the first year of King James being entangled in that cloudy Design of Sir Walter Rawleigh which continues muffled up in a Mist until this Day forfeited both their Estates and the last his Life But King James restored this to Henry Lord Cobham who dying without Issue it devolved to Sir William Brooke Son of George Brooke and he likewise deceasing without Issue-male in the year 1643. it came over to Sir John Brooke now Lord Cobham as Reversioner in Entail Hollingbourne in the Hundred of Eyhorne was given to the Monks of Christ-church in Canterbury for to supply them with Diet by Athelstan Son of Ethelred which Mannor he had before purchased of his Father and in the year 909. with his Licence and Consent bestowed it on that Covent free as Adisham If you will discover how it was rated in the Conquerors Time Doomesday Book thus represents it to you Hollingbourne saies that est Mancrium Monachorum de Cibo corum in Tempore Edwardi Regis se defendebat pro VI. Sullings nunc similiter Et est appretiatum inter totum hoc Maneriam XXX lb. This being thus fixed remained from the Original Donation locked up in the Ecclesiastical Patrimony until the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth and then it was surrendred into that King's Hands by the Prior and Monks of the Covent aforesaid and he that year exchanged it with Thomas Cranmer Arch-bishop of Canterbury There was the Gallows which appertained to the Priory of Christ-church here erected at Hollingbourne where those who had committed Murders Felonies or other Trespasses worthy of death within the liberties of that Covent were according to their priviledge of Infangtheof and Outfangtheof brought to exemplary punishment See Somner Fol. 286. There is a Mannor in this Parish called Ripple which had Owners of that Name for in the thirtieth of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 91. I find that Richard de Ripple held this and other Lands which he had in Lease from the Priory of Christ-church at his Decease but it only gave him Sirname and then left his Family for before the latter end of Edward the third it went from this Name to Sir William Septuans and he enjoyed it at his Death which was in the forty third year of Edward the third and transmitted it to his Son William Septuans who not long after conveyed it to John Gower in which Name it lay couched until the Raign of Henry the fourth and then it was alienated to Brockhull a Cadet of that Stock which flourished so long at Calehill and here it continued for many Descents in this Family until the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth and then Henry Brockhull dying without Issue-male Anne his only Daughter and Heir brought it to be the Inheritance of Sir John Taylor in which Family after it had lodged only until the latter end of Queen Elizabeth it was passed away to Sir Martin Barnham Elnothington is another Mannor in this Parish which had Owners likewise of that Sirname for in a Deed of Adam de Twisdens which bears Date from the one and twentieth of Edward the first one William de Elnothington is Witness But after this man I find no more mention in any Record of the Name In the Raign of Edward the third I discover Sir Arnold St. Leger of Ulcombe to be possest of it and in the forty second year he makes a Composition with divers of his Tenants for Lands that they held of this Mannor and from him like an uninterrupted Thread did the Title of this place passe thorough many Descents of this Family until at last it devolved to Sir Anthony St. Leger who almost in our Memory alienated it to Sir Thomas Colepeper Pen-Court is another Seat in Hollingbourne worthy our Notice It was in elder Times the Patrimony of a Family called Pen but whether the Pens of Codcot in the County of Bedford were descended from them or not is uncertain in Brief before the end of Edward the third this Family was worn out and then the Donets succeeded but held this Seat not long for by the Heir Generall it devolved with much other Land to St. Leger of Ulcombe and here it rested untill allmost our Remembrance and then it was passed away to Sir Thomas Colepeper and he again conveyed it to Mr. Mark Questwood of London who upon his Decease settled it for ever on the Company of Fishmongers in London Muston is likewise within the Verge of this Parish upon perusall of the ancient Deeds and Court-rols I found it to be written Moston as giving Name in the Raign of Edward the first to a Family of that Appellation which about the Beginning of Richard the second was wholly crumbled away and had surrendred the Possession to Wood in which Family the Inheritance hath ever since been permanent Greenway-court is the last place considerable in this Parish It was as high as the Conduct of any Evidence can guide me to discover parcell of the Patrimony of Atleeze and Sir Richard Atleeze dying without Issue in the year 1394 gave it to his Brother Marcellus Atleeze by whose Daughter and Coheir it came to be possest by Valentine Barret of Pery-Court and he about the Beginning of Henry the fourth conveyed it to Fitz Water in which Family it remained untill the Raign of Edward the fourth and then it was alienated to St. Leger with whose Inheritance it continued untill almost our Age and then it was by Sale transplanted into Sir Alexander Colepeper who upon his Decease gave it to Sir John Colepeper of Losenham Hope in the Hundreds of Langport and St. Martins hath nothing memorable in it but Crawthorn which for those worthy persons who have successively held it calls for some
this Mannor to his Patrimony and he the better to inforce and perpetuate the Memory of this Alliance and the Estate which devolved to him by so fortunate a Conjunction inverted his Sirname and writ it for the future Clerc alias Woodchurch in which Name the Propriety of this Place continued until the latter end of Q. Elizabeth and then it was alienated to Taylor of Shadoxherst in which Name the Interest of it had not long continued but that it was in our Remembrance by Sale conveyed to Whitwick West-Halks is a third Mannor in Kingsnoth which in elder Times was ennobled for affording a Residence to a Family of this Sirname who bore in ancient Seals a Fesse between three Hawks or Falcons and sometimes one a Family of no contemptible Estimate or shallow Antiquity in this Track as appears by old Escripts Pedigrees and other venerable Muniments which represent this Family under the Character of Gentlemen for above three hundred years Sampson de Halk died about the year 1360 and held not onely this place Ex Autographis penes Dom. Tho. Taylor but much other Land about Petham and other Parishes in that Track but about the latter end of Henry the sixth this Family had demised the Propriety of this place to Taylor of great Chart in which Name it was constantly fixed untill the latter end of Henry the seaventh and then it was sold to Clerc who about the latter end of Q. Elizabeth passed it away to Robert Honywood of Charing Esquire who upon his Decease settled it by his last Will on his second Son by his second Wife Col. ....... Honywood now the instant Lord of the Fee Knowlton in the Hundred of Eastrye was parcel of the Patrimony of the noble Family of St. Leger Hugh St. Leger who was one of the Recognitores magnae Assisae in the Raign of King John held this Mannor in the fourth year of the Raign of that Prince and left it to his Son John St. Leger who in the twelfth year of Henry the third exchanged it for other Lands with Reginald de Cornhill and he in the twenty fifth year of the abovesaid Prince passed it away by Sale as the Book of Christ-Church informs me to the Prior and Monks of that Covent but it seems not long after they exchanged it with Thomas Perot for he in the fourth year of Edward the third died possest of it as appears by his Office Rot. Esc Num. 31. and left onely a Female Heir who carried it along with her to Langley descended out of the County of Warwick and being thus chained by this Match to the Interest of this Family it remained for many Descents fastned to it and was productive in several Ages of Men of no vulgar Account William de Langley Son of William Langley was Sheriff of Kent the twenty first twenty third twenty fourth and twenty fifth years of Edward the third William Langley of Knolton was Sheriff of Kent in the fourth year of Henry the fifth and likewise Justice of the Peace for this County under that Prince John Langley Esquire was Sheriff of Kent in the twentieth year of Henry the seventh and had Issue Edward Langley Esquire who matched with Elizabeth Daughter of Thomas Peyton of Peyton Hall in the County of Cambridge descended from Peytonus de Vfford but he dying without Issue about the latter end of Henry the eighth his Wive's Brother Sir Robert Peyton by Reason of a former Match in the Raign of Henry the fifth between Peyton and a Daughter of Langley entered upon it as Heir General at Law and he not desirous to desert Cambridgeshire to transplant himself into Kent assigned Knowlton for Livelyhood to his second Son Sir John Peyton Grand-father to Sir Thomas Peyton the Primier Baronet of this County who as lineally extracted from him does enjoy the Propriety of it See more of this Family of Peyton in my Discourse of Werd L. L. L. L. LAmberherst lies in the Hundred of Little Bernefield and was sometimes written Lamberts-hurst from Lambert a Saxon Owner in old English this Name imports as much as bright or holy and glorious Lamp as Herebert is bright Lord. Part of this Parish is in Kent and the other part in Sussex distinguished by a small Stream which rises nere Cowden and glides through this Town towards Medway The Lordship of Lamberhurst it self with the Mannor of Woodroff belonged to the Monastery of Roberts Bridge and after the Dissolution were by Henry the eighth granted in the thirteenth of his Reign to Sir William Sidney Tutor to King Edward the sixth when he was Prince whose Successor Robert Sidney Earl of Leicester sold Lamberherst in our Fathers Memory to Mr. Porter and Woodroff to Sir Edw. Henden one of the Barons of the Exchequer who bequeathed it to his Nephew Sir John Henden lately deceased Hodleigh in this Parish was part of that Demeasne which related to the Colledge of Lingfield in Surrey which upon the Suppression was by Henry the eighth granted to Thomas Cardan from which Family it passed away to Edward Filmer Esquire Ancestor to Sir Edward Filmer eldest Son to Sir Robert Filmer lately deceased to whose Demeasne the Propriety of it is at present united The Abby of Begham in this Parish was founded by Ela de Sackvill and Sir Robert de Thurneham a man of principal Account in the time of Henry the third This Priory was suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey and filled with Cannons Praemonstratenses or white Cannons called so from their Habit. The Mannor which belonged to it was by royal Concession From Q. Elizabeth it passed away to Anthony Brown Viscount Montague who not long after alienated the Fee-simple to Alderman Barneham of London who gave it to Benedict a second Son and he dying without Issne-male one of his Daughters and Coheirs married with Dobell of Sussex and so carried it into the Inheritance of that Family where the Possession has ever since been setled Scotney in this Parish which hath borrowed that Appellation from its locall Situation and the over-shooting of the Water was the Residence of a Family distinguished by that Sirname and Denomination for one Walter de Scotney in Times of high Ascent was Proprietary of this Place but added not much Reputation to this Mansion for as Edmund de Hadenham a Chronicler of great Antiquity attests he in the year 1259 administred poyson by tacit Stratagem to the Earl of Gloucester and his Brother to destroy them of which the last dyed and the first escaped not without Danger of Life But to goe on After this Family was mouldered away at this place which was about the midst of Edward the third the eminent Family of Ashburnham of Ashburnham in Sussex were entituled to the Signiory of it Roger Ashburnham who was one of the Conservators of the Peace for this County of Sussex in the first year of Richard the second had here a castellated Mansion did sometimes inhabit at this place and was
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
old German practise is also asserted by Tacitus And that it was customary amongst the Danes Several Urns discovered in Jutland and Sleswick not many years since do easily evince which contained not only Bones but many other Substances in them as Knives peeces of Iron Brass and Wood and one of Norway a Brass guilded Jews-harp When this Custome of Burning of the Dead languished into Disuse is incertain but that it began to vanish upon the Dawning of Christianity as Vapors and Mists scatter before a Morning Sun is without Controversie but when the Light of it did more vigorously reflect like a Meridian Beam on all the gloomy Corners and Recesses of Paganism and Infidelity then this Use of Urn-Burial was wholly superseded and found a Tomb it self in the more sober and severer practise of Christianity And thus much shall be said concerning these Urns digged up at Newington The Mannor of Levenoke in this Parish ought in the last place to be taken Notice of but the Deeds being dispersed into the Hands of those who are Strangers both to this County and my Design I cannot give the Reader that satisfaction in this particular that I aime at Only thus much I can inform him that by an old Court Roll in the Hands of Mr. Staninough of this Parish lately deceased I discovered that in the Raign of Edward the third and Richard the second it was the possession of John Beau Fitz and it is probable by the Heir General of this Name it devolved to Arnold of Rochester and more to fortifie this some ancient Country people at my being there did assure me they had it by Traditional Intelligence from their Predecessors That that Knight purchased it of one Arnold but of that there is no certainty only this is positive that about the latter end of Henry the eighth that Knight enjoyed it and in this Name it remained until almost our Memory and then it was conveyed to Gouldsmith and he alienated it to Barrow whose Descendant having morgaged it to Mr. ...... Alston of London he very lately hath transplanted all his Right by Sale into Mr. ........ Lisle of Middlesex now deceased Nockholt in the Hundred of Ruxley was a Branch which was incorporated into the Revenue of the Lord Say William de Say died possest of it in the twenty third year of Edward the third and from this man was it transmitted to his Grand-child Geffrey Say who concluded in a Sole Daughter and Heir called Elizabeth who was married to William Fiennes Esquire and so in her Right was Nockholt united to the possession of this Noble Family from this man was Richard Fiennes descended who enjoyed this Mannor successively from him and married Joane the Sole Female heir of Thomas Lord Dacre of Hurstmonceaux in Sussex who was extracted from Edward Lord Dacre who was summoned to Parliament by the Title of Lord Dacre of Hurstmonceaux in the Raign of Edward the second and in her Right was this man summoned to Parliament by the Name of Richard Fiennes Lord Dacres in the Government of Henry the sixth And here did both the Barony of Dacre and the Inheritance of Nockholt continue till Gregory Fiennes Lord Dacres deceased in the thirty sixth year of Queen Elizabeth and left by Testament Margaret his Sister matched to Sampson Lennard Esquire he having no Issue Heir to his large possessions amongst which this Mannor was involved from Sampson Lennard who was created Lord Dacres in the second year of King James it is now come down by Successive Inheritance to be the instant Patrimony of his Grand-child Francis Lord Dacres the present Baron of Hurstmonceaux There are two other Mannors in this Parish but of small importance called Brampton and Shelleys-court or at Ockholt both which had Owners who engrafted their own Sirname upon them There is a recital in the Book of Aide of one John de Brampton who held Land at Nockholt and Ditton in the Raign of Edward the first From this Family Brampton came by a Female Heir to be the Inheritance of Petley who about the latter end of Henry the sixth conveyed it to Oliver alias Quintin and hath been for almost two Hundred years as appears by the Evidences now in the Hands of Mr. Robert Oliver of the Grange in the Parish of Leybourn in the Tenure and Possession of that Name and Family Shelleys Court called in the Evidences likewise at Ockholt was as high as the Raign of Edward the third as the originall Deeds now in the Hands of Mr. Rob. Austin of Bexley inform me the Inheritance of Shelley and remained united to the Possession of that Family till the Government of Queen Mary and then by Sale the whole Demise was passed away by Sir John Champneys Lord Maior of London by William Shelley the last of this Name at this place from whom it devolved to his Son Sir Justinian Champneys who left it to his Son Mr. Richard Champneys Esquire and he almost in the Remembrance of that Age we live in alienated his Concernment in it to the present Possessor Mr. Gooday of Suffolk Nonington in the Hundred of Wingham and Eastry hath diverse places in it of considerable Repute The first is Fredville called in old Deeds Froidville from its bleak and eminent Situation Times of an elder Inscription represent it to have been the Possession of Colkin vulgarly called Cokin who it is probable erected the ancient Fabrick and brought it into the Shape and Order of an Habitation this Family was originally extracted from Canterbury where they had a Lane which bore their Name being called Colkins Lane and likewise had the Inheritance or Propriety of Worth-gate in that City William Colkin founded an Hospital neer Eastbridge which celebrated his Name to Posterity and was called Colkin's Hospital he flourished in the Time of K. John and was a liberal Benefactor to the Hospitals of St. Nicholas St. Katharine and St. Thomas of Eastbridge in Canterbury as is recorded by Mr. William Somner in his Survey of that City Page 116. But to proceed John Colkin dyed possest of Fredvill the tenth of Edward the third and in his Posterity was the Title resident untill the latter end of Richard the second and then it was conveyed to Thomas Charleton and he by a Fine levyed the second of Henry the second transplants his Interest into John Quadring in whose Name it made its aboad untill Joan Quadring the Heir General of Thomas Quadring this man's Successor carried the Title along with her to her Husband Richard Dryland and he about the latter end of Edward the fourth alienated it to John Nethersole who by Fine levyed in the second year of Richard the third conveyed it to William Bois Esquire descended from I. de Bosco or de Bois so written in some old Copies of the Battle Abby Roll and in others R. de Bosco or de Bois who entered into England with William the Conquerour which William had Issue Thomas Bois who dying in the
Imposition was scrued or wound up too much he abates and mollifies it by these Engagements perpetually for the future to oblige and endear them to assert and maintain his new atchieved Royaltie But to return to my Discourse In times of a more recent Inscription that is in the seventh year of King John the Prior and Monks of Christ-church obtained a Market to this their Mannor to be observed weekly on the Wednesday as appears Carta de Anno septimo R. Joannis Memb. secund with which Franchise it continued invested untill the twenty ninth of Henry the eighth and then being by the Monks abovesaid with the Residue of their Revenue into the Hands of that Prince it remained with the Crown untill the thirty second year of his Government and then it was granted to Pereivall Hart of Lullingston Esq to whose pious and charitable Beneficence the Almes Houses at this place owe their original Foundation and from him is the Propriety of it now descended to his great Grandchild Will. Hart Esq Crofton in this Parish did formerly swel into so much of Grandeur and populacy that it was known for a Parish of it self till by Fire it was entombed in its present Desolations and by the Violence of that wild and impetuous Element reduced into a Heap of Flame and Ruines and certainly those deplorable Remains which yet expose themselves to an Inquisitive Eye and the Groundsells too and scattered Foundations of Houses which the Plough often raises out of their Sepulcher of Rubbish and represents to the publick View do evince this Truth to us that Towns and Villages have their stated Period of Duration and must at length find a Grave like Men. But though this Village be shrunk into this disordered Heap yet still it preserves the Reputation of a Mannor which it had anciently when it was the Inheritance of Wibourn a Family in elder Times of high Esteem and a considerable Revenue in this Territory Ralph de Wibourn held Lands here and in other places of Kent as appears by sundry ancient Deeds now in the Possession of Wibourne of Halkewell in the raign of Edward the first and did after execute a Deed for Land in Wrotham Hundred in the tenth year of Edward the second And in the twentieth year of Edward the third John de Wybourne paid respective Aid for his Lands here and at other places in this County at the making the Black Prince Knight after Wibourne had relinquished the Possession of this place which was about the latter end of Edward the third it went away by Sale to Sir Robert Belknap who was attainted and banished by that Factious Parliament which was held in the tenth year of R. the second for vigorously endevouring to vindicate and assert his Prerogative against the Invasions and Inroads which some of the turbulent Nobility of those times did attempt to make upon it but this though forfeited and escheated to the Crown upon his pretended Treason was by Richard the second restor'd to Hamon Belknap Lord of Oston in the County of Warwick and from him it was by Descent transferred to John Belknap his Son who upon his Decease which was in the fifteenth year of Henry the sixth bequeathed it to Sir Henry Belknap who determined in three Daughters and Coheirs Alice married to Sir William Shelley Anne matched to Sir Robert Wotton and Elizabeth first wedded to Sir Philip Cook of Giddy-Hall in Essex and after to I eonard Dannett of the County of VVorcester who divided his Patrimony but this upon ballancing the partition of the Estate fell upon the poising of it in equall portions to be the Demeasn of Sir VVill. Shelley who demised it by Sale to Sir Rob. Read Lord Chiefe Justice of the Kings Bench and he in the raign of Henry the seventh passed it away by Grant to the Hospital of the Savoy in ' London where it has ever since without any Interruption of the first Donation remained successively resident Bark-hart has obtained a place in the Map of Kent and therefore shall not want one in this Discourse It was built by Percivall Hart Esquire Father to the late Sir Percivall but it was adorned with this Name by Queen Elizabeth when she was magnificently entertained at this place by the above said Gentleman Upon her Reception she received her first Caresses by a Nymph which personated the Genius of the House then the Scene was shifted and from several Chambers which as they were contrived represented a Ship a Sea Conflict was offered up to the Spectator's View which so much obliged the Eyes of this Princesse with the Charms of Delight that upon her Departure she left upon this House to perpetuate the Memory both of the Author and Artifice the Name and Appellation of Bark-hart There is a Tradition that Thomas de Beckett Arch-bishop of Canterbury was born at Tubbingden whose Demeasne is partly situated in Ferneborough and partly in this Parish But to dissipate this received Fiction I shall manifest out of an old Parliament Roll of the thirty first year of Henry the sixth the original Truth that is so much of it as concerns his Cradle or place of Nativity The Record in its own Dialect speaks thus James Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond whose Fader and many of his Ancestors are lineally descended of the Blode of the glorious Martyr St. Thomas sometimes Arch-bishop of Canterbury The which glorious Martyr was born of his Moder within the Ground where now is set the House or Hospital of the said Martyr called St. Thomas Acres now in the City of London where the Body of the said Earl lies buried and Dame Joane Beauchamp late Lady of Burgavenny Crandame to the said Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire For Tubbenden it self it was Anciently the Demeasne of a Family which was known by that Sirname for by a Deed now in the Hands of Mr. Wittingham Wood of Canterbury Esquire it appears Gilbert Saundre of Crofton did demise several parcels of Land to John de Tubbenden of Ferneborough and to Richard Philip John and Robert his Sons in the twenty first year of Edward the first which justifies it Anciently to be the Possession of one of that Name After Tubbenden Belknap was Proprietary of this place and then successively by Alice his Co-heir Sir William Shelley of Michelgrove in Sussex from which Family it was brought down by Purchase in the beginning of the raign of Henry the eighth to be the Estate of Posier who after some few years continuance in the Possession demised his Concernment in it by Sale to Dalton issued out from the Daltons of Yorkeshire which Name suddainly resolved into a Female Heir known by the Name of Anne Dalton who by matching with Aunsell Beckett linked it to the Demeasne of that Family from whom it descended to his Son Matthew Beckett who upon his Decease bequeathed it to Mr. John Winterborn of London who hath lately passed it away to Mr. ...... Gee of the County of Yorke
Nephew Sir Nicholas Miller to whom we ascribe the new Additions which are set out with all the Circumstances both of Art and Magnificence and is now possest by his Son and Heir Hump. Miller Esquire Pencehurst is seated upon the utmost Boundary of the Lowy of Tunbridge and was an eminent Mansion of a very Ancient Family whose Sirname was Penchester of whom there is mention in the Great Survey of England taken in the twentieth year of William the Conqueror vulgarly called Doomes-day Book and in this Family did the possession reside until the two Daughters and Co-heirs of the famous Sir Stephen de Penchester who was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle in the Raign of Edward the second and who died seised of it in the year of that Prince's Government Rot. Esc Numb ... divided the Inheritance Joane the eldest was matched to Henry Lord Cobham of Roundall in Shorne and she carried away Allington-castle Alice the other Daughter and Co-heir was wedded to John Lord Columbers and she had Pencehurst and other Lands for her proportion And he had Issue by her Thomas de Columbers who by his Deed dated at Pencehurst in the eleventh year of Edward the third passes away his Right in it to Sir John de Poultney and he in the twelfth year of the above-mentioned Prince obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannor of Pencehurst and in the twentieth year of Edward the third paid Aid for it at making the Black Prince Knight and held it at his Decease which was in the twenty third year of that Prince and left it to his Son William Poultney who immediatly after alienated it to Guy Lovain who had Issue Sir Nicolas Lovain who held Pencehurst in the forty fourth year of Edward the third and married Margaret eldest Daughter to John Vere Earl of Oxford re-married to Henry Lord Beaumont and after to Sir John Devereux Knight of the Garter Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports Constable of Dover-castle and Steward of the Kings House in the eleventh year of King Richard the second In the sixteenth year of whose raign he had Licence by Letters Patents to fortifie and embattel his Mansion-house at Pencehurst His Daughter and Heir was matched to Walter Lord Fitz-water from whom the Earls of Sussex descended and he had a Brother named Sir Walter Devereux from whom the late Earl of Essex was derived and the Arms of this Sir John Devereux were not long since extant in a Window on the North-side of Pencehurst Church But he only enjoyed this Mannor in Right of his Wife for after her Death it devolved to Philip St. Clere of Aldham St. Clere in Eightham who married Margaret Daughter of Sir Nicolas Lovain above-mentioned Sister and Heir to her Brother Nicolas Lovain who died without Issue And by her he had John St. Clere who passed away his Right here to John Duke of Bedford third Son to Henry the fourth and he enjoyed Pencehurst at his Decease which was in the fourteenth year of Henry the sixth but dying without Issue it came down to Humphrey Duke of Gloucester fourth Son of Henry the fourth who was strangled in the Abby of Bury by the procurement and practises of the Duke of Suffolke and he likewise going out without Posterity it returned to the Crown And Henry the sixth in the twenty fifth year of his raign granted it to Humphrey Stafford Duke of Buckingham whose infortunate Grandchild Edward Duke of Buckingham endeavouring by a specious Semblance of Vanity and Ostentation guilded with all the Cunning and Pompe of Magnificence to make himself popular and entering afterwards into Consultation with a Monk and another who pretended to the dark Art of Necromancy about the Succession of the Crown poured in so many Jealousies into the Bosome of Henry the eighth which were multiplied to the height of Treason by the malice of Cardinal Wolsey that nothing could allay or appease them but the Effusion of this mans Blood in the twelfth year of that Prince upon a Scaffold Upon whose infortunate Exit this Mannor escheated to the Crown and here it remained until King Henry the eighth granted it to his faithful Servant Sir Ralph Vane who being entangled with John Duke of Somersett in that obscure Design which was destructive to them both in the fourth year of Edward the sixth this was again seised upon by the Crown as escheated by his Conviction and remained with its Revenue until the above-said Prince in the sixth year of his Government by Royal Concession planted the Inheritance in Sir William Sidney his Tutor who was likewise Lord Chamberlain of his Houshold and one of his Privy Councel from whom it is descended to his great Grand-child the Right Honorable Robert Earl of Leicester designed Lord Lievtenant of Ireland by the late King Charles and he is the instant Proprietary of it Pencehurst Halymote is another little Mannor in this Parish and had still the same Owners with Pencehurst and upon the Tragedy of Edward Duke of Buckingham devolving by Escheat to the Crown lay couched in the Royal Revenue until the State not many years since passed it away by Grant to Colonel Robert Gibbons Pepenbury vulgarly called Pembury is seated in the Hundreds of Watchlingston and Twyford and contains within the Limits of it that noted Seat called Bayhall which was the Ancient Seat of the Ancient Family of Colepepers The first of which whom I find made eminent by Record is Thomas de Colepeper who was as appears by the Bundels of incertain years in the Pipe-Office one of the Recognitores Magnae Assisae in the raign of King John a place if we consider the Meridian of those Times for which it was calculated that is before the establishment of the Conservators of the Peace of eminent Trust and Concernment And certainly this man was Father of that Thomas Colepeper who was brought upon the Stage and his Tragedy represented at Leeds Castle where he was sacrificed to the Anger of Edward the second because he was a more faithful Castellan to the Lord Badelesmer then he was a Loyal Subject to his Soveraign and with his Life he lost his Estate here at Pepenbury Yet I find by the close Rols of the seventeenth year of Edward the second Memb. 5. that there was much of his Land here and in other places by the Indulgence of that Prince restored to his Son Thomas de Colepeper but yet the Mannor and this Seat remained lodged in the Crown yet certainly it was no contemptible parcel of Land that was granted back for Richard the second by Royal Concession gave Licence to Thomas Colepeper to inclose fifty Acres of Land into a Park at Pepenbury But to advance In the twenty fifth year of Henry the sixth the Crown devests it self of its Right to both these places and transplants it by Grant into Humphrey Stafford the Duke of Buckingham from whom they descended to his infortunate Grand-child Edward Duke of
Grand-child who died possest of it in the forty second year of King Henry the third and left it to his Son Peter Dering who likewise held this Mannor almost all the reign of Edward the first and from him did it descend to his Son and Heir Richard Dering who was Brother to Sir Robert Dering who was one of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem and this Richard about the eighth year of Edward the second passed it away to William Scot of Smeth from whom by an uninterrupted and unbroken Clew of many Generations was the Possession carried down to those Scots who were Proprietaries of it in that Age wherein our Grand-fathers flourished and then it was demised by Sale to Smith which Family it still confesses for Possessors Stansted in the Hundred of Wrotham represents to our Remembrance an Ancient Family called Grapinell who were once Owners of this place and flourished here under the Scepter of Henry the third and Edward the first but going out in Daughters and Co-heirs Margeria one of them by marching with William de Inge who was a Judge in the raign of Edward the second knit this Mannor to the Inheritance of this Family and he died seised of it in the fifteenth year of Edward the second Rot. Esc Num. 42. and left it to his only Daughter and Heir in an old Pedigree called Isolda but more truely Joan for in the Inquisition taken after the Death of Eudo la Zouch to whom she was matched which was in the twentieth year of Edward the second Rot. Esc Num. 31. it is found that he held this Mannor in Right of his Wise Joan Sole Heir of William de Inge. And from this Eudo did Thomas la Zouch Baron of Haringworth descend who died possest of it in the sixth year of Henry the fourth Rot. Esc Num. 17. and so did his Son Henry Lord Zouch who was the last of this Name who was possest of this place at his Decease which was in the twenty sixth of Henry the sixth After the Zouches the Colepepers were by purchase from them entituled to the Possession and Richard Colepeper was found to hold it at his Death which was in the second year of Richard the third and from this Family about the beginning of Henry the seventh it passed away to Thomas Leigh whose Son John Leigh gave it to his natural Son Richard Leigh in the year 1575. and he not long after alienated it to Bing of Wrotham from which Family it is very lately carried away to William James of Ightam Esquire one of the Justices of the Peace of this County a Person who for his Affection to Learning and Antiquity cannot be mentioned without an Attribute Soranks in this Parish was the Seat of a Family which borrowed its Sirname from hence and had the Repute of a Mannor in the reign of Edward the third For Roger de Sorancks held this Mannor as is evident by the Book of Aide kept in the Exchecquer in the twentieth year of Edward the third by Knights Service of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury But after the reign of that Prince it was not very constant to the Interest of this Name for about the beginning of Richard the second I find it in the possession of Thomas Mortimer Lord of the Mannor of Mortimers in Cowling and he in the twentieth year of the abovesaid Monarch passed it away to William Skrene and when this Name was worn out at this place the Family of Wood was ingrafted in the possession and rested there until the latter end of Henry the seventh and then it was by Thomas Wood passed away to Robert Barefoot in which Family the Title was as transient for Thomas Barefoot this mans Son in the third and fourth of Philip and Mary alienated it to Henry Fanshaw who almost in our Fathers Remembrance conveyed the Fee-simple unto Launce Stansted had the Grant of a Fair obtained by William de Inge the Judge in the ninth year of Edward the second to be held yearly for the space of three Dayes at the Assumption of the Virgin Mary as appears Cart. 9. Edwardi secundi Num. 40. Stapleherst in the Hundred of Twyford was as appears by Ancient Deeds and Inquisitions as to some part of it folded up in the large Patrimony of Fremingham whose capital Residence was at Fremingham or Farningham where I have treated more largely of them but when the Male-line of this Family determined in John de Fremingham Joan his only Sister matched to John Isley Esquire Son of Isley was found to be his Heir in the second year of Henry the fourth and in her Right Roger Isley Son and Heir of this John entered upon it and from him the Land here by a successive Thread of Descent was wafted down to the Noble but infortunate Sir Henry Isley of whom more presently but another parcel of this Mannor did acknowledge the Signory of Pimpe of Nettlested and William Pimpe died possest of it in the year of our Lord 1375. as part of his Knights Fee called Pimps and in his Line did the Title flow constantly along until it devolved to Reginald Pimpe Esquire who about the twelfth year of Henry the seventh demised it by private Deed to John Isley Esquire from whom it came down to his Grand-child Sir Henry Isley who being entangled too fatally in the ruinous Design of Sir Thomas Wiat was in the second year of Queen Mary attainted and his Interest in this Mannor connscated to the Crown which was granted out of it again that present year to Sir John Baker Ancestor to Sir John Baker Baronet who is still entituled to the Propriety Isley had formerly in this place Boxley Abby was formerly concerned in some Demeasne likewise here at Stapleherst as appears by an Inquisition taken in the third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 134. which upon the suppression of that Abby it was with the Mannor at Boxley relating to that Convent by Henry the eighth granted to Sir Thoma Wiat who being attainted in the second year of Queen Mary it escheated to the Crown and then it was by that Princess the same year granted to her Atturney General Sir John Baker whose Successor Sir John Baker of Sisingherst now enjoyes it as couched in his Mannor of Stapleherst Newsted is a Mannor in this Parish which was annexed to the free Chappel erected at this place by Hamon de Crevequer and invested with ample Privileges which Donation of his and all the Franchises united to it was confirmed as appears by the first Book of Compositions kept in the Registers Office at Rochester in the forty first year of Edward the third But when the Statute in the first year of Edward the sixth had overturned all Chauntries this Mannor was swallowed up in the Revenue of the Crown and then the abovesaid Prince by his Royal Concession planted it in the Patrimony of Sir Edward Wotton Ancestor to Thomas Lord Wotton of Boughton Malherbe who setled it
old Rentall discovers to me and farther none of the ancient Evidences do reach the Patrimony of Thomas Champneys and he makes it over in part to Sir William Wroth of Enfield and he in the second year of Richard the second alienated all his Right and Interest in it to Thomas Lovell but some part remained unsold untill the nineteenth of the abovesaid Prince and then it was wholly invested by Sale from Robert Champneys in the aforesaid Thomas Lovell and he by his Feoffees in Trust as namely John Osborne John Arnold Richard Marshall and John Atsheath conveyed it in the eleventh year of Henry the fourth to Thomas Theobald or Tebald and Mawde his Wife and so by this Purchase did it become the Inheritance of this Family and made its aboad here untill the twenty fourth year of Henry the seventh and then John Theobald alienated it to William Porter which Family it is probable were concerned in it before for in the tenth year of Edward the fourth I find John Alphey releases by Deed his right in Hall to William Porter Esquire and from William Porter abovesaid did the Title slow down in the Chanel of paternal Right to Mr. Andrew Porter who concluding in a Daughter and Heir called Elizabeth it is now by matching with her become the Patrimony of Mr. Peter Stowell Register of the Diocesse of Rochester Stidulfe is a third Mannor in Seale which afforded both Seat and Sirname to a Family so called Robert de Stidulfe is mentioned in Deeds without Date to have held this and much other Land in Seale In the thirty sixth year of Edward the third I find Reginald Stidulfe of Stidulfe accounts with Thomas Champneis for Land held of his Mannor of Hall And lastly I discover that William Stidulfe about the eleventh year of Henry the sixth by Sale conveyed it to William Quintin whose Son William changed the Name of Quintin into Oliver upon what Grounds I have discovered at Leybourn and in this Name was this Mannor lodged untill the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth and then it was passed away to Richard Theobald whose Son John exchanged it with his Kinsman Stephen Theobald who dying without Issue-male left two Coheirs Katharine matched to Edward Michell and Margaret wedded to David Polhill who shared his Inheritance and this upon the Division of the Estate augmented the Revenue of Michell and his Descendant Mr ....... Michell is now the Heir apparent of it Sedingbourn in the Hundred of Milton hath several places in its confines remarkable whereof Bayford and Goodneston first claim our Notice the last of which had a Castle whose Banks and Ruines are yet visible it anciently acknowledged the Family of Nottingham who likewise in elder Times were possest of Bayford for Proprietaries Robert de Nottingham flourished in the reign of Edward the first and dates several of his Deeds in the Beginning of that Prince's Rule apud Castellum suum de Goodneston Robert de Nottingham his Successor was Sheriff of Kent the forty eighth year of Edward the third and held his Shriovalty at Bayford in Sedingbourn in which year he dyed and was found to have held at his Death Lands at Sharsted Pedding in Tenham a place called Newland and another called la Herst Higham in Milsted Bixle in Tong now called Bex and lastly Goodneston and Babford now named Bayford in this Parish all which descended to his only Son John Nottingham whose only Daughter and Heir Eleanor Nottingham was matched to Simon Cheyney second Son of Sir Richard Cheyney of Shurland who brought all this spreading Revenue to acknowledge the Signory of this Family and the Coats of Cheyney and Nottingham viz. Azure six Lions Argent a Canton Ermin and Gules two Pales wavee Argent stand empaled in Milsted-church in coloured Classe But this Alliance though it much enhaunsed by additional improvement the Patrimony of Cheyney yet could not so strongly entwine the Interest of Bayford and Goodneston with this Name but that about the latter end of Henry the sixth they were conveyed away by Sale to Lovelace for Richard Lovelace of Queenhith in London a younger Branch of the Lovelaces of Bethersden made his Will the first of Aprill 1465 and there ordained that his Feoffees should make an Estate of his Mannors of Bayford and Goodneston in Sedingbourn which he had purchased of Cheyney to John Lovelace his Son and Heir which accordingly was performed and he invested in the Possession of them and from him did they by Descent devolve to his Crandchild Thomas Lovelace of Kingsdown who in the tenth year of Queen Elizabeth passed them away to Mr. Ralph Finch from which Family they went away by the same Revolution almost in our Fathers Memory to Alderman Garret of London who had Issue Sir John Garret of the County of Hertford whose Widow Dowager the Lady ..... Garret by right of Jointure now enjoys the Profits of both these Mannors Chilton is another Mannor in Sedingbourn which had Owners of this Sirname who likewise held another Mannor of this Name in Ash both which places William de Chilton held at his Death which was in the thirty first of Edward the first but after his Exit it did not long confesse the Propriety of this Family for about the Beginning of Edward the third it was demised by Sale to Corbie and Robert Corbie was possest of it at his Decease which was in the thirty ninth year of that Prince Rot. Esc Num. 9. and he had Issue Robert Corbie whose Sole Daughter and Heir Joan Corbie espoused Sir Nicholas Wotton twice Lord Maior of London by whom this Mannor and much other Land came by a fruitfull Augmentation to swell the Inheritance of this Family yet I find the Interest in Chilton was not solely lodged in Corbie for by ancient Deeds I discover that an old Family called Maris was concerned in some part of it likewise John de Maris held a Knights Fee in Wicheling and much other Land at Herietsham the twentieth year of Ed. the third as likewise the Mannor of Ackmere in St. Mary Crey in Castle-guard of Dover-castle and his great Grand-child William Maris was Sheriff of Kent the twenty first year of Henry the sixth and was Esquire to Henry the fifth and afterwards to Cardinall Kemp and lyes enter'd in Preston Church with so much of the Inscription left as may instruct the Reader that his Ashes slumber beneath the Tomb-stone yet before his Decease he had alienated his share in this Mannor to Nicholas Wotton Esquire from whom the united Interest of this place came down to Thomas Lord Wotton who not many years since setled it in Marriage on Katherine his eldest Daughter matched to Henry Lord Stanhop Son and Heir to Philip Earl of Chesterfeild lately deceased who still enjoyes the propriety of it In the year 1232. Henry Bishop of Rochester as Thomas Rudborne a Monk of St. Swithens in Winchester does relate came on a Sabbath Day with much exultation out of Sedingbourn Church
Earls of Gloucester In the first year of Edward the first there was a Summons issued forth by Hugh de Bigod Earl of Norfolk and Governour of the Hundred of Hoo to injoyn Richard de Clare Earl of Gloucester to appear before him to assoil himself from such Accusations as should be objected against him which principally had an Aspect upon the War waged by him and Simon Montfort against Henry the third To which he alleadged in his Defence that he ought not to answer but before the Kings Justices of Eyre upon which a Commission was issued out in the third year of Edward the first to heare and decide the Controversie and Sir Stephen de Penchester and John de Rigate were the two Justices appointed by the King for the final determination of it and they upon a serious winnowing of the whole Matter in Debate did absolve the said Richard from the Crimes with which he had been unjustly bespattered and the rather because as to the principal part of them they had been before entombed in the pacification of Killingworth made in the fiftieth year of Henry the third After this I cannot find by that ancient Manuscript they style the Chronicle of Tunbridge that there was any signal Action commenced at this place because the Castle with all its perquisites not long after by the Heir of Audley coming into the possession of Stafford they planted themselves at Stafford-castle their principal residence and so this Fortress being neglected and deserted languished away insensibly into decay and ruine only in the reign of Edward the first I find that upon an Inquisition or Survey of the Priviledges of the Earls of Gloucester as they were Lords of Tunbridge it was concluded that the Arch-bishop of Canterbury had nothing to do within the Lowy or League That the Earl had Return of Writs Creation of certain Officers an especial Sessions in Eyre all which by Intermission are shrunk long since into disuse In the year 1264. to allay all emergent Controversie for the future Boniface the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and Richard Earl of Glocester decreed that there should be a Perambulation made concerning their respective Bounds and it was not long after likewise concluded between the patties abovesaid that Earl Richard should hold his Mannor of Tunbridge and other Lands of the Arch-bishop by the Service of four Knights Fees and to be high Steward and high Butler which Office was likewise to be transmitted to his Successors at the Feast of the Arch-bishops Inthronization taking for their Service in the Stewardship seven competent Robes of Scarlet thirty Gallons of Wine thirty pound of Wax for his Lights Livery of Hay and Oats to feed fourscore Horse for two Nights the Dishes and Salt which should stand before the Arch-bishop in that Feast and at their departure the Diet of three Dayes at the Sole Expence of the Arch-bishop at four of their Mannors in any of the four Quarters of Kent wheresoever they pleased to fix ad minuendum sanguinem so they repaired thither with fifty Horses only To his Office of chief Butlership was allotted seven Robes like the former twenty Gallons of Wine fifty pound of Wax for furnishing out of Lights Livery for sixty Horse for two Nights the Cup wherewith the Arch-bishop should be served all the empty Hogsheads of Beer and for six Tun of Wine so many as should be drunk under the Bar also The Articles of which Composition in Times subsequent to this Compact were punctually performed between the Successors of either Party First in the year 1295. between Gilbert Earl of Gloucester and Robert Winchelsey next between the said Earl and Arch-bishop Reynolds then between Hugh Audley the Earl of Gloucester and the Arch-bishop John Stratford after that between Hugh Stafford Earl of Stafford to whom the Castle and Mannor of Tunbridge did devolve in right of the Heir General of Audley and Simon Sudbury and lastly between William Warham the Arch-bishop and Edward Stafford the last Duke of Buckingham of that Name in whose untimely Sepulcher these two great Offices found their final Enterment and he executed the Stewardship in his own person and the Butlership by his deputed Delegate Sir Thomas Bourchier Knight The Priory of Tunbridge was founded by Richard de Clare in the year of Grace 1191. and stored with Canons Regular or Canons of St. Augustins and dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen which upon the Petition of the Founder was confirmed by Pope Celestin in the same year it was erected In the year 1353. an unhappy Fire seised upon it which almost reduced the whole Structure into Ashes to ballance which Dysaster the Church of Leigh was appropriated to this Covent that by this additional support this Cloister thus defaced with Flame might again recover its former not only Bulk but Splendor likewise Somerhill is now an eminent Seat in this Parish and was certainly in elder Times allotted as a Mansion or place of Residence by the Earls of Gloucester to those Gentlemen who were Bailiffs of their great Chase called South-Frith one of whom was Richard de Philpot of Philpots in Leigh not far distant who flourished here in the reign of Henry the third and is written in an old Deed Balivus Forestae de Tunbridge sub Ricardo Comite de Clare After him I find one Nicholas Charles exercised this Office and flourished in it in the reign of Edward the second and when he went out divers of the Family of Colepeper and Vane who were Lords of much Land here about Tunbridge were successively invested in it whose Names it would be too tedious and impertinent to enumerate But to return That this Seat was anciently destined and devoted to the Uses above recited is very probable because it is situated on the Verge and exterior Margent of the Forrest and so by its commodious position had a peculiar Aspect upon those Affairs wherein this Chase and its Jurisdiction was concerned In fine after it had been subservient and ministerial for many hundred years to the successive Signory of the several Families of Clare Audley and Stafford it was in the thirteenth year of Henry the eighth by that infortunate person Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham who was crushed into an heap of Ruines by those dark and black Engins which Cardinal Wolsey that subtle Artificer of Mischief had raised upon him was with much other Land forfeited to the Crown and Queen Elizabeth about the middle of her reign by Royal Concession made it the Demeasne of her faithful Servant Sir Francis Walsingham principal Secretary of Estate who dying without Issue-male left it to his Daughter and Heir Frances who was first matched to the Invaluable Sir Philip Sidney secondly to Robert Earl of Essex and thirdly to Richard Burgh Earl of Clanrickard created Earl of St. Albans August the twenty third in the year 1628. to whose Son Vlike Burgh lately Earl of St. Albans and Clanrickard she bequeathed this Mannor of Somerhill Hilden is another
