was Sheriff of Kent in the nineteenth year of Henry the eighth William Kempe of Oslantis Esquire who afterwards was invested with the Order of Knight hood was Sheriff of Kent in the twentieth year of Henry the eighth He was second Son of Sir Thomas Kempe and after his elder Brother Christopher Kempe deceased without Issue succeeded in the Patrimony He married Eleanor Daughter and Heir of Robert Brown Esquire third Son of Sir Thomas Brown of Bechworth Castle Sir Edward Wotton of Boughton Malherbe Knight who matched with Dorothy one of the Daughters and Coheirs of Sir Robert Reade Knight Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty first of Henry the eighth William Waller of Gromebridge in Spelherst Esquire was Sheriff of Kent the twenty second of Henry the eighth Sir Richard Clement of the Moat in Ightham was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty third of Henry the eighth Sir William Finch of the Moat in the Parish of St. Martins in Canterbury was Sheriff of Kent the twenty fourth year of Henry the eighth Thomas Roberts of Glastonbury in Cranbroke Esquire was Sheriff of Kent the twenty fifth of Henry the eighth Sir Thomas Poynings of Ostenhanger Knight afterwards created Lord Poynings in the thirtieth year of Henry the eighth was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty sixth year of Henry the eighth He married Katharine Daughter and Coheir of John Lord Marney but deceased without Issue in the thirty seventh year of the abovesaid Prince Sir Edward Wotton of Boughton Malherbe was again Sheriff of Kent the twenty seventh of Henry the eighth Sir Thomas Wiat of Allington Castle was Sheriff of Kent in the twenty eighth year of Henry the eighth He married Elizabeth Daughter of Sir Thomas Brooke Lord Cobham by whom he had Issue Sir Thomas Wiat afterwards beheaded Sir William Haut of Hautsbourn was again Sheriff of Kent the twenty ninth year of Henry the eighth Sir William Sidney of Pencehurst Knight Banneret Tutor to Prince Edward afterwards Edward the sixth was Sheriff of Kent in the thirtieth year of Henry the eighth He was Son and Heir of Nicholas Sidney Esquire who married Anne Daughter of Sir Will. Brandon Knight slain at Bosworâ—h Field Aunt to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk This Nicholas was Son and Heir of William Sidney Esquire by Thomaâ—…in his Wife Daughter and Heir of John Barrington Esquire descended from the right ancient and Knightly Family of Barrington of Barrington Hall in Essex Sir Anthony St. Leger of Ulcomb Knight was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty first year of Henry the eighth Anthony Sonds of Throuley Esquire was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty second of Henry the eighth Reginald Scot of Scots Hall Esquire was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty third year of Henry the eighth Sir Henry Isley of Sondridge and of Farningham was Sheriff of Kent the thirty fourth of Henry the eighth Sir Humphry Stile of Langley Park in Bekenham Knight Son and Heir of John Stile Alderman of London and Elizabeth his Wife Daughter and Coheir of Sir Guy Wolston Knight was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty fifth of Henry the eighth Sir John Fogge of Repton was Sheriff of Kent the thirty sixth year of Henry the eighth Sir Percival Hart of Lullingston Knight was Sheriff of Kent the thirty seventh year of Henry the eighth Henry Crispe of Quekes in Birchington in the Isle of Thanet Esquire who received the Order of Knighthood before his Death was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty eighth year of Henry the eighth in which year this Prince shrunk to Ashes Sheriffs of Kent in the Time of K. Edward the Sixth William Sidley of Scadbery in Southfleet Esquire was Sheriff of Kent the first of Edward the sixth Sir George Harpur of Sutton Valence was sheriff of Kent in the second year of Edward the sixth Thomas Colepeper of Bedgebury Son and Heir of Sir Alexander Colepeper was Sheriff of Kent in the third year of K. Edward the sixth Sir Thomas Wiat of Allington Castle Son and Heir of Sir Thomas Wiat and Grandchild of Sir Henry Wiat was Sheriff of Kent in the fourth year of K. Edward the sixth Sir Henry Isley of Sundridge was Sheriff of Kent in the fifth year of K. Edward the sixth Sir John Guldford of Hemsted in Benenden was Sheriff of Kent the sixth year of K. Edward the sixth After this year this Pious young Monarch was not long Liv'd for all his early blooming Glories were shortly after blasted by a too sudden Death Sheriffs of Kent under Queen Mary Sir Robert Southwell of Merworth Knight afterwards Master of the Rolls was Sheriff of Kent in the first year of Queen Mary He held Merworth where he lies buried in Right of his Wife Margaret Daughter and sole Heir of Sir Thomas Nevill Speaker of the Parliament in the time of Henry the eighth and one of his Privy Councel and third Son to George Nevill Baron Aburgavenny William Roper of Well Hall in Eltham