with his Hand supported that Prince when he first went out of his Ship to Land in Sussex afterwards when in the twentieth of that King's Government there was an universal Survey taken of each Mans particular Demeasn thoroughout the Nation who was of any Account or Eminence which we call Dooms-day Book there is a recital of the above mentioned Robert de St. Leger to have held Lands at Ulcomb which the Evidences of this Family do inform us were taken from a Pagan Dane whom he before had conquered and who inhabited at this place Guy de St. Leger as Mr. Fuller discovers to us in his Ecclesiastical History was appointed by William the Conquerour to be an Assistant Knight to Adelmere one of the Monks of Ely Raefe de St. Leger is registred in the Roll of those Kentish Gentlemen who accompanied Richard the first to the Siege of Acon and as the Inscription on his Leaden Shroud in the Vault of this Church does signifie was engaged in the Holy Quarrel fifteen years Another Rafe St. Leger and Hugh St. Leger were Recognitores magnae Assisae in the second year of K. John Sir Rafe de St. Leger Sir Jo. de St. Leger and Sir Tho. St. Leger were with Edw. the first at the Siege of Carlaverock in the twenty eighth year of his Reign and for their signal Atchievements there received the Order of Knighthood Indeed in times subsequent to this there was scarse almost any noble and generous undertaking but the Annals of our English History represent a St. Leger concerned and interessed in it And for their Collateral Alliances by which they became knit in Consanguinitie to several illustrious Families none in that particular have been more Successeful then themselves Sir Thomas St. Leger second Brother to Sir Rafe St. Leger married Anne Dutchesse of Exeter Sister to King Edward the fourth and so became twisted into the Family of that Prince by a Nearness of Alliance as he had before been taken into his Bosome by a union of Friendship by whom he had only Ann his Daughter and Heir who was wedded to Sir George Manners L. Rosse from whom the Earls of Rutland are in a direct Line branched out Sir James St. Leger this mans Brother matched with Anne one of the Co-heirs of Thomas Boteler Earl of Ormond from whom the St. Legers of the County of Devon were extracted out of which Stem was Sir William St. Leger who was Lord President of Munster in Ireland one thousand six hundred forty and two Sir Anthony St. Leger Father of Sir Warham was Lord Deputy of Ireland which place he managed with much of Prudence and Magnanimity his second Son Sir Anthony St. Leger Father to Sir Anthony St. Leger now of Wierton House in Boughton Monchensie died Master of the Rolls in Ireland which Office he discharged with a great deal of Faith and no less integrity Thus have I in Landskip pourtraied this noble Family which in an undivided Chain of Descent was setled at Ulcomb from the Conquerour's Time even till of late and then Sir Anthony St. Leger alienated his right in it which was grown reverend by a prescription of so many Ages to Serjeant Clerk of Rochester Father to Mr. Francis Clerk descended from Henry Clerk who was second Brother to Sir John Clerk who took the Duke of Longuevil prisoner at the Battle fought between Bomy and Spours The Church of Ulcomb belonged to Christ-Church in Canterbury and being Snatched away was restored by K. Edmund in the year 941. And about 430 years since was made a Collegiate Church by Stephen Langton Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Head thereof was called Arch-presbyter Boycot is another Mannor in Ulcomb which afforded both Seat and Sirname to a Family of that Denomination as appears by several old Deeds some of which are without Date which remember Stephen de Boycot John de Boycot and Alexander Boycot which last flourished here in the Reign of Edward the third and Richard the second and from him did it by paternal Delegation devolve to John Boycot and he had Issue John Boycot and Stephen Boycot one which sold his Proportion which accrued to him by the custome of Gavelkind to Richard Hovenden and the other by the like alienation transmitted his Interest in it to William Adam from whom it came over by Donation to Thomas Glover as is specified in the Deed of Sale by which the above-mentioned person in the first year of Henry the seventh alienates it to Richard Hovenden After Hovenden was crumbled away it came by purchase to be the possession of Clerk of Wood-Church the last of which Name which was entituled to the Inheritance was Humphrey Clerk Esquire who in the ninteenth of Q. Elizabeth alienated it to Thomas Sands and he in the twentieth year of the abovesaid Princess conveyed it to the Lady Elizabeth Berkley whose Grand-child Mr. ....... Berkley Esquire is now proprietarie of it Kingsnoth is the last Mannor in Vlcomb It was part of that Demeasn which related to the Abby of Feversham and continued united to its patrimony until the publick Dissolution filed it off and then it became the Interest of the Crown until Henry the eighth in the thirty second of his reign granted it to Sir Anthony St. Leger Knight of the Garter Lord Deputy of Ireland and one of his Privy Councel whose Son Sir Warham St. Leger in the tenth year of Q. Elizabeth conveyed it to William Isley Esquire who not long after passed it away to Anthony Sampson who in the twenty first year of Q. Elizabeth alienated it to James Austin and he in the year 1599 sold it to Robert Cranmer who dying without Issue Male Anne his Daughter and Heir brought it along with her to her Husband Sir Arthur Harris of Crixey in Essex who upon his Decease gave it to his second Son Mr. John Harris and his Son and Heir Mr. Cranmer Harris of Lincolns Inne enjoys the instant Inheritance of it Vp-Church in the Hundred of Milton was in elder Times in the Register of those Lands Mannors and Hereditaments which owned the dominion of the illustrious Family of Leybourn Rog. de Leybourn in the fiftieth year of H. the third had a Grant to hold his Lands at Hartlip Reinham and Up-Church by the fourth part of a Knights Fee and from him did the Clew of successive Descent in a continued Track transport it to his Great Grand-child Juliana de Leybourne Widow of John de Hastings not Father of Laurence de Hastings E. of Pembroke as some have erroneously printed but his Kinsman and next of William de Clinton Earl of Huntington whom she survived and died possest of this Mannor in the forty third year of Edward the third and as the inquisition after her Decease informs us without any Issue or kindred who might supersede the Interest of the Crown by pretending a direct or Collateral Title to her Estate so that King Edward the third by escheat became invested in this Mannor
assaults his Rear with that Courage that he forced that Duke to a Disorderly Retteat leaving his Canon and Carriages behind him as the Reward of his Valour and Fortune In the twenty seventh year of Henry the sixth he was sent over into France with fifteen hundred men as a fresh supply to buoy up the sincking Affairs of the English in that Nation with which he recovered many pieces of strength but overlaid with Multitude in an Encounter at Formigney by the Earl of Clermont and the Constable of France after he had with unparallel'd Testimonies of personal Courage endeavoured to preserve the Fortune of the Day he received a Defeat the Enemy buying his Victory at so dear a rate that it almost undid the Purchaser Lastly his Fate cast him into that Civil Contest which broke out between the two Houses of York and Lancaster and being satisfied with the Justice of those principles upon which the first had engaged in Arms became an eager Assertor of its Claim to the Diadem and having enbarked himself with Richard Earl of Warwick then the Atlas of that Faction in defence of it at the second Battle of St. Albans perished in the Ruines of that Field and by an unstained though a Calamitous Fidelity became the great Example of Loyalty to the House of York And he dying without Issue-male one of his Daughters and Co-heirs by matching with John Fogge of Repton Esquire brought this Mannor upon the partition of the Estate between Fogge and Bourchier who wedded the other to be annexed to the Demeasn of that Family and upon his Decease it descended to his Son Thomas Fogge Serjeant Porter of Callis who dying without Issue-male Anne Fogge who was one of his two Daughters and Co-heirs Aregrim a Saxon held the Mannor of Minshull in Cheshire as Dooms-day Book testifies in the Time of the Conquerour ut liber homo first matching with William Scot and afterwards to Henry Isham brought this to be parcel of the Inheritance of her second Husband but his Son Edward Isham about the latter end of Q. Elizabeth concluding in Mary Isham his onely Inheritrix she by espousing Sir George Perkins united it to his Patrimony and he setled the Reversion of it after his Wives decease upon Mary his Daughter married to Sir Richard Minshull of Cheshire created Baron of Minshull 1642 descended from that eminent Souldier Michael de Minshul who for his glorious service performed in the Quarrel of Richard the first at the Siege of Acon had the assignment for ever of the Crescent and Star for the Coat-Armour of this Family And he and the Lady Mary Perkins concurring in a joynt Sale passed it away in the second of King Charles to James Hugison of Lingsted whose Son John Hugison Esquire by descendant right is entituled to the Possession of it Waltham in the Hundreds of Bredge Petham and Stowting was anciently a Member of that Revenue which acknowledged the Interess of the Knights Templers as appears by a Survey taken of this Mannor in the year of Grace one thousand one hundred and eighty and registred in the Book styled de Terris Templariorum which is preserved in the Remembrancers Office in the Exchequer and in that Survey there is mention made of Ivo de Haut who held Lands at that Time of Temple Waltham lying at Petham not far distant which justifies the Antiquity of that Name in this Track Upon the total suppression and extinction of this Order here in England on pretence of some prodigious Crimes stuck upon it which whether they were imaginary or real must be discussed in that Critical Day when the secrets of all Hearts and the Bottome of all Secrets shall be opened this Mannor of Waltham was in the seventeenth year of Edward the second by Grant invested in the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem commonly called the Knights Hospitalers and here in this Order it rested until the reign of Henry the eighth and then being dissolved by that impetuous Tempest which like a Hurricano fell upon this and all other Conventual Orders in this Nation it was swallowed up in the Revenue of the Crown and there lay couched till the latter part of Queen Elizabeth and then it was in the forty second year of her swaying the English Scepter granted to John Manwaring Esquire from whom by Hope Manwaring his Daughter and Heir the Interess went to Humphrey Hamond upon whose Decease she was re-married to Sir Robert Stapylton a Person who hath erected his own everlasting Tomb and Epitaph in those exquisite Translations of his of Pliny's Panegyrick to Trajan Juvenal's Satyrs and lastly Strada's History of the Wars and other Transactions of the Low Countries who by purchase from his Son in Law Mr. Manwaring Hamond holds the instant Fee-simple of it Eshmerfeild is another eminent Mannor in Waltham and cals for some Respective Account because in Ages of a higher pedigree it confessed it self in the Revenual of the signal Family of Crioll for Bertram de Crioll possest it at his Death which was in the twenty third year of Edward the first and though he expired in a Daughter and Heir yet it continued still in the Tenure of a younger House until Bennet Daughter and Co-heir of Sir Thomas Crioll who was slain at the second Battle of St. Albans brought it to her Husband John Fogge Esquire whose Son Thomas Fogge about the beginning of Henry the seventh alienated his Right and Concernment in it to Sir Thomas Kempe in which Family the Inheritance remained until the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then it was passed by Sir Thomas Kempe this mans Grandchild to Roger Twisden Esquire whose Grandchild Sir Roger Twisden Knight and Baronet conveyed it to Sir John Ashburnham to whose Widow the Lady Ashburnham it accrued upon his Decease as having been before by speciall Compact made part of her Dower so that she at this instant hath the Use of the emergent profits and income of it Whetacre is another small Mannor that lies within the Circle of this Parish not worth the memorial were it not for a Family which extracted its Sirname from hence for I find Nigellus de Whetacre mentioned in the Book of Aide to have held Lands here in the twentieth of Edward the third In Times of a lower Date that is about the reign of Henry the sixth I find the Family of Hels or Hils descended from the Hels of Hels-court in Woditon to be planted in the possession and in this Name was the Interest of it constant until the beginning of Edward the sixth and then it was alienated to Prude whose Successor couveyed it to Alderman Cockain of London from whom the same Stream of Vicissitude carried it into Beacon Watringbury in the Hundred of Twiford was in Ages of a very high Gradation the Patrimony of a Family which enjoyed that Sirname and held not only the Mannor of Watringbury it self but Chart and Fowls which lie within the Precincts of this Parish
the third and twelfth of Richard the second and was as the private evidences of this Family inform me originally descended from Hugh de Peckham who was Constable of the Castle of Rochester under K. John in the first year of his reign and he in her right became entituled to that Interest Moraunt had in this place and in this Family it remained until those Times which approached near the Confines of our Grand-fathers remembrance and then it was passed away to Ellis from whence in Opposition to the other Moitie which was of spiritual Concernment it was called Werehorne Ellis and from this Family not many years since it was carried off by Sale to Tufton in right of which purchase the right honourable John Earl of Thanet is now invested in the possession of it The other Moietie which belonged to the Church was given in the year of Grace 1010 by Elphegus Arch-Bishop of Canterbury to the Monks of Christ-Church and was for the provision of their Garments And if you will discover how this was rated in the twentieth year of VVilliam the Conquerour the Record of Dooms-day Book will discover In Limwarled says the Note in Hundred de Hamme habent Monachi Sanctae Trinitatis de vestitu eorum 1. Manerium de VVerehorne 1. Sulling est appretiatum LXs. This Mannor being by the Monks and Prior of the Convent aforesaid surrendred into the Hands of Henry the eighth in the twenty ninth year of his reign it lay couched in the Demeasn of the Crown until the seventh year of K. James and then it was by Grant passed away to Tho. Paget and Thomas Twisden who in opposition to the other Moity which was of temporal Interess called this Werehorn Twisden and they not long after passed it away to Sir Thomas Tufton Grand-father to the right honourable John Earl of Thanet the instant Possessor of it Tinton in VVerehorne was a Mannor which anciently belonged to the Priory of Horton near Hieth but upon the suppression all its Demeasn being annexed to the Crown this was lodged there until the beginning of K. James and then it was by that Prince conveyed by Grant to Sir VVilliam Sidley of the Frierie in Alresford Grand-father to Sir Charles Sidley Baronet the present Lord of the Fee Capell in this Parish gave Seat and Sirname to a Family so called whose Demeasn lay spread into Ivie-Church Linton Boxley Horsmonden Capell by Brechley Capell in the Isle of Shepey and this Parish John de Capell flourished here in the reign of Henry the third who was as appears by the Leiger Book of Boxley an eminent Benefactor to that Covent and from him descended Sir VVilliam at Capell an eminent Knight of this County in the reign of Edward the third and Richard the second who left it to his Son Richard at Capell and he dying without Issue in the fifteenth year of Richard the second Sir John Orlanston in right of his Wife who was his Sister and Co-heir entred upon his Inheritance at this place and left it to his Son Richard Orlanston Esq who deceased without Issue in the seventh year of Henry the fifth and so upon the Division of the Estate VVilliam Scot who had espoused Joan one of the Sisters and Co-heirs was planted in the Inheritance of this place and from whom it is now devolved to be the possession of Edward Scot of Scots-Hall Esquire Ham is another eminent Mannor in this Parish which gives Name to the whole Hundred and was as high as the Ray of any Intelligence will guide us to discover folded up in the paternal Demeasn of the ancient Family of Orlanston VVilliam de Orlanston obtained a Charter of Free-Warren to his Lands at Orlanston VVerehorne and other places in the fifty first of Henry the third and being fenced in with this Immunity it came along by the Steps of Several Descents to Richard Orlanston Son of Sir John Orlanston who dying without Issue in the seventh year of Henry the fifth as is manifest Rot. Esc Num. 16. Joan one of his two Sisters matched to William Scot of Scots-Hall and Margaret the second wedded to William Parker of Parkers in this Parish became his two Co-heirs and upon breaking the Estate by mutual Division into parcels this in the second year of Henry the sixth was annexed to the Patrimony of Scot and from him did the Thread of successive Descent transmit to Mr. Edward Scot of Scots-Hall Esquire who still by paternal right enjoys the Inheritance of it Parkers is another Mannor which next summons our remembrance which afforded a Sirname as it gave an Habitation to a Family so styled Edward Parker held Lands in Werehore Westerham and other places at his Decease which was in the ninth year of Edward the second as appears Rot. Esc Num. 1.14 and in this Name was the Title and Inheritance constant until the reign of Henry the eighth and then I find by several Court-rolls one John Engham to be fixed by purchase in the possession and in this Family did it remain uninterrupted until the beginning of K. James and then it was by Sale conveyed to Taylor who not long after demised it to Collins from whom not long since it came by purchase to Squire and he not many years since passed it away to Dr. ...... Kingsley Arch-Deacon of Canterbury in whose Descendants the Proprietie of it is still resident Hampton Coclescombe is the last place considerable in Werehorne which gave Name originally to a Family which here had their Habitation and likewise were possessors of much Land at Westwell and other places and having lived here many Descents the possession of this place at last devolved to John Hampton who about the latter end of Edward the fourth passed it away to John May of Bibrook whose successor John May concluding about the latter end in a Daughter and Heir called Alice matched to John Edolph it came to be the Inheritance of that Family but did not long confess the Signory of it for this John Edolph deceased without Issue-male and left it to his sole Daughter Elizabeth matched to William Wilcock who expiring likewise in two Female Heirs Martha matched to Edward Ratcliff Doctor of Physick and Physitian to Q. Elizabeth and K. James and the second matched to William Andrews they divided this Mannor as parcel of his Inheritance William Andrews in the twenty ninth year of Q. Elizabeth demised his proportion to Rowland Bridges and Robert Philipson And Edward Radcliff alienated that part of it which accrued to him in the forty third year of Q. Elizabeth to Edward Rolt and Andrew Mersh Westerham gives Name to the whole Hundred wherein it is placed and was in elder Times the patrimony of a Family called Camville which was of some eminence in this Track William de Camville and G. de Camville entred England with VVilliam the Conquerour Thomas de Camville was one of the Recognitores magnae Assisae in the seventh year of K. John
Mannor which fell under the Signory of the Arch-bishops of Canterbury as is manifest by an Inquisition taken in the twenty first of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 7. Which represents to posterity what Lands and Mannors Thomas Arch-bishop of Canterbury held at that time nor did it depart from the revenue of this Sea until the 29. year of Henry the eighth and then being exchanged with the Crown by Tho. Cranmer Arch-bishop of Canterbury it was granted away to Henry Crispe Esquire in which Family it was fixed untill those times which were circumscribed within the Verge of our Fathers Remembrance and then it was conveyed to Paramour from which Name not many years since the vicissitude of purchase carried it away and hath now made it part of the demeasn of Daniel Harvey of Combe-nevill in Kingston upon Thames Esquire Quekes in Birchington was the ancient Seat of an ancient Family which bore that Sirname and after it had for many descents acknowledged it self to have related to that Name it devolved by paternal descent to John Quekes who about the Beginning of H. the seventh expired in a Daughter and Heir who was matched to .... Crispe extracted from the Crispes of Oxfordshire who had flourished there many Generations before as appears by an old pedigree now in the hands of Sir Nicholas Crispe of London under the Notion of Gentlemen of the best Rank nor did this Family wither by being thus transplanted and inoculated upon a forraign Stem but rather did gather new Sap and Verdure which made it so exceedingly sprout forth that Henry Crispe Esquire who was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty eighth of Henry the eighth and was afterwards honoured with Knighthood did shoot up to that power and grew so tall in Title that he was in the dialect of those Times called Regulus Insulae or the Governour of the Isle of Thannet and from this worthy person is Henry Crispe Esquire Heir to Sir Henry Crispe not long since deceased and now proprietary of Quekes originally descended West-gate in Birchington was wrapped up in that vast demeasn which was entituled to the possession of the noble and powerful Family of Leybourn of Leybourn-castle Will. de Leybourn Son of Roger de Leybourn held it at his Death which was in the third year of Ed. the second Rot. Esc Num. 56. And left it to Roger de Leybourn from whom with the rest of his diffused patrimony in this County it came to his only Daughter and Heir Juliana de Leybourn first matched to Iohn de Hastings Brother or Kinsman to Laurence de Hastings Earl of Pembroke and then to William de Clinton Earl of Huntingdon but survived them both and dying without Issue in the forty third year of Edward the third she made God her Heir to this Mannor and gave it to the Abby of St. Augustins and in the patrimony of that Cloister did the Title of this Mannor lie locked up untill the general Dissolution in the reign of Henry the eighth unloosened it and then linked it again by a new Augmentation to the demeasn of the Crown and then the abovesaid Prince in the thirty fifth year of his reign granted it to Sir Tho. Moile who not long after passed it away to Bere a Family of good account in this Island as being descended from Richard de Bere who was one of the Recognitores magnae Assisae for Kent in the second year of King John as appears by the Pipe-roll of that time and from this Name about the latter end of Q. Elizabeth did it by purchase come over to Denne of Denne-hill in Kingston whose Successor Mr. Thomas Denne of Denne-hill Reader formerly of the Middle-Temple and Recorder of Canterbury dying lately without Issue-male his four Daughters Thomazin married to Sir Nicholas Crispe Bridget matched to Sir Iohn Darrell of Calehill Dorothy wedded to Mr. Roger Lucan and Mary espoused to Vincent Denne Esquire became his Coheirs and and this upon the division of his Estate augmented the patrimony of Sir Nicholas Crispe Dandelion in the Parish of St. Johns was the Seat of a Family in elder times called Dent de lyon as appears by divers ancient Deeds some without dare some as high as Edward the first but about the Government of Henry the fourth the Name was melted down and made more soft and easie and transplanted into Dandelion as appears by several Deeds of one John Dandelion which commence from that Kings reign and the reign of Henry the fifth and he had Issue John Dandelion who about the Beginning of Edward the fourth determined in a Daughter and Heir matched to Petit of Shalmesford neer Chartham and lies buryed under a fair Marble in St. Johns with a plate of Brasse if the Barbarity of these times have not ravished it away affixed to it designing the time of his death and by a Right fortified and made firme from this Alliance does this ancient Seat now acknowledge the Signory of Mr. Henry Petit. Nash-court in the Parish abovesaid was anciently the possession of the Garwintons of whom I have spoken at Bekesbourn where was their capital Mansion and went along with the Interest of this Family untill William Garwinton the last of this Name dying without Issue in the eleventh year of Henry the fourth bequeathed this and much other Land to Richard Haut who had married Joan his nearest Kinswoman and Heir general of the Family and he left it to his Son Richard Haut who left only one Daughter called Margery who was his Heir and she by marching with William Isaack made it parcel of his Inheritance and in memory of this Alliance the Windows of this Mansion are in several Pannels of Glasse adorned with the Arms of Haut and Isaack and near them are placed the Armes of William Warham Arch-bishop of Canterbury empaled with those of his Sea for of him and his Predecessors did this Mansion hold After Isaack was gone out which was about the latter end of Henry the eighth the Lincolnes by purchase became Lords of the Fee and held it untill the midst of the reign of Queen Elizabeth and then it was passed away for some Courtesies obtained by the Heir of this Family to Sir Roger Manwood Chief Baron of the Exchequer and his Son Sir Peter Manwood alienated it in our Fathers Memory to Cleybrook from whom it descended to his Son Mr. William Cleybrook who upon his decease left it to his Widow Mrs. Sarah Cleybrooks remarried to Mr. George Somner slain at Wye-bridge in the year 1648 and now lastly to Mr. James Newman and after her decease the Reversion to his Kinsman Mr. Alexander Northwood and his Heirs Dene and Hengrove are two Mannots circumscribed likewise within the precincts of St. Johns and were involved in the spreading Demeasn of the powerful Family of Leybourn as appears by a solemn Inquisition taken after the decease of William de Leybourn who dyed possest of them in the third year of Edward the second and
security which is received both in life and propriety by his defence and tuition And certainly this is something proportionate to Reason for all Gavelkind-Land is held in the Tenure of free-Soccage which is charg'd with this manner of Rent-charge or imposition and so in several Latine Records is represented under the Notion of Terra Censualis 'T is true that by the ancient custome of Germany cal'd Land-Skiftan the Lands of the deceased was by equal portions to be distributed amongst all the Sons but then it is as probable that this Tribute or Gabel did accompany it because the most essential part of this Custome hath through the Channel of many hundred years flow'd down to this present Age and is in force in sundry places in Germany at this instant For though the Hernelickheis or Lordship as they style it descend Patrimonially per Jus Dominatus by the right of Signorie to the elder Son yet all the Land exclusiely from that is equally divided between the Cadets or younger Brothers only returning some inconsiderable Rent-Service to the Prince as a character of that Fealtie thy owe him for sheltring them in their several Patrimonies by his mutual support and protection Certain it is when Hengist transported his Saxons first into Britain that Custome of Land-Skiftan was wafted over with them and was by him allow'd to his Abettors and Partisans when they were invested in their new Acquists and Possessions in Kent as all other Franchises and Immunities were which before in Germany they were by prescription endow'd with that they might more vigorously improve his designes upon this Island yet still it is possible he reserved out of those Demeasnes thus by Grant couveyed to his complices some Annual Tax or Gabel though perhaps of a low and narrow value as a signal acknowledgement that the Superiority or Soveraignty was solely lodg'd in him There are two other Customes which are properly calculated for the Meridian of Romeney Marsh and perhaps through inadvertency were not recited by Mr. Lambert and they are these First the King had anciently no Wast there and secondly he had no Wracks but they were appropriated to those Mannors of the Mersh that confin'd on the Sea and surely if we fathom their original we shall find their foundation established on much of Reason For first how could the Crown entitle it self to any Wast there where the Sea by its impetuous encroachments did engage the Inhabitants to cast up Mounts and erect Banks in any place which they should find most proportionate to their defence against the fury of so formidable an adversary For the second it is very equitable that they that are interessed in an expence of that vastnesse in which the Publique by the obligation of necessary consequences is so much concern'd and wrapt up should have something of Emolument indulged to them by the careful Munificence of the Prince to poise and ballance those important disbursements which the ill neighbourhood of the Ocean does oblige them to in fortifying the Mersh with perpetual Defences and Dams against its assaults and eruptions Having thus discovered something in relation to the Customs of Kent before I advance farther into the Land I shall represent what care our former Kings have embarqu'd themselves in to secure the Sea by fixing Sea-watches and other Military Guards upon all the Avennues and Inlets of the Coast to represse and check the attempts of any bold Intruder as if their own safety and indemnity were folded up in the security of this County Touching then Sea-watches upon the Coast there are three Presidents and a Mandate from the King to the Sheriff in a time of a more modern inscription for performing the like service The first containing the watch by night in Record is styled Vigiliae minutae which are due of right and custome to be made by the Men of certain HUNDREDS as by the Title thereof and the Writ for Execution of the same may appear The second concluding the Day-watch hence called Wardan is arbitrary and at the pleasure of those which in time of war and common danger had authority to appoint them of these there are three examples one of the 9 of Edward the 3. which I intend principally to trace as being the original to the other which year he made preparation to invade France and to vindicate his Title to the Crown and the other the 20. of Edward the 3. in which year he sailed into France and triumphed in the Signal battail of Crescey The third describeth to whose charge several parts of the shore were assign'd for defence in the 29 of Fdward the 3. At what time he past into France and was victorious in the Encounter of Poictiers It discovers also what parts of the Shire were to resort to the Coast for protection of the same This order is arbitrary also as they that in the Record are styl'd Rectores Comitatus that is Lieutenants of the Shire shall think meet to appoint Warda assessa per Dom. Willielmum de Clinton omitem de Huntingdon Johannem de Cobham Thomam de Aldon in Com. Cantii super Costeram Maris Anno Regni Regis Edwardi Tertii undecimo Videlicet apud la Yenlade in Hoo. Prior Roffensis 8 Homines ad Arma. Philip de Pimpe 2. Thomas Malmains 2. Joannes de Fremingham 2. Stephanus de Dalham 2. Thomas Walran 2. Johannes Gifford 2. Henry de Gresford 1 Hominem ad Arma. Hobilers supra eandem Wardam Rogerus de Escheker Johannes Atford Robertus Viane Henricus Lomes Robertus le-Fane Michael Somers de Higham Jo. Mortimer de Clives Summa hujus Wardae 13. Homines ad Arma 7. Hobilers Vigiliae minutae super Costeram Maris per Homines diversorum Hundredorum Villatarum sicut in antiquo tempore fieri consuevit Hundredum de Hoo 9. Homines ad vigilandum apud la Yenlade viz. Hundredo de Hoo 2. de Malling 1. de Shamed 5. de Deriford 1. Vigiliae de Shepeia Juxta Feversham debent fieri de 33. Hominib us unde de Milton Merden 25. de Bocton 3. de Feversham 5. Apud Denge Nesse per 12. unde de 7. Hundredis omnes Apud Swale per 5. unde de Milton Marden omnes Apud Greistone per 12. Homines unde de Whitstaple 1. de Blengate 3. de Kinghamford 2. de Westgate 2. de Downhamford 2. de Brugge 2. Apud Elmes per 6. Homines unde de Sancto Martino 2. de Oxneia 1. de Aloes-Bridge 2. de Longport 1. Apud Broadhul per 6. Homines unde de Street Worth 4. de Newchurch 1. de Hamme 1. de Henei Apud Sebroke per 12. Homines unde de Longbridge Chart 3. de Calehid 3. de Bircholt 1. de Wye 5. Apud Sangate per 6. Homines unde de Folkston 4. de Lovingborough 1. de Stouting 1. Warda de Shepey apud le Swale Humfridus de Norwood 2. Homines ad Arma. Thomas de Rokesly 2. Johannes de
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 â 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
of Huntingdon and Cambridge the 16th and 17th of King John and Sheriff of Lincoln six or seven years together The Earls of Warwick were often Sheriffs of Warwick and Leicester-shire under Edward the 3 d. and also of the County of Worcester most part of that Kings Reign indeed the office of Sheriff was so frequent in that Family that it almost appear'd to be Hereditary to the Beauchamps Ralph Earl of Chester was Sheriff of that County the first of Henry the third and of the County of Lancaster the second year of the same King Walter Lord Arch-Bishop of York was Sheriff of Nottingham the fifty fourth and fifty fifth of K. Henry the third and Hugo de Stapleford was his Shire-Clerk Hillarius Bishop of Lincoln was Sheriff of Lincolnshire the ninth tenth eleventh twelfth and thirteenth of Henry the third and Ralph Regnald was his Shire-Clerk Hillarius Bishop of Chichester was Sheriff of Sussex and Surry the eight of Henry the second Richard Bishop of Salisbury was often Sheriff of the County of Dorset under Henry the third and of Hampshire at the same time Joceline Bishop of Bath was Sheriff of Somerset under Henry the third and Peter Bishop of Winchester the first eigth years of Henry the third Walter Bishop of Carlisle was frequently Sheriff of Cumberland under Henry the third and Robert his successor was often Sheriff of the same County under Edward the first and both of them had their Shire-Clerks Walter Bishop of Coventry and Liechfield was often in this office under Richard the first in the County of Stafford Ralph Abbott of Michelen was Sheriff of the Counties of Somersett and Dorset the seventh of Henry the third Many more Presidents of this Nature could be unfolded but I think these are competent Testimonies enough to discover both the Dignity and Eminence of this ancient and illustrous office only this may be deduc'd from these examples That some Counties heretofore were joyned with their next Neighbors for ease of the service as Sussex and Surry Devon and Cornwall Somerset and Dorset Hampshire and Wilts Warwick and Leicester Cambridge and Huntingdon Norfolk and Suffolk Essex and Hartford c. most of which were separated by Queen Elizabeth and the rest taken in sunder by the late King Charles I shall now endevour to unravel the Catalogue of the Sheriffs of Kent as I find them Registred either in the Pipe-Rolls or other Evidences and I have as much as posibly I could Recorded the places where they inhabited which will much improve and inforce that light which I am to distribute to the world in Relation to those places I am in my subsequent discourse to treat upon And first I find Osward a Saxon held divers Lands in Kent as Herst Hagalei Norton Chert Stepedon with Tunsdal and Tong during the Reign of Edward the Confessor all which Lands were in the Conquerors Time possest by Hugo de Port This Osward also held Delce Hadon Alneiton and Har Sham. He was Sheriff of Kent under the Confessor as appears by the prime Record of the Nation Domes day Book where speaking of Tarentford in Axtan Hundred it is thus entred Homines de in Hundredo testificantur quod de isto Manerio Regis ablatum est unum Pratum unum Alnetum unum Molendinum XX. acrae Prati c. Dicunt etiam quod Osward tunc Vicecomes praestitit ea Alestano Praeposito London modo tenet Heltus Dapifer Nepos ejus Hamo and as frequently Hanno Lord of Marourd in the Hundred of Littlefield and of Blen in the Hundred of Whitstaple and Lavinton in the Hundred of Downhamford of Estursete Briested now I take Brasted Nettlested Ditton and divers other Lands in Kent was Sheriff at the Time of the General Survey entred by the Conqueror into his Domes day Book The Records of Christ Church and the Deeds of the Hospital of St. Lawrence near Canterbury prove that Hamo Son of Etardes de Crevequer did in the Reign of Richard the first and K. John hold divers of the Lands if not all above recited He continued Sheriff as then was very usual during life which was enlarged untill about the middle of Henry the first for in the year 10111 which is the 11th of Henry the first Hugh Abbot of St. Augustins granted Bodesham and Smethetum to this Hamo Quod ipse as sayes the Deed si opus fuerit Ecclesiae mihi vel successoribus meis de praedictis in Comitatu vel in Curia Regis contra aliquem Baronem consulat adjuvet succurrat exceptis Dominis suis quorum Homo manibus suis fuerit At the same time this Hamo restored to the same Abby in the Town of Fordwich in this Form Hamo Cantii Vicecomes Henrici Regis Anglorum Dapifer timore Dei ductus reddo Deo Sancto Petro Apostolorum Principi Sancto Augustino Anglorum Apostolo Abbati Hugoni Fratribus ejusdem loci Villam de Fordwich Hanc Donationem meam per Psalterium Sancti Augustini per cultellum meum super principale Altare ejusdem Ecclesiae manibus meis misi c. William de Aynsford was Sheriff of Kent after Hamo in the Reign of Henry the first for in the Chartularies of St. Augustin in Canterbury I find a Transcript of the Kings writ thus Henricus Rex Anglorum Willielmo de Aynsford salutem fac juste habere Abbati de Sancto Augustino consuetudinem suam de Niwentonâ in Denariis Averiis operationibus c. And the Deed from William Son to Henry the first is here entred and imports as much as the former Willielmus Filius Regis Willielmo Vice Comiti de Kent salutem Fac recognosci per Homines Hundredi de Middletuna quas consuetudines in Villâ de Niventonâ c. This Family of Ainsford ended about Edward the first and one of this Name was Sheriff of London Norman Fitz Dering was Sheriff of Kent under K. Stephen unto whom Queen Maud directed her Writ concerning some Land given by her to the Nun Helmida ad faciendam Domum suam in Elemosinam apud Fauresham post Mortem ejus Volo saith the Queen ut Ecclesia Sanctae Mariae de Fauresham pro salute Domini mei Regis Stephani meâ Filiorum nostrornm Statu Regni nostri habeat praefatam Terram in perpetuum He and his Brother Godred Fitz Dering are Teste to a Deed of their Brother Osbert de Morinis so called because his Brother was a Fleming which Deed is Registerd in the Chartularies of Saint Augustins wherein he to that Abby gives six Acres and an half of Land in Thanet for the supply of a Light in the Chapel of St. Mildred within the Abby aforesaid Pro salute Animae suae Animi Uxoris ejus Ermelinae in Honorem Sanctae Virginis Mildrethae This Norman Fitz Dering held Lands at Ashford East Farleigh Lese Bircholt and Bedesham Rualonus or Ruallo de Valoigns was Sheriff of Kent
third fourth fifth and sixth years of Edw. the first and the last year was supplied for part thereof by Henry Perot of Knowlton Robert Scotton was Sheriff of Kent the seventh eighth ninth and tenth years of Ed. the first in which year he died and Robert his Son accounted for the remainder of that year Peter de Huntingfield so named from the Mannour of Huntingfield which he and his Ancestors held in Eseling in Kent of the Castle of Chilham by a whole Knights Fee was Sheriff of Kent the eleventh twelfth and thirteenth of Edw. the first Hamon de Gatton of Throuley in Kent was Sheriff the fourteenth of Edward the first William de Chellesfield so named of the Town of Chellesfield of which he and his Ancestors were many years possest was Sheriff of Kent the fifteenth sixteenth and seventeenth of Edward the first William de Bramshot so named of a Town in Hantshire of which he and his Ancestors were Lords was Sheriff of Kent in the eighteenth and ninteenth years of Edward the first John de Northwood Knight Son of Sir Roger Northwood Knight was Sheriff of Kent in the twentieth year of Edw. the first and for the latter part of the year Richard de Cumbe and Simon de Cumbe his Son and Heir served for him In the twenty first year he was Sheriff again and John de Bourn was joyned with him Afterwards in the twenty eighth year of the abovesaid Prince as likewise in the twenty third year and twenty fourth year of his Reign he was Sheriff of this County and held the Office alone John de Bourn had the Custody of Kent in the twenty second year and then again in the twenty third and twenty fourth years of Edw. the first Henry de Bourn his Father made a Purchase of Lands and Rents in Dodington of Matilda the Daughter of John de Dodington in the forty seventh year of Henry the third William Trussel was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty fifth and twenty sixth years of Edward the first Henry de Apulderfield of Apulderfield in Coudham now contractedly called Apurfield served the latter part of the twenty sixth year but was Sheriff alone in the twenty seventh year of Edw. the first Henry de Cobham of Rundal in Shorn was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty ninth and thirtieth years of Edward the first and for part of the thirty first year the Barons of the Exchequer appointed Elias de Morton of Dodingdale in Canterbury to serve in his stead Waretius de Valoigns of Tremworth was Sheriff of Kent the latter part of the thirty first and then again in the thirty second year of Edw. the first William de Cossenton of Cossenton in Alresford was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty fifth year of Edw. the first Jeffery Colepeper of Bay-Hall in Pepenbury was Sheriff of Kent the thirty sixth thirty seventh thirty eighth and thirty ninth years of Edward the first Sheriffs of Kent in the Time of Edward the Second Sir Henry de Cobham of Rundale in Shorn formerly mentioned was Sheriff of Kent in the first year of K. Edw. the second and again in the ninth year of this Prince John le Blund of Sundridge in Bromley descended from Peter de Blund who was Constable of the Tower of London in the thirty fourth year of Henry the third was Sheriff of Kent in the second third and fourth years of Edward the second And dying in the fifth year of that Prince when he was likewise Sheriff Edward his Son served our the Remainder of the year for him and continued in the Office part of the year following William de Basing of Kenardington inrolled amongst the Knights of K. Edward the first that merited so victoriously in the Wars in Scotland was Sheriff of Kent the seventh year of Edward the second and John de Haudloe the younger of Court at Street in Limne was joyned with him John de Malmains of Malmains in Stoke in the Hundred of Hoo was Sheriff of Kent in the tenth of Edward the second and part of the eleventh John Fremingham of Fremingham was Sheriff of Kent part of the eleventh year of Edward the second and for three parts of the twelveth year which he likewise serv'd Henry de Sarden was united as an Assistant to him William Septuans Son and Heir of Sir Robert Septuans whose Seat was at Milton Septuans near Canterbury was Sheriff of Kent part of the thirteenth and intirely the fourteenth year of Edw. the second and Henry Sarden was his Assistant He continued in the Office the fifteenth and part of the sixteenth year of the abovesaid Prince and Ralph Savage of Milsted was joyned with him John de Shelving Son of Thomas de Shelving of Shelving in Wodnesborough was Sheriff of Kent part of the sixteenth and part of the seventeenth year of Edward the second and John de Fremingham was joyned as an Assistant to him John de Fremingham was Sheriff of Kent part of the sixteenth year intirely the eighteenth and lastly part of the ninteenth year of that infortunate Prince Edward the second and Ralph de St. Laurence served out the Residue for him Thomas de Toniford his Attorney accounted for the Profits of his Office for him Sheriffs of Kent in the Time of Edward the third Ralph de St. Laurence whose Ancestors extracted their Sirname from St. Laurence in the Isle of Thanet was Sheriff of Kent in the first year of Edw. the third and again for part of the sixth year of that Prince which was supplied by Tho. St. Laurence his Son William de Orlanston so Sirnamed from Orlanston in Rumney Mersh was Sheriff of Kent in the second year of Edward the third and the next year following he continued in the Place and John de Shelving before mentioned was joyned with him John de Shelving was again Sheriff of Kent in the fourth year of Edward the third but died the same year as the Inquisition taken after his Death doth evince and John de Walmer supplied the Remnant of the year for him Roger de Reynham served part of the fifth of Edward the third John de Bourn before mentioned continued in the Office of Sheriff of Kent part of the fifth year of Edward the third Thomas de Brockhull of Brockhull in Saltwood was Sheriff of Kent the sixth year of Edward the third and Lawrence de St. Lawrence was his Assistant for part of the year but in the seventh and eleventh years of this Kings Reign he executed the place alone Stephen de Cobham of Roundale in Shorn Son and Heir of Henry de Cobham was Sheriff of Kent the eighth ninth and tenth years of Edward the third William Morant of Morants-Court in Chevening at the foot of Morants-Court Hill was Sheriff of Kent the twelfth and thirteenth years of Edward the third during his Sherivalty This abovesaid Prince issued out a Mandate to him to take care that but one Bell should be rung in any Steeple towards the Sea-coast in Kent Henry
of Diggs Court in Barham was upon his decease authoriz'd to discharge the said office for the remainder of the year Thomas Chich of the Dungeon in St. Mary Bredimans Parish in Canterbury was Sheriff of this County the third year of Henry the fourth Richard Cliderow of Gouldstanton in Ash neer Sandwich who was constituted in the Reign of Henry the fourth Admirall of the Seas from the Thames mouth along the Saxon shore to the West was likewise Sheriff of Kent the fourth and most part of the fifth year of the abovesaid Prince Tho. Swinbourn Esquire owner of much Land in the County of Essex was Sheriff of Kent the sixth year of Henry the fourth and kept his Shrievalty at Thevegate in Smeth Michael Horn of Horn place in Apuldore was Sheriff of Kent the seventh year of Henry the fourth Edward Haut of Hauts place in Petham and of Bourn was Sheriff of Kent the eighth year of Henry the fourth William Snaith of Addington was Sheriff of Kent the ninth year of Henry the fourth Reginald Pimp of Pimps Court in East Farleigh Son of William Pimp of Pimps Court and Nettlested was Sheriff of Kent the tenth year of Henry the fourth John Darrell of Cale-Hill in little Chert eldest Brother of Sir William Darrell under Treasurer of England was Sheriff of Kent the eleventh year of Henry the fourth William Notbeame descended out of Suffolk where his Family was of generous rank but whose Residence was at Ash neer Sandwich was Sheriff of Kent the twelfth year of Henry the fourth and in the seventh year of Henry the fifth was return'd amongst those who did Portare arma antiqua William Cheney of Shurland in Shepey Son of Richard Cheney was Sheriff of Kent the thirteenth year of Henry the fourth in which year this Prince deceased Sheriffs of Kent under Henry the Fifth William Cheney above mentioned continued Sheriff of Kent the first year of Henry the fifth William Cliford of whom mention was formerly made was again Sheriff of Kent in the second and third years of Henry the fifth William Langley of Knolton was Sheriff of Kent the fourth year of Henry the fifth John Darrell of Cale-hill above recited was again Sheriff of Kent the fifth year of K. Henry the fifth Richard Cliderow of whom mention was made in the fourth and fifth years of Henry the fourth was now Sheriff again in the sixth year of King Henry the fifth John Burgh was Sheriff of Kent the seventh year of Henry the fifth During this mans Shrievalty there came a special Writ from the King to elect out of the most fit and able Knights and Esquires of the County that bore Arms from antiquity twelve of the most sufficient to serve as Lances for defence of the Kingdome William Haut of Hautsbourne was Sheriff of Kent some part of the eighth and all the ninth year of K. Henry the fifth John Darrell of Cale-hill was Sheriff of Kent the tenth year of Henry the fifth in which year that successeful and triumphant Prince paid the last Debt he owed to Nature and the first which he owed to Sin Sheriffs of Kent in the Reign of Henry the Sixth John Darrell of Cale-hill who was Sheriff of Kent when K. Henry the fifth deceased continued Sheriff in the first year of Henry the sixth William Cheyney of Shurland who was Knighted in the ninth year of K. Henry the sixth was Sheriff of Kent in the second year of that Princes Government John Rykâld of Estlingham in Frend bury neer Rochester was Sheriff of Kent the third year of K. Henry the sixth William Clifford of Bobbing who had been Sheriff of Kent in the first year of K. Henry the fifth was elected to take that Office in the fourth year of K. Henry the sixth William Colepeper of Preston in Alresford Son and Heir of Sir John Colepeper was Sheriff of Kent the fifth year of Henry the sixth Thomas Ellis of Burton in Kennington was Sheriff of Kent the sixth year of Henry the sixth William Scot of Scots Hall in Smeeth was Sheriff of Kent the seventh year of Henry the sixth John Peche of Lullingston was Sheriff of Kent the eighth year of Henry the sixth John St. Leger of Ulcomb was Sheriff of Kent the ninth year of Henry the sixth John Guldford of Halden alias Lambin in the Parish of Rolvenden was Sheriff of Kent in the tenth year of Henry the sixth William Bures who held much Land at Bromeley and Greenwich and was descended from William de Bures who held part of a Knights Fee in Bromley the twentieth year of Edward the third At making the black Prince Knight was Sheriff of Kent the eleventh year of Henry the sixth Richard Woodville of the Moat in Maidston was Sheriff of Kent in the twelfth year of K. Henry the sixth William Clifford of Bobbing and of Shorn of whom mention is made twice before was now again chosen Sheriff the thirteenth year of Henry the sixth William Manston of Manston in the Parish of St. Laurence in the Isle of Thanet was Sheriff of Kent the fourteenth year of Henry the sixth James Fiennes of Kemsing and Seal afterwards created Lord Say and Seal and High Treasurer of England was Sheriff of Kent the fifteenth year of Henry the sixth Richard Waller of Gromebridge in Spelhurst who took Charles Duke of Orleans Captive at the Battle of Agin Court was Sheriff of Kent the sixteenth year of K. Henry the sixth Edward Guldford of Halden in Rolvenden was Sheriff of Kent the seventeenth year of Henry the sixth Gervas Clifton who married Isabel Widow of William Scot Esquire and lived upon his Wives Estate at Brabourn in Kent where he lies buried was Sheriff of Kent the eighteenth year of Henry the sixth John Yerde of Denton near Berham was Sheriff of Kent the ninteenth year of Henry the sixth John Warmer of Votes Crey was Sheriff of Kent in the twentieth year of Henry the sixth William Maries who lived at Ufton in Tunstal was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty first of Henry the sixth Thomas Brown Knight Treasurer to the House-hold of K. Henry the sixth was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty second year of that Prince William Cromer of Tunstal who married Elizabeth Daughter of James Lord Say and Seale was Sheriff of Kent the twenty third year of Henry the sixth This was that William Cromer who was barbarously assassanated by Jack Cade whilst he vigorously sought to oppose that Rebell in his Expedition towards London John Thornbury of Feversham was Sheriff of Kent the twenty fourth year of Henry the sixth William Isley of Sundridge was Sheriff of Kent the twenty fifth year of Henry the sixth William Kene who lived at Well Hall in Eltham in Right of Agnes his Wife Widow of John Tatersal was Sheriff of Kent the twenty sixth year of Henry the sixth Stephen Slegge of Wouldham near Rochester was Sheriff of Kent the twenty seventh year of Henry the sixth William Cromer who was
was Possessor of both these Places in Times of an elder Computation paid respective Aid at making the black Prince Knight for his Lands at Alkham But after this I find no more intelligence given me by Record of this Family for about the beginning of Henry the fourth I discover Iohn Alkham who extracted his Sirname from this Parish and it is very probable had here his Mansion though now it have found a double Sepulcher that of Oblivion and its own Rubbish to have been possest of them both which he held in Castle-Guard Tenure of Dover Castle and paid a subsidiarie Supply for them in the fourth year of that Prince at the Marriage of Blanch his Daughter from which temporary Assessement or Contribution severall Parcels of Land in this County have ever since contracted the Name of Blanch-Lands In Alkham the Signorie of both Places did reside untill the beginning of Henry the seventh and then they were demised by Peter Alkham to Iohn Warren Gentleman in which Name after they had continued untill the latter End of Henry the eighth Malmains was passed away to Brown who in our Memory conveyed it by Sale to Lushinton and Hollmeade was by the same Vicissitude annexed to the Demeasn of Wollet a Name that is grown reverend by an Efflux of many Ages both here and at Elham The Mannor of Hoptons another place considerable in Alkham If you will search who was in elder Times possest of it the private date lesse Deeds will inform you that anciently it was the Inheritance of Peter de Hall but was not long permanent in the possession of this Name for in the twentieth year of Edward the third as appears by the Book of Aid it was the Inheritance of William de Bourn and here it seems the Title was more constant for in this Family it was resident untill the beginning of Henry the sixth and then it was alienated to Baker of Caldham in whom it had not long continued but by his Daughter and Coheir it became the Inheritance of Robert Brandred from which Name about the latter end of Edward the fourth it passed away by Sale to Brown of Bechworth Castle in Surrey and here it fixed untill that Age which came within the Verge of our Grandfathers Remembrance and then it was demised to Godman in whose Descendants the Propriety now continues Evering is the last place of Account in Alkham it was the possession of a Family so called which branched from the ancient Lords of Folkston sirnamed Averenches whose Armes were as is manifest by ancient Armorials Or five Cheverons Gules and these Everings bare Or five Cheverons Azure Wolwardus de Evering held it under the Notion and by the Service of a whole Knights Fee in the Time of Henry the second of the Lords of Folkston And by a successive Chanell of many Descents hath the Title flowed so constantly in this Family that this Seat is at this instant annexed to their Inheritance In this Parish is an Eyle-Bourn which rises in the bottome at Dillingore which the Inhabitants presage to be a fatall presage either of Death or Dearth and in a short Distance of Time and Place from no appearance of Head or Spring sends forth such store of Water that a Vessell of considerable Burden may float therein then the Water being inforced into a Stream runs down to Chilton and disgorges it self into that River which meets the Sea at Dover Apuldore in the Hundred of Blackborn in the year of Grace 1032. was by an especiall Licence first obtained from Canutus and Elfgiva his Queen and given by Eadsin Bishop of Sr. Martins without Canterbury to the Prior and Monks of Christchurch est de cibo corum says the Book of that Convent that is it was granted to them for a Supportation of Diet. In the eleventh year of Edward the third there was a License granted to the then Archbishop and others by his Royall Patent obsternere quendam antiquam Trencheam quae ducit a Brachio Maris vocato Apledore versus Villam de Romney those are the Words of the Record that is to intercept and dam up a certain Trench or Chanell which proceeds from an Arm of the Sea called Apledore for then it seems the Sea flow'd up to this place though now it have wholly deserted it and leads to the Town of Romney But to proceed Apledore having by the abovesaid Donation been link'd to the Ecclesiasticall Patrimony continued wrapp'd up in that Interest untill the Resignation of the Revenue of the Priorie of Christchurch into the hands of K. Henry the eighth and then he setled it by a new grant on his new erected Dean and Chapter of Christ Church Hornes place in this Parish was the Seat for many hundreds of years of Gentlemen of that Sirname William Horne was one of the Conservators of the Peace in the first year of Richard the Second for this County and Michael Horne was Sheriff of Kent in the seventh year of Henry the fourth and held his Shrievalty at Apledore and from him did the proprietie of this place descend to Anne Horne the last of this Name who matched with Benedict Guldford Esquire who in her Right as being the sole Inheritrix of this place became Lord of this Seat but he denying the Oath of Supremacy which began about the twelfth and thirteenth of Queen Elizabeth to be tendered to Romish Recusants and sheltring himselfe by a Recesse and Flight into forrein Parts fell under the displeasure of the Queen and his Estate under the Fury of a praemunire so that this Mannor was torne away from his Interest by a Confiscation of it to the Crown and shortly after the above mentioned Princesse granted it to her faithfull Servant George Chowte Esquire from whom it is now descended to his great Grandchild Mr. Edward Chowt * Lately Deceased Esquire a Person who for his Support of Learning in these Times wherein if some whose Palates do decline it with regret and disgust might be confirmed in that licencious Liberty which they pretend to they would scarce leave us the Title page to inform Posterity that their was once Religion or Learning inhabiting amongst us cannot be mentioned by the Fautors and Abettors of Literature or at least the Pretenders to it without some grateful acknowledgment Dean Court in this Parish was the Mansion of a Family who borrowed their Sirname from this Town and were called Apledore and sealed with a Pile surmounted with a Fesse which was their paternal Coat but before the latter end of Edward the third this Family found its Sepulcher in a Female Heir for Thomas de Apledore dying witout Issue Elnith his only Sister entituled her husband William Roper to his Estate here and in the confining Marsh and by an uninterrupted Right derived from this Alliance hath the title of this place been supported in the Family of Roper for so many Descents that it is now at last devolved to the right honorable Christopher
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
seised of it in the fourth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 31. but this Name determining not long after in a Female Heir She by matching with Langley of Warwick-shire linked it to his Patrimony and William Langley in Right of this Alliance was possest of Hartanger in the fourth year of Henry the fourth and here it made its abode untill the latter End of Henry the sixth and then it was conveyed by Sale to Sir Thomas Brown aboved mentioned and his successor about the Beginning of Henry the seventh But the Mannor of Soles remained longer in the Name and possession of that Family John Soles held it at his Decease which was in the forty ninth year of Edw. the third Rot. Esc Num. 40. Parte secunda whilst this Family flourished under the Notion of one of the most ancient of East-Kent but continued here but untill the fourth year of Henry the fourth and then I find it linked to the Inheritance of Thomas Newbregge of Fordwich and in his Posterity did the propriety fix untill the Beginning of Henry the seventh and then the Name expired having tranferred the Interest they had in this place to Mr. William Bois Ancestor to Mr. John Bois of Hode who passed away some part of it not many years since to Sir Anthony Percival but transmitted the Remainder to his Son and Heir Mr. John Bois of Hode Esquire Bradherst with its two small appendant Mannors Petesworth and Meresworth vulgarly called Meresborough is situated in the Hundred of Eyhorne and was formerly folded up in that wide and spacious Revenue which was the paternal Inheritance of the Lords Leybourne of Leybourne Castle the last of which was Roger Lord Leybourne in whom the Name determined as the Estate did afterwards in his sole Daughter and Heir Juliana de Leybourne who having no Issue surviving neither by her first Husband John de Hastings nor her second William de Clinton Earl of Huntington nor any who by a collateral Relation could fortifie or furnish out a claim to her inheritance these Mannors which were a Limbe of it were invested by Escheat in the Crown and by Edward the third were not long after setled on his newly erected Abby of St. Mary Grace on Tower-Hill and remained wound up in the Revenue of that Cloister untill the Common dissolution did unravel it and resigned these respective Mannors with the Remainder of their Demeasn up to the Crown and here the Propriety of them made its abode untill the third year of Edward the sixth and then they were by the Royal Concession of that Prince passed away to Sir Thomas Cheyney whose Son and Heir Sir Henry Cheyney Lord Cheyney of Tuddington alienated all his Interest here in the thirteenth year of Q. Elizabeth to Samuel Thornhill Esquire who upon his Decease gave his Estate here to his second Son Sir John Thornhill of Bromley Knight whose Son and Heir Charles Thornhill Esquire hath now the Signorie of it The Church of Bradherst though thrust into an obscure and silent Corner amongst Woods and other dark Recesses yet is enobled with a Monument of one of the Knightly Family of Northwood which hath this Epitaph endorsed Hic jacet Willielmus Northwood cum quatuor suis Filiis verus Haeres Domini de Northwood It is probable this Family had some Retreat or Mansion here at this Parish which upon their abandoning of Bradherst languished away insenbly into Ruine so that the Memory of it now is altogether neglected and forgotten Blackmanston in the Hundred of Worth had a Family of good Account in this Tract named Marings or Marins which it called Proprietaries Thomas de Marings held it at his Decease which was in the twenty sixth year of Edward the first and so did Joan Widow of Roger Marins his Son as appears by two Inquisitions taken after her Decease one in the sixteenth year of Edward the third and the other in the twenty third year of that Princes Reign but after this I do not find this place long permanent in this Family for in the forty fourth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 10. Henry de Hauts of Haut bourne died possest of it and from him did the Title by an even Clew of succession come down to Sir William Haut Son and Heir of Sir Thomas Haut of Hautsbourne who deceased without Issue Male so that this Mannor of Blackmanston upon the Division of his Estate came by Joan one of his two Daughters and Coheirs to fall under the Possession and Signory of Sir Thomas Wiat but continued not long tied up in his Demeasn for this noble but unfortunate Person being engaged past all Retreat in a Disastrous Combination against Q. Mary was attainted of High Treason and beheaded in the second year of that Princess and so this place being rent off by Escheat from this Family it lay couched in the Income of the Crown untill the twenty ninth of Q. Elizabeth and then it was granted by that Princess to Roger Parker Esquire who was one of her Pages and he not long after conveyed it by Sale to Sir William Hall of Bibrook in Kennington and his Son Nevil Hall Esquire in the year 1630 alienated his Right in it to Sir Edward Hales Knight and Baronet whose Grandchild Sir Edward Hales now of Tunstal Baronet upon the late Decease of his Grand Father abovesaid now succeeds in the Possession of it Bekesbourne in the Hundred of Downhamford distinguished from the other Bournes which are linked to each other by the River of Leving by the ancient Owners Name the Bekes It hath long time been a Member to Hasting in Sussex and enjoyeth like Liberty with the Cinque Ports which K. Edward the third made Declaration of by a special Writ in the forty third year of his Reign At which time and long after there was a small Navigation out of the River of Stoure up to this place Richard de Beke as we read in Testa de Nevil a Book kept in the Exchequer held some Lands here in grand Serjeantie to find one Ship each Time K. Henry the third should pass the Seas The Arch-Bishops of Canterbury had here a small but elegant House very commodious for their Recesse or Retirement the River brought so conveniently about it that the Trouts the principal Fish there are plentifully useful unto it Garwinton a Mannor and House most elegantly and commodiously situated in this Parish was possest by certain Gentlemen that extracted their Denomination from this Seat and held the same by Knights Service of the Abbot of St. Augustins neer Canterbury and Thomas de Garwinton a Man of valuable Consideration on this side of the County was eminent here in the twentieth year of Edward the third and from him did it descend to his great Crandchild Thomas Garwinton in whom the Male Line determined for he dying without Issue in the eleventh year of Henry the fourth Joan his Neice matched to Richard Haut a Cadet of the Hauts
Mr. Cha. Tucker Father to the present Owner The Rectory of Brenchley was given by Richard de Clare to the Canons of St. Mary Magdalen in Tunbridge and compounded with the Bishop of Rochester with this Provision reserved that the Rector for the Time being should pay two wax Tapers of four pound Weight to the Priory of Tunbridge at the Feast of St. Mary Magdalen The Mannor which was annexed to this Rectory was upon the Dissolution of this Cloister in the thirty first year of Henry the eighth granted to Paul Sidnor and he not long after passed it away to William Waller Esquire from which Family not many years since it was by Purchase invested in the Family of Courthop Moatlands was the Inheritance of a Family who extracted their Sirname from hence and were called Brenchley a Branch of which was Sir William Brenchley Lord Cheif Justice of the Common Pleas who founded a Chauntry or Chappel in the Navy of the Cathedral at Canterbury and dyed in the year 1446 without Issue nor did these Lands continue much longer in the Name for in the Beginning of Edward the fourth I find them in the Tenure of More who had matched with the Heir Generall and here the Propriety of this place remained interwoven with the Inheritance of this Family untill that Age which fell under our Fathers Remembrance and then it was transplanted by Sale into Roberts the Family with now possesses it There are two other Seats in this Parish which may deserve our notice the first is Cats-Place which gave Seat to Hugh de Cat and in Recompence took its Denomination from him and after the Title of it had lodged in this Name many Descents even until the Reign of Henry the sixth it was passed away to Tilden of Tildens Place in Marden and after the Possession had some Ages been united to their Interest it was some few years since unfastned and the Propriety of it carried over to Bassage The second is Vanes which yielded both Seat and Sirname to as Illustrious a Family as any in this Track Robert Vane or Fane for they are proimiscuously so written in ancient Rolls paid respective Aid for it at making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth of Edward the third and is from him by a continued Series still transported along in the Demeasn of this Name and Family so that here if my Light fail me not should I look for the original of that Noble Name and Family that since hath so fairly spread into so many several Branches issued primitively from this first original Stem Bredgar in the Hundred of Milton hath several places in it observable The first is Bexon from whence the Borough of Bexon or Bexon Street derives it self It gave Sirname to a Family in whom in clder Times the Inheritance was planted and there is yet extant in the Church Windows in coloured Glass a superannuated Portraicture mangled by rude hands and demolished almost by the Injuries of Time with this Inscription affixed to the pedestal Orate pro Anima Joannes de Bexon which discovers to us whose Effigies is represented by it this Iohn Bexon flourished in the Reign of Edward the second as appears by Deeds and Edward the third and had Issue Iohn Bexon likewise Rroprietary of this place after whom I can track no more of the Family at Bredgar In the Reign of Richard the second I find it invested in Tong who it is probable were extracted originally from Tong not far distant a Family of good estimate in this County for I find by some old Deeds that Semanus de Tong who in the sixteenth year of Richard the second was Tenant to the Maison le Dieu in Ospringe for Lands at Lurdinden in Challock sealed with a Bend cotised between six Martletts and sometimes with the Bend uncotised and from him are the Tongs who are now Possessors of this place originally descended Swanton Court was parcel of that Estate which claimed the Lords Leybourn for Proprietaries and from them descended to the Heir General of the Family Iuliana de Leybourn who dying in the forty third year of Edward the third without Kindred or without Issue either by Hastings or Clinton this upon a Defailance of both escheated to the Crown and King Edward the third in the fiftieth year of his Reign setled it upon the Abby of Grace upon Tower Hill in whose Reverue it rested until the Suppression of that Cloister and then it was by Henry the eighth in the thirty sixth year of his Reign granted to Christopher Sampson and he in the second year of Edward the sixth conveyed it to Sir Thomas Wiat and he being attainted in the second year of Queen Mary it returned by escheat to the Crown from whence by a new concession it came over to Reader who not many years since conveyed his right in it to Aldersey branched out from the ancient Family of Aldersey of Aldersey in Cheshire so that it is now the Inheritance of Terrey Aldersey Esquire The Colledge of Bredgar was converted from a Parish Church first into that we now call a Colledge by Robert then Parson thereof in the reign of Richard the second which was establishsd and ratified saith Harpsfield by Thomas Arundell Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and in this Capacity or posture it stood until the Dissolution and then being born away into the royal Revenue it was by Exchange with the Crown in the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth annexed to the revenue for the future of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury There is a place in this Parish called Mans as being in elder Times a Mansion of that Name as Deeds both of an ancient and modern Date do inform me which whether it were the ancient Seat of the Mans who have since been transplanted to Canterbury is uncertain onely it is very probable because it had Proprietaries of that Denomination that this was the Fountain whence this Family issued forth Brenset in the Hundred of Aloesbridge had still the same Proprietaries with Newington Belhouse near Hieth and therefore is called Newington Brenset and thither for farther satisfaction I shall refer my Reader only I must inform him that here is an old Mansion in this Parish which for several Descents was the Seat of the Edolphs before they were transplanted to Hinxhill and certainly in elder Times were of good Account in this County and writ their Names in old Deeds Edulf for so is Stephen Edulf written in an old Commission directed to him John Peckham and Martin Horne wherein they were made Collectors for the Cinque Ports in the sixth year of Richard the second but now this Family hath deserted this Place having not many years since alienated their Interest here to Mr. John Fagge of Rye Father to John Fagge of Wiston in Sussex Esquire to whose Revenue it remains now annexed Betshanger in the Hundred of Eastry was in elder Times the Patrimony of a Family called Marney or Marin for so the
Name is promiscuously written Jo. de Marney who is in some old Deeds called Marins obtained a Charter of Free Warren to his Mannor of great Betshanger the first year of Edw. the first but it seems this Franchise did but improve the Sale and make it more fit to be enjoyed by another for not long after it was conveyed to John de Soles so called from his Habitation near some Ponds and he died in the enjoyment of it in the forty ninth year of Edw. the third Rot. Esc Num. 40. Parte secunda But after this it was not long constant to the Signory of this Family for about the Beginning of Richard the second I find it possest by Bertram de Tancrey Lord of Tancrey Island in Fordwich and his Descendants enjoyed it until the latter end of Henry the fourth and then it went away by Sale to Rutter from which Name about the Beginning of Edward the fourth it came to Lichfield whose Arms are yet visibly obvious in ancient Pains of Glass at Dane Court in Tilmanston viz. Bendee of six Pieces Azure and Ermin and in this Family it continued until the Beginning of Henry the eighth and then by the Heir General of this Name it became united to the Patrimony of Thomas Cox Esquire Customer of Sandwich who about the latter end of Henry the eighth conveyed it by Sale to Mr. John Bois Ancestor to John Bois Esquire who by Paternal Devolution is now entituled to the Signory of it Little Betshanger was a Seat relating to the Family of Cliderow which in elder Times was of eminent Account in this Track yet I find that Iohn de St. Philibert held Lands here in the thirty first year of Edward the third but the Mannor it self was an Appendage to the above mentioned Family * He was Knight of the Shire in the seventh year of Henry the fourth Roger de Cliderow flourished here in the Reign of Edward the second and Edward the third and as appears by Seals affixed to old Evidences which commence from the last Kings Reign bore for his Coat Armour upon a Cheveron between three Eagles five Annulets his Successor Richard Cliderow was Sheriff of Kent the fourth and most part of the fifth year of Henry the fourth he was constituted soon after Admiral of the Seas from the Thames mouth along the Saxon Shore to the West for in those Times the Admiralty was divided sometimes into three and most commonly into two Divisions one beginning at the Thames mouth was Admiral of the Northern Seas the second was Admiral from the Thames mouth Westward and the third had the command of the Irish Seas but in this man's Time King Henry the fourth in the eighth year of his Reign reduced it under one Person and granted it with more ample and wide Authority under his Brother John Beauford Earl of Somerset But to proceed after the Title of this place had remained locked up in the Demeasn of Cliderow until the latter end of Hen. the eighth it passed away with the Female Inheritrix to Thomas Stoughton Esquire by whom he had three Daughters who were Coheirs to their Mother Elizabeth matched to Thomas Wild Esquire Helen married to Edward Nethersole and Mary wedded to Henry Paramour who by a joynt conveyance passe away their right to their Father in the twentieth year of Queen Elizabeth and he in the twenty first year by Deed re-enstates his right in them and they again by a concurrent and mutual consent alienate their Interest here in the twenty eighth year of her Rule to Mr. John Gookin and he about the first year of King James conveyed it to Sir Henry Lodelow who not many years since passed it away to Mr. Edward Bois of Great Betshanger Father to Mr. John Bois Esquire the present Lord of the Fee Bicknor in the Hundreds of Milton and Eythorn was in elder Times the Habitation of a Family of that Sirname Sir John de Bicknor and Sir Thomas de Bicknor accompanied King Edward the first in his successeful Expedition into Scotland and are found Recorded in the Register or Bedroll of those Knights who were made Bannerets at Carlaverock Castle by that Prince in the twenty eighth year of his Government but after this this Mannor stayed not long in the Tenure of this Family for in the Reign of Edward the second it came to acknowledge the Dominion of Roger de Leybourn Baron of Leybourn Castle from whom it descended to his Sole Daughter and Heir Juliana de Leybourn who dying in the forty third year of Edw rd the third without Issue and without Kindred it devolved by Escheat to the Crown and then that Prince setled it by a new Donation on the Abby of St. Mary Grace on Tower-Hill where it continued until the publick Suppression and then being surrendred up to the Crown it was in the thirty sixth year of Henry the eighth granted to Christopher Sampson and he in the second year of Edward the sixth passed it away to Sir Thomas Wiat from whom not long after it came by the same conveyance to own the Interest of Reader who about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth alienated his Right in it to Terry who almost in our Memory partly by Sale and partly in respect of Alliance setled the Propriety of it on Aldersey so that Mr. Farnham Aldersey a second Brother of Terrey Aldersey of Swanton Court Esquire is now Lord of the Fee Biddenden in the Hundreds of Barkeley Cranbroke and Blackbourn had an old Family which took both Seat and Sirname from hence and when this was consumed and vanished the Mayneys were the next who were successively Possessors of it John de Mayney died seised of this and other Lands confining upon it in the fiftieth year of Edward the third and was Son of Sir John de Mayney who flourished here as appears by Deeds under the worthy Character of Knighthood many years before and to this Name was the Possession by a continued and unbroken Series of Ages wedded until some years since the Title was by Sale divorced from this Family and conveyed by Sir Anthony Mayney Knight and Baronet to Sir Edw. Henden Chief Baron of the Exchequer and he by Testament transmitted it to his Nephew Sir John Henden who having lately paid a Debt to Nature which we all owe his Son and Heir Edw. Henden Esquire does at this instant enjoy it Allards is another ancient Seat in this Parish which for many Generations past until of late acknowledged it self to be the Mansion of that Name and Family and from hence was Gervas Alarar or Allard descended who was Captain and Admiral of the Navy set forth by the Cinque Ports in the first year of Edward the first as appears Pat. 34. Edwardi primi but now the Distaffe hath prevailed against the Lance for this Name having been lately wound up in a Daughter and Heir the Possession of it in her Right is now transplanted into Captain Terry
Grandchild John de Cobham in the thirty sixth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 43. Parte secunda And in this Family and its Descendants did they settle until the Reign of Henry the sixth and then by an old Survey of Chalke I find them in the Hands of Brent and continued in their Possession until the eighth year of Henry the seventh and then Jo. Brent Esq conveys them as appears by a Fine levied in that year to Sir Henry Wiat and his infortunate Grandchild Sir Thomas Wiat having by an unsuccesseful Solleviation or Rising forfeited them to the Crown in the second year of Queen Mary they remained there until Queen Elizabeth in the thirty seventh of her Rule granted them in Lease to Sir Peter Manwood who passed it to Menfield and he to Mr. James Crispe but the Fee-simple still remained lodged in the Royal Revenue until the late King Charles passed it away to the City of London in the year 1630 and that City the same year they were granted conveyed them to Mr. James Crispe who upon his Departure disposed them by Testament to his two Sons Mr. Thomas Crispe and Mr. James Crispe Challock in the Hundred of Calehill hath two places in it which may deservedly come within the Register of those Mannors which are in this Survey to be recorded The first is Otterpley which was an eminent Seat belonging to the ancient Family of Apulderfield The first that I find of Note in any publick Record to have possest it was Henry de Apulderfield who had the Grant of a Market and Fayre to his Mannor of Apulderfield in Coldham in the thirty eighth year of Hen. the third and this mans great Grandchild Henry de Apulderfield was Sheriff of Kent the fiftieth of Edward the third and held his Shrievalty at Challock His House was near East-well in the Earl of Winchelseys upper Park called Apulderfields Garden which is now so obscured in its own Ruins that we now with Difficulty trace out its Sepulcher made up of its own complicated Rubbish but this Mannor as to some Proportion of it was passed away before he was Sheriff to Edmund de Hant who held it at his Decease which was in the forty fourth year of Edward the third but neither of these Families lasted longer then the Beginning of Richard the second for then I find it entirely invested in Richard Lord Poynings who in the eleventh year of that Prince was possest of it at his Death and left it to his Sole Heir Eleanor matched to Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland in whose Successors the Right was constantly fixed until the twenty third year of Henry the eighth and then it was conveyed by Henry Earl of Northumberland to Sir Thomas Cheyney William Walsingham and William Fitz-Williams and they immediately after re-conveyed it to Sir Christopher Hales and his Son Sir James Hales about the latter end of Henry the eighth alienated it to Sir Thomas Moile by whose Daughter and Coheir Katharine it came to be the Inheritance of Sir Thomas Finch unhappily Shipwract by New-Haven in France a Person who deserved a longer Life and not so dark a Fate from whom by paternal Descent it is now transmitted to the right honourable Heneage Finch now Earl of Winchelsey Loringden and Deane are places in Challock worthy of Consideration There is a Tradition very frequent amongst the Country people in this Track that Loringden now altogether desolate and full of solitude was once the Mansion of Gentlemen of this Name one of which should have waged Combate with one of the Apulderfields of Otterpley not far distant about building a Chappel in the Valley which was pretended by Loringden to be erected on Land that was of his Fee-simple but because this without some more solid Foundation to support then Fame and Vulgar Report will appear but legend I will re-present to you what the original Muniments and Evidences have discovered to me in Relation to those who were Possessors of this place That there was a Family which bore the Name of Lourdingden or Loringden is most certain for there is a place in Challock which yet continues the Name of Lorindens Forestal but when I consulted the private Evidences of this place I found upon a serious Disquition they reached no higher then Henry the fourth and in his Reign it acknowledged it self to be of the Propriety of Cadman a Family grown into a reverend esteem by a long Prescription in this Track but the Name of Dean continued in being till the Reign of Henry the sixth and was in very ancient Deeds some of which are not limited with any Date written At Dean and A Dean and in that Princes Reign was by Sale passed away to the above mentioned Family of Cadman in which Name both Loringdean and Dean remained clapsed up till the entrance of K. James and then by a Sole Daughter and Heir they went over to Plomer who almost in our Memory transferred his Right in both of them by Sale to Peirce The Church of Challock being fallen down was new erected by the Apulderfields as the Glass windows and Stone work in divers places embroider'd and diaper'd with the Voided Cross which was their paternal Coat Armour do more then sufficiently testifie Cranebrook gives name to the Hundred wherein it is seated a Town very populous in respect it was one of the first places where the Manufacture of Clothing was professed and practised being brought into England in Edward the thirds Reign who by proposing rewards and granting many Immunities trained Flemings into this Nation in the tenth year of his reign to teach the English that Art of Draperie or Weaving and making woollen Cloth which is esteemed at this day one of the Butteresse which sustains the Common-wealth and certainly for making durable Broad clothes with very good Mixtures and perfect Colours Cranebrook doth with the most that way excell The first place of note in it which obviates the eye is Sisingherst but more properly and truly written Saxenhurst and as Bittenden not far distant derives its Name from the Brittons so in most probability did this take and assume its Denomination from the Saxons In Testa de Nevil a Book kept in the Exchequer which is a memorial of those who holding their Lands in the Knights Service paid relief in the twentieth year of Henry third towards the Marriage of the Kings Sister There is mention of John de Saxenhurst who was taxed for his Lands here at Cranebrook which certainly was this Sisingherst with the two little Mannors of Copton and Stone which had alwayes the same Owners with Sisingherst In times of a more modern Character the Berhams by the Female Heirs of Saxenhurst were Lords of Sisingherst with its two adjuncts Copton and Stone Richard de Berham who was Sheriff of Kent in the forty fourth year of Edward the third was here resident and is written of this place and Henry de Berham this mans Father paid respective
Aid at the making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third for sundry parcels of Land which he held in Kent and amongst the rest for his Lands at Cranebrook and in this Family was the possession of this place with that of Copton and Stone concentered till the latter end of Henry the seventh and then part of Sisingherst with Copton and Stone was sold to Mr. Tho. Baker Father to Sir John Baker Attorney General and of the Privy Counsel to Queen Mary and likewise Chancellor of the Exchequer and under-Treasurer who purchased the residue and raised that Magnificent Pile within the Park which now charmes with so much Delight the eyes of the Spectators and from this man by the channel of paternal and lineal Descent is the Inheritance of Sisingherst Copton and Stone emptied into Sir John Baker Baronet the instant Lord of the Fee Secondly Glastenbury is not to be forgotten since it is of so great a Name elsewhere and is called as the other is from Glastney the Saxon Idiome of Inis Witrin the Watry or Glassie place The House which stands in a Park is moated about and hath been for many Generations the capital Mansion of the ancient Family of Rokchurst ever since Stephen Rokehurst or Roberts of Curtesden and in old Records sometimes written Rokehurst Den in Goudherst about the beginning of Henry the fourth married Joan Sole Heir of William Tilley of Glastenbury whose Ancestors had flourished at this place as private Evidencs instruct me ever since the reign of Edward the first and in right of that Alliance became Lord of this Mansion This Stephen Roberts aliàs Rokehurst was Grand-child of William Roberts aliàs Rokehurst and that William was great Grand-child of William de Rokehurst who in the reign of William the Conquerour as the Evidences of this Family inform me came out of Anandale in Scotland into England and to preserve the memory of this man did the Family till the Government of Henry the seventh write Roberts alias Rokchurst till in the East window of the North Chancel of the Church of Cranebrook which was built by Walur Roberts Esq in that Princes Reign as also in most of his Deeds and Conveyences the alias was left out Coursehorne finds place to be remembred in the Map of Kent and then must not be forgotten here it hath been for above three hundred years as appears by private Records the Inheritance of Henley in an Escheat Roll taken in the seventeenth year of Edward the third and marked with the number 92. After the death of Richard Haudloe who it seems had Lands at Cranebrook there is mention of one Gerva Henley that was one of the Jury and concerned in the Inquisition But that which much improves the Fame of this Mansion is that it was the Cradle of Sir Walter Henley Serjeant at Law a man of eminent repute in this County in the Reign of Henry the eighth and by his three Daughters and Coheirs Elizabeth married to ....... Waller of Grome-bridge Hellen first matched to Thomas Colepeper of Bedgbury secondly to Sir George Somersett and thirdly to Thomas Vane of Burston and lastly Ann wedded to Richard Covert of Slaugham in Sussex knit those Noble Families together in one Alliance but Coursehorne did by Descent come over to his Brother Gervas Henley Esquire from whom Sir Thomas Henley now of Coursehorne is lineally extracted Another ancient place there is in Cranebrook called Hartridge the possession in times past of a worthy Family of that Sirname among them chiefly to be remembred is Thomas Hartridge for he was one of the Conservators or Justices of Peace in this County in the thirty fourth year of Edward the third when there was but eight only in the whole Shire It hath been since much honoured by the Will fords who by James Willsford a most worthy Senator of London derive themselves from the right ancient Family of Willsford of Willsford in Devonshire and are fairly spread from hence into many Branches both in this County and elsewhere and after it had thus for divers Descents been resident in this noble Family the Possession was in our Fathers remembrance united by purchase to the Patrimony of Tindall now of Sutton Valence Fifthly Betenham is not to be passed over in silence which is a Note worthy Place in this Parish that gave both Seat and Sirname to the Betenhams but when the eldest Line had only three Daughters and Coheirs matched to More Dering and Fisher who divided the Patrimony this in his Wifes right was annexed to the Demeasn of More and this after More had alienated his Interest in it came to acknowledge for Sole Owners the Roes of which Family was the right Noble Sir Thomas Roe Knight Chancellor of the most Noble Order of the Garter and of the Privy Councel to the late Kidg Charles and severall years Embassador to the Great Mogor Great Turk King of Sweden and lastly to the Princes of the Protestant Union in Germany in the year 1642. After which Negotiation most prudently transfacted he returned and died but in this Family it remained not long for in the remembrance of that Age our Fathers lived in it was by Sale demised to Mansfield in whom the Possession is at this present setled There are two places more which may be registred in this Inventorie The first is Plechinghurst which was an ancient Seat belonging to the Sharpeighs of Sharpeigh a Family of deep rooted Antiquitie in this Track Robert de Sharpeigh flourished here at Cranebrook about the beginning of Edward the first and was witness to a Deed of William de Brindens of Brinden In this Parish formerly the Linds and now the Holdens but this Deed is without Date another Robert Sharpeigh of Sharpeigh and Cranebrook as I find by an ancient Roll was in Commission as Justice of the Peace about the latter end of the Government of Henry the seventh But as all sublunary things are crushed and overturned by the wheel of an inconstant Vicissitude so by Consequence are our Possessions likewise for after this place had been for so many Descents the Inheritance of this ancient Family it was almost within the Verge of our Remembrance first alienated to Martin and by him not long since by Sale demised to Walter The second is Buckhurst which is the last place of Account within the circuit of this Parish If we go to trace the Antiquity of thse Families who were the ancient Proprietorrs of it we shall find that it acknowledged Hadloe and Buckhurst for its elder Possessors that the first had some concernment here not only the private Deeds and Muniments of this place do evince to us but likewise by an Inquisition taken after the decease of Richard de Hadloe by which it is evident he held some Estate here in the seventeenth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 32. And that the second Family had some Interest here not only the Authority abovesaid doth justifie
but the Name it self doth tacitly insinuate that this Mansion formerly gave Seat and Denomination to the Family of Buckhurst in times of a lower step that is in the Reign of Henry the seventh I find it in the Tenure of Drayner but how it devolved to this Family I cannot discover It is enough that it continued united to their Dimeasn untill the beginning of Q. Elizabeth and then it was conveyed to Alexander Coachman in whose Descendant the Signorie and Interest of it hath ever since been constantly resident Cranebroke had the Grant of a Market to be observed weekly there on the Saturday in the eighteenth year of Edward the first as appears Cart. Edw. 1. Num. 92. I had almost forgot to tell you that there is a place in this Parish called Holden which with Hawkeridge hath for some Centuries of years acknowledged the Holdens for its Proprietaries and are still united to the Patrimony of this Name and Family which for such a vast Succession of time hath been planted at Cranebroke There was a Chappell at a place called Milkhouse in the Eastern part of this Parish founded and endowed by John Lawless about the latter end of Henry the seventh which upon the generall Dissolation of Chantries and all other Religious Fraternities by Henry the eighth was by that Prince about the latter end of his Rule granted to Sir John Baker of Sisingherst not far distant whose Revenue is yet in the possession of Sir John Baker his Successor There was another Chappell founded at Sisingherst as the Evidences of that place do insinuate by John de Saxenhurst which was reedified by the late Sir John Baker and by a Deed delivered to John Bancroft Bishop of Oxford devoted to the Service of God and dedicated as it was before to St. John the Evangelist After the reception of this Instrument which was in the year 1637. it was by the same Bishop Consecrated first by a Prayer at the entrance of the Chappell then by others made at the Seats Pulpit and Communion Table the effect of all which was that God would accept of it for a House and likewise of the Prayers and Devotions that in that Oratorie were offered up by the faithful People of God to his Honour and Service Charing in the Hundred of Calehill is in Saxon written Cering and by that Name King Kenulf in the year 799. made Restitution of it to Christ Church in Canterbury at the humble request of Arch-Bishop Athelard for King Offa had taken it away from that Church in the time of Arch-Bishop Janibert and being thus regained to the See it continued so till the great Exchange made in the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth with that Prince by Arch-Bishop Cranmer the Fee-simple was planted in the Crown In the time of the Conquest in the Notitia of the Arch-Bishop and Cathedrals Lands because they held it in ancient Demeasn that is they had possest it long before the Conquest and a Mannor-house or Palace there it was called Proprium Manerium Archiepiscopi In the time of Edward the Confessor it went for eight Sullings or plough-Plough-Lands but in the twentieth year of William the Conquerour it was rated in Domsday Book at seven Sullings because one Plough-Land was laid into his Demeasn The Church dedicated to St. Peter and Paul was anciently famous by a traditional relation which I am not much moved with for it wants the stamp of venerable Authority which did affirm that the Block on which St. John the Baptists Head was cut off was brought into England in the Reign of Richard the first and kept in this Church The first place of secular Interest which doth occurre is Pett the Evidences of this place now in the hands of Sir Robert Honywood do mention the Petts to be in Ages of a very high Assent that is about the Reign of Henry the third and Edward the first Proprietaries of it but publick Records reach no farther than Newcourt Lord of the Mannor of Newcourt not far distant Jeffrey de Newcourt Son of Walter de Newcourt paid respective Aid in the twentieth year of Edward the third for his Lands at Newcourt and Pett After the Newcourts were gone out the Hatches were by Purchase planted at Pett and Newcourt they were called so from their abode near some Gate or passage for one of them who was Possessor of these two places was written Hugh at Hatch from this Family by Sale about the latter end of Henry the seventh the right of Pett and Newcourt devolved to William Warham and in some Copies of Fines which I have seen by a false Transcription written William VVarren and this man sold them both again in the entrance of the Reign of Henry the eighth to Robert Atwater who determining in Mary Atwater his Sole Heir She by matching with Robert Honywood Esquire of Henewood in Postling wound up the Interest of these two places Pett and Newcourt into the Demeasn of that Family so that they now own Sir Robert Honywood his great Grandchild the Sole Proprietary of them Stilley is another little Mannor lying within Charing and was anciently enwrapt in the Revenue of Frene John de Frene who flourished in the Reign of Henry the third is mentioned in Testa de Nevill a Book collected in the twentieth year of that Prince to have paid Aid at the Marriage of the Kings Sider for Lands which he possest at Charing after in the twentieth year of Edward the third there is a recital in the Book of Aid of Sir Thomas de Brockhull Son of Sir William de Brockhull who paid an Auxiliary supply at the making of the Black Prince Knight for his Lands which he held at Saltwood Calehill Charing and other places in this County but after this the Possession was not long resident in this Family for Henry Brockhull this mans second Son to whom these Mannors of Stilley and Newland were assigned for livelyhood about the twelfth year of Henry the fourth transmitted them by Sale to John Darell Esquire Son of Sir William Darell who was extracted out of the right ancient and Knightly Family of the Darells of Sesay from whom Sir John Darell of Calehill and Lord of this Mannor of Stilley is originally and lineally issued out Wickins is another Mannor circumscribed within the Limits of this Parish it was originally the Patrimony of Brent a Family well endowed in this Track and certainly was as ancient a Seat of this Family as any which lay involved in their Revenue for John Brent Son of Robert de Brent of Charing paid respective Aid for Lands which he held here in the twentieth year of Edward the third and William Brent who was Son of Hugh Brent of Charing made his Will the twenty seventh year of Henry the sixth and disposed of this place to his Son Hugh Brent and this Hugh had Issue William Brent who composed his Testament in the tenth year of Henry the seventh and this William was great