was Sheriff of Kent in the first and second year of Philip and Mary Sir Thomas Kempe of Ollantie near Wye was Sheriff of Kent in the second and third year of Philip and Mary part of the year was supplied for him by Thomas Moile Esquire George Vane of Badsell Esquire was Sheriff of Kent in the third and fourth year of Philip and Mary Thomas Wotton of Boughton Malherbe Esquire was Sheriff of Kent in the fourth and fifth year of Philip and Mary In which year Callis was lost which Blow sat so heavy upon her Heartstrings that the Cordage not able to undergo the Pressure was crackt with the Burden which was lodged upon it Sheriffs of Kent under Queen Elizabeth Thomas Wotton of Bonghton Malherbe continued in that Office part of the first year of Q. Elizabeth and the remainder of the year was supplied by Nicholas Crispe Esquire who kept his Shrivealty at Grimgill in Whitestaple but more properly Greenshields from a Family so called who were once Proprietaries of it Warham St. Leger of Ulcomb Esquire afterwards Knighted in the year 1565 was Sheriff of Kent in the second year of Queen Elizabeth John Tufton of Hothfield in Kent Esquire Son and Heir of Nicholas Tufton Esquire who was possest of Tufton in Nordiam in Sussex was Sheriff of Kent the third year of Queen Elizabeth Richard Baker of Sisingherst in Cranbroke Esquire Son and Heir of Sir John Baker Chancellor of the Exchequer and one of the Privy Councel to Q. Mary was Sheriff of Kent in the fourth year of Q. Elizabeth Sir Thomas Walsingham of Scadbery in Chiselhurst Knight was Sheriff of Kent in the fifth year of Q. Elizabeth Sir Thomas Kempe of Ollantie Knight that was Sheriff before in the third year of Q. Mary served in that Office again in the sixth year of Q. Elizabeth John Mayney of Biddenden Esquire was Sheriff of Kent the seventh year of Q. Elizabeth but died before his year was out and the rest of the Time
of a thousand Crowns on Sir Stephen de Cosington and Sir William his Son for their remarkable Service performed against the Enemies of his Crown and Scepter The last of this Family which held this Mannor was Sir J. Cosington who concluded in three Danghters and Coheirs about the the latter end of Henry the eighth matched to Duke Wood and Alexander Hamon and upon the Disunion of the Estate into Parcels the last by Female Interest was invested in Acris and his Successors remained Lords of the Fee untill the Beginning of K. James and then a Fatalitie like the former brought the Patrimony of this Family to be possest by two Daughters and Coheirs so that Sir Robert Lewknor having matched with Katharine who was one of them became in her Right entituled to this Mannor and left it to his Son Hamon Lewknor Esq who deceasing not long since hath transmitted it during the Minority of his Son to his Widow Dowager The Mannor of Brandred lies in this Parish and belonged to the Abby of St. Radigunds untill the suppression and then it was by Henry the eighth exchanged with the Arch Bishop of Canterbury in the twenty ninth of his Reign and remained parcel of that Patrimony which acknowledged the Signorie of that See untill these tempestuous Times shook it off Addington in the Hundred of Larkfield was as high as any Track of Evidence can transport me to discover the Inheritance of a noble Family called Mandeville and divers Deeds of a very venerable Antiquity being without date and now in the hands of Mr. Watton do attest Roger de Mandeville in those elder Times to have been Lord of the Fee but before the end of Edward the second this Family was vanished and had surrendred the possession of this place to Robert At Checquer in whom the possession was but of a narrow Date for hee not long after alienated his Interest in it to Nicholas Dagworth as is evident by this Record registred in the Book of Aid kept in the Exchequer De Nicholao de Dagworth pro uno Feodo Militis quod Roberius de Scaccario tenuit in Addington de Warreno de Montecanisio 40. s. That is Nicholas Dagworth in the twentieth year of Edward the third paid a respective Supply of 40. s. for his Mannor of Addington which both he and Robert At Checquer which enjoyed it before him held of the Honour of Swanscamp Castle as being the capital Seat of the Barony of Mountchensey under the Notion of a whole Knights Fee But in this Family the Title was a Volatile as in the former for before the going out of Edward the third I find it passed away from Dagworth to Sir Hugh Segrave and he in the seventh year of Richard the second alienated it to Richard Charles descended from Edward Charles Captain and Admirall of the Seas from the Thames mouth Northward in the reign of Edward the first as appears Pat. 34. Edwardi primi But he was scarce warm in his new Acquists but he expired in two Daughters and Coheirs Alice matched to William Snaith and Joan married to Richard Ormeskirk but this Mannor upon the Distinction of the Estate into Parcells was entwin'd with the Demeasne of Snaith and he dyed possest of it as the date