Esc Num. 81. being convicted of Felony was found to have held some Land here at Densted which upon the Forfeiture was by that Prince it is probable as was customary in those times settled on the Priory of Leeds and lay wholly couched in their Revenue until the publick Dissolution in the reign of Henry the eighth rent it off and then it was in the thirty seventh year of Henry the eighth granted to John Tufton Esquire and he about the third year of Ed. the sixth alienated it to Richard Argal Esquire from whom not long after it came over by Sale to Mr. Bartholomew Man and he about the Beginning of Q. Elizabeth conveyed it by Sale to William Lovelace Esquire Serjeant at Law to that Princess and his Son Sir Will. Lovelace about the Beginning of K. James passed it away to to Sir Will. Cullimore whose Lady not long after conveyed it to Tho. Steed of Steed-Hill and he not many years since demised it to Sir Tho. Swan of Southfleet whose Son and Heir William Swan Esquire enjoys the instant Signorie of it Howfield is a second place which calls for our Notice it was as high as any Evidence can furnish me with Intelligence to steer me on to any old Discovery the Patrimonial Inheritance of Fogge a noble and Knightly Family as any in this Track Sir Thomas Fogge who inhabited at Toniford about the latter end of Edward the third purchased this and Toniford of John de Toniford about the last year of that Princes Rule and in the Revenue of this Family did the Title of this Mannor for many Descents lye rolled up till some few Generations since it was alienated to Colepeper where after some short residence the Possession by the same Fate was transplanted into Vane from whom not many years since it went away by Sale to Sir Will. Man * See more of this Family of Man at Bredgar of Canterbury who is the instant Proprietary of it But the place in Chartham of most eminent Account is the Mannor of Shalmesford-Bridge so called because the Mansion House is situated near the Bridge which crosses the Stoure It was for many Generations the Inheritance of a Family which had here their Seat and derived from hence their Sirname and continued down in an uninterrupted succession in the Possession of this Family until about the beginning of the reign of Henry the seventh as appears by the Deed which I have seen Ann Daughter and Sole Heir of William Shalmesford was wedded to John Petit and so by this Alliance the Fee-simple of this place was lincked to their Patrimony but in our Fathers Memory the Tie was broken for William Petit this Mans Successor deceased without Issue Male and left onely three Daughters his Coheirs Katharine married to Michael Belke Elizabeth matched to Giles Masters and lastly Dorothy espoused first to William Masters secondly to John Meriwether and thirdly to ...... Parker of North-Fleet who shared his Revenue but this upon the separation of the Estate did improve the Demeasn of Michael Belke with its accession from whom it is descended to the present owner Mr. ....... Belke now Vicar of Wye issued out from the Belkes of Coperham's Sole in Shelvich which hath been in the Tenure and Possession as it now is of this Name and Family as the private Evidences of the place do manifest almost four hundred years There is yet another petty Mannor in Chartham called Shalmesford Street but more truly and originally the Mansion of Bolles for it was the Interest of that Name and Family who had large Possessions at Chilham and the parts adjacent but upon my viewing the private Evidences of this place some of which reached to Edw. the third I could not discover that any of them were ever represented under the notion of Gentlemen or that there was any Coat of Arms insculped on their Seats after Bolles was worn out which was about the beginning of the reign of Q Eliz. the Possession was by Sale surrendred to Cracknal from whom in that Age which bordered upon our remembrance it was by the same Fatality conveyed away to Michel who claims the present Possession of it Chetham with Gillingham are knit into one Hundred so that it gives Name to that Track wherein it is situared it was in Ages of a very high Pedigree the Seat of the Potent Ancient and Illustrious Family of Crevequer and was Caput Baroniae or the principal Mannor which related to their Barony before they transplanted themselves to Leeds Castle and frequently writ Domini de Cetham Hamon de Crevequer lived in the Time of the Conquerour and is mentioned in the great Survey styled Deomesday-Book and he had Issue Robert Crevequer or de Crepite Corde who was joyned as an Assistant to John Fiennes in the Guard of Dover Castle and he was Grand-father to Robert Crevequer who erected Leeds Castle and had Issue Hamon de Crevequer who matched with Matilda de Averenches Daughter and Heir of William de Averenches by whom he had Issue Hamon de Crevequer who was so involved in the Design and Combination of Simon de Montfort which was to retrench the Prerogative of Henry the third that he made the Breast of Prince Edward eldest Son to that King boile with so much Passion and Animosity that it could not be appeased or allayed until he had appointed Henry Cobbam his Substitute in his Constableship of Dover to dismantle and raze his Castle at Leeds and seise on this Mannor as the Expiation and recompense of so great a Defection and Folly and although his Crimes were afterwards absolved and entombed in the Pacification of Killingworth yet I do not find that ever Chetham was restored to him for in the tenth year of Edward the second that Prince exchanges this Mannor and divers other pieces of Land with Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer for the Mannor of Adresley and the Advowson of the Church in Shropshire But he soon after insculped these Benefits of the Kings in Sand a weak Register to record so many important Obligations and by his Confederacy with Tho. Earl of Lancaster and others of the mutinous Nobility forfeited both this and his life at Canterbury upon whose Tragedie it resolved again into the Revenue of the Crown and there rested until K. Edw. the third in the second year of his Reign restored it again to his Son Bartholomew Badelesmer and he dying in the twelfth year of that Kings Government without Issue Margaret matched to William Rosse and re-married to Thomas Arundel and Margery another of his Sisters matched to Sir Jo. de Tib itot and Co-heirs shared his Inheritance at this place Sir John Tibitot in his Wife 's right died seised of it in the thirty third year of Edw. the third Rot. Esc Num. 39. And Margaret Widow of Will. Rosse and Wife of Tho. Arundel was in possession of a Moitie of it at her decease which was in the thirty seventh year of Edw. the third Rot. Esc
the supply of their Diet And the Notitia of the particular Mannors belonging to Christ Christ in the Dooms-day Record speaks thus Litel Cert iterum est Manerium Monachorum de Cibo eorum quod in T. E. R. id est Tempore Edwardi Regis se defendebat pro III Sullings nunc pro duo dimidio valet VIII lb. The other half Sulling or Ploughland was at that time held by William Fitz-Herminfrid of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury in Fee and was called Pett This Mannor was many Generations since given in Fee-Farm by Grant from the Monks of Christ Church to the Brockhulls who transmitted it with Calehill to John Darell Esq in the fourth year of Henry the fourth and under that Notion or Capacity it continued till the suppression and then it was confirmed to Sir James Darell by King Henry the eighth in Fee-Ferm there being a small Rent issuing out of it reserved to the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church and under that Character is it now come down to Sir John Darell the instant Lord of the Fee Calehill is that eminent Mannor in Little Chart which gives Name to the whole Hundred it was under the Scepter of Henry the third the Inheritance of a good Family called Frene who as appears by Seals and other Authentick Records of Armorie bare for their paternal Coat Or a Flower de Lis within a plain Bordure Sables in Allufion and Assimulation to that Pluckly of whom it is probable they held some Land in this Track who bore Or only a Flower de Lis Sabler Hugh de Frene in the first year of Ed. the first obtained a Charter of Free Warren to his Mannor of Calehill and Stilley in Charing But before the middle of Edw. the third this Family was departed from the Possession of this place having surrendred the Propriety of it and Stilley in Charing to Sir Thomas Brockhull second Son of Sir William Brockhull and he paid respective Aid for his Mannor of Calehill and his Lands at Charing at making the Black Prince Knight Thomas Brockhull his Son was Sheriff of Kent the seventh and eighth years of Rich. the second and held his Shrievalty at Calehill and he had Issue Hen. Brockhull who in the fourth year of Hen. the fourth conveyed Calehill to * Ex Autographis Jo. Darell de Calchill Militis John Darell Esq younger Brother of Darell of Sesay and elder Brother to Sir Will. Darell under-Treasurer of England which John was Steward of the Lands of Hen. Chichley Arch-B of Cant. a place in those Times of a large Trust and as eminent a Concernment and in the twelfth year of the abovesaid Prince Hen. Brockhull mentioned before passed away Stilley in Charing to John Darell abovesaid from whom it came over to his Successor James Darell who by a Charter of Inspection in the third of Hen. the sixth had the Franchise or Priviledge of Free Warren renewed to his Mannors of Calchill and Stilley in Charing which was originally granted to Hugh de Frene John Darell Esq was Sheriff of Kent the seventh of Hen. the seventh he was afterwards dignified with the Order of Knighthood and was so eminent a Partisan of that Prince that he had his Estate torn from him by * See Rot. Par. de An. tertio Ric. 3 Memb. 6. Richard the third for his Fidelity to his Cause and Quarrel which * See Originale An. 2. Hen. 7. Rot. 17. in the Treasurers side in the Exchequer with thirteen other Mannors lying dispersed in the County of Worcester was granted to him again by Henry the seventh before mentioned and was made Captain of the Lanciers for this part of the County wherein he lived Sir James Darell was his Son and Heir who was Governour of Guines and Hames Castle near Calais Thus have I in prospect represented when Jo. Darell above mentioned originally extracted from the Knightly Family of the Darells of Sesay in York-shire deserted that County to transplant himself into Kent and fix his residence at Little Chart from whom Sir John Darell who now enjoys the Signory of Calehill and Proprietie of Stilley in Charing by a Derivation of many Descents all of whom were very considerable in their Generations as their Monuments and sepulchral Inscriptions remaining in their own Chappel of St. Katharines in Little Chert Church do at this instant eminently manifest is by a just and un-interrupted Series originally and lineally extracted Burleigh is another Mannor partly in this Parish and partly in Charing which had anciently Owners who bore that Sirname and there is a place in Charing Church which at this Day is known by the Name of Burleighs Chauntry which is very probable was founded by them after the Burleighs were extinguished and abstracted from the Possession of this place which was about the Beginning of Edward the third the St. Johns written in Sir John Darells Latin Deeds De Sancto Johanne became Lords of the Fee but long this Mannor was not refident in them for before the end of Edward the third this Family of St. John was crumbled into Decay and Oblivion and having disloged from the Possession a Family called Dalingryg of eminent Note in Hantshire were entituled by Purchase to the Proprtety of it and Sir Edward Dalingryg by a Fine levyed the first year of Richard the first passed it away to Roger Dalingryg and Alice his Wife and they not long after by the same Vicissitude conveyed their united Interest here to Brockhull of Cale hill and Hen. Brockhull in the fourth year of Henry the fourth transmitted it by Sale to John Darrell Esquire and from him by the Chanel of sundry Descents is the Right now descended to Sir John Darrell who hath the instant Fee-simple of it Chart Sutton sometimes called Chart Greene is seated in the Hundred of Eyhorne within the Confines of this Parish there is an ancient Mannor and Mansion called Norton place it gave Name to as ancient a Family as any in this Track in the South-Windows of the Church there was the Effigies of Stephen Norton with his Arms on his Tabard or Surcoat viz. Argent a Cheveron between three Crescents Azure who flourished in King Richard the seconds Time and in a Turnament of the Kentish Gentlemen I find one of this Name in a Tabard of the Arms above mentioned encountring one Christmasse of East Sutton not far distant who was in like manner so habited in a Surcoat charged with his Arms which meetly express the Owners name viz. Gules upon a Bend Sables three Wassail Bowls Or which likewise stand in the South-Windows in Sutton Church But the Effects of Gavelkind did at length grind this Family to a small Remain so that in the Times which did almost border upon those our Fathers lived in this Seat was by Norton sold to Baker from whom by the same Fatality not long after it went away to Sir Edward Hales Grandfather to Sir Edward Hales Baronet who is the
Burgherst of Plumsted Sir Fulk de Peyferer Sir William de Peyferer of Ottringden Sir Robert de Shurland of Shurland in Shepey Sir Alexander de Cheyney of Patrick bourn Cheyney Sir Thomas de Bicknor Sir John de Bicknor of Bicknor Sir Robert de Septuans of Milton Septuans Sir Henry Fitz-Aucher of Losenham in Newenden Sir John de Hadloe of Court at Street Sir VVilliam de Valoigus of Repton in Ashford Sir William de Basing of Kenardington Sir Simon de Crey Sir William de Crey of Pauls Crey Sir Stephen de Gravesend of Nutsted Sir John de Champneys of what place is not mentioned but it is probable of Champneys in Pauls Crey Sir Robert de Eastangrave of Eastangrave in Eden Bridge Sir John Abell of Hering Hill in Erith Sir Nicholas de Malmains of Malmains in Stoke Sir Richard de Rokesley of Rokesley in North Crey Sir Jeffrey de Camuill of Westerham Sir John Segrave of Folkston Sir VVilliam Peche Sir Robort Peche of Lullingston Sir John de Newenham of Newenham Coldred in the Hundred of Eastrie was a Branch of that Estate which related to the Fraternity of the Maison de Dien in Dover to which in the fourteenth year of S. the first they obtained a Charter of Free warren which was looked upon in that Age as a priviledge of vast extent and circumference upon the Dissolution in the reign of Hen. the eighth it was by royal Concession from that Prince added to the Demeasn of Rich. Monins Esq great Grandfather to Sir Edw. Monins Baroner to whose Signory and Jurisdiction the propriety of this place at this instant submits it self Popshall in this Parish was anciently wrapt up in the Demeasn of Orlanston of Orlanston William de Orlanston held it as appears by an Escheat-roll marked with the number 86 in the reign of Hen. the third and transmitted it to his Son Will. de Orlanston who in the fifty first year of the above-mentioned Prince obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at Orlanston and Pophall from him it descended to Will. de Orlanston who had Issue Jo. de Orlarston who held it in possession at his Decease which was in the forty sixth year of Edw. the third and had Issue VVill. Orlanston who by Sale transplanted the Interest of this place into Rich. Berham in which Family after the Title had for some Generations been resident a Vicissitude of the same Resemblance with the former cast it into the possession of Horne branched out from the Hornes of Horns-place in Apuldore who after some years investiture in the propriety of Popshall determined in a Daughter and Heir who was espoused to John Diggs from whom in a direct Line Sir Dudley Diggs of Chilham-castle was extracted who alienated his right in this place to Sir Will. Monins Knight and Baronet whose Son Sir Edw. Monins Baronet enjoys the instant Fee-simple of it Coldham in the Hundred of Rockesley is in the Pages of Doomsday Book written Caudham which denotes the bleak and chil situation of it In the twentieth year of VVill. the Conquerour it was parcel of the Demeasn of Gilbert de Magninot being involved in those Knights Fees which were assigned to him to be assistant to Jo. de Fiennes in the defence of Dover-castle And in this Name after it had some three Descents been lodged this Mannor went away about the beginning of K. Stephen to VVill. de Say with the Daughter and Heir of this Family VVill. de Say this Mans Son is in the Front or Van of that register which comprehends the Names of those Kentish Gentlemen who were embarked in the holy Quarrel with Rich. the first at the Siege of Acon Geffrey de Say was one of the Recognitores magnae Assisae in the second year of K. Jo. the Nature of which office and the Latitude of its Authority I rust and Concernment I have before unsolded at Cobham * Will. de Say was with Henry the third in his expedition into Gascony in the thirty seseventh year of his Rule Geffrey de Say was with Edw. the first at the Siege of Carlaverock in the twenty eighth year of his reign and for his noted Actings there was honoured by that Prince with Knighthood and dyed possest of this Mannor in the fifteenth year of Edw. the second and had the repute of a Baron at his Decease as had all his Successors likewise holding Birling Couldham and other places by that Tenure which is styled per Baroniam Geffrey de Say had view of Frank-pledge here in the eighth year of Edw. the third and was engaged with that Prince in the thirteenth of his reign in his triumphant Designs upon France Sir VVill. Say was his Son and Heir who went out from his Tabernacle of humane frailty in the forty third year of Edw. the third Rot. Esc Num. 43. and bequeathed his Estate here at Coldham to Geffrey de Say his only Son surviving who going out in two Daughters and Coheirs Joan one of them was matched to Sir VVill. Fiennes from whom descended Ja. Fiennes his second Son who was summoned to Parliament at Bury as Baron Say and Seale the first of March in the twenty fifth year of the abovesaid Prince and * This Ric. Fiennes was created Baron Dacres in the seventh of Henry the sixth Rich. Fiennes eldest Son who matched with Joan Sole Heir of Tho. Dacres eldest Son of Tho. Lord Dacres of Hurstmonseaux who had this Mannor by Descent from his Father from whom in a continued Series it came down to Gregory Fiennes Lord Dacres who in the thirty sixth year of Q. Elizabeth dyed without Issue and so Sampson Lenard Esquire by marrying with Margaret his Sister and Heir became Heir to Coldham and a large Inheritance besides and his Son Hen. Lenard in the reign of K. James was created Baron Dacres from whom Francis Lenard now Lord Dacres and proprietary of this Mannor is lineally extracted The Mannor of Apulderfield by contraction now called Apurfield lies in the precincts of this Parish which was long time possest by Gentlemen that took their Sirname from thence and branched numerously into divers parts of this Shire Hen. de Apulderfield in the thirty eighth of Hen. the third obtained a grant of a Fair and Market to his Mannor of Apulderfield In the eleventh year of Edward the second Iohn de Insula had a Charter of Free-warren granted to his Mannor of Apulderfield which was renewed to Stephen de Ashway in the thirty eighth of Edward the third who had a free Chappel annexed to it and in this Family of Ashway did the Title of this place for many Generations settle till at last the common vicissitude of Purchase made it the Demeasn of Denny from whom it came over by the same Alienation to Fiennes and is now in right of Margaret Fiennes Sister to Gregory Lord Dacres matched to Sampson Lenard devolved to his great Grandchild Francis Lenard the present Lord Dacre The Hamlet of Bettred is
Croyden in which Family the Inheritance is yet remaining Dimchurh in the Hundred of Worth hath nothing to make it memorable but that it was formerly the Inheritance of Twitham Bertram de Twitham held Lands here at his Death which was in the third year of Edward the third as appears Rot. Esc Num. 115. And from him it came down to Theobald Twitham whose Daughter and Heir Mawd was married to Simon Septuans from whom descended John Septuans whose Daughter and Heir was matched to Fogge who in her Right was entituled to much Land here at Dimchurch and in other places of the Mersh but the Family of Poynings had likewise some Interest here for Michael Poynings was seised in Fee of some Lands in Dimchurch in the forty third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 14. Parte secunda and in this Name was the Possession carried on untill the Beginning of the Reign of Henry the sixth and then it was alienated to Fogge. Newhall in this Parish is the place where those which are the Lords of Romney Mersh that is of so many Mannors which lye within the Precincts the Liberties of it assemble yearly to compose Laws for the better regulating and securing the Banks of the Mersh against the perpetuall Invasions and Encroachments of the Sea Ditton in the Hundred of Larkefield with its two Appendages Brampton and Sifleston were in times of a very high ascent the Patrimony of a Family called Brampton the Book of Aid which makes a Recapitulation of the ancient owners informs us that anciently they were Bramptons that is in the Reign of King John and Henry the third as the Pipe-Rolls relating to both those Kings times discover to us Afterwards in the Reign of Edward the first I find the Aldons by the Pipe-Rolls to have been Proprietaries of both these places but it seems the Possession remained not long with them for in the third year of Edward the second I find Stephen de Burghurst or Burwash died in the Possession of them as appears Rot. Esc Num. 4. And here the Title continued untill the forty third of Edward the third and then the Lord Bartholomew Burwash this mans Grandchild conveyed them to Sir Walter de Paveley Knight of the Garter and he in the first year of Richard the second passed them away to Windlesor or Windsor in which Family the Inheritance was placed untill the fifteenth year of this Prince's Reign and then they were conveyed to Sir Lewis Clifford but in this Name they made no long abode neither For about the middle of Henry the sixth I find they were alienated to Colepeper and I discover Richard Colepeper enjoyed them at his decease which was in the second year of Richard the third Rot. Esc Num. 28. and in this Family was the Possession lodged untill the latter end of Henry the seventh and then the vicissitude of Purchase brought them to acknowledge the Interest of Leigh and Thomas Leigh exchanged them with K. Henry the eighth and that Prince in the thirty seventh year of his Reign passed them away to Sir Thomas Wriothesley and in the original grant it is recited that they devolved to the Crown by exchange with Thomas Leigh Esquire and he not long after demised them to Sir Robert Southwell who in the second year of Queen Mary conveyed them to Sir Thomas Pope in which Family they remained untill the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then they were alienated to Wiseman from whom almost in our Memory they were by Sale translated into the Patrimony of Sir Oliver Boteler of Teston Grandfather to Sir Oliver Boteler Baronet who now is entituled to the Proprietie of them The Ropers held some Estate here at Ditton by Purchase from Clifford in the Reign of Henry the fifth which Edmund Son of Ralph Roper died seised of in the third year of Henry the sixth as appears Rot. Esc Num. 33. which his Successor not long after alienated to Colepeper Dodington in the Hundred of Eyhorne contains severall places in it of no contemptible Estimate The first is Sharsted which was the Patrimony of a Family which was known by that Sirname Robert de Sharsted enjoyed it at his death which was in the eighth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 61. But after this mans departure I do not find that it owned this Family any farther for this mans Sole Daughter and heir was matched to John de Bourne Son of John de Bourne who was Sheriff of Kent the twenty second the twenty third and twenty fourth years of Edw. the first and after in the fifth year of Edward the third Certainly this Family was in times of a very high Gradation as eminent for Estate as it was venerable for its Antiquitie Henry de Bourne made a Purchase of Lands and Rents in Duddington of Matilda the Daughter of John de Duddington as appears by a Fine levyed in the forty seventh year of Henry the third and the above-mentioned John de Bourn obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at Bourne Boxley Dodington and other places in the eighteenth year of Edward the first and from this John de Bourne did Mr. William Bourne in an even stream of Descent issue forth who almost in our Remembrance passed away Sharsted-Court to Mr. Delawne of London whose Son Mr. ....... Delawne is the instant Proprietarie of it Ringleston is a second place of note in this Parish of which there is a Tradition that it borrows its principal Appellation from a Ring and a Stone which those who were Tenants to this Mannor were to hold for such a proportion of time as an embleme of their acknowledged Homage and Subjection But this is but a fabulous romance in the whole frame of it the truth is Ring in Saxon imports as much as Borough or Village so that Ringleston signifies no more but the Village-Stone that is some eminent Stone which was placed there to signifie and discover the utmost extent and limits of the Borough Having unveil'd the Name and dispelled the Mist of the former fiction I shall now exhibite to the publique view who were the ancient Possessors of it and first I find the Chalfehunts a Familie of a spreading Demeasne and no lesse reputation in this Track Henry de Chalfehunt died possest of it in the forty fifth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 14. After him Humfrey Son and heir of Thomas Chalfehunt was in the enjoyment of it at his Death which was in the ninth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 14. After this Family was expired the Hadds a Family which was sometimes written Haddis and sometimes le Hadde which argues it to be of French Etymologie was planted in the Possession and remained many years invested in the Fee till about the beginning of Q. Elizabeth it passed away by Sale from them to Archer from whom not many years after the same fatalitie brought it to devolve to Thatcher who not many years since
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 Kinâs 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
the Church for diverse Ages untill the Title was by the Generall Dissolution dislodged and in the thirty fifth year of Henry the eighth was by Royall Concession from that Prince invested in Sir Walter Henley Serjeant at Law and a Man under an eminent Character in those Times from whom about the beginning of King Edward the sixth it passed away by Sale to Linch a Family of good Antiquity in Kent from whom the Linches of Lemster in Ireland are primitively descended and have been for some Descents seated at Linch Knock a Castle in that Province After the Linches the Gibs's about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth were by Purchase seated in the Inheritance and continued in it untill very lately the Title was unfixed and by the Transposition of Sale planted in Mr. Jaques of London Erith in the Hundred of Little and Lesness was a Mannor which was circumscribed within the Revenue of Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer that powerfull Baton whose Story I shall pencill out more exactly at Leeds-Castle but before him Guncelin de Badelesmer This Guncelin de Badelesmer was Justice of Chester See Mr. King's Vale Royall who lyes buried at Badelesmer with a fair Pourtraicture upon his Tomb cut out in Wood enjoyed it and held it at his Decease which was in the twenty ninth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 50. And this Guncelin was Son to Giles de Badelesmer who as the Annals of St. Austins informs us was slain at a Battell commenced against the Welsh in the year 1258 whilst he vigorously asserted the Interest of his Country against their wild Excursions But to advance where I first left off Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer before mentioned had such a particular Affection to this place that in the ninth year of Edward the second he obtained a Charter of Free-warren to this Mannor and suddenly after by his Confederacy with Thomas Earl of Lancaster and the rest of the Nobility knit together in Combination against that Prince forfeited his Estate and Life to the Crown And then Edward the second as appears by the Patent Rolls of that time in the fifteenth year of his Reign grants it for life to David de Strabolgie Earl of Atholl Son to the infortunate John Earl of Atholl who was offered up a Sacrifice to the Fury of Edward the first because he had done too little for him and too much for his bleeding and gasping Country of Scotland and this Earl held it at his Decease which was in the first year of Ed. the third Rot. Esc Num. 85. After his Death it reverts to the Crown and then King Edward the third not only reverses the Processe and Judgement issued out against Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer but likewise by Patent in the second year of his Reign restores this Mannor and diverse other Lands to Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer his Son And he dyed seised of it in the twelfth year of that Prince's Reign but left no Issue-male so that his four Daughters became his Heirs whereof Eliz. was one of them who was first matched to William Bohun Earl of Northampton and after to Roger Mortimer Earl of March to whose Patrimony this in his Wives Right upon the Quadripartite Division of this wide Estate was united and Edmund de Mortimer this Mans Son enjoyed it at his Death which was in the fifth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 43. And left it to his Son Roger Earl of March and Ulster and he had Issue Roger Mortimer and Ann who married Richard Plantagenet de Conisburgh Earl of Cambridge second Son of Edmund of Langley Duke of York and this Richard Earl of Cambridge having involved himselfe with Henry Lord Scroop and Sir Thomas Grey of Northumberland in a Treasonable Design against the Life of Henry the fifth in the second year of his Reign as he was embarking at South-hampton for France there to justifie his Title to that Crown by the Power of the Sword was convicted and executed and left Issue Richard Plantagenet who was in the year 1426 created Duke of York and upon the Decease of his Mothers Brother Roger Mortimer Earl of March without Issue he became not only Heir to his Estate but likewise to that of his Right to the Crown which first had devolved to him and after his Death to this his Sister Ann Countesse of Cambridge Mother to this Richard Duke of York from Philppa Wife to Edmund Mortimer Earl of March their Grandfather which Philippa was sole Heir of Lionell Duke of Clarence third Son of Edward the third and elder Brother to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster fourth Son of that Prince from whom the Lancastrian Family had wiredrawn and spun out a forced usurped and distorted Title to the English Diadem Upon his Decease at the Battle waged at Wakefield where he found an untimely Sepulcher whilst he most vigorously disputed his Claim to the Scepter against the House of Lancaster this mannor with the Crown devolved to his Son King Edward the fourth and here it dwelt with the Royall Revenue untill King Henry the eighth in the thirty sixth year of his Reign passed it away to Elizabeth Countesse of Shrewsbury Widow Dowager of George Earl of Shrewsbury by whom she had Issue John who dyed unmarried and Ann first matched to Peter Compton Esquire by whom she had Issue Sir Henry Compton who was Heir to her Estate here at Erith and secondly wedded to William Earl of Pembroke Sir Henry Compton had Issue William created Earl of North-hampton in the sixteenth year of King James and Sir Thomas Compton who dying without Issue gave his Estate here which was setled on him by his Father upon his Marriage with Mary Countesse of Buckingham to his Nephew Sir William Compton a younger Son of Spencer Earl of Northampton who hath very lately alienated his Interest here to Mr. Lodowick of London Bedenwell in this Parish had formerly the Repute of a Mannor when it was the Inheritance of a Family called Boreford or more vulgarly Burford Rose de Burford held it at her Death which was in the third year of Edward the third Rot. Ese Num. 52. And afterwards I find James de Burford obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at Bedenwell in Erith in the thirty fifth year of Edward the third After this Family was expired which was before the end of Richard the second it came to be the Possession of Draper descended from an ancient Family of that Name in the County of Notingham who concluded in a Female Heir For William Killom matched with the sole Daughter of John Draper by whom he obtained Bedenwell but with this Proviso that he should change his Name to Draper which hath been ever since both by Draper of Crayford and Draper of Hering-Hill in Erith punctually performed But since this solemne Stipulation Bedenwell in severall peices hath been sold to Turner Gainsford of Crowherst in Surrey who not many years since alienated his Proportion to Cholmeley and
in the Whole in Dooms-day Book at Thirty eight Pound Ten Shillings and Three-pence There was an ancient Tradition that that Altar-Tomb which was placed at the East-end of the little Chappel which belonged to Eastry Court was the Sepulchre wherein the Reliques of the two Princes mentioned before to have been murdered were enshrined nay it went farther and did affirm that there was a Light hovered constantly about that Tomb as if the Clearnesse of the Innocence of those who slumbered under that Repository could not have been manifested better then by the Beams of such a perpetuate Itradation Shrickling is a Mannor in this Parish which had always the same Possessors with Knowlton Thomas Perrot held it the fourth of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 31. By whose Daughter and Heir it devolved to Langley and from Langley by the Heir General to Peyton only I find Sir Edward Ringley Knight Marshall of Callis and Bayliff of Sandwich both by Water and Land lived at Estry in the Reign of Henry the eighth and enjoyed this Mannor in Right of his Wife Elizabeth Widow of Edward Langley Esquire Heronden in this Parish was the Seat of a Family known by that Sirname who bare for his Coat Armour a Heron with one Tallon erected and gaping for Breath One of this Family lay buryed neer the Chancel in the Time of Robert Glover Somerset-Herald with his Pourtraicture and Coat of Arms in Brasse affixed to the Tombstone both which by the rude Hand of some sacrilegious Person are now torn away yet is the Coat-still extant in very old Rolls and Registers in the Heralds Office where the Family is called Heronden of Heronden Nor is the Name lesse ancient as appears by Deeds which commence from the Time of Henry the third which related then to this House and Name In the Reign of Richard the second this Family determined in a Female Heir who was matched to Boteler of Botelers Fleet in Ash and she annexed this Place to the Patrimony of this Family in which Name the Title of this Place hath been ever since successively laid up Ewell in the Hundred of Bewsborough was a principal Mansion of the Knights Templers to which much Land was united both in this Track and in Romney Mersh where they held the Mannors of Hony-Child and East-Bridge as appears by the Book called Liber de Terris Templariorum collected in the year 1130 and kept in the Exchequer They were founded in the year 1118 in manner following Cetrain Knights obliged themselves by Vow in the Hands of the Hands of the Patriarch of Jerusalem to serve Christ after the mannor of Regular Cannons in Chastiry and Obedience renouncing their own Wills for ever they likewise professed to defend the Crosse and Sepulcher of our Saviour from the Eruptions of Infidels and to secure the high-ways for the Indempnity of Pilgrims from the Ambushes of Free-booters that they might more freely visit the place of our Saviours Agony and Crucifixion They were called Templers either from their Vow to defend the Temple or else from those Lodgings which were assigned them neer that place by Baldwin the fourth King of Jerusalem This order in the second year of Edward the second was totally supprest throughout Christendome The Crimes alledged against them were Pride Covetousnesse for did and unaturall Uncleannesse and lastly private Collusions and Treaties with Infidels which tended to the Subversion of the Christian Cause in Palestine all which they solemnly renownced at their Death which best interprets their Innocence to future Times for certainly it was impossible that an Order which had tyed themselves up upon their Institution within the Limitations of so strict a Vow could universally at one Time and in all places of the World where they were established degenerate into those black horrid and prodigious Crimes wherewith their Enemies bespattered them But indeed those who have fathomed the Cause of this their totall Abolition find that they were warping with some Compliance too eagerly to a Combination with the Emperour who was then in Contest with the Pope about vindicating his temporal power in Italy and else-where from the unjust enchroachments made upon it by that See Which his Holyness descrying wrapt them up in those pretended Crimes as the Roman Persecutors did the ancient Christians in the skins of Beasts that they might more easily be devoured Upon this their Dissolution their House here at Temple Ewell was given to the Knights of St. John Baptist of Jerusalem an Order rather restored then instituted by one Girardus whose Vow was almost coincident in all the Ingredients of it with that of the Knights Templers And in their Demeasne did this place lye wound up untill the finall Dissolution in the Reign of Henry the eighth and then being linked to the Revenue of the Crown it was fixed there untill the sixth year of Edward the sixth and then it was granted to William Cavendish Esquire and he the same year conveyed it to Christopher Sackvill and Winefrid his Wife who about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth alienated it to John Dâniell who about the latter end of that Princesse dying without Issue-male his Estate here devolved to his two Daughters and Coheirs matched to Mab and Wiseman who both concurred and by joynt Consent alienated the Propriety of this place about the beginning of King James to Mr ..... Angell of London whose Son Mr ...... Angell of Crowherst in Surrey is now entituled to the Fee-simple of it Borestall Banks in this Parish was as high as any Evidences do lead us to discover part of the ancient Patrimony of the illustrious Family of Diggs of Diggs-Court in Barham John de Digge of this Family was Alderman of Canterbury in the year 1258 and was a great Benefactor to the Franciscans who were newly seated at Canterbury and purchased for their Support an Island called Binnewith in that City and from this John de Digge did descend Roger de Digge who paid respective Aid at the making the Black Prince Knight for his Lands at Berham and other places in the twentieth year of Edward the third and dyed seised of this Mannor in the third year of Richard the second Rot Esc Num. 19. John Diggs his Successor was Sheriff of Kent in the second year of Henry the fourth and John Diggs was Sheriff of this County the fourth of Edward the fourth and this Mans Son who also bore his Name was Sheriff of Kent in the eleventh year of Henry the seventh Briefly after it had for many Descents owned the Interest of this Family it was in the tenth year of Queen Elizabeth conveyed away by Sale to Stokes in which Family the Possession was permanent untill of very late Time and then it was alienated to Captain Temple of Dover F. F. F. F. EAst-Farleigh lyes in the Hundred of Maidston and was given to the Prior and Monks of Christ-church in Canterbury by Ediva the Queen Mother of the two Kings Eadred and Edmund in the year
inhabiting at Hougham not far distant and Robert de Hougham dyed seised of it in the forty first year of Henry the third In the Reign of Edward the second I find the Clintons possest of it and William de Clinton Earl of Huntington dyed seised of it in the twenty eighth year of Edward the third and from him it descended to his Kinsman John de Clinton great Grandfather to John Lord Clinton who about the Beginning of Henry the seventh sold it away to Davis from which Family by a Daughter and partly by Purchase it came over to Lessington and he in our Fathers Remembrance alienated his Concernment in it to Hopday whose Son is the instant Possessor of it Bredmer or Berdmer is the last place worthy any Consideration It is partly situated in Folkston and partly in Cheriton that there was a Family of this Name was most certain For in ancient Deeds and Court Rolls of Valoigns who was Lord of Cheriton after Scotton I find frequent mention of severall of this Name who held Land of this Family But in the Book of Aid I find William de Brockhull held the fourth part of a Knights Fee in Cheriton which was this in the twentieth year of Edward the third From this Name by Elizabeth Heir of Thomas Brockhull it came to be the possession of Richard Selling Esquire and here it rested untill the Beginning of Henry the eighth and then it was passed away to Edmund Inmith a Retainer to Thomas Lord Clinton who gave it to his second Son Edmund Inmith and he was extinguished in two Daughters and Coheirs one was married to Reyner and the other to Baker who in her Right shared this place and in the Reign of King James passed it away by Sale to Ben who holds the instant Possession of it G. G. G. G. DEptford in the Hundred of Blackheath and Lath of Sutton at Hone so called from the deep Channel of Ravens-purg'd The River that here slydeth into the Thames was heretofore called West-Greenwich from the turning of the River Thames in such a crooked Compass and the green Meddows adjacent Gislebert Magminot or Magminiot for he was a great Favorite to William the Conquerour was one of those eight Barons and Trustees that were joyned to John de Fiennes for the sure Guard of Dover Castle and were assigned competent Lands for the maintenance of that Service his Castle or Scite of his Barony hath been long time buryed in its own Ruines yet some remains of Stony Foundations make me conjecture it stood nere Says Court in Bromfield upon the Brow of the Thames Bank neere the Mast Dock where the Skeleton of Sir Francis Drake's Ship was layd up and in a very short time nothing left of her but the Fame of her Captain and Steersman cannot perish so long as History shall last But to return to the former Subject it may appear by the Quire of Dover Castle transmitted on Record in the King's Exchequer that it had the Reputation of a Barony and these Knights Fees were held of it Pevinton Kanc. duo Feeda Militum Estswale Kanc. unum Feedum Militis Davinton Kanc. duo Feoda Militum Cuckleston alias Cuckston Kanc. unum Feodum Militis Waldeswareschare Kanc. 3. Feoda Militum Leckhamsted-Bucks unum Feodum Kennington-Hert duo Feoda Militum Gothurst Northampton unum Feodum Militis Hertwell-Northampton duo Feoda Militum Brandiston-Suffolk duo Feoda Militum Hecchesham-Surrey duo Feoda Militum Whitfield Kanc. unum Feodum Militis Coudham-Kanc duo Feoda Militis Bredinghurst Kanc. unum Feodum Militis Thornham Kersoney tria Feeda Militum Bingbery Kanc. tria Feeda Militum Brickhill-Buck unum Feodum Militis Haec sunt Feoda de Baronia de Magminot quae tenentur de Willielmo de Say quae ipse tenet de Rege per Baroniam Et reddunt Wardam ad Castrum Dovoriae Per 32. Septimanas You may find mention of Walkelme Magminot in the Catalogue of the Lord Wardens But the Daughter and Heir of this Line was married to Say from whom it came to be called Says-Court which Name it still retaineth And was by reason of the Commodiousnesse of the Meadows belonging to it and Stalls there erected made a place in the Time of the late King for feeding Sheep and Oxen served by Composition for the Kings House William Duke of Suffolk held the Mannor of West-Greenwich and one Messuage in Deptford Anno 29. Hen. 6. by West-Greenwich which was ment by that which we now call Deptford Strand and by Deptford is ment the upper Town where a fair strong Stone Bridge lately erected doth acknowledge the sole Royal bounty of K. Charles by this Inscription This Bridge was re-edified at the only charge of King Charles in the fourth year of his Reign Anno Dom. 1628. In former Times it w as repaired at the Charge of the Contry adjacent For I find by a Record in the Tower Esc Anno. 20. Edw. 3. n. 66. Quod Reparatio Pontis de Depeford pertinet ad homines Hundredi de Blackheath non ad homines Villarum de Eltham Moding-ham Wolwich The Treasurer of the Navy hath here a commendable and convenient House for his Residence at the Dock to view the building and repayring the States Ships and what is most expedient for the Manufacture of Cordage Anchors and other Provisions for Ships by which means the Town is so greatly increased in small Tenements and the Statute for Cottages excepting Market-Towns and such places as are used for building of Ships that for number of Inhabitants and Communicants it may compare with diverse Counties in the Kingdome which great Increase of the Parish caused them to new build another Isle on the North-side the Church to which the East-Indian Company of Merchants were good Benefactors And the Chancel enlarged with beautifull Additions partly at the Cost of Sir William Russell Knight and Baroner Treasurer of the Navy and the circumspection of Doctor Valentine the late learned and worthy Incumbent of the place Adjoyning to the Church The Company of Navigators and Seamen incorporated by King Henry the eighth have a Hall or House for their meetings and Consultations Certainly the use of this Society is most considerable and commendable for the Common-wealth upon all Occasions may from them receive necessary Intelligence of all the Roads Waterings Depths and Conveniences of most part of the Maritime places in the Known World One thing more I have to mention and that is Hacham which was in K. Hen. the seconds Time the Seat of Hacham lying upon the Confines of Kent and Kent-fields or Kent-lands within this County as Kent-Hatch in Westerham is the very out-side of this Shire As that place towards Surrey called Kent-House designs the Bounderies of this County between Bekenham and Croydon Divers Inquisitions taken since that time have found Hacham to be in Kent And I believe the Mannor of Bredingherst before mentioned was formerly in this Shire which is now slipt into Surrey
John Proude who was unhappily slain at the Groll in the year 1628 whilst he did vigorously pursue the Quarrel of the States General at that Siege against the Capital Enemy of their Religion and Liberty the Spaniard and Mary espoused to Sir Edward Partrich for his first Wife but dyed without any Issue surviving by him Sir John Proud left only one Daughter called Ann who was first wedded to Sir William Springate and secondly to Mr. Isaac Pennington eldest Son to Isaac Pennington Lord Maior of London in the year 1643 in Right of which Alliance he at present holds this Mannor of Goodwenston Goodneston by Wingham vulgarly called Gonston lies in the Hundred of Wingham and was formerly parcell of the Patrimony of Hastings Earl of Pembroke bequeathed to him by his Kinsman John de Hastings who was first Husband to Juliana the Heir generall of Roger de Leybourn John de Hostings held it at his Death which was in the forty ninth year of Edward the third and so did his Son John de Hastings after him and brings a pleading for it in the fourteenth year of R. the second After them the Malmains were possest of it who had some Estate here before which they had by Purchase from Pine and Beauchamp about the Beginning of Edward the third and in this Family did it remain untill Henry Malmains about the year ........ deceased without Issue-male and then by Agnes his Daughter and Heir marryed to Thomas Goldwell it came to own the Jurisdiction of that Name and Family but was not long fastned to it for he ended likewise in a Female Heir called Joan who was wedded to Thomas Took of Bere Esquire and so by her it was united to the Revenue of this Family and here rested untill that Age which came within the Circle of our Grandsathers Knowledge and then it was passed away to Henekar from which Name in Times almost of our Cognisance it went away by a Revolution like the former to Kelley who conveyed it to Engham descended from the noble Family of the Enghams of Woodchurch who flourished so many Ages at Edingam and Pleurinden in that Parish Bonnington in this Parish is the ancient Seat from whence the numerous and Knightly Family of Bois did as from their originall Fountain issue out into Fredville Betteshhanger Haukherst and other parts of this Countie and do derive themselves from John de Bosco who is mentioned in the Battle-Abby Roll of those who entered this Nation with Will the Conquerour and certainly they have not been much lesse at this place then 17 Descents as the datelesse Deeds of several of this Family who writ themselves of Bonnington do easily manifest Nor hath it yet deserted the Name or departed from the Possession of Bois being at this present part of the patrimony of Sir John Bois to whose paternal Arms the late King for his eminent and loyall Service perform'd by him at Donnington Castle added as an Augmentation upon a Canton Azure a Crown imperial Or. Rolling is a third place in this Parish to be taken notice of It contributed a Seat as well as a Sirname formerly to a Family called Rolling Thomas Rolling held some Lands in Lease at his Death which was in the fisteenth year of Ric. the second Rot. Esc Num. 143. which Lands belonged to a Chauntry in St. Peters Church in Sandwich and lay in Eastry near his Mannor of Rolling After this Family was worn out the Idley's who had large Possessions about Mepham Cobham and Higham as appears by the Inquisition taken after the Death of John Idelegh in the forty third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 58. Parte secunda were by Purchase seated in the Possession and preserved it untill the Reign of Henry the eighth and then it was alienated to Butler of Heronden in Eastry from whom in the Beginning of the raign of Q. Eliz. it went away to Roger Manwood Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer whose Son Sir Peter Manwood in our Fathers Remembrance alienated it to Dickenson from whom not many years since it was brought over to be the Possession of Master .......... Richards Godmersham in the Hundred of Felborough was given to the Monks of Christ-Church in Canterbury by Beornulfus King of the Mercians in the year of Grace eight hundred twenty and one free as Adisham and it was at the Request of Arch-bishop Vlfred to supply the Covent both with Food and Raiment which Grant Arch-bishop Egelnoth who it seems had some Interest in the Place in the year one Thousand thirty and six did fully confirm And in the year one thousand three hundred fourscore and seven Thomas Arundell Arch-bishop of Canterbury with the especiall Licence of Richard the second appropriated the Tiths of the Rectory of Godmersham to the Church of Christ-church to the Support and Maintenance of the Fabrick of the Church abovesaid If you will see what Value was set upon this Mannor in the Time of the Conquerour I shall afford you a Sight of it out of Dooms-day Book Godmersham says that Register est Manerium Monachorum de Vestitu eorum in Tempore Edwardi Regis se defendebat pro VIII Sullings est appretiatum XX. lb. sed tamen reddit XXX That is it paid a Rent of thirty pound to the Church Yolands and Ford are two other little Mannors in this Parish which acknowledged themselves anciently to be parcell of the Inheritance of Valoigns And Robert de Valoigns dyed possest of these and much other Land in this Track in the nineteenth year of Edward the second Rot. Esc Num. 41. Henry de Valoigns this mans Son was Sheriff of Kent in the fourteenth of King Edward the third and he had Issue Waretius de Valoigns and Stephen de Valoigns who planted himself at Gore-Court in Otham and is represented in Record to be one of the Conservators of the Peace for this County in the twenty ninth and thirty first years of Edward the third but Waretius de Valoigns determined in two Daughters and Coheirs one was matched to Fogge and the other to Thomas Aldon Son of Thomas de Aldon who was one of the Conservators of the Peace in Kent in the tenth and twelfth years of Edward the third and he in her Right was entituled to the Possession of these places And in this Family did it for diverse years continue untill the ordinary Mutation of Purchase rowled them into the Inheritance of Austin to which Name the Title remained constantly linked untill that Age we style our Grand-fathers and then they were by Richard Austin passed away by Sale to Broadnix so that they are now by paternal Right devolved to Thomas Broadnix Esquire in whose Estate the instant Propriety of them does lye involved Egerton in Godmersham was a Mannor which formerly swelled the demeasn of the noble Family of Valence who were Earls of Pembroke Aymer de Valence Earl of Pembroke held it at his Death which was in the
Hadlow for Nicholas de Hadlow I find had a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at Medgrove and Broadoake in the one and twentieth year of Edward the first After Hadlow was extinguished the ancient Family of Hardres of upper Hardres were ingrafted in the Inheritance and one Edmund Hardres as I discover by an old Court-roll held it in the fourth year of Henry the 4 th and after him his Grand-child George Hardres died possest both of the Lands at Medgrove and Broadoake in the one and twentieth of Edward the fourth and in this Name was the Possession constant until the Beginning of Henry the eighth and then they were passed away by Sale to Sir Edward Boughton of Burwash in Plumsted and his Son Thomas Boughton Esquire in the seventh year of Edward the sixth alienated them to Reginald Highgate and William Hanwick and they not long after conveyed them to ...... Roper Esquire from whom they are now by Descent transmitted to his Successor Mr. Edward Roper of Well Hall in Eltham Shalford and Medgrove were alwaies annexed to Hackington above mentioned of which they were accounted but as Limbs or Ingredients and in the fourteenth year of Queen Elizabeth were granted in Lease for Life to Sir Roger Manwood for Life but the Fee-simple remained in the Crown until about the Beginning of King Charles and then they were granted to Sir Edward Sidhenham and Mr. Smith and they not long after passed them away to Mr. Robert Austin then of London but now of Bexley in this County Hadlow in the Hundred of Hadlow Borough Littlefeild gave both Seat Sirname to a Family ancient and conspicuous enough in this Track but whether the same with that Family which was seated at Hadlow-place in Crundall is altogether ambiguous certain I am that Edmund de Hadlow died seised of it in the thirty second of Edward the third and from this Name in the subsequent Age it came to the Crown but whether by Escheat Exchange or Purchase no Beam scattered from any private or publique Record can so far enlighten my Knowledge as to discover Henry the sixth in the twenty fifth of his Raign granted this and many other Possessions lying about the Skirts of the Lowey of Tunbridge to Humphrey Stafford Duke of Buckingham and with this Name it went along till Edward Stafford being infortunately offered up a Sacrifice to the Malice and Ambition of Cardinal Wolsey in the Raign of Henry the eighth and the Losse of his Head having been the expiation of some Vanities which he had been too much Guilty of the Right by his Attaint flowing back into the Crown it was invested in the twentieth year of Henry the eighth by Royal Concession in John Vane Esquire whose Successor Sir Henry Vane not many years since sold it to Thomas Petley whose descendant now enjoyes it Peckham in this Parish was part of the Patrimony of the Noble Family of Peckham and one John Peckham as the Book called the Survey of the Mannors of Hadlow taken in the fourteenth year of Edward the fourth informs me anciently possest it from which Name it was by Sale rent away and incorporated into the Interest of Colepeper for John Colepeper as the above mentioned Survey instructs me sold it to Leigh and after the Possession had been for some intermission of Time riveted into this Family it was by the same Alienation taken away and by John Leigh transmittted to Sir George Rivers whose Son Sir John Rivers did lately upon his Decease as his Heir successively claim it The Mannor of Fromonds is mentioned likewise in the abovesaid Survey It gave Sirname to Fromonds Ancestor to Fromond of Cheame in Surrey but whether it yeelded Seat likewise is the Question Certain it is it staid not long in this Name for Richard Fromond sold it to Colepeper nor was it long fixed or constant in this Family neither for Richard Colepeper after the ebbing away of some successive Generations cast the Possession by sale into John Fromond again originally extracted from the above mentioned Richard Fromond and to this Name this Seat and its Interest continues for ought I can yet discover at this instant fastned and united Causton is the next because it owned a Family of that Sirname that claims our Consideration It was in Ages of higher Ascent the Demesne and Interest of some of this Name but whether the Caustons of the County of Salop were issued from hence or these of this Seat extracted originally from thence is yet under dispute and the more because Eviderce of Deeds which is the Lant horn not only of Antiquity but sometimes of Reason likewise is wholly wanting It is without Controversie this Mansion was not long in the Caustons for the thread of Succession was interrupted and broken and Hugh Causton by Sale conveyed it over to the Wattons of Addington nor was it long resident here for William Watton sold it to Thomas Peckham branched out from the Peckham of Yaldham in Wrotham from whom by a like Mutation that changed the Scene and Face of the Title it was alienated to Vane and after some stay in that Name lately by Purchase made the Propriety of Maynard of Mayfeild in the County of Sussex Totlingbery had the Repute of a Mannor also and was the Mansion sometime of that Name till Time the great Channel of all Things that either sinks or preserves them carried it down from John Totlingbery to the Family of Roberts of Glastenbury in Cranbrook and the same stream of vicissitude wafted it not long after from Walter Roberts the Last of that Name which enjoyed it to John Vane Esquire where no Record or Evidence suggesting yet any thing to the contrary I think it yet continues Goldhell may be looked upon as a place of some importance since some Families of Estimate have been Possessors of it for first it was the Possession of the Bealds so they are styled in the Survey And when this Family began to moulder away the Title by Sale shifted it self to the Fromonds a Name eminent enough in this Track and when they began to languish away into the common Familty of Families John Fromond sold it to the Colepepers of Oxenhoath And this Branch of the Colepepers concluding at last in three Daughters and Coheirs one of them being wedded to Cotton of Lanwade in the County of Cambridge made this Part of the Revenue of that Family but they desiring to contract their Interest into a nearer Circumference cast this by sale into the Possession of Sir George Chowne to whose Successor it very lately entitled it self Goding and Crombery are Mannors of some Signal Respect since they acknowledged themselves to be part of the Patrimony of Fromond a Family by an eminent Succession of Gentry noble and conspicuous which being by Time broken and disordered it not long after was by Thoma Fromond sold to John Goding From whom after the series of that Name was by the same alteration interrupted it was
the twentieth year of Edward the third and when after some expiration of Time this Family began to find the common Sepulcher which wairs upon all Humane Glory Decay and Oblivion the Martins a Name of generous extraction in this Track stept in and by Purchase became Lords of the Fee and held it till the Name being contracted into Anne Sole Daughter and Heir of Jo. Martin by marriage with Roger Brent it was knit to the Patrimony of that Family and so for some years remained undissolved till the Union by Sale was broken and not long since passed over to Sir Thomas Bind where at present the Possession is wound up with the other Demeasne of that Family The Mannor of Beverley is a third place of Note in Harbledowne It was the Sear of the ancient Family of Beverley before they removed to Tancrey Island in Fordwich and having remained Proprietaries of it many Generations by Efflux and Descent it was guided down to William Beverley Esquite from whom the Title ebbed away and in whom the Name determined for he deceasing without Issue Male Beatrix was his only Daughter and Heir who was matched to Thomas Norton Esquire by which Alliance the Title of this place became inter-woven with his Inheritance and continued clasped up in it until the middle of the Raign of Queen Elizabeth and then it was conveyed to Merseday in which Family it had a setled Residence until some sew years since the Mutation of Sale brought it to one Mr. ....... Richardson for its Proprietary Lanfranck Arch-bishop of Canterbury in the year 1071. Founded an Hospital at Harbledowne for Lepers employed afterwards to the Use of aged people William Wittlesey Arch-bishop of Canterbury in the year 1371. founded a Chauntry here and dedicated it to the Honor of St. Nicholas which Foundation in the year 1402. Was by Arch-bishop Arundell fully ratified and confirmed Nether-Hardres in the Hundred of Bridge and Petham is eminent for two Places situated within the Precincts and Ambuts of it The first is Hepington which certainly was anciently the Chichs of the Dungeon in Canterbury for I have seen a Record wherein Nicolas Mesingham releases his Right in this and divers other Lands confining on Canterbury to Tho. Chich. But let it be granted it was theirs certainly the Title was very volatile and incertain for I find the Foggs when they expired to be next in Possession of it which was as high as the entrance into the Raign of Hen. the fourth And here for some Ages the Title fixt it self till at length the Fatality of Time passed it over by Sale to Hales one of whose Successors has lately sold the Mansion House to Sir Thomas Godfrey but still preserves the Propriety of the Mannor it self in his Name Lindeshore but vulgarly called Linsore is the second Place that Objects it self to a Consideration In the eighth of Edward the third an Original Fine represents it to be Thomas de Garwinton's and here many years the Possession was resident till Joan his Niece became by Reason her Nephew Thomas Garwinton Grand-child to this Thomas de Garwinton died without Issue the Heir General of this Family and she being married to Richard Haut a Cadet of the Hauts of Hautsborne alias Bishops-Bourne made this part of their Demeasne but this Name not long after concluding in Margery Haut Sole Daughter and Heir to Richard Haut she being made the wife of William Isaack of Blackmansbery in Bridge involved this in her Husbands Revenue to which after it had been some time united it was by Sale from this Family carried over to John Brent Esquire and this Name some narrow Distance of Time after resolving into a Daughter and Heir called Margaret who was married to John Dering this became part of his Estate and so continued till his Successor not long since sold it to Young of Canterbury Vpper or High Hardres call it which you please is placed in the Hundreds of Bridge Petham and Lovingborough and gave name to a Family which certainly was of Saxon-extraction being compounded of two Saxon words Erd which signifies Earth and Reys which signifies Rivulets or small Drils of water And more to establish this Opinion the Record of Doomes-day Book informs us that Rodbertus de Hardres held half a Sulling or ploughed-Ploughed-land in Liminge in the twentieth year of William the Conqueror this man was Ancestor to Philip de Hardres who was one of the Recognitores magnae Assisae in the Raign of King John and his Son Philip de Hardres was a man of that Eminence under the Government of Henry the third that he matched with Grace Daughter and Heir of Stephen de Harengod and I have seen an old Deed which bears the form of a Latine Will wherein this Stephen settles his Mannor of Elmested and other Lands in this Track upon this Philip de Hardres which Deed though not dated certainly relates to the Time of his Decease which was in the one and fortieth of Henry the third Rot. Esc Num. 23. But though this Mannor gave Sirname to Hardres yet I find some others had an Interest in it or at least some part of it before it absolutely and solely came to confesse the Signory of this Name Oliver de Bohun obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at High Hardres in the first year of Edward the first which was renued to Nicolas de Hadlow or Hallow who had not long before purchased the Inheritance of the above said Family at this place in the one and twentieth year of the above mentioned Prince but about the latter end of Richard the second I find this Family quite dislodged from this place and the Sole Demeasne and Propriety wrapped up in the Family of Hardres one of whom by Name Henry Hardres was one of the Justices of the Peace for this County in the Time of Henry the fourth and Henry the fifth and from him is descended Sir Richard Hardres now Lord of this Mannor who by a Title riveted and incorporated into him by a Chain of many uninterrupted Descents does now claim the Signory of it Southcourt is another little Mannor in Upper Hardres which in elder Times was entituled to the Propriety of Garwinton a Family of signal Estimate and deep Root in this Track for in an old Pedigree of Isaac I discover that Thomas and William de Garwinton were in the List of those Kentish Gentlemen that accompanied Henry the third in his Expedition into Gascony in the thirty seventh year of his Raign which Design by the ill Conduct of his Affairs and worse Managery of his Arms was very ruinous and full of dysaster to that Prince But this Family about the eleventh year of Henry the sixth as I have shewed in Bekesbourne being extinguished without Issue the Heir General brought this Mannor to be possest by Haut from whom some two Descents after the same Fatality brought it to be enjoyed by Isaac in whom the Propriety was resident until
seventh year was possest of the other Moiety of this place gave about that year by Charter some land to the Incumbent or Parson of St. Nicholas of Harbledown After these two Families had deserted the Inheritance I find the Archers about the Beginning of Edward the third to be entituled by Purchase to it and William le Archer so he is written in the Book of Aid paid an Auxiliary Supply for this Mannor in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black Prince Knight but his Son VVilliam Archer in the twenty first year of Richard the second passes away his Right by Sale to John Alkham of Alkham a Family that had taken deep Root in Antiquity downwards and had a spreading Revenue upwards in this Track but before the end of Henry the seventh were consumed and crumbled away and then the next Family which succeeded in the Possession was Herman who was likewise owner of Mary-place in Crayford and in this Name did the Interest of it fix until the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then it was alienated to Andrews who some few years after demised the Fee-simple to Pepper and he almost in the Verge of our Remembrance sold it to Sir Thomas VVilford of Ilden and he in our Memory alienated it to Richards of Dover Although the greatest part of this Mannor was of secular Concernment yet I find that the Prior of St. Martins in Dover had some Interest in it as appears by an Inquisition taken after the Death of John Atte-hall where it is proved in the sixteenth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Numb 129. Parte secunda that he held Lands at his Death at Maxton of that Covent Siberston is the last place of Account in Hougham it gave Name in elder Times to a Family so styled for in an old Deed without Date in the Hands of Mr. Whittingham-Wood of Canterbury lately deceased I find Richard de Siberston demises it to John Monins and in another Deed I discover that John Monins Son of John Monins passes the third Part of his Mannor of Siberston to John Monins the elder in the thirty ninth year of Edward the third And this I think is Authority sufficient to evidence to the Publique that it was a parcel of that Estate that owned the Interest and Signory of that eminent Family in which it lay couched until the latter end of Henry the eighth and then it was by Sale transplanted into Pepper whose Successor in our Fathers Remembrance conveyed it to Moulton of Retherhed vulgarly called Redriff in Surrey in whose Descendants the Inheritance of it does still continue Hunton in the Hundred of Twiford celebrates the Memory of an ancient Family called Lenham who were once Proprietaries of it Nicolas de Lenham obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannour of Hunton in the forty first year of Henry the third but about the Beginning of Edward the third the Interest of it was departed from this Family for William de Lenham determined in Eleanor de Lenham his sole Inheritrix and she by matching with John Gifford wrapt up this and Bensted another little Mannor in this Parish which likewise was parcel of Lenhams Estate in the Demeasne of that Family and he and his Wife paid Releif for Hunton and Bensted in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black Prince Knight But after this it was not long permanent in this Family for about the Beginning of Richard the second it was passed away with Bensted to John Lord Clinton who in the twenty eighth year of Edward the third was found Heir to his Cozen William Clinton Earl of Huntington for that Land which he held Jure proprio nativo not Jure uxoris Julianae de Leybourne in this County And the Effigies of this John and of his Grand child ...... Lord Clinton who paid Relief in the fourth year of Henry the fourth for his Mannor of Hunton at the Marriage of Blanch that Prince's Daughter have escaped the furious Barbarity of these Times and stand yet undemolished in the Church-Windows and from this last did it descend to John Lord Clinton his Successor who about the Beginning of Henry the seventh alienated the Fee-simple to Sir Henry Wiatt one of the Privy Councel to the said Monarch and his Son Sir Thomas Wiatt the elder died seised of it in the thirty fourth year of Henry the eighth and transmitted it with Bensted which his Grand-father likewise bought of the Lord Clinton to his infortunate Son Sir Thomas Wiatt who adhering too strictly to an unhappy Clause in the Testament of Henry the eighth which obliges his Councel not to suffer his Daughters to espouse any Forrainer involved him in that dysastrous Design which could not be expiated but by the Forfeiture of his Life and Estate in which this Mannor of Hunton being concerned it was in the second year of Queen Mary granted to her Atturney General Sir John Baker of Sisinghurst from whom the Title in the Stream of Succession lately glided down to his Heir General Sir John Baker Baronet Son and Heir to Sir John Baker Baronet not many years since deceased Burston is another Mannor in Hunton which is eminent for being the Seat of John de Burston which the Dateless Deeds that relate to this Family from the probable Conjecture of the Hand-writing which is calculated for the Raign of Henry the third record to have lived in that Prince's Time and there was Land likewise about Wye and Crundall that acknowledged the Jurisdiction of this Family for in the forty fifth year of Henry the third Waretius de Valoigns Knight makes a Release of his Title to some Lands in those Parishes to John de Burston and in this Family did this Seat remain for many Descents and was productive of men of no despicable Account in this Track amongst whom William Burston was returned in the twenty ninth year of Henry the sixth by Gervas Clifton then Sheriff inter illos qui portabant Arma Antiqua In the Raign of Henry the eighth Alderman Head of London was resident here and added much both of Building and Magnificence to this Fabrick but certainly it was only as Lessee for I cannot find that he was ever Proprietary of it for about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth it was sold by Burston to Sir Thomas Vane who upon his Decease gave it to his second Son ...... Vane from whom it descended to his Heir Sir George Vane whose Widdow Dowager the Lady ...... Vane is now in Possession of it Hunton had the Grant of a Market procured to it by Nicolas de Lenham on the Tuesday and a yearly Fair to continue five Dayes the Vigil the Day of the Assumption of our Lady and three Dayes after Pat. 41. Henrici tertii Memb. 7. Hucking in the Hundred of Eyhorne is involved in the Mannor of Hollingbourne and was enstated on the Prior and Convent of Christ-church when that by a munificent Donation
augmented the Revenue of that Priory Yet there is an ancient Seat in this Parish called Rumpsted which never was couched in the Spiritual Patrimony for it had anciently Owners of that Appellation Sir William de Rumpsted held this and a Castellated Mansion in Sevenoke of that Denomination in the Raign of Edward the first and he had Issue Sir John Rumpsted possest of this place and Rumpsted in Sevenoke and as the Tradition asserts educated Sir William Sevenoke Lord Mayor of London in the year of Grace 1418. In Ages of a nearer Descent to us that is in the third year of Henry the sixth I find Richard Peverell to have enjoyed it And in Times subsequent to these the Peckhams but their Possession was very frail for in the Raign of Queen Elizabeth I find it to be in Figge a Name of no despicable Character in this Parish but it was very transitory here likewise for about the Beginning of King James the Title was interwoven with the Interest of Thompson who in our Fathers Remembrance conveyed it by Sale to Mr. ...... Taylor Fruiterer to the abovesaid Prince and his Discendant not many years since alienated it to Mr. Stringer of Goudherst I. I. I. I. ICkham in the Hundred of Downehamford was given by King Offa to Christ-church and to the Monks of that Covent in the year 781. under the Notion of fifteen Plough-lands and was for a Supplement of Dyet This Donation in the year 958. was confirmed by Athelward Odo the Arch-bishop of Canterbury being then present and attesting the Ratification In the Time of Edward the Confessor when the first Design of Doomesday Book was started it was rated at four Sullings or Plough-lands nor did it fall in that Account when that generall Register was perfected which was in the twentieth year of the Conqueror defending it self at the same Estimate and upon the Appraisment was valued at thirty pound And here it was fastned until King Henry the eighth finding the Revenue of the Church was diffused into too wide a Latitude and Circumference contracted it by a general Dissolution into a narrower Orbe and having rent off this Mannor from the Ecclesiastical Demeasne like an Excrescence sprouting out from a luxuriant Stem he ingrafted it again by his Letters Patent on the Dean and Chapter of Christ-church and they settled it by Lease on Edward Isaack a Noble Confessor for the Protestant Religion in the Raign of Queen Mary when so many were sent to Heaven like so many Elias's Flammeis vecti Quadrigis in Chariots of fire who rather chose to desert his Country then abandon his Religion and to lose his Estate rather then to debauch or relinquish his Conscience as his Epitaph on an old Tablet affixed to a Pillar contiguous to his Grave-stone in the Nave of Christ-church at Canterbury does instruct us Upon his Recesse this was seized upon by the Crown and Queen Mary by Grant united it to the Revenue of George Lord Cobham whose infortunate Grand-child Henry Brooke being attainted in the Raign of King James that Monarch restored his Estate forfeited here to Robert Cecill Earl of Salisbury his Brother in Law whose Son Robert now Earl of Salisbury holds the instant Possession of it but hath lately alienated some part of it to Mr. Roger Lukin of London Apulton is a second Mannor in Ickham written in old Deeds Apylton as being the Inheritance of a Family of that Name for in an old Deed of Reginald de Cornehill that was owner of Lukedale in Littlebourne not far distant one William de Apylton of Ickham is a Witness but whether this Family was knit by any Relation to the Noble Family of the Apyltons of Essex and Suffolk I am incertain Afterwards the Denis's were possest of it and one John Denis of Apulton in Ickham who was Sheriff of London in the year of Grace 1360. Founded here a Chauntry in the Raign of Edward the third as appears by an old Manuscript in the Hands of Mr. Thomas Denne lately deceased and was called Denis Chauntry and the Lands which relate to it are at this Day styled Denis Lands After this Family was worn out I find one Adam Oldmeade by the private Deeds to be in the Raign of Henry the fifth and Henry the sixth owner of it from whom before the latter end of that Prince it came over by Sale to Bemboe and from him to Hunt in which Family it made no long stay For about the latter of Henry the seventh I find it alienated to Dormer a Branch of the Dormers of Buckinghamshire and from this Name not many years after it went away to Gason a Name very ancient in this Parish and here likewise was the Possession of as brief a Date for Dormer by Sale passed it away to Hodgekin whose Ancestors were formerly possest of Uffington in Gonston and transmitted it by Sale to Ashenden and here likewise was the Title very variable for within the Circle of fourscore years it acknowledged not only this Family but Rutland Winter and d ee to have been its Successive Proprietaries from the last of which not many years since it was by Sale carried off to Frostall in which name it is still resident The Mannor of Baa in this Parish had anciently Possessors of that Sirname as appears by an old Fragment of Glass in the Church Windows whereon is superscribed this incoherent Inscription Hic ...... Ba ..... and at the Pedestal of another antiquated Portraiture Thomas de Baa After the Baas the Wendertons of Wenderton in Wingham were possest of it for several Generations until William Wenderton about the Beginning of Henry the eighth passed it away by Sale to Hugh Warham Esquire Brother to the Arch-bishop and he gave it in Dower with Anne his Daughter matched to Sir Anthony St. Leger Lord President of Ireland whose Descendant Sir Warham St. Leger passed it away to Mr. ...... Denue of Denne Hill in Kingston whose Heir Mr. Thomas Denne late Recorder of Canterbury almost in our Memory alienated it to Curling Before I leave Ickham I must inform the Reader that Peter de Ickham was born in this Parish a man whom both Ball in his Centuries and Pitseus in his Track de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis do highly magnifie for a man of eminent Literature whither I refer my Reader Ivie-church in the Hundred of St. Martins and Aloesbridge contains sundry Places within its Confines not to be entombed in silence The first is Capells-Court the Seat of a Family of that Sirname and were written frequently At Capell and in Latin de Capella and were a Family certainly of signall Account in Kent as appears by their Land which lay scattered in Linton and Boxley where John de Capell held Land called Tattellmell in that Parish in the thirty seventh year of H. the third as appears by a Charter of Inspection of that Prince wherein he confirms Land to the Abby of Boxley which bordered on the Land of John de Capell at Tattellmell
Richard de Capell this Man's Successor dyed possest of Capell Court in Werehorn and this here in the fifteenth year of Richard the second But after this Man's decease it did not long remain annexed to the Name for this Family expiring in a Female Heir shee by matching with Harlackenden of the Borough of Harlackenden in Woodchurch united it to the Patrimony of this Family and here it rested untill the Beginning of King James and then Deborah Sole Daughter and Heir of Walter Harlackenden a Branch of the abovesaid Stem by espousing Sir Edward Hales late of Tunstall deceased entwined it with his Demeasne upon whose Death it devolved to his Grandchild Sir Edward Hales now of Tunstall Baronet Cheyneys Court is a second place of Account in this Parish and had this Name imposed upon it because it lay folded up in the Revenue of that Name of that Family Alexander de Cheyney who flourished in the Raign of Henry the third and Edward the first in the ninth of which Prince's raign he was one of that Catalogue as appears by Kirkbie's Inquest kept in the Exchequer who was embarked in that successefull War which was commenced by that Monarch against the Welsh and dyed possest of this Mannor in the twenty fourth year of his Government After whose Decease it was constantly resident in this Family untill Henry Lord Cheyney Son of Sir Thomas Cheyney about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth passed it away by Sale to Mr. Richard Knatchbull whose Heir Generall Sir Norton Knatchbull Knight and Baronet extracted originally from thâ Knatchbulls of Limne where I find the Name by Deeds very ancient is now in the Possession of the Demeasne but the Mannor was conveyed by Sale to Sir Walter Roberts More Court is a third place in Ivie Church which must not find its enterrement in Silence because it was the ancient Seat of the Moores now Barons of Mellifont in Ireland before they were transplanted into More-place in Benenden by matching with the Heir generall of Sir William Brenchley Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench under Henry the sixth and this is evident by a Fine levyed between John the Son of Thomas de Iden and John de More of Ivie-church so he is named in the Record by which the said John passes away Land to John de More of Rolvenden in the year of Grace 1280. And in this Family for many Generations was it constant and permanent untill the latter end of Henry the seventh and then the common Vicissitude of Purchase which like a Moath or Canker frets into ancient Titles brought it to be the Possession of Taylor and here it was settled untill in the second year of Edward the sixth as by an Exemplification now in the Hands of Thomas Taylor Esq is evident it was divided between William and John Taylor Gentlemen and they immediately after by a joint and mutuall Concurrence alienated their Interest here to Peter Godfrey Gentleman Great Grand-father to Sir Thomas Godfrey now of Hepington in Nether Hardres who is the instant Proprietary of it Iwade in the Hundred of Milton is a small Parish situated no great distance from the Swale which exposes it self to the injurious Impression of many Fogs and other sullen Vapours which exhale from the adjacent Marishes so that the Air becomming by these Mists contagious and unheathfull we must expect that it cannot be very populous nor contain many places in it considerable in their Account The only place of Note being Colshill-hall a place in its Name proportionate to its Position though formerly it had Owners of its own Appellation for in a Deed of William de Codshill who held Land at Middleton Bobbing and elsewhere and which bears Date from about the fiftieth of Henry the third I find one John de Colsted a Witnesse But in Times of no great distance from that Prince's Raign I find the Alefs or Alephs possest of it and to this Family does the ancient Shell or Fabrick of the House owe the principal part of its Structure especially that which by its Antiquity obliges the Eye to so much Regard and Veneration as is evident by the Hall which in diverse places is diaper'd with an A. and then a Leafe a Rebus which treasures up the Relique of the Name remaining unwritten And appears to be exceeding ancient by the Character calculated for the Raign of Edward the third From whose Time untill the Beginning of the Raign of Queen Elizabeth it continued knit to this Name of Alef and then Thomas Aleph the last of this Name being extinguished in a Daughter and Heir called Margaret matched to John Monins Esquire this by that Alliance became the Inheritance of that Name but made no long aboad in their Revenue for in our Grand-fathers memory it went away by Sale from Monins to Lewin and Lewin not many years since concluding in a Female Inheritrix she by being affianced to Rogers branched out from Rogers of Brianson in the West linked it to the Inheritance of that Family where it had as brief a Residence for Rogers not long since dying without Issue-male Elizabeth his only Heir by her espousalls with Charles Cavendish Lord Mansfield hath now interwoven it with the Propriety and Income relating to that eminent and illustrious Family K. K. K. K. KEmsing in the Hundred of Codsheath is a Parish which in Respect of its Circuit and Dimension is but despicable but in Relation to those Persons who in elder Times were Possessors of it it is not inferiour in its value to scarce any Parish in this Hundred The first that I find to be its Proprietary was Falcatius de Brent and he is mentioned in the Red-book kept in the Exchequer to have held it in the Raign of Henry the second and was Castellan likewise of Kemsing-Castle a place then of important Concernment though now it 's Skelleton it self be shrunk into such a desolate and neglected Masse of Rubbish that it would be now as difficult to trace it out or find it as it was formerly to conquer it And this Mans Son was that Falcatius de Brent so famous in our Chronicles for those wild Disorders and Sallies arising from those Boilings and Evaporations which were cast out by the Calentures of Youth rather then from any vitious Habit contracted from severall Acts of Excesse and riveted into his Soul Yet it seems these Excursions of his did so disgust King Henry the third that he made the Forfeiture of his Estate here pay the price of his Vanities Indeed that name his Misfortunes rather then his Treasons seem to Challenge And then that Prince in the sixth year of his Reign granted it with the Mannor of Sauters in Sutton at Hone to Baldwin de Betun Earl of Albemarle in Right of his Wife Hawis Daughter and Heir of William le Grosse Earl of Albemarle and Lord of Holdernesse And this Baldwin had by her two Daughters and Coheirs Hawis the eldest of them was married to
But left no Issue so that Joan his Kinswoman matched to Richard Haut became his Heir and he had Issue Richard Haut in whom the Male-line concluding William Isaac in Right of his Wife Margerie who was Daughter and Heir to the above-mentioned Richard entered upon his Estate here at Permested and about the Beginning of Henry the eighth passed it away by Sale to Edward Knevet of Newington Belhouse Esquire and his Daughters and Coheirs by joint Sale demised it to Tho. Lord Cromwell and he in the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth alienated it to Christopher Hales Esquire afterwards knighted first Attorney Generall and then Master of the Rolls under the abovesaid Prince and his Son Sir James Hales conveyed it away to Thomas Alphew aliàs Alphy Yeoman From this Man it came over by Sale in the fifth year of Queen Elizabeth to William Downe of Maidstone Draper and he in the sixth year of that Princesse transmitted it by the like conveyance to Doctour Vincent Denne Doctour of the Civil Law Grand-father to Mr. Vincent Denne of Grays Inne Esquire the present Lord of the Fee A Person to whose Conduct and supply this particular Survey ows a grateful Remembrance because by his Concurrent Aid it was guided along through all those Difficulties which might have probably intercepted it in its farther progresse Denhill in this Parish was not only the Seat but likewise the Seminary of a Family of eminent Note in this County Ralph de Den held much Land in Romney Mersh and likewise at Buckhurst in Sussex as appears by an old Roll now in the Hands of the Earl of Dorset about the twentieth of William the Conqueror and is styled in the Record Son of Robert Pincerna a Name imposed upon his Father from being as is probable either Butler or Sewer to Edward the Confessor an Office of no vulgar Account in those Times Sir Alured de Den flourished in the Raign of Henry the third and was a Person of signal Estimate in that Age for when the Laws of Romney Mersh were compiled by that venerable Judge Henry de Bath from which all England receives Directions for Sewers this Sir Alured and Nicolas de Haudloe were his Associates and Assistants in the Composure of them in the forty second year of Henry the third on Saturday next after the Nativity of St. Mary and which makes this Sir Alured de Den more remarkable he sealed even in that Age divided by so remote a Distance from us with three Leopards Heads couped and full faced which is the ancient paternal Coat of this Family Indeed if I should enter into a particular Discourse of all those Persons who have been originally extracted from this Family and were formerly eminent not only within the private Sphere of this County as being invested with the Commission of Justices of the Peace and other Offices of publique Trust and Concernment but likewise shone like Stars of the first Magnitude within the two Orbes of Divinity and the Law both Civil and Municipal the Survey of this Place which I intend to retrench within as narrow Bounds as may be must swell into a particular Treatise it is enough therefore to inform the Reader that it hath been so many Centuries of years folded up in the Propriety of Den. that there is no Gappe at all in the Succession between Ralph de Den the first of that Name and Tho. Den Esq the last who in a direct Line enjoyed it Nor hath it yet departed from the Name for the above mentioned Thomas lately deceasing without Issue-Male Vincent Donne of Grays-Inn Esquire collarerally issued out of this Family by matching with Mary his yongest Daughter and Coheir in Right of this Alliance is now in the instant Possession of it Kingsnoth in the Hundreds of Chart and Longbridge did in elder Times give Sear and Sirname to a Family which assumed its Denomination from hence who bore as appears by Seals appendant to their ancient Deeds Ermin upon a Bend five Cheverons and John de Kingsnoth who flourished here about the latter end of Edward the first sealed with that Coat and this Inscription encircles the Seal Sigillum Joannis de Kingsnoth Yet I find Bartholomew Lord Badelesmer who was attainted in the seventeenth year of Edw. the second had some Interest in this Mannor which upon his Conviction escheated to the Crown and rested there until Richard the second granted it out again to Sir Robert Belknap the Judge who had not long before purchased that proportion which Kingsnoth was concerned in So that by this Concession it came entirely to own the Signory of this Family But he being infortunately attainted and cast into Exile in the tenth year of the above said Prince this Mannor was annexed to the Revenue of the Crown and was lodged there until Henry the sixth in the twenty seventh year of his Raign granted some part of it to Sir Thomas Brown of Bechworth Castle in Surrey and with it a Charter to inclose a Parke which had Liberty of Free-warren annexed to it and likewise the more to endear him licensed this Town to hold a Fair yearly on Michaelmas Day but the principal part of it was conveyed by Sale to Cardinal Kemp who about the twenty eighth of Henry the sixth settled it on the Colledge of Wye where it remained until the Resignation of its Revenue into the Hands of Henry the eighth in the twenty ninth year of his Raign and he by Royal Concession made it the Demeasne of Thomas Lord Cromwell afterwards Earl of Essex Who being attainted of High Treason in the thirty second year of that Prince it escheated back to the Crown and then a Moiety of it in the thirty fifth year of his Government was granted to Sir John Baker from whom by hereditary Conveyance it was delegated and transmitted to his Successor Sir John Baker of Sisingherst Baronet who some few years since hath alienated his Concerment here to Mr. Nathaniel Powell of Ewherst in Sussex The other Moiety of it lay folded up in the Patrimony of the Crown untill the first year of Queen Elizabeth and then it was by that Princesse granted to her Kinsman Henry Cary afterwards created Baron Hunsdon from whom by the Channel of Descent it was transported to his Grand-child the Right Honorable Henry Cary Earl of Dover who in our Memory conveyed it to Sir Thomas Finch afterwards Earl of Winchelsey Father to the instant Proprietary the Right Honorable Heneage Finch now Earl of Winchelsey Munfidde in this Parish was originally the Seat of the Clere's written in their ancient Deeds le Clere. But as all Families have their Vicissitudes and Tombs and like the Sea which is circumscribed and shut in with a Girdle of Sand are fettered to a determinate Period so was this for about the latter end of Edward the third Henry le Clerc concluded in Susan le Clerc who was his Daughter and Heir and she by matching with Sir Simon Woodchurch annexed
by his Successor sold to Henry Chichley Arch-bishop of Canterbury who gave it as Dower to his Niece Florence Chichley married to Jo. Darrell of Cale-hill and he assigned it for the Lively-hood of his second Son whose Posterity have ever since enjoyed it Here was also in this Parish the Mansion of the Chitcrofts a Family of worth and eminent degree Their Blazon was precisely the same with the Colepepers of Bay-hall not far distant as if they had been a Cadet of the same House This is a matter which falls within the Cognizance of my Profession and because I meet with diverse ancient Houses in this County which did the like as well as in other Counties I cannot leave it without setting down such Notes and Observations as have been made upon it having met with so many Examples of that kind in the Survey of this Province For instance St. Nicholas of St. Nicholas in the Isle of Thanett in the very Eastern part of the Shire and Peckham in the Western side of this County bear the same very Coat Armour because peradventure they held Land of the Lord Say to whose Arms they did desire their own might be assimilated Tutsham of Tutsham-hall in West-Farleigh and Eastangrave of Eastangrave in Eden Bridge bear both alike Brenley of Brenley in Boughton under Blean and Ratling of Ratling in Nonington have no distinction Peyforer of North-court in Eseling and Lenham of Lenham lay claim to an Identitie of Impresse or Coat Armour and lastly so did Watringbury of Watringbury and Savage of Bobbing-court Now the Reason of this neere similitude was to preserve the Memory of those though otherwise of different Families who had given them Education or else by particular Feoffments had endowed them with Land or lastly as an acknowledgement of the Service and Fealty they owed them because they held their Lands by some petty Rent Charge or Homage of some principall Mannor of which they whose Coat-Armour they had thus imitated were Proprietaries West-Langdon lies in the Hundred of Bewsborough and was a Mannor belonging to the Abbey of West-Langdon which was founded by Sir William de Auberville of Westenhanger Knight to the Honour of St. Mary and St. Thomas the Martyr of Canterbury and filled with white Cannons or Cannons Praemonstratenses in the time of Richard the first Hugh de Auberville the Founder's Son and Sir William Auberville Son to this Hugh were Benefactors to this House and this last Sir Williams only Daughter and Heir being married to Nicholas de Crioll of Bellaview nere Limne Hill brought this Monastery to be under the Patronage of the Criolls whose Demeasn upon the Dissolution being made the Incom of the Crown it here resided till Queen Elizabeth granted it with all the priviledges annexed to it in the thirty third year of her Rule to Samuel Thornehill of London Esquire father to Sir Timothy Thornehill upon whose Decease his Lady Dowager had West-Langdon assigned to her by Right of Jointure as being enstated before upon her in Marriage East-Langdon in the Hundred of Cornilo did in elder Times augment that Patrimony which fell under the Signiory of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury In the year of Grace 824 Ulfred then Arch-bishop of Canterbury exchanged this Mannor and Eythorne with the Monks of Christ-church for the Mannor of Berham as the Records of that Priory discover to me and being thus united to their Demeasne it lodged there untill the Government of Henry the eighth and then upon the Suppression of the above mentioned Cloister it was surrendered up with the Remainder of its Revenue into the Hands of that King and he in the thirtieth year of his Government granted it to Mr. John Masters and Mr. Thomas Masters of Sandwich from whom it is now by Descent devolved to be the Inheritance of his Descendant Richard Masters Esquire Apulton and Southwould are two small Mannors which are seated within the Limits of East-Langdon and were scarce worth any memorial but that they were formerly marshalled under the Demeasne of the eminent Family of Male-mains in whom the possession was seated till Henry Malmains being embarked in the rebellion of Simon de Montfort against Hen. the second had expiated that Defection with the forfeiture of his Estate had he not been pardoned and absolved by the Mediation of the Abbot of Langdon to which Covent in Gratitude his Son and Heir Sir John Malmains in the sixth year of Edward the third gave for ever * Apylton and Southwood I find upon a second Survey lie both in Waldershare Apylton and Southwould the last of which was in the first year of Richard the third exchanged by the succeeding Abbot with * It is probable the Ancestor of Monins purchased Mansuers Langdon of Mansuer a Family in East-Kent Robert Monins Esquire for Mansuers Langdon These three places upon the Suppression of this Abby were by Henry the eighth in the twenty ninth year of his reign exchanged with Tho. Arch-B of Canterbury but were re-assumed by the Crown by another exchange 1 mo Eliz. though Southwould or Southwood was unjustly snatched away from Edward Monins Esquire in whose revenue it was found at the dissolution upon pretence it had been the former demeasne of the Abby of Langdon The Borough of Marton or Marton-street so called by Contraction but more truely Marshtown is circumscribed also within the Limits of East-Langdon and gave Name to a Family which from the Situation of the place did borrow their first Appellation and were in old Registers and other records written de Marisco And that it was frequent to mould a Sirname from the Site of the place and after to communicate it to their posterity as well as from the place it self is most evident for Gilbert de Marisco who was Lord of Wolwich in the reign of Edw. the first did assume that Sirname from the Situation of that place which was environed in a considerable part of it with moist and watery Mersh-land and so from the low level of this Borough did the Marshes now possessors of this place or the more principal part of it by right of Inheritance grown hoary and reverend by a prescription and possession of above three hundred years as appears by their own private Evidences in elder Times contract the denomitation of de Marisco which in Ages of a more modern Pedigree was melted by Usage Custome and common Consent into the instant Sirname of Marsh Langley in the Hundred of Eyhorne was in elder times the Inheritance of a Family called Ashway Will. de Ashway is by the book styled Testa de Nevil represented to have held it and have paid an auxiliary supply for it at the Marriage of Isabel Sister to Henry the third in the twentieth year of his reign After this Family was withered and shrunk into decay the Lords Leybourne were entituled to the Signory of it and Will. de Clinton Earl of Huntington held it at his death which was in the twenty eighth year
to Norden and not long after alienated his right in it to Francis Colepeper Esquire who not long after disposed of it again by Sale to Norden in which Family it rested until the same vicissitude brought it to be the Inheritance of Covert from which Family hath the Fate of Sale not many years since brought it to be the instant Patrimony of Sir William Merideth Leigh in the Lowey of Tunbridge is sometimes written West-Leigh and very often West-Leigh alias Pauls It was in Ages of a very high Gradation the Penchester's and in Dooms-day Book there is mention of * See more of this Family at Pencehurst Paul de Penchester who held Lands here and at Pencehurst and from this Man was it by a continued Series brought down to Sir Stephen de Penchester Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle who exspired in two Daughters and Co-heirs whereof Joan the eldest was married to Henry Lord Cobham of Roundall in Shorn and Alice the other was married to John Lord Columbers as appears by an Inquisition taken in the third year of Edward the third and she had for her proportion assigned her the Mannors of West-Leigh and Pencehurst Sir Thomas de Columbers was Heir apparent to this John de Columbers and Alice his Mother and he by his Deed bearing Date from the eleventh year of Edward the third passed away all his Interest in this place to Sir John de Poultney Lord Maior of London and he died possest of it in the twenty third year of Edward the third immediately after I find Sir Nicholas Lovain Son of Guy Lovain interessed in the possession but whether it was by Marriage of Margaret Widow of Sir John Poultney or by purchase I cannot discover and he had Issue Nicholas Lovain who held it as Heir to his Father as appears by an Inquisition taken after his Deeease in the forty fourth year of Edward the third but this Nicholas dying without Issue Margaret Lovain his Sister became his Heir who brought it to her Husband Philip St. Clere of Aldham St. Clere Son of John St. Clere and they by joint Concurrence by their Deed of Sale bearing Date the tenth year of Henry the fourth passed it away to the Crown and that Prince bequeathed this Mannor of West-Leigh with several other Lands to John Duke of Bedford his third Son after Lord Regent in the minority of Henry the sixth but he deceasing and leaving no Issue it came to Humphrey Duke of Glocester his fourth Brother who being strangled by the procurement of William De la pole Duke of Suffolk in the Abbey of Bury and dying without any Posterity King Henry the sixth in the twenty fifth year of his Rule granted this Mannor being an Adjunct to Pencehurst to Humphrey Stafford Duke of Buckingham Ancestor to Edward Stafford who being attainted of high Treason in the thirteenth year of Henry the eighth lost both his Life Title and Estate and then it was granted by that Prince to Sir Rafe Vane who was made Banneret by that Prince for his remarkable Service in Scotland but he being unsuccessefully wound up in the Businesse of the Duke of Somerset in the fourth year of Edward the sixth was executed as guilty of Felony upon whose ruinous Catastrophe this Mannor by Escheat returning to the Crown it was in the seventh year of Edward the sixth granted to Sir William Sydney a person of deep Knowledge and unblemished Integrity great Grand-father to Robert now Earl of Leicester and Proprietary of West-Leigh There is another Mannor in this Parish called Philipotts which yielded a Sirname to a Family so styled and in a Deed which bears Date from the twenty eighth year of Edward the first whereby one John de Philipott does demise some parcels of Land to Robert Charles Bailiff of the Forest of Tunbridge he writes himself de Philipotts in Leigh but as all things have their Revolution which gives either their own Ruines or Oblivion to them for a Sepulchre so it was here For after this place had for some Hundreds of years been wrapt up in the Inheritance of this Family it at last came down to Thomas Philipott whose Daughter and Heir Alice was married to John Petley Esquire and so Philipotts fell under the Signiory of that Family but long it continued not there for this man determined in four Daughters and Coheirs one of whom matching with Children a Family so called interwove it with his Demeasne in which Name after it had for some years been fixed it was not long since by the Daughter and Heir of this Name brought to be the Inheritance of Polhill Lenham in the Hundred of Eyhorne is that place which Mr. Camden and Mr. Lambert conelude was Durolenum a City of the Romans mentioned by Antonius in his Itinerarium though others would have it to be about Newington by Sedingbourn But finding the consulary way went through this place and Roman Coine found many Times nere the Fosse and Surface of that way and that the high Road called Watling-street continued in the Line of the former till Rochester Bridge was built of stone and all that have written of that way do agree that it went through the middle of Kent I will not further dispute it but acquaint you that the Composition of the Name was from Dore Water in the British and Lenum which the Romans formed from some such sounding Name in the British Dialect and it is the more probable because from hence is a direct way to Limen the Romans Haven nere Hyth The Soile and Signiory were given to the Abby of St. Anstins by K. Kenwulf under the Notion of one and twenty Plough-lands in the year 804 and upon the Dissolution was united to the Crown till Queen Elizabeth passed it away by Grant to Tho. Wilford Esquire whose Son Sir Tho. Wilford conveyed it by Sale not many years since to Anthory Brown Viscount Montacute East-Lenham was long time since the Seat of the Husseys of whom I have spoken before in Boughton Malherbe Henry Hussey had a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at East-Lenham Chilston and Stourmouth in the fifty fifth of Henry the third and from this Man did thethread of a continued Descent waft it along to Henry Hussey who about the twenty sixth year of Henry the eighth alienated the Possession to Mr. John Parkhurst descended from an ancient Family so called in Norfolke one of which Name was Bishop of Norwich in the year 1560 Ancestor to that ingenious Gentleman Sir William Parkhurst who has lately by Sale transmitted his Right in this Mansion to Mr. Wood of London Merchant Royton in this Parish had very good Gentlemen so styled who were no small space possessed of it and had a Free Chappel founded by Robert de Royton about the latter end of Henry the third from whence it borrowed the Name of Royton Chappel it being annexed to this mansion The Daughter and Heir of Royton was wedded to
Heir it came to be the Possession of Stringer and he ending likewise in a Female Heir she brought it to Scot a Cadet of Scots-Hall who suddenly after sold his Right in it to VVilcocks by whose two Daughters and Coheirs in the Memory of these Times it came to be divided between their two Husbands Bates and Knight The Mannor of Belgar or Belgrave is Situated likewise in Lidde it was given with the Mannor of Bilsington to the Priorie of Bilsington by John Maunsell the Founder of it and was exchanged by the Abbot and Canons for other Lands not long before the Suppression with VVilliam St. Leger by whom it was alienated to VVilliam Middleton and Edward Arthur who after they had been some small time Seated in their new Acquists by jont-consent passed away their Right in it to Sherley of Sussex who in our Fathers Memorie by Sale transferred the Inheritance to Abdy descended from the Abdys of Abdy-House in the Parish of VVaith in Yorke-shire whose Heir both to the Name and Belgar also is Sir Christopher Abdy a person who for his generall Knowledge may be called without the circumstance of Flatterie an Exchequer of humane Learning Scotney was the Seat of a Family so called for in the Book of Aid there is a recitall of one Richard de Scotney who held Lands in the Mersh not far distant afterwards it came to the Ashburnhams of Sussex but whether by Purchase or by Marriage of the Heir of Scotney is incertain though I rather believe it devolved to them by Marriage because Scotney in Lamberhurst divided by a remote distance from this place was likewise theirs from Roger Ashburnham it came to Henry Chichley Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and he by Gift tied it to his Foundation of All-Souls Colledge in Oxford to whose Revenue it remains at this instant time united Nod in this Parish of Lidde was for sundry Ages the Residence of the Derings before they were transplanted to Pluckley and here are Lands Situated within the Verge of this Parish which by an undivided prescription of many Ages have been named Derings and Derings-Mersh a certain Evidence to enforce the Antiquity of this Family But when they grew more delighted with the Situation of Pluckley than this place it was by ........ Dering in the fourth year of Philip and Mary alienated to Mr. Peter Godfrey of Lidde and Surrenden was tyed for his peaceable Possession in it Lastly here is Manerium Summi Altaris so it is written in old Latine Deeds or the Mannor of the high Altar which for many Hundreds of years has been united to the Vicarage But whether it were given to find Vestments for the Priest to Offociate in at the high Altar or for a supply of wax Tapers or for provision of Books to celebrate Mass with or lastly for all these Uses united and complicated together I know not because the original Instrument which fortified the Donation is lost and so both the Use and Doner are become incertain There was a Water in Lidde called Guestling whose Course the Prior of Christ-Church did by an Inquisition taken in the ninth year of Edward the second consult how to alter If you will discover what price was set on Timber in elder times an old Epitaph affixed to a Tomb-stone in Lidde Church will represent it to you The Inscription Recorded in old English speaks thus Of your Charity pray for the Soul of Tho. Briggs who died on the Feast of St. Leonard the Confessor the year of our Lord 1442. and did doe make the Roffe of this Chirch as far as 45. Copplings goeth which did cost 45. Marks Lidden in the Hundreds of Folkstone and Bewsborough was a Mannor which in elder Times made up that vast Patrimony which related to the Knights Templers in this County but upon the totall Extirpation of that Order here in England in the Raign of Edward the second it was by the Statute called Statutum de Terris Templariorum made in the seventeenth year of that Prince's Government settled by that solemne Act upon the Knights Hospitalers and remained treasured up in their Revenue untill the Disbanding and finall Dissipation of this Order in this Nation by Henry the eighth And then being by that Prince rent away it was in the thirty sixth year of the same Prince granted to John Wilde Esq for Life onely and the Remainder in Fee to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and his Successors for ever in whose Patrimony according to the tenour of the original Concession it lay involved untill that popular Tempest which arose in these Calamitous Times shook it off and cast it into a secular Interest Coclescombe and Swinkfield-Mennes were of the same Complexion with the former that is they were first enwrapped in the Demeasne of the Knights Templers and afterwards supplanted and fastned to the Revenue of the Knights Hospitalers to whose Interest it continued firme untill the Whirl-wind of the publique Suppression in the Raign of Henry the eighth ravished them away and then that Prince in the thirty third year of his Raign by Royall Concession made them the Inheritance of Edward Monins Esq from whom by Successive Devolution they are now come down to his Descendant Sir Edward Monins of Waldershare Baronet Swanton-Court is the last Place in this Parish which Summons our Remembrance It was as appears by private Deeds Muniments and other Authentick Testimonies the Seat and Habitation for severall Descents of a Family deeply rooted in this Track whose Sirname was Greenford and it is possible were originally extracted from a Mannor known by that Denomination in Middlesex who after they had flourished by a large Decursion of Time under a fair and unstained Estimate at this place transmitted the Proprietie of this Mansion to John Greenford Esquire in whom this Family found its Tombe and Period for he dying without Issue-male in the eleventh year of Edward the fourth Alice his Sole Daughter became his Heir and She by matching with John Monins Esquire linked this Seat to his Inheritance and to this Family and to his Descendants hath the Title ever since been so constantly wedded that it hath suffered no Divorce but remains at this instant united to the Patrimony of Sir Edw. Monins of Waldershare Baronet Lyminge lies in the Hundred of Court-At-Street and was anciently Famous for Land which was given here by Edbaldus Son of Ethelbert King Kent to his Sister Edburga upon which she erected a Nunnery and Dedicated it to the Honour of St. Mildred But the Mannor which belonged to it was upon the Suppression granted by Henry the eighth to the See of Canterbury and Arch-Bishop Cranmer in the twenty ninth of that Prince's Government exchanged it for other Lands with the Crown and the above-said Henry the eighth in the thirty sixth year of his Raign granted it to Sir Anthony Aucher who after in the Rule of Queen Mary was slain at Callis whilst he endevoured to make good that City and the English Interest
together by a noble and generous Resistance against the Furious Impressions and Onsets of the Duke of Guise and the French Army who then pressed upon it with a straight and vigorous Seige But to go on after this Place had continued in the Name since the time of the first Concession even till ours it was lately by Sir Anthony Aucher of Bourne sold to Sir John Roberts of Canterbury East-Leigh was the Mansion of a Family which took their Denomination from hence and there is mention in the Book of Aid of William de Leigh and Robert de Leigh who held Land of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury by Knights Service in the twentieth of Edward the third when this Family was vanished and had deserted the Possession of this place which was about the Beginning of Edward the fourth the Allens who came from Borden and Sedingbourne were ingrafted into the Inheritance but enjoyed it not long for in the Age subsequent to the first Purchase it was alienated to Fogge who by as short and sudden a Vicissitude disposed of his Right in it to Cobbe of Cobbes-court not far distant in which Family the Title was as brief and as incertain as in any of the former for by them after a Possession of some few years it was alienated to Salkeld descended originally from the Salkelds of the North-riding in York-shire and Bishoprick of Durham Sibeton vulgarly called Sibton and Sifton is another Mannor which is contained within Lyminge It was of higher Calculation the Patrimony of Tibetot a Family of no mean Account both in the Counties of Leicester and Nottingham And Robert Tibetot was possest of it at his Death which was in the seventeenth year of Edward the third but after this Man I find no farther Remembrance of any of his Stock or Posterity at this place so that it seems his Son sold it to VValter Leigh or at Leigh of East-Leigh in this Parish who was likewise concerned in an Estate in Hertfordshire where he was conservator of the Peace in the first year of Richard the second and in this Family did it reside many years after For Tho. Leigh held it in Possession at his Decease which was in the seventeenth year of Henry the sixth but after his Death it was passed away to Allen where the Inheritance stayed not long for from them it went away by Sale into the Patrimony of Sir Jo. Hales who was Baron of the Exchequer in the raign of Henry the eighth whose Posterity an Age or two since alienated their Interest here to Salkeld Limne in the Hundred of Street in ancient Records written Limen is improved into a high Estimate from those many reliques and places of Antiquity which lie scattered within the Limitts of it And though now it carry with it an uncouth and desolate Aspect yet it was more flourishing in elder Times when Prince Edward Son to King Henry the third being then Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports at this place exacted an Oath of Fidelity of the Barons of the same to his Father against the Maintainers of the Barons War And at this Place or some other member of the Franchise to which the Court is adjourned from Shepway the Limenarcha or Lord Warden receiveth his Oath at his first Entry into his Office Berewick in this Parish was upon the Suppression of the Priory of Christ-church by King Henry the eighth re-enstated on the Arch-deacon of Canterbury who had here a Castellated Mansion long before that tempestuous Dissolution seated upon the Brow of a Hill and affording a delightful Prospect into France The Pages of Dooms-day Book represent it thus rated to us in the twentieth of William the Conquerour In Limwarled in Hundred de Strate habet Willielmus de Edesham de terra Monachorum 1 Manerium Berwick de Archiepiscopo quod tenuit Godridus Decanus pro Dimidio Sullingi se defendebat nunc similiter est appretiatum XI lb. Court at Street celebrates the Memory of the noble Family of Hadloe or Haudloe who as is manifest by ancient Records were in Times of a very high Ascent Lords of this Mannor * Nicholas de Hadloe is in the Rol of those Kentish Worthies who accompanied Richard the first to the Siege of Acon Nicholas de Hadloe had a Charter of Free-warren to all his Lands in Kent and the Grant of a market weekly and a Fair yearly to his Mannor of Court at Street in the forty first year of Henry the third John de Hadloe is in the Register of those Kentish Knights who accompanied Edward the first into Scotland and for his remarkable Service at the Seige of Carlaverock was made Knight and Banneret by that Prince in the twenty eighth year of his Raign In the tenth year of Edward the second a Licence or Patent was granted to John de Hadloe and Mawd his Wife to fortifie and embattle diverse Castles and Mannors in which this was couched In the first year of Edward the third he was summoned to sit in Parliament as Baron and left this Mansion thus solemnly ennobled to Nicholas de Hadloe in whom the Male-line expired so that Alice one of his Daughters and Coheirs upon the Partition of the Estate brought this to be the Patrimony of John Colvill and he in her Right held it at his Decease in the seventeenth year of R. 2 d. as appears Rot. Esc Num. 9. And from him did an uninterrupted Clew of paternal Succession transport it to Edward Colvill Esquire who in the thirty fifth year of Henry the eighth alienated it by Sale to Edward Thwaits Esquire and from him it did descend to Edward Thwaits who in the eleventh year of Queen Elizabeth conveyed it by Sale to Edward Jackman and in this Family did it reside until that Time which fell within the Circle of our Fathers Remembrance and then it was passed away to Sir William Hewett who upon his Decease by Testament setled it upon his third Son the instant Possessor Mr. Will. Hewet Bellaview Otterpoole and the Appendant Mannor of Wellop are all circumscribed within the Verge of Limne The first of which was both an eminent and ancient Seat of the Criolls before they translated themselves to Ostenhanger by matching with the Heir of Auberville and the two last were wrapped up in that Revenue which was as an Appendage both to support and enhaunce the Grandeur of it and went collectively together with Joan Daughter and Heir of Bertram de Crioll to Richard de Rokesley in the twenty third year of Edward the first and remained with this Family but untill the next Age and the same Vicissitude carried them off by Joan his Sole Inheritrix to Thomas de Poynings in which Name the Propriety resided untill the twelfth year of Henry the eighth and then they devolved by Successive Descent to Sir Edw. Poynings but he dying without any legitimate Issue and there being none of his Alliance that could by any collateral Affinity pretend any visible or manifest
Title to the Estate it devolved by escheat in the fourteenth year of that Prince to the Crown from which Bellavieu was again suddenly granted away to Rich. Bernys Esq and he not long after disposed of it by Sale to Tho. Wombwell of Northfleet who in the twenty fifth year of Henry the eighth conveyed it to Peter Heyman Esquire from whom not long after it went away to Bedingfield descended from Gentlemen of a deep and ancient extraction in the County of Suffolk and in this Family did it fixe untill the Custome of Gavelkind having broken and split this Mannor into several parcels and so made it the Inheritance of several Brothers they by a joint Concurrence alienated their collective Interest in it to Sir Edward Hales Knight and Baronet Grandfather to Mr. Edward Hales who now enjoyes the Fee-simple of it Otterpoole continued in the Crown untill the thirty seventh year of Henry the eighth and then it was invested by Grant in Sir James Hales from which Family about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth it came over by Sale to Thomas Smith Esquire commonly called Customer Smith Ancestor to the right honorable Philip Viscount Strangford the instant Lord of the Fee Wellop another parcel of the escheated Demeasne of Poynings though it were granted in Lease to Knatchbull and others yet the Fee-simple still lodged in the Crown untill K. Charles passed it away to Sir Edward Hales Knight and Baronet from whom it is now by Descent devolved to his Grandchild Sir Edward Hales of Tunstall Lingsted lies in the Hundred of Tenham and hath two places in it of emiminent Reputation The first is Bedmancore which was in Times of a very high Ascent wrapped up in the Patrimony of Cheyney of whom I shall speak more at Patricksbourn Cheyney their principal Seat the last of which Family that held it was William de Cheyney who dyed possest of it in the eighth year of Edward the third as appears Rot. Esc Num. 58. But after his Decease it was not long resident in this Name for in the twenty seventh year of the abovesaid Prince I find it in the Tenure of William de Apulderfield of whose Family take this compendious prospect He was descended from * Ex veteri Rot. penes Edo Dering Mil. Baronettum desunctum Henry de Apulderfield of Apulderfield in Coudham who with his Son Henry are inserted in the Catalogue of those eminent Kentish Gentlemen who were engaged with Richard the first at the Siege of Acon in Palestine * See the Roll of Gascony Henry de Apulderfield another of this Family accompanied Henry the third in his Expedition into Gascony and his Son * See the printed Laws of Romney Mersh Henry de Apulderfield with John de Lovetot did by a Commission dated the fifteenth of November in the sixteenth year of Edward the first sit as Justices of the Sewers for Romney Mersh And this Henry was Sheriff of Kent the twenty sixth and twenty seventh of the abovesaid Prince and had Issue William de Apulderfield the above-mentioned Lord of Bedmancore who was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty seventh and twenty eighth of Edward the third and again the thirty first thirty fourth thirty fifth thirty sixth thirty eighth and fourty fourth years of the above mentioned Prince and held his Shrievaltie at Lingsted Henry Apulderfield his Son was Sheriff of Kent the fifty first of Edward the third in which that glorious Prince paid that Tribute to Nature we all owe and from this Man did Bedmancore descend to his great Grandchild Sir William Apulderfield a Man of very great Eminence in the Raign of Henry the sixth and Edward the fourth who concluded in a Daughter and Heir called Elizabeth matched to Sir John Phineux Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in the Raign of Henry the seventh as is attested by his Monument in Hern Church and he in her right became possest of Bedmancore but it was not long fastned to this Name for this Man likewise concluded in two Female Coheirs whereof Jane Phineux one of them matched with John Roper Esquire and Middred the other wedded James Diggs of Diggs-court in Berham Esquire from the first Alliance Christopher now Lord Roper of Tenham is lineally extracted and by Right of that Conjugal Union is fortified in his present Possession and Title to this place Next to be remembred is Sewards the Seat of a second Stock of the well-spread Family of the Finches ever since they married the Heir of place and Name and after they had sprouted out into many fair Branches at Kingsdown Norton Selling and other places The Sole Heir of this House at Sewards was married to Sir Drew Drury of Norfolke Knight Gentleman Usher of the Privy Chamber to Q. Elizabeth a Gentleman of incorrupt Integrity and Wisdome to whom wee ascribe the building of the great House against the Church where Mr. James Hugison kept his Shrievaltie in the seventeenth year of the late King having some years before purchased it of Sir Drew Drury his Heir Linton in the Hundred of Twyford was anciently under the Jurisdiction and Signiory of Proprietaries called Capell who had a Seat adopted into their Sirname and called Capells-court a Family certainly of great Antiquity and no lesse Revenue in this Track John at Capell held Lands at Boxley called Tattelmell in the thirty seventh year of Henry the third as appears by that King's Charter of Inspection of the Foundation of Boxley Abbey Cart. 37. Memb. 9. Thomas at Capell and James at Capell were to find two Hobelers or leight Horsmen at Denge Mersh in the eleventh year of Edward the third And in this Family did the Title and Propriety of this place reside untill the raign of Henry the sixth and then it was passed away to Baesden where after it had for many years been permanent it was almost in our Grand-fathers Remembrance transplanted by Sale into Sir Anthony Mayney Knight Grand-father to Sir Jo. Mayney Knight and Baronet the instant Lord of the Fee Some part of Linton did for many Descents relate to a Family called Welldish who had here a Chappel called Welldish his Chappel and bore upon their Seals appendant to ancient Deeds three Talbots passant upon a Chiefe a Fox in the same posture with the Talbots which was assumed by this Family as the vulgar and constant Tradition of this Parish asserts to perpetuate and inforce the Memory of one of their Ancestors who was Huntsman to William the Conquerour Finally after this Name had been fixed at this place for so many Descents a considerable part of their Estate was in that Age wee name our Grand-fathers passed away to VValter Mayney Esquire from whom his Successor Sir Jo. Mayney now claims the Propriety of it Littlebourne in the Hundred of Downchamford was many Hundred years since given to the Church of Canterbury as the Annalls of St. Angustins testifie by Withredus King of Kent But here is the Mannor of
Welle in this Parish which was alwayes under the Jurisdiction of Lay Proprietaries It was first the position of John de Welle sometimes written At Well from the position of his Dwelling which perhaps was in a bottom but this Man in the forty fourth year of Hen. the third made Ranulph Joremer his Feoffe in Trust who sold it for his Use to Reginald de Cornehill by whose Daughter and Heir it came to Garwinton of Beakesbourne and in this Name after it had been fixed some four Descents it went away to Haut for William Garwinton died without Issue and so Margaret his Kinswoman matched to Richard Haute who was a second stock of the Hauts of Bourne became his Heir but long the Right of it was not united to his Family For Richard Haut this Mans Son left likewise onely a Daughter and Heir called Margery who altered the Possession and brought it with Her to her Husband William Isaack who had by her Edward Isaack and he determined in two Daughters and Coheirs Mary married to Thomas Apulton of Waldingfield in the County of Suffolk and the other first matched to ....... Sydley and after to Sir Henry Palmer who by Donation from his Wife was endowed with the Fee-simple of Well Court and his Successor in our Father's Memory alienated it to Lievetenant Colonel Prude slain at the Siege of Maestricht who left it to his Son Mr. Searles Prude whose two Daughters and Coheirs are by his Will after his Widow's Decease entituled to the Inheritance Reginald de Cornehill in the forty fourth year of Henry the third exchanged Lands with John de St. Leger for Lands at Lukedale in Littlebourne where he founded a Chantry which was endowed with a new accession of Land by his Wife Matilda de Cornehill and was confirmed by Patent from Henry the third Lose in the Hundred of Maidstone was in old Saxon Records written Hlos which imports as much as the Lot or Portion It was as the Book of Christ-Church informs us given by Ethelwulf King of the South-Saxons to Sneta a Widow and her Daughter and they gave it back again to the Monks of Christ-Church in Canterbury to apparel them In the Conqueror's Time upon the general Survey recorded in Doonesday-Book it was accounted as part of the six Sullings of Ferneleigh Pimps Court that gave Name to the Knightly Family of the Pimps is in this Parish although they made Nettlested their more frequent place of abode William de Pimpe held this and other Lands by a whole Knights Fee in the twentieth year of Edward the third at the making the Black Prince Knight and from this William was John Pimpe Esquire who was Sheriff of Kent in the second year of Henry the seventh lineally descended who sold this Place to Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham Lord Constable of England whose dysastrous Fate having engaged him to make some dark Applications to a Wizard and a Monk about the Succession of the Crown Henry the eighth a Prince of much Jelousie and Fury like an Industrious Spider spun out Venome enough out of this unhappy Address of his to poyson him with the Guilt of High Treason and so made the forfeiture of his Life and Fortune pay the price of his Vanity upon whose Ruine his Estate was not long after his Death and Attaint which was in the thirteenth year of Henry the eighth by that Prince granted to his Confident and Favourite Sir John Rainsford who after a brief enjoyment of it passed it away to Sir Henry Isley who being attainted in the second year of Q. Mary for supporting by his Assistance and Concurrence the Defection of Sir Thomas Wiat this reverted to the Crown and the same Princess in the second year of her Government granted it by Patent to Sir John Baker whose Successor Sir John Baker Baronet hath lately passed it away to Thomas Floyd of Gore Court Esquire Luddenham in the Hundred of Middleton with the appendant Mannor of Bishops-Bush was a Branch of that spatious Revenue which did in these parts own the Northwoods for Possessors and Roger de Northwood in the forty first year of Henry the third amongst divers Parcels of Land which he altered from the Nature of Gavelkind into Knights Service of the which there is a particular Recapitulation in the Book of Aid changed ninety Acres of Mersh Land which lay partly in Iwade and partly in his Mannor of Luddenham into that Tenure After the Northwoods the Frogenhalls were Possessors of this place and William Frogenhall had this amongst other Lands in this Track which he died seised of in the eighth year of Richard the second his Son and Heir was William Frogenhall Father to Thomas Frogenhall the last of the Name at this Place for he left no Issue Male so that the Daughters became his Coheirs One of whom was Anne who married Thomas Quadring of London and so this place became hsi Inheritance as being her Proportion of Frogenhalls Estate but it quickly found an other owner for Joan Quadring his onely Daughter and Heir by marrying with Richard Dryland of Cokesditch in Feversham incorporated it with the Demeasn of that Family since which Alliance it hath by a constant Succession been fixt in the Possession of the Name of Dryland untill of late years by an Heir General it came to own the Signory of Kirton Luddesdowne in the Hundred of Taltingtrough was though now a petty obscure Village more noted formerly when it was the Patrimony of the Barons Montchensie of Swanscamp-Castle Warren de Montchensie one of them obtained a Charter of Free-Warren to this Mannor of Ludsdowne in the thirty seventh year of Henry the third afterwards this Mans Successor William de Monchensie held it and sat in Parliament as Baron of Swanscamp and dying in the year 1287 without Issue Male left this and diverse other Places to Dionys his Sole Daughter and Heir who was married to Hugh de Vere but died without Issue in the year of our Lord 1314 by which means the Title of this Place diverted to Joan de Montchensie Sister to William above-named and She matched in Marriage with William de Valentia Earl of Pembroke half Brother to King Henry the third and by him had Aymer de Valence who expired in two Female Coheirs one of whom called Isabel was married to Lawrence de Hastings who in her Right was afterwards Earl of Pembroke and Proprietary of the Fee-simple of this Place from whom it descended to his Grand-child John Hastings Earl of Pembroke who dying in the fourteenth year of Richard the second left his Estate in Kent in which this was involved to his two Kinsmen Reginald Grey and Richard Talbot and upon the Division of it this Mannor was lincked to the Patrimony of Grey and remained untill the Beginning of Henry the fixth interwoven with the Revenue of this Family and then I find it under the Signory of that eminent Peer and glorious Souldier Thomas Montacute Earl of Salisbury
who in so many remarkable and triumphant Conflicts asserted the Interest of this Nation in France in the Raign of the abovesaid Prince and at last received a mortal Wound by a Splinter of a Window struck into his Face by a Cannon shot at the Siege of Orleans of which he died 1428 and left his Estate here to his Natural Son James Montacute * Ex vetustis Autographis penes Rich. Lea Arm. de Rochester so written in the Deed but in all our printed Books of Nobility falsly and corruptly John and he in the thirtieth year of Henry the sixth conveyed it by Deed to Thomas Davy Gentleman and he not many years after alienated it to Edward Nevill Baron of Aburgavenny from whom it was transported by Descent to his Successor Henry Lord Aburgavenny who dying in the twenty ninth year of Q. Elizabeth without Issue Male gave it to his second Brother Sir Edward Nevill from whom it is come down to his Descendant John Lord Aburgavenny the instant Proprietary of it Buckland in this Parish did acknowledge the Bucklands for its Heirs and Possessors who sometimes did inhabit at Preston in Shorham and sometimes at this place which however now obscure and despicable was of Credit when Sir John Buckland paid respective Aid for his Lands at Ludsdown at the making of the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth of Edward the third from Buckland by a Daughter and Heir some few Ages since it came over with Preston in Shorham to Folhill and in that Family is the Title still at this instant resident Lullingston in the Hundred of Axtan was in ancient Records written Lullingston Rosse for Anketellus Rosse held Lands here in the twentieth of William the Conqueror William de Rosse this mans Grand-child as appears by the Pipe Rolls held two Knights Fees in Lullingston in the first year of King John Alexander de Rosse this mans Son was one of the Recognitores magnae Assisae or of the grand Assise about the end of that Prince's Rule but not long after this the Possession of this place was not lincked to this Family for Lora de Rosse Sole Daughter to William de Rosse by matching with William de Peyforer fastned it to the Revenue of that Stock from whence it assumed the Title of Lullingston Peyforer but it quickly deserted both the Title and Possessor for Gregory de Rokesley Lord Maior of London in the seventh year of Edward the first purchased it of the abovesaid William and in the same year obtained a Charter Warren to his Lands at this place In the twentieth year of Edward the third John de Rokesley Son to Walter Rokesley and Grand-child to the before mentioned Gregory paid Aid for the Mannor of Lullingston which held by a whole Knights Fee at the making the Black Prince Knight In the thirty third year of Edward the third Sir John Peche purchased the Mannor of this John de Rokesley this Sir John was Son to Sir John de Peche who was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle and was called to Parliament among the Barons in the fourth year of Edward the third In the same year he bought Lullingston he obtained a Charter of Free Warren to his Lands there which was renewed and by Confirmation fortified in the thirty fourth and thirty fifth of Edward the third Sir William Peche was his Son and Heir whose Widow the Lady Joane Peche who died seised of this Mannor in the eleventh year of Henry the fourth lies entombed in St. Mary Woolnoth Church in London Sir John Peche was Son and Heir to them both Sir William Peche was Son and Heir to this Sir John who died at Lullingston 1487 and had two Children Sir John Peche Knight and Banneret who died sans Issue which Sir John was a man of exemplary Account being Lord Deputy of Calais and of signal Charity as is evident by his Munificence and Bounty towards the Poor for he founded the Alms-Houses at Lullingston and gave 500 lb. to other Pious Uses to be performed by the Grocers Company in London of which he was Free and Elizabeth marched to John Hart Esquire who in his Wife 's Right upon the Decease of her Brother enter'd into the Possession of the Premisses from whom it is transmitted to William Hart Esquire his great Grand-child who hath the instant Signory and Fee-simple of this Mannor of Lullingston M. M. M. M. MAidstone giveth Name to the whole Hundred wherein it is seated an elegant Town it is whether we consider it in respect of the uniform and regular Building or of the healthful Situation of it spreading it self out partly upon a Hill and partly upon a Valley which are interlaced with a smal River which hath its Original about Leeds and on the other side its Banks are washed with the waters of the Medway from whence it primitively borrowed its Name being in Saxon called Medwegston The Places of most eminence which are circumscribed within the Limits of it are First Buckland which is situated on the opposite Banck of the River upon the Knob or Knoll of an Hill of easie Ascent from whence it takes in a various and delightful Prospect of the adjacent Valley It was anciently part of the Demeasn of the Bucklands but whether it originally gave Seat and Sirname to them or not is not evident because there was another Place which likewise bore this Name at Luddesdowne and which also acknowledged it self to be Parcel of their Proprietie John de Buckland held it at his Death which was in the third year of Edward the third and his Son and Heir was Sir John Buckland who was a Person of remarkable Reputation and Note in this Track for he had Lands about Wouldham Halling Snodland Ludsdowne and Shoreham as well as at this Place After this Name went out the Lords Cobham were Proprietaries of Buckland and in this Family was the Possession guided along by an undivided Clew of several Ages till the infortunate Henry Lord Cobham about the entrance into the Raign of King James being with Sir VValter Raleigh and others entangled in a Design which the then present Power after a serious and solemn Debate adjudged treasonable he could not unravel himself out of it but with the Forfeiture though not of Life yet of Estate but this Mannor before his Attaint being settled upon his Lady Francis Cobham as part of her Jointure upon his Decease was granted by the Crown to her and the Reversion to Robert Cecil Earl of Salisbury in respect he had married Elizabeth Daughter to William Brooke Lord Cobham and Sister to this last Lord Henry and She shortly after by marrying with ....... Fitz Gerald Earl of Kildare settled the present Interest of it in him and He and his Countess being embarked in a mutual and joint consent with the above-mentioned Earl of Salisbury passed away their Right in it about the year One thousand six hundred and eighteen to William
expiration of which the said Arch-Bishop recovered severall Lands which he the said Odo and his Tenants then held which were Herbert the Son of Ivo Turold of Rochester Ralph de Curva-Spina and Hugh de Montfort with all the Franchises belonging to them as namely Sac and Soc Toll and Theam Infangtheof and Outfang-theof Flymena Firmth Grithbreach Forestall Heinfare and Cersett the last of which because none of our Interpreters of the dark and obscure Terms of the Law do explain I shall It was a Rent-charge of a certain Proportion of Corn in the ear paid at the Feast of St. Martin with all other Customes greater or less both on the Land and on the Water and it was tried and proved by all the honest and wise Men both Normans and English who were present that as the King himself holds his Lands quiet and free in his Demeasne so the Arch-Bishop holds all his Lands whoily quiet and free in his Demeasne In the presence of these it was shewn by many and most evident Reasons that the King hath no Customes in the Church of Canterbury but onely three which are these If any man digg in the Kings High-way or cut down any Tree to stop it if any man shall be apprehended and found Culpable whilest they are in doing such things whether Pledges be taken of them or not yet by prosecution of the Kings Officer and by Pledges they shall amend what is unjustly done The third Custome is If any man commit Blood-shed on the Kings High-way if whilst he does it he be apprehended and imprisoned he shall then make amends unto the King But if he shall not be apprehended but depart without giving any Pledge the King may not in Justice require any thing of him And it was at the same time farther determined that if any Person did commit Blood-shed or Manslaughter in places which were within the Liberties of the Church of Canterbury from the time that the Church left off to Sing Alleluiah to the Octaves of Easter that then he should make amends onely to the Arch-Bishop And it was likewise shewed at the same Time that whosoever should commit the Crime of Childwitt that is of Bastardy if it were in Lent the Arch-Bishop should have the whole Satisfaction but if out of Lent then he should have onely half of it There were present at this Assembly Goisfrid Bishop of Constance the Kings Substitute Ernost Bishop of Rochester Egelric or Agelric Bishop of Selsey and Chichester a Man of deep insight in the Constitutions Ecclesiastical and of so great an Age that he was brought in a Wagon for his Discussion and Declaration says Textus Roffensis upon the known Laws Usages Franchises and Customes of Holy Church Hugh de Montfort William de Arces Richard de Tunbridge and lastly Haymo Sheriff of Kent Town Malling and East Malling lie in the Hundred of Larkfield and were both Mannors which related to that Revenue which made up the Patrimony of the Nunnery of Town Malling which was founded by Gundulphus Bishop of Rochester about the year 1090 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary and had the Church it self which was likewise named after the blessed Virgin and the Chappel of St. Leonards not far distant Though this Gundulphus was the Founder yet Haimo de Heath as appears by the Records of Rochester aws an eminent Benefactor to it about the year 1339. Both these Mannors upon the Suppression having augmented the Revenue of the Crown they rested there untill the fourth year of Edward the sixth and then they were granted in Lease for Life to Sir Hugh Cartwright and upon his Decease they were passed away upon the same Condition to Pierpoint and he conveyed them to William Brook Lord Cobham whose Son Henry Lord Cobham being attainted in the second year of King James they were re-assumed by the Crown and after granted in Lease to Sir Humphrey Delind a Man furnished with a liberal stock both of divine and humane Learning and he passed away his Interest to Sir Robert Brett but the Fee-simple continued with the Crown until the twenty first of King James and then they were granted for ever to John Rayney Esquire which Concession was fully ratified by King Charles to whom the Profits of these Mannors were assigned when he was Prince towards the Support of of his Court in the second year of his Raign to Sir John Rayney now of Wrotham Knight and Baronet which Sir John is lineally descended from John Reignie for so the Name in old Deeds is written who held the Mannor of Edgeford in Devon and Smitheley-hall in York-shire in the Raign of Edward the third still the Possession of this Family Which John was originally extracted from Sir John de Reignie who as is manifest by the old Rolls and Registers of this Family held the Mannor of Newton in Cumberland in the raign of Henry the third West-Malling had a Market granted to it on the Saturday by Henry the third at the Instance of the Lady Abbesse of that place to whom and to the Nuns of this Cloister the Vicar of East-Malling was Jure Loci always Confessor Parrocks and Ewell are two appendant Mannors involved in the Mannor of West-Malling whose Fee-simple was passed away to John Rayney Esquire when the other was linked by Grant to his Demeasne Ex autographis penes Jo. Reyney Millit Baronetum the last of which lay in Brenchley and was in Lease many years from the Nunnery to Hextall whose Female Heir brought it to VVhetenhall and Sir Richard VVhetenhall in the twelfth year of Q. Elizabeth sold it to George Lord Cobham and his Son Henry Lord Cobham alienated it to Sir Thomas Fane Ancestor to Mildmay Earl of VVestmerland whose Lease being lately expired it is now come to confesse Sir John Reyney Knight and Baronet for sole Proprietarie Borough Court in East-Malling was parcell of the ancient Demease of the noble Family of Colepeper of Preston in Alreâford and was found united to their Revenue at the Death of VValter Colepeper Esquire which was in the first year of Edward the third and in this Family did it continue involved for sundry Ages till allmost in our Grand-fathers memory it was by Sale conveyed away to Shakerley descended from the Shakerleys of Shakerley in Lancashire but it made no long aboad here for in the Age subsequent to that wherein it was purchased this Family resolved into a Daughter and Heir who was matched to Beauley descended from the Beauleys of Beauleys Court in VVouldham who brought Borough Court along with her into the Possession of that Family and left it to her only Daughter and Heir Mary Beauley who by matching lately with Mr ....... Basse of Suffolk hath made it parcel of his Interest and Propriety Marden is not parcell only of the Hundred of Middleton or Milton but an Appendage of the Mannor also but because they are divided by so remote a distance from the above-mentioned place they in
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
Throuley Boughton Malherbe and Wormesell and held of Queen Court and Ospringe de died possest of both these places in the twenty fifth year of Edward the third as appears Rot. Esc Num. 43. and left them to his Kinsman Sir Nicolas Loveine though some part of the Demeasne belonged to Poulteney until the ninth year of Edward the fourth which Sir Nicholas obtained a an Exemplification by Patent in the thirty eighth year of Edward the third how many Knights Fees which lay divided and dispersed into severall places belonged to his Mannor of Ospringe this Sir Nicholas had Issue Nicholas Loveyne and Margaret Loveyne Nicholas her Brother deceased without Issue and so Philip St. Clere of Aldham St. Clere who had matched with this his Sister became his Heir and she was found to be possest of these places at her Death which was in the tenth year of Henry the fourth and in her Right did it descend with Queen Court which was leased out by Nich. Loveyne to Nicholas Potin who was Sheriff of Kent the twenty first of King R. the second and held his Shrievalty at this place to Thomas St. Clere who held it at his Decease which was in the twelfth year of Edward the fourth Rot. Esc Num. 46. But after his Departure I do not find it long knit to the Demeasn of his Family for about the beginning of Henry the seventh I find it in the Possession of William Cheyney of Shurland Esquire and from him was the Title of Ospringe and Queen Court derived by successive Right to his Grandchild Henry Lord Cheyney who about the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth passed them away to Mr. Rich. Thornehill Great Grandfather to Mr. Richard Thornehill Son and Heir of Colonel Richard Thornhill who is at this instant Proprietarie of it Plomford and Bavell are two little Mannors in Ospringe which belonged partly to the Nunnery of the Minster in Shepey and partly to the Abby of Feversham which upon the Suppression of those two Cloisters were granted by King Henry the eighth to Thomas Colepeper Esquire and he not long after alienated them to Sir Thomas Cheyney whose Son Henry Lord Cheyney passed them away in our Grandfathers Memory to Greenstreet of Clacksfield in Borden and are still wrapt up in the Inheritance of that Family The Maison le Dieu here at Ospringe was founded by Lucas de Vienna for the Knights Templers and was one of those Mansions where they reposed themselves in their progresse towards their other Demeasne which lay spread into East-Kent and Romney Mersh The Revenue which was to support this Seminary lay at Lurdenden in Challock and at Hokeling Radymersh Ryde and other places in the Isle of Shepey In the twenty fifth of Henry the third Roger de Lingsted had a Grant of these Lands for Terme of Life as likewise of all the Fishery Messuages Reliese Revenue and Homage appertaining to them as appears Pat. Anno 25. Henrici tertii Memb. 30. In the forty second and fifty first of Henry the third there was a Confirmation of Land and Priviledges to this House and in this Condition it continued partly under the Knights Templers and in lower Ages under the Knights Hospitallers untill the Tempest of the generall Dissolution shook it into that neglected heap of Ruines wherein at present the ancient Fabrick is visible Elverland in this Parish is a Mannor which for many Generations hath been annexed to the Demeasn of St. Johns Colledge in Cambridge Selgrave now corruptly called Selgrove is another Mannor in Ospringe It was a Branch of that large Inheritance which lay scattered ore the Face of this Territory and acknowledged the Dominion of the noble Family of Norwood Roger de Northwood held it at his Decease which was in the thirteenth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 25. And transmitted it to his Son Roger de Norwood after whom I do not find the Possession was long permanent in this Family for about the latter end of Edward the third Ralph de Spigurnell was concerned in it as Proprietarie and he bequeathed it to his Wife Elizabeth Spigurnell who sold it to John Winchelsey and the Convent of Christ-church in Canterbury in the sixteenth year of Richard the second in whom the Fee-simple continued untill it was wrested away by the Generall Dissolution in the raign of Henry the eighth and then that Prince passed it by Grant to George Barley who not many years after alienated his Interest in it to Sonds of Throuley from whom in our Fathers Memory it came by Sale to Cleve Ospringe had anciently a House or Maison le Dieu so called because it was a Receptacle for Leprous people and other persons afflicted and assaulted with Diseases which in Times of elder Inscription were still esteemed to be imposed by the Finger of the Divinity and this had a Confirmation of ample Immunities and Liberties by Patent in the forty seventh and which were renued in the fifty first year of Henry the third Otford in the Hundred of Codsheath was given to the Church and Sea of Canterbury by Offa King of the Mercians in the year 785 to expiate the Guilt of that Blood which he had before drawn from the Veins of Aleric and his Kentish Men in a Battell waged at this place in the year 774 and which was aggravated because those he had slaughtered had their Names enrolled in the Register of Christians And which was granted in the originall Donation ad Pascua Porcorum to the Pannage of those Hoggs that fed in the Arch-bishops Chase and in the Revenue of this Sea was the Interest of this Mannor treasured up till about the Beginning of the Rule of Henry the eighth and then some envious Eyes looking about with Regrett and Desire upon the Diffused Patrimony of the Church William Warham Arch-bishop of Canterbury to extinguish both the passions of these men and their ravenous Appetite together about the twelfth year of that Prince's Raign exchanged this Mannor for other Lands and so it became incorporated into the Revenue of the Crown There was a Chantry founded at Rye-house in this Parish by Henry de Apulderfield in the forty sixth year of Edward the third as appears Pat. Anno. 46. Edwardi tertii Parte secunda Memb. 19. Whose Revenue upon the Suppression was by Henry the eighth granted to Palmer which Family had been of deep Antiquity before in this Parish and from whence the Palmers of Snodland and likewise of Howletts in East-Kent were originally descended but it seems the security of this royal Patent could not rescue it from being sold some years after to Bosvill whose Descendant now holds the instant Fee-simple of it Otham in the Hundred of Maidstone was a Branch of that Demeasne which did in this Track acknowledge the Signiory of the ancient Family of Valoigns William de Valoigns is mentioned in the Book called Testa de Nevill to have paid Aid for Lands at Petham Ashford and Otham in the twentieth year
legible wherein at the Foot of it there is mention of one Edward Filmour so he was written in that Age from whom it is probable though now the Name by Time and prescription be in the last Syllable of it something violated the present Sir Edward Filmer eldest Son to that Learned Loyal and Worthy Person Sir Robert Filmer lately deceased is primitively extracted and this is confirmed by their own private Evidences which represent them for many Cenerations even till this present Possessors of this Place and wherein the Name is frequently written Filmor aswel as in latter Escripts Filmer There is another Mannor in Ottringden which anciently was reputed so though now by Disuse and Intermission it hath lost that Estimate and is called Hall-place by a very Ancient Court-roll Sans date now in the Hands of Mr. Paine It is represented in those Times when it had Tenants and Services belonging to it to be the propriety of one Roger Rev and in that Roll there is mention of one Thomas Franklin who held some Lands of this Mannor by paying yearly the Tribute or Rent-service of one Red Rose as the Symbol of his Homage And now for want of farther Light from the Ancient Deeds and Evidences I must make a leap to the raign of Henry the seventh and then I find Eugenius Cock in the nineteenth year of that Prince sels it to John Bunce of this Parish Gentleman in which Family the possession rested until very lately it was by Sale alienated to Mr. Paine Monkton is the last place in this Parish of Note It belonged before the suppression to the Nunnery of Davington and was given to that Cloyster by Matthew Son of Hamon Atfrith upon the first Erection of it which was in the thirty ninth year of Henry the third Upon the suppression and final Dissolution ' of this Covent of Davington by Henry the eighth it was by that Prince granted to Sir Thomas Cheney whose Son the Lord Henry Cheyney so fugitive is the Tenure of Church-Demeasne in the entrance into the raign of Queen Elizabeth passed it away to Godden who so small a space was resident in the possession that he hath only left us Notice that he sold it to William Lewin descended from the Lewins of Norfolk whose Son Sir Justinian Lewin concluded in a Daughter and Heir who was matched to Rogers of the County of Somersett and so in her Right it became interwoven with his Demeasne but remained not long thus involved in the Interest of this Name for in our Memory he deceased and left only a Daughter and Heir who is lately matched to Charles Cavendish Lord Mansfeld eldest Son to William Lord Marquess of Newcastle so that Monkton in his Ladies Right is now united to his Inheritance There are two Chappels in the Parish Church of Ottringden that on the North-side of the Chauncel is called Ottringdens Chappel where the Remains of several of the Ottringdens St. Legers Auchers and Lewins lie enterred that on the South-side is termed Bunces Chappel where the Ashes and Reliques of several of that Family slumber who were of no contemptible Note in this Parish where they had a Mansion which in old Evidences is called Bunces Court which hath been in their possession as appears by their own Deeds some Hundreds of years and from hence are the Bunces of Throuley likewise originally issued forth P. P. P. P. PAdlesworth in the Hundred of Lovingborough is so obscure and inconsiderable a Village that it should not have filled a place in this Register but that it was a portion of that wide Estate which lay spread over the Face of all the adjacent Territorie and acknowledged it self to be under the Jurisdiction of the Criolls Bertram de Crioll died about the middle of Edward the first and left Joan his Sole Heir who had been before matched to Sir Richard de Rokesley of Rokesley Court in Northcrey and so Padlesworth became the Rokesley's but did not long cleave to that Name for he expired likewise in two Female Co-heirs whereof one of them called Joan was matched to Thomas de Poynings and he left Issue Michael Poynings from whom it came down to his descendant Robert Poynings who passed it away by Sale to Fogge of Sene in Newington in which Family the Title for many Descents lay involved even until our Fathers Remembrance and then it was alienated to Dynley who is the instant Lord of the Fee Padlesworth in the Hundred of Larkefeild was as high as the raign of H. the third the Possession of a Family called Chetwind who immediatly after exchanged it with Hamon de Gatton for the Mannor of Hocklin in the County of Bedford but kept it not long for after it had continued some smal Interval of Time in this Family it was alienated to the Noble Family of Huntingfeild after whom succeeded Bele and then it went away by Sale to Bullock who by the same Devolution surrendred the possession to Diggs where it had but a very transitory aboad for he conveyed it away to Peckham from whom the ordinary Mutation made by Purchase brought it to own the Propriety of Vineley who translated his Interest by Sale unto William Clifford of Bobbing-court and he about the beginning of Henry the fixt fixed the Title and Possession by Sale in Robert Bambergh Where it is to be noted that this quick and suddain Revolution of the Title of this place in those Families which intervened between Huntingfeild and Bambergh happened in lesse then a Circle of fifty years as appears by the original Conveyances now in the Hands of Mr. Marsham But to advance in that Discourse where I broke off Robert Bambergh above-mentioned was not long settled in his new Acquists but he deceased and left it to his Daughter and Heir who was matched to Nicolas Wotton Esquire from whom in a direct Line it came down to Thomas Lord Wotton who settled it in Marriage upon his Daughter and Co-heir Katherine Wotton with Henry Lord Stanhop eldest Son and Heir apparent to Philip Earl of Chesterfeild and this Lady hath since passed it away to my Noble Friend John Marsham of Whornes-place in Cuckeston Esquire from whose Deeds and Papers I have drawn my present Intelligence Patricksbourn in the Hundreds of Bredge and Pet-ham in Ancient Records hath still the Addition of Cheyney annexed to it for indeed it was the first and original Residence of the Cheyneys before they translated their Habitation to Shurland in Shepey by matching with the Heir of Shurland Alexander de Cheyney is registred in the Catalogue of those Kentish Gentlemen who accompanied Richard the first to the Siege of Acon In Testa de Nevill an Ancient Book kept in the Exchecquer there is mention of Gulielmus de Casineto so they are written in Latine that is William de Cheyney who paid respective supply in the twentieth year of Henry the third at the Marriage of Isabell that King's Sister for his Lands at Patriksbourn Cheyney
hold in Knights Service of him and his Successors which was very usual and customary for the Arch-bishops and other great Prelates to do until King Edward the first growing jealous of the Power and Grandeur of the Clergie who endeavoured by their Bounty and magnificent Donations to oblige both the principal of the Nobility and Gentry and chain them up by these extraordinary Engagements to their Devotion caused the Statute called Quia emptores Terrarum in the one and twentieth of his raign to be made which restrains and supersedes for the future all new Creations of Mannors But to proceed VVilliam de Cobham being thus enstated in this Mannor in Gratitude to the first Donor altered his Name from Cobham to Pluckley Sir Richard de Pluckley this mans Grandchild flourished in the raign of King Stephen and Henry the second and founded the Church at Pluckley and from this man did VVilliam de Pluckley lineally branch out in whom the Male-Line concluded so that Agnes his Daughter and Heir by matching with John Surrenden Esquire cast Pluckley into the Possession of that Name and Family where it had not long sojourned when the same Vicissitude brought it over to Haut for James Haut wedded Joan Heir General of John Surrenden and so became Possessor of Pluckley but in this Name the Title was as volatile and mutable as in the former for this man went out in Daughters and Co-heirs one of them was wedded to Gouldwell and Christian the other was matched to John Dering Esquire in whose Right he was entituled to the Signory of Pluckley Now if you will inquire where lay the ancient Land of Dering if my Assertion might be credited I should affirm that it was at Stamford by Hieth where they were Lords of some part of the little Mannot of Heyton for by an old Roll I find that Normanus de Morinis married Kineburga Daughter and Heir of Deringus and his Son as was Customary in those Times called himself Deringus de Morinis and matched with Elveva Sister and Heir of Alanus de Heyton and so was invested in the Propriety of the Mannor of Heyton from whom it successively came down to Richard Fitz Dering who was Son of Dering and great Grand-child to this man who was the first who deserted the Sirname de Morinis and assumed that of Dering and died possest of the Mannor of Heyton in the forty second year of Henry the third And from this Richard Fitz Dering is Sir Edward Dering Baronet now lineally extracted who is the instant Lord of Pluckley and Surrenden Dering where Sir Edward Dering Knight and Baronet not many years since deceased raised that elegant Structure as eminent for its Magnificence and Beauty as it is for its Contrivance and Curiosity Pevington was formerly a Parish and had a Church dedicated to St. Mary though it be now languished into Dis-use and grown an adjunct to Pluckley The Patrons as well as Proprietaries of it were the Pevingtons a Knightly Family who borrowed their Sirname from hence The first whom I meet with is Sir Ralph de Pevington who flourished here in the raign of King John and King Henry the third and was Father to Sir William de Pevington who likewise died possest of this Mannor in the fifty fourth year of Henry the third from whom descended John and William Pevington who dying without Issue in the seventh year of Henry the fourth Amabilia their Sister matched to John Gobion became their Heir and she lies buried in the Church of Austin-Friars at Canterbury and is mentioned to have been a liberal Benefactresse to that Cloister about the Time of her Decease which was 1405. and had Issue by him Julian their only Daughter who was about the twenty seventh year of Henry the sixth matched to William Brent from whom descended Thomas Brent in whom the Name and Male-Line together was extinguished so that Margaret Brent matched to John Dering was the visible Heir of his Estate amongst which this Mannor of Pevington was enwrapped which came down in Right of this Alliance to Sir Edward Dering Knight and Baronet who upon his Decease gave it after the Death of his Mother the Widow Dowager of Sir Anthony Dering to Mr. Henry Dering the eldest Son by his last Lady Malmains in Pluckley was the Inheritance of a Family of that Sirname Eleanor Wife of John de Malmins died seised of it in the fourteenth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 51. And after by Court-rols I discover Henry Malmains to be possest of it from whom it descended to Richard Malmains who died as the Date upon his Tomb-stone in Plukley Church discovers to us in the year 1440. and left John Malmains his Heir after whom I descry no farther mention of this Family at this place The next Family which succeeded in the Inheritance was Dering not by any Right derived from Haut for they had espoused the Heir of that Name before Malmains was extinguished nor could it be by any Female Heir atchieved for there were but two Co-heirs of this Branch of Malmains who were wedded to Monins and Gouldwell And if it be answered that Dering married the Heir of the eldest House To that I answer that Nicholas Malmains who was of the elder Line deceased in the twentieth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 15. and left only a Daughter and Heir who was matched to William de Grandison so that it is evident by the Premises that this Mannor of Malmains devolved to Dering the instant Proprietary not by any match of Haut or of this Family it self by any Female Heir or Coheir of Malmains but by Purchase only Shurland is the last place of Account It hath been the Patrimony of Betenham of Betenham in Cranbroke for many Hundred years Stephen de Betenham is mentioned in Court-rols which take their Rise or Date from the Government of Hen the third and certainly this is that Stephen de Betenham which is mentioned to be one of the Recognitores Magnae Assisae an Office of very great Importance in elder Times in those Pipe-rols which relate to the raign of King John and from this Stephen hath the Title of this place by a constant and even Chain of Ages threaded together into an unbroken Succession come down to Mr. Betenham who holds the present Signory and Possession of it Plumsted in the Hundred of Lesnes was in the year of Grace 960. given by King Edgar to the Abbot and Convent of St. Augustins in Canterbury as Thorne their Chronicler testifies under the Notion of four ploughed Lands which afterwards Godwin Earl of Kent violently tore from their Patrimony and setled upon his Son Tostius but it was restored to that Seminary by William the Conqueror and remained fastned to their Revenue until the rough hand of Henry the eighth by a publick suppression unlinked it and then it was by that Prince in the thirty sixth year of his raign granted to Sir Edward Boughton of
Henry the fourth Robert Tame paid respective Aid for it at the Marriage of Blanch that Kings Daughter After Tame was worn out the Sidleys possest it and John Sidley Esquire who was Auditor to Henry the seventh added much to this House as well as to his Estate and from him is it now descended to Sir Charles Sidley Baronet whom it owns for present Lord of the Fee Ripple in the Hundred of Cornile was a Mannor which alwayes related to the Abby of St. Austins and was in the Surrender of this Abby into the Hands of Henry eighth in the twenty ninth year of that Prince found to be involved in the Demeasne of that Covent from whom it went over to the Crown and remained there until Queen Elizabeth in the thirty second year of her Government passed it away to Sir John Hall who not long after alienated his Interest here to Gokin in which Family the Propriety hath ever since continued But Watling was originally of secular Concernment and was wound up in the Patrimony of the Lord Leybourn Thomas de Leybourn enjoyed it at his Decease which was in the thirty fifth year of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 10. From whom it went along with the Residue of his Estate to his Son Sir Roger de Leybourn with whom the Male-Line sunk into his Sepulcher and Juliana de Leybourn was his Sole Heir and she was first matched to Iohn de Hastings and afterwards to William de Clinton Earl of Huntington but had no Issue by neither nor was there any which could by a Claim of collateral Affinity stave off the Claim and pretences of the Crown unto her Estate so that upon her Decease which was in the forty third year of Edward the third that Prince seised upon her Inheritance as an Escheat and his Granchild Richard the second granted this to the Abby of Chidrens Langley upon whose suppression it devolved with all its perquisites to the Crown and Henry the eighth granted it in the thirty fifth year of his raign to Sir Thomas Moile one of the Justices at that Time of this County from whom by Amy his Daughter and Coheir it was cemented into the Patrimony of Sir Thomas Kempe but it was not long after unsodered for in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth it was sold to William Sherley of Sussex who in our Grand-fathers Remembrance alienated it to Crayford of Mongeham whose Successor not without an eager contest commenced with one Durbon and Kidder by his Predecessor who pretended an Interest in it conveyed to them by an antecedent Judgement acknowledged by the above-said Shirley is now setled in the Possession of it River in the Hundred of Bewsborough contains two remarkable places within the Boundaries of it The first is Kersoney which was the Inheritance of a Family called Paganell or more vulgarly Paynell Isolda Wife of John Paynell held it at her Death which was in the seventeenth year of Edward the second In Times of a lower Descent I find it in the Tenure of Phineux the last of which Name at this Place was Sir John Phineux Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the raign of Henry the seventh and he determining in Daughters and Co-heirs Jane one of them by matching with John Roper of St. Dunstans Esquire made it the Patrimony of that Family from whom in our Grand-fathers Remembrance it was passed away to Best Ancestor to Mr. ...... Best of Canterbury Esquire who is the instant Proprietary of it The second is Archers-Court which gave both Seat and Sirname to a Family so called one Nicolas Archer held it in the first year of Edward the second and so did Thomas le Archer in the third year of Edward the third and left it to his Son William Archer who paid respective Aide for his Lands here at River and at Atterton and Coperland in the twentieth year of Edward the third at the making the Black Prince Knight From Archer it came to a Family called Baudrede and continued divers years in this Name until in the first year of Edward the fourth it was conveyed by Sale with Coperland to Thomas Doilie Esquire Afterwards in the raign of Henry the eighth it was exchanged with the Crown and that Prince in the thirty sixth year of his managing the English Scepter granted it to Sir James Hales in whose Family it remained until almost that Time which we entitle to our Fathers Remembrance and then a part of it was passed away by Sale to Lee but the other parcel continued constant to the Interest of Hales until not many years since not only that proportion which was in the possession of Lee but likewise that other above-mentioned were both alienated by their respective Proprietaries to Sir Hardres Waller Rodmersham in the Hundred of Milton was the Inheritance of a Family whose Sirname was Pine John de la Pine enjoyed it in the twentieth year of Henry the third as appears by private Evidences and so did James de la Pine his Grandchild who deceased in the thirty seventh year of Edward the third and left it to his Son and Heir James de la Pine a Child of nine years old at his Fathers Exit and he preserved it untill the latter end of Richard the second and then it was transmitted by Sale to Podach now called vulgarly Pordage descended originally from John de Podach who flourished as appears by an ancient Pedigree relating to this Family in the raign of Henry the third and held Lands in the County of Devon which bore his Name and was called Podach and from this above-mentioned Iohn is Mr. Tho. Pordage aliàs Podach now of Rodmersham by a multiplyed Efflux of many Descents lineally extracted and bears now the Fesse in his Coat Armour plain whereas by ancient Monuments and Seals affixed to old Evidences it is manifest his Ancestors bore it Checque Upon what Grounds the modern Alteration is establisht I confesse I know not it is enough that the Dignity of the Family is yet supported by that ancient Inheritance which they have for so many Ages and yet do possesse here at Rodmersham Pitstock in Rodmersham is a little Mannor which augmented the Revenue of the Nuns of Minster in Shepey but when that ruinous Tempest broke forth in the raign of Henry the eighth which like an Hurricano tore up by the Roots the Ecclesiastical Patrimony this was supplanted and thrown into the Demeasne of the Crown and then the abovesaid Prince in the twenty ninth year of his Rule granted it to Sir Thomas Cheyney and his Son Henry Lord Cheyney about the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth alienated it to Samuel Thornhill Esquire who upon his Decease gave it to his second Son Sir Iohn Thornhill from whom by descendant Right it is now come over to his Son and Heir Charles Thornhill Esquire Newburgh is partly situated in Rodmersham and partly in Lingsted and anciently had the Estimate of a Mannor and gave Name to a Family that
at the Marriage of Isabell that Prince's Sister In Times which were immediatly subsequent to the departure of this Family from this place that is in the Government of Henry the fourth I find by an Ancient Court-roll the Moores to have been possest of it and kept it in their Inheritance until the reign of Henry the eighth and then it was conveyed to Gibbons of Rolvenden from which Family about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth as appears by the Court-rols now in the Hands of my Learned Friend Mr. Kilbourn it went away to Hay or Hays of Sussex and in this Name it remained until that Time which bordered upon our Fathers Remembrance and then it was alienated to Everden or Everinden descended from the Everindens of Everinden-house in Biddenden where they are recorded by the private Deeds of that place to have been resident many Hundred years until in the second year of Queen Mary it was passed away by Sale to John Mils Ancestor to the present Proprietary But to proceed the Continuance of this Family at this place was but brief and transitory for not many years since it went away by Sale from this Name to Muns where the Inheritance still continues Fresingham sometimes written Fersingham and vulgarly called Frensham is the last place of Account in Rolvenden It had in the twentieth year of Henry the third as appears by Testa de Nevill a Family of that Name which was its Possessor for John de Fresingham or Fersingham held it then and paid for it after the Rate of the fourth part of a Knights Fee at the Marriage of Isabell that Prince's Sister And in this Family did it remain until the latter part of Edward the third and then the Vicissitude of Purchase brought it to be the Demeasne of Norwood and in this Name was it resident until the reign of Edward the fourth and then as appears by the old Rols of this Mannor it was conveyed to Guldeford and Sir Henry Guldeford upon his Decease gave it to his second Son Sir George Guldeford from whom it descended to his Grand-child Sir Edward Guldford who about the beginning of King James passed it away to Mr. Fowle who bequeathed it to his second Son Mr. ...... Fowle who sold it to Sir Edward Hales Knight and Baronet Grand-father to Sir Edward Hales who possesses the instant Signory and Fee-simple of it Hole in this Parish was a Seat which had Owners of that Sirname for in the year 1340. Henry at Hole demises this place-by Deed to his two Sisters Honor and Alice but for many Descents last past Edmund Gibbons was of this Family who founded the Free-School at Benenden and setled 30. l. per Annum for its endowment it hath been the Patrimony of Gibbons who held Land in this Parish in the year 1326. and was the Seminary or Original Seed-plot whence all of that Name and Family in Kent primitively sprouted forth and though Sir William Segar did assigne to Mr. Gibbons of Westcliff A Lion Rampant between three Escollops and to this Family A Lion Rampant between three Ogrises as their Coat-Armor yet in ancient coloured Glasse at Hole now the Inheritance of Colonel Robert Gibbons the paternal Coat of this Family is represented to have been Or A Lion Rampant Sables charged with an Escarbuncle Pomettee and Flourette of the first which I mention that this Family now of Hole might receive no prejudice by his Mistake or inadvertency Fersham in this Parish was as appears by some dateless Deeds the Patrimony of Sir John de Fersham Stephen de Fersham this mans Successor in the eleventh year of Edward the third found a man at Arms for Guard of the Sea Coasts which implies he was of eminence in those Times In Times of a latter Date that is in the reign of Henry the fourth I find it possest by Guldeford and remained with the Revenue of that Family until the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then it was passed away to Dike of Sussex whose Descendants by their Trustees and Commissioners not many years since conveyed their joynt-Interest in it to Mr. Thomas Bromfeild of London Merchant Old Romney in the Hundred of Langport is eminent for two or three places which lie within the Confines of it which are both of Spiritual and Secular Concernment The first is Agne-court and Orgarswike not distant by any considerable Difference of space from this Town and which was once a Parish entirely in it self until it is probable the unhealthful Situation made the Inhabitants vary their Station and dislodge which were both given by Offa King of the Mercians in the year seven hundred eighty and one to the Prior and Monks of Christ-church ad Pascua Porcorum say the Records of that Covent that is for the feeding or grazing of their Hoggs And it is possible that the Foundation of this Grant was the profuse Effusion not only of Christian but of Innocent Blood which had been so prodigally wasted to be subservient and ministerial to the ambitious Interests and Passions of the above-mentioned Prince and though peradventure he had endeavored to wash off those Crimson Stains which stuck upon his Hands besmeared with the Blood of Ethelbert King of the East-Angles and others with penitential Pears yet he deemed that an insufficient Expiation to assoil himself from his contracted Guilt unlesse he made his Compunction more visible and conspicuous by a Munificent Manifestation both of his Piety and Charity together Bere or Berry-court in Old Romney for it carried the first Appellation in very Old Evidences is a Mannot which hath contracted a Reputation from those large Quit-rents and other Services which appertain unto it rather then from the Dimension and extent of its Revenue which is but narrow and circumscribed Nicholas de Bere held it in the twentieth year of Henry the third as appears by an old Court-roll which hath an Aspect upon that Time He was Son of Richard de Bere who was one of the Recognitores Magnae Assisae an Office of a wide circumference of Trust in that Age in the second year of King John in the great Controversie which was started between Richard de Garwinton and Theobald de Twitham concerning Land at Ilding in Kingston In the twentieth year of Edward the third I find that Robert Forneaux Robert Atwood and Thomas Tutwise had some Interest in Berry-court and paid respective Aide for it as the Book of Aide informs me at making the Black Prince Knight But before the beginning of Richard the second I find the Title wholly concentered in Belknap for Sir Robert Belknap the Judge did not only hold it in the first year but likewise in the tenth of that Prince at what Time being attainted and banished by the Malevolent Concurrence of some ambitious Lords whose Influence like a Confederacy of Malignant Aspects in the Stars combined to Ruine him this by Escheat was invested in the Crown and was by Royal Concession as appears by the Original
Rogers alienates it by Sale to Stephen Drayner and it is probable Rogers purchased it of Norton which Family as appears by the Feudaries Book held much Land here at Smerden and at or near Romden But to return In Drayner the Interest of this place was fixed until the seventeenth of Queen Elizabeth and then William Drayner passed it away by Sale to Sir Roger Manwood and he in the eighteenth year of that Princess alienates it again to Martin James Esquire Remembrancer of the Exchecquer and from him by the Devolution of successive and paternal Right it is now come down to acknowledge the Propriety of Mr. .... James Snergate in the Hundred of Aloe bridge celebrates the Memory of an Ancient Family styled Alarar Gervas Alarar was Captain and Admiral of the Fleet of Ships set forth and furnished by the Cinque-ports in the fourteenth year of Edward the first and Gervas Alarar was his Grand-child whose Widow Agnes Alarar was in possession of it at her Death which was in the forty second year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 1. But before the end of Henry the fourth this Family was shrunk into an Expiration and then Walter Moile who was a Judge in the reign of Henry the sixth succeeded in the Possession and he by a Fine levied in the thirtieth year of Henry the sixth demises it to Hugh Brent from whom about the latter end of Edward the fourth it was conveyed to Cheyney and in this Name it was fixed until Henry Lord Cheyney in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth alienated it to Henry Nevill Lord Aburgavenny who in the twenty ninth year of Queen Elizabeth dying without Issue-male Mary Nevill was found to be his Sole Inheritrix and she by matching with Sir Thomas Vane knit this Mannor to his Patrimony and his Son Francis Vane created Earl of Westmerland in the twenty second of King James alienated it in our Fathers Memory to Jackman who not long after sold it to Sir Edward Henden one of the Barons of the Exchecquer who upon his Decease gave it to his Nephew Sir John Henden whose Son and Heir Edward Henden Esquire now enjoyes the Signory of it Smeth in the Hundred of Bircholt hath in the Limits of it Scots-hall which is now and hath been for divers Descents the Inheritance of eminent Gentlemen of that Sirname whom I dare aver upon probable Grounds were originally called Balioll. William Balioll second Brother to Alexander de Balioll frequently writ his Name William de Balioll le Scot and it is probable that upon the Tragedy of John Earl of Atholl who was made prisoner by Edward the first and barbarously executed in the year 1307. whilst he endevoured more nobly then successfully to defend the gasping Liberty of Scotland against the Eruptions of that Prince this Family to decline the Fury of that Monarch who was a man of violent passions altered the Name of Balioll to that of their Extraction and Country and assumed for the future the Name of Scot. That the Sirname of this Family was originally Balioll I farther upon these Reasons assert First the ancient Arms of Balioll Colledge in Oxford which was founded by John Balioll and dedicated to St. Katharine was a Katharin-Wheele being still part of the paternal Coat of this Family Secondly David de Strabogie who was Son and Heir to the infortunate Earl abovesaid astonished with an Example of so much Terror altered his Name from Balioll to Strabogie which was a Signory which accrued to him in Right of his Wife who was Daughter and Heir to John Comin Earl of Badzenoth and Strabogie and by this Name King Edward the second omitting that of Balioll restored Chilham-castle to him for Life in the fifteenth year of his reign Thirdly the Earls of Bucleugh and the Barons of Burley in Scotland who derive themselves originally from Balioll are known at this instant by no other Sirname but Scot and bear with some inconsiderable Difference those very Arms which are at present the paternal Coat of this Family of Scots-hall Having thus traced out the Name I shall now represent a Scale of those eminent Persons who have either directly or collaterally been extracted from Scots-hall Sir William Scot who was knighted the tenth of Edward the third was Lord Chief Justice and Knight Marshal of England in the reign of that Prince Sir Robert Scot was Lieutenant of the Tower in the year 1424. Sir John Scot was Comptroller of the House one of the Privy Councel to Edward the fourth and Marshal of Calais Thomas Scot who was first Bishop of Rochester next of Lincolne Provost of Beverley Arch-bishop of York Lord Chancellor of England and Privy Councellor to King Edward the fourth altered his Name from Scot to Rotheram as being the place of his Education and Nativity but it is probable originally issued out from this Family Sir William Scot who was Son to Sir John above-mentioned was Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports Sir John Scot his Son was knighted by the Prince of Castile for signal Service performed by him against the Duke of Gueldres Sir Reginald Scot was Captain of the Castle of Callis Sir Thomas Scot was Commander in Chief of the Kentish Forces who assembled upon the plains by Northbourn to oppose the Spanish Invasion in the year 1588. All of which were either directly or collaterally Predecessors being of the same Family to Edward Scot now Proprietary of Scots-hall Esquire who was Son and Heir of Sir Edward Scot who was made Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of K. Charles Thevegate is a second Mannor in this Parish which was in elder Times the Inheritance of Gentlemen of no mean Account in this Track Robert de Passeley or Passelew for they are promiscuously so written was Treasurer of England under Peter de Rivallis in the reign of Henry the third as Mat. Paris in the Life of that Prince does record Edmund de Passeley was with Edward the second at Borough-Bridge in the seventeenth year as the Pipe-roll of that Time discovers and probably was instrumental in the Defeat given there to the Nobility then in Arms against that Prince and from him this Mannor did descend to John Passeley Esquire who in the reign of Edward the fourth determined in Elizabeth his sole Heir matched to Reginald Pimp Esquire who likewise had the Fate to conclude in a Female Inheritrix called Ann who was wedded to Sir John Scot of Scots-hall and Shee united Thevegate to the Revenue of that Family and from him is the Right of it by Descent transportted to his Successor Edward Scot of Scots-hall Esquire Smeth had the Grant of a Market procured to it by the Arch-bishop of Canterbury in the tenth year of Edward the third Shepebourn in the Hundred of Wrotham was the Patrimony of an ancient Family called Bavent whose principal Estate lay in Sussex and Surrey Adam de Bavent in the twelfth year of Edward the first obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannor
Track who had their ancient Residence at this place and sealed as high as Edward the third with a Fesse Ermin between three Goats heads erased in Labells affixed to their Deeds which was the Paternal Coat-Armour of John de Fereby for so is the Name written in ancient Muniments who flourished in the reign of Edward the second and Edward the third But this mans Posterity being desirous to transplant themselves to Pauls Crey where they had before purchased Lands called Hokinden of Dynley about the latter end of Richard the second conveyed that Estate they had here about the beginning of Henry the sixth to Waller of Grome-bridge and continued for many years folded up in the Revenue of that Family until very lately it varied its Possessor being by purchase made the Inheritance of Alderman Chiverton of London Rust-hall in this Parish had likewise Proprietaries of that Sirname one of which Family called John Rust was Maior of Feversham in the raign of Henry the sixth and there lyes entombed and about that Age. this Family surrendered their Concernment here by Sale to Waller in which Name it resided untill the forty second year of Queen Elizabeth and then it was conveyed by Richard Waller Esquire to Mr. George Stacy who not long after passed it away to Bing in which Family the Possession is at this instant fixed Ewherst is the last place which must be mentioned and indeed it is worth our Recording because this and Read in Marden was the ancient Patrimony of Read many Discents before Sir Robert Read Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the reign of Henry the seventh transplanted himself to Chiddingstone by matching with the Coheir of Alphew yet still remained Possessor of this place which he transmitted with Katharine one of his four Daughters and Coheirs matched with Sir Thomas Willoughbie and after the Title had been knit to this Family by the Links of some Discents it was by Sale not long since transferred to Knight Siberts-would vulgarly called Shepeards-well lies in the Hundred of Bewsborough and hath two places in it worth our Notice The first is West-court which was given as the Records of Christ-church testifie to Alfric the Abbot by King Etheldred in the year 944 and conveyed not long after by Scotlandus the Abbot his Successor to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and hath been ever since as a Limbe or Branch of that See Upton-court is a second place of Repute Several old datelesse Deeds discover to us that it was in elder Times the Patrimony of a Family called Vpton from whom it is probable that the Vptons of Feversham who for many years have flourished there under a fair Estimate of Antiquity were originally descended but before the end of Edward the third this Family was crumbled away at this place and then the Goldsburghs or Goldsboroughs were invested in the Possession and remained Masters of this Seat untill the Beginning of Henry the seventh and then this Name began to moulder away into Decay and Oblivion and surrendred their Interest here by Sale to Guldford in which Name it found an aboad untill the latter end of Henry the eighth and then it was conveyed to John Bois Esquire Ancestor to John Bois of Fredvill Esq now Lord and Proprietary of it Swink-field in the Hundred of Folkstone was originally and as high as any Evidence will leave us any Track or Print to walk by to a Discovery the Possession of the noble Family of Crioll who held here two little Manors called Bouington alias Bointon and Northcourt which were both given by Nicholas Keriell or Crioll in the third year of Richard the second to one John Phineux Esquire for that Protection and Shelter which he by a Magnanimous and vigorous Assistance supplied him with even to the saving of his Life at the Battle of Polcteirs and being thus fastned to this Family the Interest of both these places continued intermingled with their Inheritance untill they came by successive Discent to be possest by John Phineux Esquire extracted from a Son by a second Wife of Sir Jo. Phineux the Judge who determined in a Daughter and Heir matched to Sir John Smith who in her right was invested in the Propriety of both these places from whom they are now come down to his Grandchild Philip Smith Viscount Strangford There was a Praeceptory here at Swingfield which belonged to the Knights Hospitallers of the Nature Capacity and Condition of which I have spoken before at Little-Peckham which upon the Suppression of their Order here in England was by Henry the eighth in the thirty third of his reign granted to Sir Anthony Aucher who not long after passed it away to Palmer descended from an ancient Family of that Sirname in Sussex so that it is now the Inheritance of Sir Henry Palmer of Wingham Baronet In the twentieth year of Edward the third John Monins held Land here and paid respective Aid for it as the Book of Aid informs me at making the Black Prince Knight I should not have mentioned this Record but to shew that this noble and eminent Family I am bold to call them so since the above-mentioned John Monins is styled in the former Record Esquire can put in its claim to as high and illustrious Descent as the most of the Families of this County can justly and primitively entitle themselves to Snodland in the Hundred of Lark-field was given to the Priory of St. Andrews in Rochester by Egbert King of the West-Saxons in the year 838 and is an Appendage to Halling being setled by Henry the eighth upon the Suppression of the former Covent on the Dean and Chapiter of Rochester The Courtlodge by the Church was as high as I can by the Guide and Direction of Evidence trace out the Palmers who as appears by very ancient Deeds sealed with a Cheveron between three Palmers Scrips William le Palmer who was Owner both of this and Rye-huose in Otford flourished here in the reign of Edward the third and stood depicted in the Church-Window with the above-recited Arms on his Tabard or Surcoat untill some rude hand defaced the Signature Another of this Name lies entombed in Snodland Church whose Epitaph alluding to his Name is registred by Weaver amongst his printed Monuments of the Diocesse of Rochester and after this Name was extinguished at this place the Leeds's were the next Family who by purchase entituled themselves to the Possession of it and I remember amongst some Church-notes of this County collected by the eminent Robert Glover Esquire there is mention of one Will. Leeds who lyes enter'd in Snodland Church with his Armes viz A Fessee between three Eagles affixed to his Graves-stone but it seems the Date Pourtraicture and Coat being insculped in Brasse were by sacrilegious Handstorn off for now there is no appearance of them nor of this Family neither who not many years since dispossessed themselves of their Interest in this place and by Sale gave it up to
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 siâââ 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
by a Chain of Descent to his Grand-child Sir Charles Sydley Baronet the present Lord of the Fee Pole vulgarly called Poole is another Mannor in Southfleet And was in elder Times the Inheritance of a Family called Berese for I find by a fine levyed in the thirty seventh year of Henry the third that Richard de Berese fells this Mannor under the Notion of a Carucate of Land to Reginald de Cobham of Roundall in Shorne and from him did it by a continued Thread of Succession devolve to John Cobham Esquire in whom the Male-line of that Name ended and he dyed seised of it in the ninth year of Henry the fourth Rot. Esc Num. 10. And lett it to Joan his Sole Inheritrix who by Reginald Braybrook her third and last Husband had Issue Joan her only Daughter and Heir who brought this Mannor and a liberal Revenue besides to her Husband Thomas Brook of the County of Somerset Esquire Grand-father to Thomas Lord Brook who about the Beginning of Henry the seventh passed it away to Sir Henry Wiat one of the Privy Councel to that Monarch from whom it descended to his noble but infortunate Grandchild Sir Tho. Wiat who in the second year of Q. Mary forfeited this and his Life together so that from thenceforth it was clasped up in the Income of the Crown untill Queen Elizabeth in the twenty fifth year of her reign restored it to his Widow the Lady Joan Wiatt and George Wiat Esquire his Son and Heir father to Sir Francis Wiat who upon his Decease left it to his Widow Dowager the Lady ..... Wiatt who is now in possession of it Scadbery in Southfleet hath been for some Centuries of years the possession of the Family of Sidleys who were in Times of very high Ascent seated in Romney Mersh for there are some Lands there which at this Day they call by the Name of Sidleys and Sidleys Mersh In this Mansion there is a Room whose sides are covered with Wainscot and on one of the Plates or Pains which appears to be exceeding ancient the Arms of Sidley are carved in embost-work viz A Fesse wavee between three Goats heads erased and these Letters underneath W. and S. with the year of our Lord affixed in Figures whose Date commences from 1337. And although the Structure of this House hath like a Snail shifted its ancient Shell yet in all its Mutations and Vicissitudes which must certainly have very much disordered the Fabrick when it was cast into a new mould and frame and ravelled and discomposed the Materials yet this Panel of Wainscot hath been like a Relique religiously preserved to justifie not only the Antiquity of this Seat but of the Family of Sydley also which is presumed to have been resident at this place before the above-mentioned Calculation from whom Sir Charles Sidley Baronet claims the Original of his Title to this Mansion and his Extraction or pedigree likewise untwisted into many Descents and now at last wound up in him Shouldon in the Hundred of Deal hath two remarkable places which are situated within the Limits of it First Hull presents it self to our View it was formerly under the Signory of the illustrious-Family of Ratling or Retling in Nonington Thomas de Retling paid respective Aid for this and divers other Lands of ancient Inheritance in the twentieth year of Edward the third at the making the Black Prince Knight and left it to his Son Sir Richard de Retling whose Widow the Lady Sarah Retling and afterwards Wife of John de St. Laurence died possest of it in the tenth year of Richard the second and left it to John Spicer who had married Joan Daughter and Heir to her first Husband but he concluding in a Daughter and Heir by this his first Wife called Cicely who was Heir to her mother Joan Spicer shee by matching with Iohn Isaack knit it to the Propriety of that Family But before the twenty first of Henry the sixth he had fixed the Inheritance in Iohn Bresland in whom it was not long resident for he suddenly after altered his right and about the Beginning of Edward the fourth put it over by Sale to Phineux of Swink-field whose Successor Robert Phineux by as quick and early a Vicissitude placed the possession about the Beginning of Henry the eighth in George Monins Esquire whose Successor in that Age which was circumscribed within the Pale of our Fathers Remembrance passed it away to Crayford of Great Mongeham Secondly Cotmanton puts in its Claim for some memorial likewise even in this respect that it was the Demeasne of the noble Family of Crioll or Keriell who were of some considerable Repute in this Track as appearsby by the Book styled Testa de Nevill kept in the Exchequer where they are represented in the twentieth year of Henry the third to have held Land in this Skirt of the County and in Ages of a modern Aspect that is in the twentieth year of Edward the third I find Iohn de Criol gave a pecuniary supply at the making the Black Prince Knight but before the end of Edward the third he was departed from the possession of this place which by Sale was resigned up to Roger Digge and he dyed in the possession of it in the third year of Ric. the second Rot. Esc Num 19. And in this Family it continued untill the reign of Henry the seventh and then it was alienated to Barton descended from the ancient Family of Barton of Barton-hall in the County of Lancaster from whom the like Mutation about the latter end of H. the eighth carried it off to the Family of Brown and from them it passed away by Sale into the Possession of Richardson upon whose going out the Family of Smith by a Devolution like the former not many years since stept into the Inheritance of it Sundrich in the Hundred of Codsheath was the Possession as high as any Light collected from Antiquity can waft us to a Discovery of an Ancient Family called in Latine-Records de Insula and in English Isley Iohn de Insula obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Lands at Sundrich in the eleventh year of Edward the second and he had Issue Iohn Isley who married Joan Daughter to Sir Ralph de Fremingham and by her had Issue Roger Isley Esquire who in Right of his mother became Heir to his Uncle Iohn Fremingham Esquire who deceased without Issue in the twelfth year of Henry the fourth and this Roger Isley had Issue William Isley Esquire who was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty fifth year of Henry the sixth and he had Issue John Isley Esquire who was Justice of the Peace and Sheriff of Kent in the fourteenth year of Edward the fourth and deceased in the year 1484 as appears by an Inscription affixed to his Monument yet extant notwithstanding the late general Shipwrack of the Remains of Antiquity in Sundrich-church and he had Issue Thomas Isley Esquire Father of Sir Henry Isley who was
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
as a Limb of the Estate thus acquired who in the fiftieth year of his reign setled it on the Abby of St. Mary Grace on Tower-hill of his Foundation and Endowment and having remained treasured up in the Revenue of that Cloister untill the general suppression it was then plucked off and by King Henry the eighth granted in the thirty first of his Reign to Thomas Green Esquire whose Descendant in our Fathers memory passed away his Concernment in it to Apsley Ham Sharpenash and West-court are three little Mannors situated within the Circuit of this Parish and were parcel of that Patrimony which related to the Abby of St. Augustins which upon the Dissolution of that Fraternity the vast Demeasn which appertained to it being more hainous in the Eyes of Henry the eighth than those Crimes and Offences though peradventure of a Complexion dark enough which were charged upon the Covent He I mean the Prince abovesaid ravished them away from the patrimony of the Church to incorporate and interweave them with the Revenue of the Crown where their Title and proprietie was not long lodged for K. Hen. the eighth conveyed them by Grant to Will. Hach descended from Hach of Aller in Devon who not long after passed them away to Tho. Green Esq written in his Deeds alià Norton where after the possession of them had some years continued the Interest of all these Mannors was by the Mutation of Sale transported into Aldersey Ancestor to Captain Terry Aldersey of Swanton Court in Bredgar now Lord of the Fee and Signory of these above recited places W. W. W. W. WAldershare in the Hundred of Eastry was in elder Times the Seat of an eminent Family called Malmains John de Malmains is recorded in an Ancient Roll of those Gentlentemen which entred England with William the Conquerour and engaged with him at the Battle of Battle John de Malmains as Mr. Fuller in his Ecclesiastical History does represent to us was Standard Bearer to the Norman Footmen and was joyned by William the Conquerour as an Assistant Knight to Otho one of the Monks of Ely Henry Malmains is registred in the Bed-roll of those Kentish Gentlemen who assisted Richard the first at the Siege of Acon See more of this Family of Malmains in the Catalogue of Sheriffs John de Malmains is registred in the Pipe rolls amongst those who were Recognitores Magnae Assisae in the reign of K. John a place of that Latitude of Trust and Authority that those who managed it were frequently selected out of the chiefest Knights and most eminent Gentlemen of the County Sir Nicholas de Malmains was engaged with Edward the first at the Siege of Carlaverock in Scotland in the twenty eighth of his reign and for his worthy undertaking there received the Dignity of Knighthood and from him did Waldershare descend to Nicholas de Malmains who died possest of this and much other Land in the twenty third year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 160. and from him descended Henry Malmains his Grand-child who dying about the beginning of Henry the fourth without Issue Male left his Estate here at Waldershare to Agnes his sole Daughter and Heir matched to Thomas Goldwell of Great Chart yet had this Henry a Kinsman called Thomas Malmains Son of John Malmains who had a considerable share of this Mannor of Waldershare which by his Heir General devolved to John Monins Esquire who about the beginning of Henry the sixth purchased all that Demeasn and Interest which Tho. Goldwell was entituled to here and so became sole Lord of Waldershare This John Monins was descended from John Monins who in the twentieth year of Edw. the third held Lands at Swink-field as appeats by the Book of Aid by the Title of Esquire and was allied to William Monings or Monins for in old Records they are written so promiscuously who was several times Knight of the Shire for Norfolk as appears by the Record in the Tower whose Title is De Expensis Militum in the time of Richard the second and John Monins this Mans Son was a person of so eminent Notice in this County that he obtained an Indulgence under the Seal of Sixtus the fourth bearing Date 1474 to carry along with him a Priest and a portable Altar for celebration of divine Offices in his necessary Journeyings and John Monins this Man's Grand-child and Son of Robert compounds with Tho. Hobbys in the twentieth year of Hen. the seventh for ten Marks as part of his Fine to be excused from being made Knight of the Bath at the creation of Henry his Son Prince of Wales Edward Monins Esq was Justice of the Peace for Kent the latter part of the reign of Henry the eighth and he was Ancestor to Sir William Monins who was made Knight and Baronet the twenty ninth day of June in the ninth year of K. James by the Name of Sir William Monings of Waldershare and from him is not onely this Title but likewise the signory of this Mannor now devolved by paternal right to his Son and Heir Edward Monins Baronet Walmer is a Member of Sandwich and so in no Hundred It was one of those principal Seats which owned the jurisdiction and signory of the noble and spreading Family of Crioll written frequently likewise Keriel The first whom I find to be possest of it was Matilda de Criol Widow of Simon de Crioll and she in right of Dower was in possession of it at her Death which was in the fifty second of Henry the third Rot. Esc Num. 34. The next of this Name whom the Beams of publick Record represent to me to be possessor of it was Nicholas de Crioll who enjoyed it at his Death which was in the thirty first of Edward the first Rot. Esc Num. 39. In Ages of a nearer Approach unto us Iohn de Crioll in the forty ninth year of Edward the third died seised of it and so did William Keriell in the first year of Henry the fifth Rot. Esc Num. 21. and left it to his Son Sir John Crioll of Sarre in Thanet who as an old Pedigree of this Family informs me was in eminent Command under Henry the fifth in his successful Expedition into France having the Conduct of several Kentish Squadrons at the Battle of Agincourt and died laden more with Honour then with Years in the ninth year of Henry the sixth and left Sir Thomas Crioll or Keriell Knight of the Gatter Heir both of his Estate and Virtues of whom because our Chronicles speak so much I shall not be silent He was Governor of Gourney in Normandy in the ninth year of Henry the sixth under John Duke of Bedford the Regent not farre from which Place he defeated the Earl of Britaine and in that discomfiture slew six Hundred and took two Hundred Prisoners In the fourteenth year of Henry the sixth the Duke of Burgundy infested Crotoy with a Siege which being successefully raised by the Lord Talbot Sir Thomas Keriell
Digge who promiscuously writ themselves in elder Times sometimes of Barham and sometimes of VVestwell as appears by many of their ancient Evidences and other Muniments yet extant In the reign of Edward the third there was one Adomarus de Digge who frequently writ himself of Westwell but whether it were he that was the Judge or not I cannot positively aver In fine after this place had for many Ages acknowledged the Signory of this Family it came down to John Digge in whom the Male-line ended so that his Female Heir being wedded to Henry Aucher annexed it to the Revenue of that Family and from him hath the Title by a Thread of many years been guided down to Mr. ...... Aucher Dean-court may be registered likewise in the Catalogue of the principal Mannors of this Parish It was in Times of elder prescription the Inheritance of Hussie who likewise was entituled to the possession of Dean-court in Wingham now the Mansion of the Oxendens by purchase from this Family Henry Hussie a man of great power as appears by that large Estate he was Lord of both at Wingham Lenham Boughton Malherbe and elsewhere died possest of this Mannor in the eighteenth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Numb 36. and from him did it in an even and an undivided Current glide along in this Name until the latter end of King Henry the eighth and then it was passed away by Sale to Milan in which Family the propriety of this place is now resident Nash-court is the next place in Westwell that cals for our Survey in old Deeds I find a Family that sometimes writ At Ash and sometimes Nash into which the former Name resolved who were possessors of it In Times of a lower Step that is in the thirty second year of Edward the third as appears by the close Roll of that year Rot. Esc Num. 94. Alanus de Hanekin held it but before the latter end of Richard the second this Family had quitted the possession by Sale to Brockhull of Calchill and was not long after that is about the twelfth year of Henry the fourth by Henry Brockhull conveyed to John Darell Esquire Sheriff of Kent in the eleventh year of Henry the fourth and Brother of Sir William Darell under-Treasurer of England and in this Name it was permanent until the last year of Edward the sixth and then it went away by Sale to Sharpe of Nin-house in great Chart and hath been now for five Descents resident in that Family Beamonston vulgarly called Beamston is partly situated in West-well and partly spread into East-well but the greatest part of the Demeasne is circumscribed within the Bounds of this Parish And in the twentieth year of Edward the third as appears by the Book of Aide was held by Thomas at More at making the Black Prince Knight But before the fourth year of Henry the fourth this Family was extinguished for at the Marriage of Blanch that Prince's Daughter as appears by the Roll of Blanch Lands kept in the Exchequer John Amias was possest of it and paid respective Aide for it as having purchased it of At-More and in this Name did it reside until the reign of Henry the seventh and then it was conveyed by Sale to John Moile Esquire Father to Sir Thomas Moile who left this with much other Land to Katharine his Daughter and Co-heir matched to Sir Thomas Finch in Right of which Alliance it is now devolved to be the Inheritance of his great Grand-child Hencage Finch the instant Earl of Winchelsey Perytowne lies likewise within the Limits of Westwell and is registered in the Catalogue of those Lands that William de Aldon died possest of in the thirty fifth year of Edward the third and continued chained to the Inheritance of this Family until about the twenty seventh of Henry the sixth it was passed away with much other other Land to Cardinal Kempe who setled it in the twenty eighth year of that Prince on his newly erected Colledge of Wye and rested there until the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth and then it was resigned into the Hands of that Prince and he in the thirty eighth year of his reign granted it to Thomas Cawarden or Carden Esquire and he not long after conveyed it by Sale to Sir John Baker of Sisingherst whose Successor Sir John Baker Baronet hath this present year 1657. alienated it to Nathaniel Powell of Ewherst in Sussex Esquire Woditon or Wolton is the last place of any Note in Westwell It was originally parcel of the Inheritance of a Family called Wolton or Woditon Ivo de Woditon held it in the year 1236. and left it to his Son John de Wolton who had Issue Richard de Woditon or VVolton a man of principal Note in the twentieth year of Edward the third who held both this Mannor and VVoditon by Berham which he held of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury by Knights Service at making the Black Prince Knight And in this Man's Successors did the Propriety constantly reside until the latter end of Henry the sixth and then some part of it was conveyed to John Hampton and he about the beginning of Edward the fourth passed it away to Richard Rasel who died possest of it as appears by his Will in the twentieth of that Prince but there was some part remained unsold until William Wolton dying 1540 ordered it by his Deed to be passed away to Feoffees in Trust to discharge Debts which accordingly was performed and the Remainder conveyed to Rasell in the Descendants of which Name and Family the entire proprietie is at this instant remaining Werehorne in the Hundreds of Ham and Blackbourne was partly under the Jurisdiction of the Church and partly under the Signory of temporal and Lay Proprietaries that Moitie of it which was of secular Interest belonged to a Family called Bedford Rich. de Bedford obtained a Grant of a Market to it weekly on the Tuesday and a Fair of three days continuance at the Feast of St. Matthew as appears Cart. 52. Henrici tertii Memb. 12 which was renued and confirmed to the abovesaid Person in the eighth year of Edward the first and he in the seventeenth year of that Prince died possest of it as is manifest Rot. Esc Num. 20. But after him it was of no long date in the Tenure of this Family for in the reign of Edward the second I find it in the possession of Hugh de VVindlesore or VVindsor but was not long chained to their Patrimony neither for about the beginning of Edward the third it was alienated to Moraunt of Moraunts Court but about the beginning of Richard the second Sir Thomas Morant Son of VVilliam Moraunt Sheriff of Kent the twelfth and thirteenth year of Edward the third to whom that Prince issued out a Mandate that but one Bell should be rang in any Steeple towards the Sea-Coast in Kent determined in a Female Heir who was matched to James Peckham of Yaldham Sheriff of Kent
and Geffrey de Camville was with Edward the first at the Siege of Carlaverock in Scotland in the twenty eighth year of his reign and there received the Order of Knighthood and here this Family concluded for afterwards I find this Mannor in the Hands of the Abbot of VVestminster who obtained a Market weekly to be held at this place on the Munday and a Fair yearly upon the Vigil the day and day after the Nativity of our Lady as appears Pat. 25. Edwardi tertii Num. 32. And here it remained with their revenue untill the Suppression of that Cloister in the reign of Henry the eighth and then being rent away by that Tempest it was in the thirty second year of that Prince granted to Sir Iohn Gresham which Concession was again confirmed to the Lady Beatrix Gresham Widow of Sir Thomas Gresham his Son by Queen Elizabeth from whom it is now devolved to Marmaduke Gresham Esq the Heir apparent of the Family Broxham is a place of eminent Account in this Parish Iohn de Insula or Isley was Lord of this Mannor and obtained a Charter of Free-warren here in the eleventh year of Edward the second After the Isleys were gon out the Ashways successively stept into the possession Stephen de Ashway obtained a Licence to inclose a Park here in the forty first year of Edward the third the Characters and Reliques of which are not so generally demolished and disparked by Time but that they are still obvious to a Curious eye yet this Priviledge could not fix it long in this Family for about the latter end of Richard the second I find it by Sale cast into the possession of Edward Lord Clinton who held it at his Decease which was in the first year of Henry the fourth Rot. Esc Num. 16. But here likewise the Title was as volatile and transitory for about the Beginning of Henry the sixth Iohn Lord Clinton passed it away to Thomas Squerie who was Lord of Squeries-court in this Parish and was descended from Iohn de Squerie whom I find by some old Evidences to have lived at Westerham in the Reign of Henry the third and it is possible either erected or very much augmented the Seat called Squeries-court The Arms viz. a Squirrel brousing on a Hasell-nut are depicted in very ancient coloured Glasse in Westerham-church but this Thomas above-mentioned dying in the seventeenth year of Henry the sixth without Issue-male Margaret his eldest Daughter matched to Sir William Cromer and Dorothy his youngest wedded to Richard Mervin of Fontels in Wiltshire became his two Coheirs and upon the division of the estate Squeries-court and Broxham were annexed to the patrimony of Cromer in which Family they made their aboad until the reign of Henry the eighth and then VVilliam Cromer Esquire having by some Delinquencie forfeited them to the Crown that Prince granted them to Thomas Cawarden or Carden Esquire from which Family about the middle of Queen Elizabeths reign they went off by Sale to Beresford who almost in our memory sold Squeries-Court to Sir George Stroud and he some few years since alienated it to Thomas Lambert Esquire who hath lately demised it to Mr ...... Leech but Broxham was conveyed to Mr. Tho. Petley of Vilston whose Grandchild Mr. ..... Petley is the Heir apparent of it Well-street and Gaysam in this Parish did anciently confess the two Families of Atwell and Shelley for its proprietaries William Atwell held Wellstreet as appears by an ancient Court-roll in the thirty fifth of Edward the third and Thomas Shelley in the forty sixth year of the same Monarch settles Gaysam by Testament on Thomas his Son and Heir who in the eighth year of Richard the second conveys it to his Son Thomas Shelley whose Descendant about the latter end of Henry the sixth demised it to John Potter and his Successor about the Beginning of Henry the fourth purchased VVellstreet of the Heirs of Cothull and is in the List of five of this Family who lye buried in Westerham-church and this Branch of the Name here was descended from Iohn Potter who held Lands at Dertford the twelfth of Edward the second and whose posterity continued Lords of these two places untill the Beginning of King James and then ...... Potter dying without Issue-male his only Daughter and Heir brought them to be the Inheritance of Sir Iohn Rivers of Chafford who not many years since demised his Interest in Well-street to Mr. Thomas Smith of Milk-street in London Scrivener Valons in this Parish was formerly the Mansion of a Family called in old datelesse Deeds de Valoniis and in English Valons but the greatest Honor which accrued to it was that Islip Abbot of VVestminster bought it in the reign of Henry the seventh of Casinghurst a Family which had been possest of it many Descents before and gave it to his Servant VVilliam Middleton who much improved it with Building And in his Family it was resident untill the latter end of Queen Elizabeth and then it was conveyed to James Verseline descended out of Flanders who gave it with his Daughter Anne Verseline to Peter Manning from which Family not many years since it passed away to Mr. Randall Manning of London whose Son and Heir Mr. Thomas Manning is now in the enjoyment of it Werd or Werth in the Hundred of Eastry is a Parish if you consider it in its precincts but narrow if in position low and unhealthful or if again in its number of Communicants not considerable but yet there are two places within the Ambuts and Boundaries of it which claim some consideration The first is the Mannor of Sandowne which was anciently the Perots who held this Mannor as the private Deeds of this Name and Family inform me as high as the Reign of Henry the third Thomas de Perot died possest of it in the fourth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 31. and then it was found fenced in and fortified with these priviledges It had Infangthef and Outfangthef Toll and Theam Sac and Soc Tumbrell and Pillory and other Franchises of the like Complexion but after this the Tenure was but of a brief Duration in this Name for the Female Heir of Perot brought this Mannor with much other Land to Langley of the County of Warwick and about the Reign of Henry the fifth there was a match between this Family and Peyton of the County of Cambridge which match at length brought this Mannor to descend to this Family For Edward Langley of Knolton Esquire deceasing about the beginning of Henry the eighth without Issue Sir Robert Peyton of Peyton Hall entred upon this and other Lands as his Heir at Law and he assigned it to his second Son John Peyton Esquire from whom it is now descended to Sir Thomas Peyton Baronet the instant proprietary of it Before I leave this Discourse of Sandowne I must inform the Reader that the Family of Peyton above mentioned and that of Ufford were primitively one and
bore the same paternal Coat were known by the same Name and were both deduced from the same Root and Original Ex Autograph's penes Dom. Tho. Peyton Baronettum onely Peyton was the elder House Now the ground on which the Mutation of the Name was established was briefly this John de Peyton flourished in the reign of Henry the second and left four Sons whereof the three eldest were named John Robert and John to John the eldest he gave his Mannor of Peyton lying extended into Stoke Neyland Boxford and Ramsholt Parishes in Suffolk to Robert his second Son he gave his Mannor of Ufford lying in Suffolk likewise who altered his Name from Peyton and assumed that of Ufford a Name borrowed from that Signory of which he was become newly possessor and from him the Name of Ufford was communicated to the Earls of Suffolk and other persons of eminent Repure in those Generations wherein they flourished John de Peyton the third Brother by Deed without Date demises all his Interest in Boxford to his elder Brother John de Peyton by that Name he there calls him which justifies nor only the Antiquity but the Seniority of this Family of Peyton before that of Ufford And from John de Peyton the elder above mentioned are the Peytons of Cambridgeshire and Sir Tho. Peyton of Knolton Baronet originally descended Lidde in ancient Records written Hlyden is a second Mannor in Werd of considerable Account ever since it was given at the Request of Janibert the Arch-Bishop by K. Offa in the year 874 to the Monks of Christ-Church as the Records of that Church discover to me under the Notion of three Sullings or Ploughlands And the Instrument which confirmed this Donation was signed with the Marks that is Crosses of Offa the King Janibert the Arch-Bishop Kenedrith the Queen three other Bishops five other Abbots Duke Edbald and eleven other principal Persons or Noblemen And that this was the manner of Signature in elder Times that is the affixing of Crosses to all publick Instruments and other original Donations is most certain For Sealing came into England with Edward the Confessor who being bred up in Normandy in which Province and in France the Use of affixing Seals to Deeds had been in Use long before his Time introduced that Custome and way of Signature into this Nation as being more conspicuous and distinguishable than that of Crosses or those other wayes of confirming of Grants of Land either to the Church or to secular Uses which was either per Collocationem Gladii seu Cultelli supra Altare by the placing or laying a Sword or Knife upon the Altar whereby those which did make Donations of Land did tacitly insinuate that their Honour was involved in their Conscience or else per Traditionem Surculi vel stipitis which Custome is yet observed in our Copy-hold Land where Surrenders are made by delivery of a Turfe Twig or white Wand But sealing with Coats of Arms was not brought in untill the reign of Edward the first but were borne by persons of Honor on their Tabards or Surcoats two Examples of which I have seen one of William Warren Earl of Pembroke who in the second year of Henry the second sealed with the Figure of a Chivaler on Horseback his Caparisons Tabard and Shield being all Checquee the paternal Coat of this Family the other was of Richard Curzon of Croxall in Derbyshire who in the reign of King John stands in a Window pourtrayed in his Surcoat surmounted with a Bend charged with a Martlet And this was done in Imitation of the Heralds who wore the Arms of those Princes they servâd on their Tabards as Badges to distinguish them from the Heralds of other Princes either in the Time of War or Peace Indeed Seals in higher Ages were of that sacred Estimate that being lost they were decryed by the owners least they might be affixed to any surreptitious Instrument which might prejudice either their Fame or Estate And in the interval of their Absence or Losse the Owners abovesaid were accustomed to Seal with the Seal of the Bishop of the Diocess or else with that of the next adjacent Abbot all Deeds and Instruments either of Publick or private Interess But to return this Donation of Offa's though thus secured and strengthned could not shelter this Mannor from the Rage of ahat Tempest which in the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth like a Whirlwind caught it up in the Patrimony of the Church and drop'd it into the Revenue of the Crown where it lay untill Queen Elizabeth in the Beginning of her Raign passed it away by Grant to William Lovelace Esquire Serjeant at Law whose Son Sir William Lovelace not long after demised it by Sale to Sir John Smith Grand-father to Philip Viscount Strangford who now enjoys it Wickham Brews in the Hundred of Downhamford distinguished from other places of that Name by the Addition of the Sirname of Brews which Family were Lords thereof In the twentieth year of William the Conquerour Odo Bishop of Baion and Earl of Kent held this place of the Gift of his half Brother which was that Prince and Trendle Park adjoyning there was a Composition between the Arch-bishop and this Man for certain Land of the said Arch-bishop to be inclosed and included within the said Park at Trendley which signifies thus much unto us that Woodstock which boasts it self to be the first inclosed Park of England was not so ancient as this at Trendley In Times of a more modern Character that is in those which commence from the reign of Henry the third it acknowledged the Brewses Barons of Brember in Sussex to be its proprietaries who engrafted their own Name upon it which hath sprouted out and flourished upon it untill this Day William de Brewosa or de brewe held it and was several times summoned to sit in Parliament as Baron in the reign of King Edward the first and Edward the second and dyed in the ninth year of the last Prince Rot. Esc Num. 204. After this Family had deserted the possession which was about the Beginning of Edward the third it became the Inheritance of many of the most eminent Nobility of this Kingdome I shall represent them out of some ancient Court-rolls in a Compendious Series Edmund Plantagenet Earl of Kent held it in the fourth year of Edward the third William Longspey had it in the the twentieth year of the abovesaid Prince and paid an auxiliary supply for it at making the Black Prince Knight John Earl of Kent dyed seised of it in the twenty sixth year of Edw. the third Thomas Holland Earl of Kent and Joan his Wife Sister and Coheir of the abovementioned Earl were possest of it in the thirty fifth year of Edward the third Lucie Wife of Edmund Holland Earl of Kent was seised of it in the second year of Henry the sixth After whom it devolved to Edmund Mortimer Earl of March and he held it in the
the first Sir John de Savage obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannor of Werdon But before the middle of Edward the third this Family had surrendered their Interest here to Fremingham for John de Fremingham dyed seised of it in the twenty third year of Edward the third but whether it devolved with other Land by the Heir general of Fremingham to Isley or not is incertain because those privtae evidences which relate to this Mannor extend no higher then the reign of Edward the fourth and then I find the propriety of it in Norton in which Family after the possession had resided untill our times it was conveyed to Edmund Tooke of Dartford Esq Barrister at Law now proprietary of it Thanet lies if not all yet most part of it circumscribed within the Hundred of Ringleslow It is styled in Greek by ancient Authors ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Latine Thanetum and in the Saxon it is curtailed into Thanet which an old Manuscript which I have seen deduces from two Saxon Words Thane and Yete which in that Language then implyed as much as the Lords-Entrance but for my particular I believe that the Saxons when upon the Donation of it to them by Vortiger they first entered into this Island finding that Thanetum was a Latine Name imposed upon it by the Romans who had but newly then deserted the Protection of this Island new-softned the Name by contracting it and then quilted it into the Alphabet of their own Language and called it Thanett and that this is probable I shall evince from circumstances Punio in Latine signifies to punish from whence the Saxons styled that place by Maidstone where they punished Malefactors Pinandun Hoath So Castrum was a Name used by the Romans to signifie or expresse any Castle or Fortresse which the Saxons upon their admission into this Island finding it to be imposed upon all places of strength and importance adopted it into their Dialect and from the word Castrum extracted the word Ceaster I could instance in many other particulars but that I should both weary my Reader and clog this Discourse with Superfluities I shall therefore from the untwisting the Name descend to the Description of the Island Serre now vulgarly called Sarre is the first place of Note which offers it self up to a view It was anciently a Parish untill peradventure the unhealthinesse of the Soile for it now confines upon Marishes where formerly glided that Gullet of Sea-water now wholly stifled with Sand which made Thanett an Island as may plainly appear by an ancient Mapp printed by the original and now extant in the Book called Monasticum Anglicanum or else from the insalubrity of the Air which being polluted with those black and foggie vapours which ascend from a loose and soggie earth very frequently leave a venomous Tincture upon the Blood and Spirits of those Inhabitants who are subject to the impression of such pernicious exhalations forced those who dwelt in Serre to abandon so sickly a Habitation and so the Parish by degrees began to languish away into that Solitude we see it is shrunk into at present The Church was dedicated to St. Giles but at present lies entombed in such forgotten Ruines that scarce the least Remains are visible The Mannor it self was one of the ancient Seats of the noble Family of Crioll Bertram de Crioll augments the Register of those Kentish Gentlemen who were with Richard the first at the Siege of Acon in Palestine Bartholomew de Crioll another of this Name and Family was Lieutenant of Dover-castle under the abovesaid Prince Simon de Crioll was with Edward the first at his prosperous Siege of Carlaverock and for his generous Assistance there received the Order of Knighthood and from him it came down to Sir William Crioll Father to Sir John Crioll who held it in the Beginning of Henry the sixth as appears Pat. 9. Hen. 6. Par. prim Memb. 19. And from him was it transmitted to his Son Sir Thomas Keriell Knight of the Garter a Man of that worth and eminence in that time he lived in that I might seem something to obscure his Glory if I should not represent to the Reader some of those honorable Atchievements which he performed in France the Relation of which I have omitted in my Description of Stockbury and Walmer In the ninth year of Henry the sixth he being Governour of Gourney in Normandy issuedout of that place and harassed not only that Province but fought with the Earl of Bretaigne who was sent to oppose his Eruptions and after a sharp Combat gave him a remarkable discomfiture killing about six hundred and captivating two hundred Soldiers In the fifteenth of Henry the sixth he seised upon the Duke of Burgundie's Carriages and Cannons leaving Cretoy a Fortresse then in possession of the English and not long before distressed by the abovesaid Duke furnished with victual for six hundred men for the space of a twelvemonth And lastly in the twenty seventh year of Henry the sixth he was sent over into France with a supply of 1500 men to recruit the English Army where he did as much with so small a quantity of men as could be expected from humane Courage and having reduced some pieces of strength he encountered the Earl of Clermont at a place called Formigney where being overlaid with Multitude after he had given most signal Testimony of his valour and discharged all those duties which might have secured and preserved the Honor of the English Nation and the Glory of the day by which he declared himself to be not only a prudent Man but an expert Commander he was defeated But to proceed after the Family of Crioll went out from the possession of this place which was before the latter end of Henry the sixth John White Esquire became Lord of the Fee and held it at his Death which was in the ninth year of Edward the fourth but after his Decease it was not long resident in this Name for in the reign of Henry the seventh and Henry the eighth I find it the Inheritance of Bere and was fixed in this Family untill the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth and then it was passed away by Sale to Rush ancestor to Sir Francis Rush who not many years since concluding in two Daughters and Coheirs one of them by matching with Sir George Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse in York-shire third Brother to Sir Thomas Wentworth late Earl of Stafford hath made it his instant patrimony Downebarton is the next place which occurs and challenges our Survey There was a Family Sirnamed Exeter that had large possessions at or neer this place and were planted in the Tenure of them many Centuries of years In the fourth year of Henry the sixth Margaret Widow of John Exeter held Lands at Downebarton in Right of Dower as appears by an Inquisition taken after her death which commences from that time But the principal Honor this place anciently recieved was that it was a
from whom they came to his Grandchild Juliana Sole Heir of Roger de Leybourn who having no Issue in the forty third year of Edward the third either by John de Hastings or William de Clinton Earl of Huntingdon constiuted the Abby of St. Augustins her heir to both these places a more certain Inheritor then any loose Unthrift in the devout estimate of those Times with this Clause annexed that the Brotherhood of that Covent should pray for the Souls of John de Hastings Laurence de Hastings Earl of Pembroke John de Hastings his Son and lastly for that of William de Clinton Earl of Huntingdon Which grant of hers was confirmed as appears by Thorne the Chronicler of St. Augustins lately printed by Edward the third in the year 1363 and it is probable that those two Chappels which the fabulous Tradition of the Island is were erected at the two abovesaid places by two Virgins were built by the beforementioned Juliana for two Chauntry Priests to celebrate Masse for the Souls of her two deceased Husbands But to proceed upon the Suppression of the Abby of St. Augustins by Henry the eighth these two Mannors being united to the demeasn of the Crown the Fee-simple was lodged in the Royal patrimony untill King James in the Beginning of his reign granted them to Mr. William Salter who demised them to Mr. Manasser Norwood whose Grandchild Mr. Alexander Norwood for ought I know is yet the proprietary of them Salmeston is the last place of account in St. Johns and did belong as appears by a Quo Warranto cited at large in the late printed Chronicle of Thorne to the Abby of St. Augustins in the year 1362 and remained treasured up in the Demeasn of that Covent untill its final Suppression in the reign of Henry the eighth and then being rent away from the Church it was by a new settlement enstated again upon the Church being granted by the abovesaid Prince in the twenty ninth of his Rule unto Thomas Arch-bishop of Canterbury and is at present held in Lease for Life by the Lady Mary St. Leger Widow of Sir Warham St. Leger who had it in Exchange when he passed away the Mannors of Bersted and Leeds Castle to Sir Thomas Colepeper of Hollingbourne Fleet is a place of Account which is situated partly in the Parish of St. Johns and partly in St. Peters and was the Inheritance in Ages of a very high Extraction of a Family who were written in Latine-Records de Fleta and were planted here as appears by their datelesse Deeds about the reign either of King John or Henry the third And when in times of a more modern Inscription they began to seal with Coats of Armes appendant to private Muniments and Evidences I find the parernal Coat of this Family to have been Checqueè ....... upon a Canton a Lion Rampant ....... which still lies registred in all old Ordinaries and Alphabets of Arms and other ancient Rolls and Records of the Kentish Gentry but as all Families have their Ebbings and Vicissitudes so had this For in our Fathers Memory one of this Family expired in a Daughter and Heir who was matched to Philipott and in our Memory another of this Name concluded in two Females married to Smith and Pomflet and so the ancient patrimony of Fleet being thus crumbled into parcels is now divided between these three Families Dane-court is another Seat of good Antiquity and is placed likewise in Sr. Peters It afforded both Seat and Sirname to a Family called Dane who bore for their Coat Armour Gules four Flower de Lis Or. But the Custome of Gavelkind having split this Family into two branches and consequently rent the estate into two parcels one of these branches withered away before the end of Henry the fourth and went out in a Daughter and Heir called Margaret married to John Exeter and she by paternal right held some Lands here at Dane-court at her decease which was in the fourth year of Henry the sixth But the other branch of this Family flourished something longer for about the latter end of Henry the sixth John Dane the last of this Family at this place determined in a sole Daughter and Heir who was matched to Denne of Den-hill who had in her right Dane-court but possest not long his new Acquists for about the latter end of Edward the fourth I find it the Norwoods from whom in the Chanel of successive Interest the Title flowed down to Mr. Alexander Northwood who hath lately alienated all his Concernment in it to Mr ...... Smith Ellington is an ancient Seat in the Parish of St. Lawrence which was the Residence many Ages since of a Family called Ellington some of which lay buried under very ancient Gravestones in this Church of St. Lawrence with Inscriptions too upon them as Mr. Sprackling not long since deceased informed me but the Injuries of time and barbarous Hands have now so violated those Remembrances that even the memory of this Family were it not for private Evidences which still preserve Life in it would have found a Tomb in Oblivion as well as their Ashes But to proceed After this Family had been fixed here for many Descents about the latter end of Edward the fourth it vanished away from this place being succeeded in the possession by Thatcher a Family of an high Antiquity as to the Name both here in Thanett and at Canterbury For in the Crown-Office I discover as the Record is cited by Mr. Somner in his Survey of that City Pag. 77. that a dysastrous Accident brought an untimely Fate to one of this Name for Simon the Son of Adam de Colynham and Henry the Son of Henry Thetcher in the seventeenth year of K. Edward Son of Edward the King that is Edward the second Son of Edward the first were sitting in a place beneath the Ground at Monksdane neer Canterbury and were preparing of Lime-stones quos per infortunium Terra supercidit it a quòd corpora eorum conquassabantur unde moriebantur incontinenter says the Latine-roll That is the earth sunk in upon them and crushed them into the disorders of an early Sepulcher But to return After this Seat had rested in this Name untill the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth it was passed away to Spracklin and remains part of the Demeasn of Mr. ..... Spracklin Fellow of Peterhouse in Cambridge at this instant Manston is another ancient Seat in St. Laurence which was the Inheritance of Manston for many Generations Richard de Manston as I find by the Bundles of incertain years kept in the Pipe-Office was one of the Recognitoros magnae Assisae in the Time of King John from whence we may conjecture that even in those times of so high an Ascent this Family was under no narrow or contemptible Character or Repute In latter times that is in the fourteenth year of Henry the sixth I find William Manston was Sheriff of Kent and held his Shrievalty at this place and
situation on the Salt Sea Wingham from its position between two Rivolets that incompass the Eastern part of it like wings Corniloe that is The Corney Hill loe that is Cumulus Bewsborough now called Bewfield and Whitfield from the French word Beau for white and fair Longport that is Long Town by Canterbury toward Sandwich Folkestone that is a Town Populous and full of Folk so was this for in it there were four Churches a Monastery and some out-Chappels Lovingboroe however different in Orthography This name be now from Lyminge it must be found there or no where else And because Opinion without proof is but discourse and descant Harken to the Evidence at Lyminge which Edmerus a Monk of Christ-Church in Canterbury calls Lovingborough and the Records of that Church Nonnesborough was the first house of vailed Virgins in England called Nunnes and though the name of Lyminge was forlet and forlorn and Nuneborough passed currant and in short space one liquid being changed into another N. into L. Loneburgh and that by a second mutation in Lovingborough you have the disquisition and true result Stowting so called from some old Fortresses and Roman ramperes there Heane in British signifieth old Birchholt Franchise or Barony is by that addition known from a former Hundred where the name is Etymologized Street that is A place where the Romans Praetorian way lay from Lyme to Cant. now called Sonestreets began in place of which we call the viaregia Worth signifies a place made strong and Teneable by fortifying Ham that is Home Capitale Messuagium Langport ut ante St. Martine A place of Account heretofore by Romeney New Church that is of later foundation Aloe bridge written antiently Alulphs bridg that is the Bridge of Alulphus some Saxon. Oxney the Oxens water Ackridg that is The Ridg of Okes which in old English are called Akes Addesham from the old English and that is the old ham and so is this in Records Addington of like Radix onely Ham implies an open place as Ton an inclosed one from Tinan the Saxon word to hedg and inviron Alkham written Healkham the Town in a Corner from Healk in Saxon a Corner Allington is derived from the River Aigle contracted into Ayl Aldington here antiquity gives the Name for Aud we say Ald and now call it it Allington Allhallows from the Churches Dedication which some call All Saints but the first is in the Hundred of Hoo the second in Shepey Apuldore written in Saxon Records Apuldre that is the Town fruitful in Apples Ash from that kind of Tree Ashhurst a wood of Ashes Aylesford from the Ayl River so called after past Maidstone which imparteth its name to Aynesford originally written Anglesford The English mens Ford. Badelesemere that is in old Eng. the Circuite of Bad unfertile Pasture Badchild written in Saxon Bekenceld the chill or unhealthy water Bapchild in Saxon Beckchill the unhealthy chill water a small stream they called a Becks and Chill implieth cold and Aguish Berfreiston the Friers Court-Town Bereham derived from Bere a Court and Ham a Village Barming woody Pasture or rather Berme-Ing the moist pasture Berme importing moisture Becksbourne for distinction from the other Bornes taking its Name from the Family of Beke that held part sometime call'd Livingebourn from Arch-Bishop Livinus that built a Pallace here for himself and his Successors Beausfield from the fair open prospect which it hath to Sea and Land Bekenham from the Beke or small stream arising there Belsington The fair Prospect or rather the Town by the watry pasture from Eyle in Saxon importing watry Benenden from the Saxon word Binan within or two-fold The Parish hath several Dennes in it Bethersden written anciently Beatrixden that is Beatrix's Valley Betshanger originally Vitalshanger from one Vitalis owner of it near the conquest hanger because seated on the hanging hill Berested I find it near the Conquest to be of the possession of the Crevequers of Leeds and I might deduce it from Bury or Bere old English for the Lords Court or dwelling and then it fignifies the place where the Court is as Berewick is the way to the Court if you consider the Soil you may call it Barren Sted Bexley contracted from Bekesley Beke signifies a stream and Ley pasture Bicnor and Bicknore from Becn and Nor Becn signifies a sign or symboll and Nor the North from whence the Saxon word Beacnan to beckon or give some sign Becn signum seu symbolum Becnan signum dare Bidborough that is by the Borough of Tunbridge called Southborough the Saxon th being turned into d. Biddenden in old English Bithanden by the Denns for so is the situation of it in the weld of Kent Birchington The Town where the Birch grew Berling that is The Court lying on the Pasture Bishop borne the Borne belonging to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Blackmanstone written Bleachmanstone that is Man 's bleak Town Bobbing it is probable is deduced from an old Dutch word called Boban which signifies to extend or stretch it self out and Ing a Meadow Bocton that is the Town held by Book or Charter Boughton and Malherbe ill Pasturage Bocton that is Boughton Aloulph from Alulphus a Saxon owner of it Bonington the Town bounded with the Lawnds from the Saxon word Bonna importing the bound Borden from the Breed of wild Bores on the Chesnut hills thereby Burham the Ham by or in the Borough Burmarsh written anciently Burghmersh the Marsh by the Borough Borefield The Bores field Boughton Montchelsey from Montchensy the old Lord of Swanscomb was Lord of this place also Boxley that is the Pastures full of Box trees Brabourne from Bradebourne East and West the Broad Bourne Bradhurst that is the Broad Wood. Bradsted vel locus latus Bredgare the broad way Brenset from the brakish and brinish water Brooke from its being seated near some Brook Brookeland that is Land by the Brook or water Course Bromefield where the Fields are troubled with Broome Buckland that is Bockland Boc is a Book or Charter by which Land was granted Canterbury written Canterberig The Kentish-Men's Berg or Fortress Capell that is de Capello Chart-ham that is the Town held by Charter Great and Little Chart written anciently Cert which in Saxon signifies a Charter Chalk de Calce Challoke that is De Quercis Nudatis Charleton that is Ceorlton in Saxon The Grange or lusty Husband-mans Town from this Radix Churle cometh Charing written anciently Cering extracted from the Saxon word Cerran to turn there being divers wents and wandrings at this place Chellesfield The Chill and cold place Chepsted that is the Market place Locus nundinarius Cheriton that is from the growth of Cheries there Chevening from its lying under that great hill which runneth to Guldeford in Surrey which our Ancestors called Chevins Chidding stone in Sax. Ced-ingston that is the Town on the Brow of the Lawnd Ced in Saxon importing the Brow or Descent Or it is possible from Cedwine some
Grandfather to Thomas Brent in whom the Male Line determined so that Margaret his Sister became his Sole Heir who by matching with Jo. Dering of Surrenden Dering Esquire hath made Wickins ever since parcel of the Demeasn of that Name and Family Newland is another eminent Mannor in Charing which gave Seat and Sirname to a Family so styled Sir John de Newland lived here in the Reign of Edward the first and sealed with an Escollop upon a Cheveron for his Coat which is yet visible in ancient Registers and other venerable Monuments of Antiquity but before the latrer end of Edward the third this Family was extinguished at this place and then it became parcel of the noble Family of Brockhull of Cale-Hill and continued folded up in their Possession untill the twelfth year of Henry the fourth and then it was passed away by Deed from Henry Brockhull to John Darrell Esquire from whom it is by successive Devolution now transported to his Successor Sir John Darrell of Cale-Hill Knight Eversley next courts us to a Remembrance it lies partly in Charing and partly in Stacefield and though now obscure yet in elder times was made eminent by being one of the Mansions of Brian de Eversley a Man very eminent in the Reign of Henry the third and Edward the first and is mentioned in the Leiger Book of Feversham to have been a Benefactor to that Covent but his Piety could not secure the Title to his Posterity for about the beginning of Edward the third I find it planted in the Posfession of Peiferer by the Heir General of which Family called Julian it came to be the Possession of Thomas St. Leger and he died possest of it in the tenth year of Henry the fourth and bequeathed it to Mary his Daughter and Coheir espoused to Henry Aucher from whom it was wafted down by descendant Right to his Successor Sir Anthony Aucher who about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth alienated it to Michael Sond Esquire afterwards created Sir Michael Sonds from whom it is now devolved to his Descendant Sir George Sonds Knight of the Bath Tremhatch in old Deeds Tramhatch lies likewise in Charing and is advanced and ascended to some Note and Estimate since it was honoured by being parcel of the Patrimony of Barham a Family which was made splendid by an eminent Repute and no less considerable by a spreading Revenue which they held in this County of whom I shall speak more when I come to Barham Court in Terstan one of the principal Mansions of this Name Finally after it had for several Descents confessed the Propriety of this Family it was by Richard Barham conveyed by a Fine levied the eleventh year of Henry the fourth to John Haut where the Title was not so fixed as in the former for he not long after by a semblable Alteration passed it away to Henry Malmains and who about the Reign of Henry the fifth determined in two Daughters and Coheirs whereof was Agnes wedded to Thomas Gouldwell and so by this Alliance Tremhatch was enwrapped in his Patrimony and continued in the Descendants of this Name untill the forty second year of Q. Elizabeth and then it was alienated by John Gouldwell and Cicely his Wife to Robert Gaunt whose Son Thomas Gaunt died possest of it 1625 and gives it first to his Brother George Gaunt and in Defailance of Issue to Thomas Carlisle who in Right of the premises is now invested in the Possession Broughton is a Mannor which is likewise circumscribed within the Limits of Charing and had Owners likewise of that Sirname Adam de Broughton and sometimes written Brocton flourished here about the Reign of Edward the first and his Descendants enjoyed the Proprietie of it untill the latter end of Richard the second and then it was alienated to Paunsherst Thomas Paunsherst made his Will in the year of our Lord 1472 and gave it to Thomas Paunsherst his Son and he made his Will in the year 1503 and disposed of it to his Daughter Joan Paunsherst and in Defailance of her Issue to his Kinsman Thomas Paine She deceased without Issue and so the Remainder devolved to be the Inheritance of Paine in which Name it remained untill times of our remembrance and then it was alienated to the Father of the instant Proprietary Withick Here was a Chauntry at Charing founded as an ancient Survey of this Parish instructs me by Sir Iohn Burley who bare Quarterly Or and Sables and was called successively Burley's Chauntry the Duty enjoyned the Priest that was to officiate was to pray for the Soules of Sir Iohn Burley Sir William de Burleigh and the Descendants of that Family the Demeasn which was to support it was upon the suppression granted to Sir Io. Darell Ancestor to Sir Iohn Darell of Cale-Hill who now is in the Enjoyment of it Acton is the laft place of Account in Charing which is eminent in respect of that relation it had to the ancient and noble Family of Beaufits who made it their Seat before they were transplanted to Twidal in Gillingham Robert Beaufits as appears by an ancient Court Roll held it in the Reign of Henry the third and from him did it descend to his Grandchild Robert Beaufits who about the fourth year of Edward the third planted himself at Twidal but yet this still continued in the Name untill the Reign of Henry the seventh and then this Name expiring in Daughters and Coheirs one of them called Ioan by matching with Robert Arnold made it the Propriety of that Family and he had Issue William Arnold who conveyed it about the the middle of Henry the eighth to Sir Anthony Sonds whose Grandchild Sir Richard Sonds in our Fathers remembrance alienated it to Hutchins from whom by the Hands of Mr. Nicholas Nicholson who was made his Feoffee in Trust to discharge Debts and Legacies it is now come over to Godden Chartham in the Hundred of Bredge and Petham is a Mannor belonging to the Sea of Canterbury but of whose Donation I know not onely Doomsday Book represents it thus appraised Certeham est Manerium de vestitu Monachorum T. E. R. defondebat se pro IIII Sullings nunc similiter est appretiatur XX V lb. Having done with Chartham I shall now discover what places are enclosed within the Verge of it which were alwayes of temporal Interest Densted is another Mannor in Chartham which in the twentieth year of Edward the third was held by John the Son of Sir John Polre of Polre in Harbledowne but onely as Lessee to the Priory of Leeds to which Covent it was given by Hamon de Crevequer about the forty seventh year of Henry the third pro salute Animae suae Antecessorum suorum says an old Note extracted out of the Coucher Book of the Prioty yet the whole Mannor did not accrue to this Cloister by the former Donation for in the eighth year of Rich. the second Rob. Bovehatch as appears Rot.
alienated both the Title and Demeasn to Allen and he in our Memory sold one moitie of it to Ford and setled the other proportion of it upon his Daughter and Heir who was matched to Giles Down-Court in Dodington is an ancient Mannor which in elder times owned the Signorie of Simon de Dodington who flourished here in the Reign of K. John and Henry the third and was entituled likewise to the Patronage or Advouson of the Church but he determined in an only Daughter called Matilda de Dodington who in the forty first of King Henry the third as appears by a Fine levied in that year passed away her Interest here to John de Bourne in which Family the Title many years after rested untill about the latter end of Henry the sixth it was conveyed to Dungate of Dungate-Street in Kingsdowne And Andrew Dungate the last of this Name at this place dying without Issue male his sole Daughter and Heir was marched to Killigrew who likewise about the entrance of Henry the eighth expired in two female Coheirs whereof one was wedded to Roydon the second to Cowland In Roydon The Pssession was but brief for he about the latter end of Henry the eighth alienated his Proportion to Adye a Name deeply rooted in this Track whose Successor Mr. John Adye still enjoyes the capitall Messuage or Mansion called Down-Court but the Mannor it self which accrued to John Cowland upon the Division of the Estate was by his Will made 1540. ordered to be sold to discharge Debts and Legacies and was according to the Tenure of the premises not long after conveyed to Allen Ancestor to him who is the instant owner of it Downe in the Hundred of Rokesley is so called from its eminent situation it was in times of elder Aspect the Habitation of a Family which passed under that Sirname Richard de Downe who flourished under Edward the first and Edward the second lies buried in the Chancell of the Church but with no date upon his Tombe Soon after this Family was expired the Petleys became Lords of the Fee and Stephen Petley is Recorded in the Book of Aid to have paid an Auxiliary supply for Lands at Down at making the Black Prince Knight in the twentieth year of Edward the third and in this Family was the Title of this place successively wrapped up for many Generations untill about the latter end of Henry the eighth it melted away with the Name For Jo. Petley resolved into four Daughters and Coheirs Agnes the eldest was matched to Jo. Manning the second was espoused to Bird the third was wedded to Casinghurst of Valous and the fourth was married to Childrens and upon partition of the Estate this Mannor fell to be the Inheritance of Manning and in this Name for many years it remained constant untill in our Fathers Remembrance it went away by Sale to Sir Nicholas Carew of Beddington in Surrey and his Son Sir Francis Carew conveyed it to Ellis of London who not many years since alienated his Right in it to Colonel Richard Sandys third Son of Sir Edward Sandys of Northbourne but Down-Court was long before passed away by Manning to Palmer which was separated from the Mannor of Downe and singly sold by it self The Arms of Philipot and Petley are extant in the South-window of the Chancell with this Inscription affixed to the Pedestall of their two Pourtraicttures Orate pro Animabus Jo. Petley Christiana Uxoris Jo. Petley Aliciae Filiae Tho. Philipot ........ ac Parentum corum E. E. E. E. EGerton in the Hundred of Calehill hath two places within the Verge of it remarkable The first is Barmeling which was the Seat of a Family of that Sirname Robert de Bermeling and in old datelesse Deeds called Sir Robert de Barmeling he held it at his Decease which was in the fifty third year of Henry the third and left Issue William de Bermeling who was also in the enjoyment of it at his Death which was in the twenty second year of Edward the first and so did Robert de Bermeling who made his Exit the thirty first of Edward the first and here in this Family hath the Propriety by an undivided Track of Succession been so fixed and permanent that it is yet the unseperated Inheritance of this Name of Barmeling The second is Bruscombe This was a Branch of that Demeasn which formerly acknowledg'd the Chitcrofts for its Possessors a Name of very great Antiquity both here and at Lamberherst Agnes wife of Richard Chitcroft held it at her Death which was in the eighteenth year of Edward the second Rot. Esc Num. 198. After Chitcroft was worn out the Beaumonts were invested in the Possession and John de Bellemont or Beaumont deceased in the enjoyment of it in the twentieth year of Richard the second Rot. Esc Num. 14. But not long after this the Title ebbed away from this Name and by a successive Channel of Vicissitude was powred into Baron a Family originally extracted out of the West where they are yet in being John Baron died seised of Bruscombe the second year of Henry the fifth The Family which succeeded this in the Inheritance upon their Recesse which was about the latter end of Henry the sixth were the Wottons of Boughton Malherbe in which Family the Title and Propriety hath been ever since so constantly resident that it still rests in the Descendants and Heirs of Tho. Lord Wotton of Marley Eltham in the Hundred of Black heath anciently called Ealdham did anciently belong in part to the King and partly to the Mandevills from whence it came to be called Eltham Mandeville King Edward the first granted that Moiety which belonged to himself to John de Vescy a potent Baron in the North in the ninth year of his Reign and in the twelfth year ennobles his former Concession and gives him a new Grant to hold a Market weekly and a Fair yearly at his Mannor of Eltham In the fourteenth year of the abovesaid Prince John de Vescy with his Knowledge and Consent made an Exchange with Walter de Mandevill for that Proportion of Eltham in which he was Interessed and gave the sixth part of the Mannor of Luton in Bedfordshire for one Messuage with the Appurtenances in Eltham and Modingham This John de Vescy died without Issue in the eighteenth of Edward the first and William his Brother succeeded in the Possession and was Lord Vescy and had Issue by Isabell Daughter of Robert Perington Widow of Sir Robert de Wells William de Vescy his lawfull Son born in the year 1269 who died without Issue in his Fathers life Time at Conway and was buryed at Malton Then William de Vescy having a base Son called William Vescy de Kildare born at Compston in the County of Kildare 1292 * Fines de Anno 24. Ed. primi VVill. de Vescy sold to Anth. Beck Bishop of Durham the Mannor of Eltham with the Appurtinances which Isabell the Widow of