of his Tombe in Addington Church informs me in the year 1409. but dyed without Issue-male so that his sole Daughter and Heir being wedded to Watton made it the Inheritance of that Family and here have they planted themselves ever since that Alliance and have performed many signal Services to this County by being invested with places of Trust as Justices of the Peace Commissioners of the Sewers and other Officers of the like Condition which hath much inforced and multiplied the eminent Reputation of this ancient Family Allington in the Hundred of Lark field is eminent for an ancient Castle within the Limits of it which as Mr. Darrell and Mr. Mersh do assert was erected by William de Columbariis or Columbers and this Mr. Darrell who was very curious in Disquisitions of this Nature more possitively affirms because in the eighth year of Henry the third when as appears by the Records of the Tower there was an exact Survey taken of all the Castles of England and of those who were either Proprietaries of them or else the respective Castellans or Guardians one of the above mentioned Family was found to be possessor of this Fortresse and was also Lord of the Mannor which was still annexed to the Castle but this Name was of no long continuance in the Tenure of either for about the latter end of Henry the third they came to own the Signorie of Sir Stephen de Penchester Lord Warden afterwards of the Cinque Ports to whom and to Margaret his Wife Daughter of the famous Hubert de Burgh Earl of Kent King Edward the first granted a Licence in the ninth year of his Reign as appears by the Patent-Rolls of that Time to erect a Castle and to fortifie and embattle at Allington so that it seems it was only before Fortalitium some small Fortresse and could not be marshall'd under the just Notion of a Castle untill it had received new Symetrie and Dimensions by those Appendages and Supplements which were added to it by this great Man and having thus established this Pile it came to own his Name and is in some old Records called Allington Penchester and not undeservedly for in the eighth year of Edward the first he obtained a Charter of Free-warren to his Mannor of Allington and also a Market Weekly on the Tuesday and a Fair yearly three days on the Vigil the day and day after St. Laurence but deceased without Issue Male so that after his Exit it came to acknowledge Stephen de Cobham who had married his Daughter and Coheir and he inocculated his own Name upon it and called it Allington Cobham which flourished severall Descents in this Family untill the beginning of Edward the fourth and then I find it in the possession of Brent but remained not long in this Name for in the eighth year of Henry the seventh John Brent passed away the Castle and Mannor of Allington to Sir Henry Wiat one of the Privie Councel to that Prince but his infortunate Grandchild Sir Thomas Wiat having by his Defection in the second year of Queen Mary forfeited it to the Crown it remained there untill Queen Elizabeth granted it to Jo. Astley Esq Master of her Jewels whose Son Sir Jo. Astley dying without Issue it came by Descent to Sir Jacob Astley created Lord Astley by the late King at Oxford whose Descendant does now enjoy the Possession of it Alkham in the Hundred of Folkston hath divers places in it of Account Malmains by vulgar Corruption of the word called Smalmains with Hollmeade which was ever accounted an Appendage to it are first to be considered In the twentieth year of Edward the third I find Thomas de Malmains Son of Nicholas de Malmains who
he dying in the twelfth year of Edward the third left it to his Son Giles Badelesmer who deceased without Issue and so his four Sisters became his Coheirs one of which called Margaret by matching with William Lord Roos of Hamlake united the Castle and Mannor of Chilham which accrued to her upon the Division of the Estate to his Revenue from whom successively it did devolve by a continued Rivulet of Descent to his Successor Thomas Lord Rosse who asserting the Cause and Quarrel of the House of Lancaster was in a Battle commenced between Edmund Beaufort Duke of Somerset and John Nevill Marquesse Montacute made Captive to the Partisans of the House of York and in the third year of Edward the fourth sealed his Faith to that Cause which he contended for with the Losse of his Head which was struck off at Newcastle but it seems the Mannor and Castle of Chilham was before this untimely Fate of his upon his being engaged in Armes with the Complices of the House of Lancaster by Edward the fourth in the first year of his Reign granted to Sir John Scott of Scotts Hall one of his Privy Counsel Pat. Anno pri Edwardi quarti Parte 4. Memb. 24 but it was but for Life for afterwards it returned to the Crown and rested there till Henry the eighth by royal Concession planted the Propriety in Sir Thomas Cheyney who inhabited here when Leland made his Kentish Perambulation which was in the Beginning of the Reign of that Prince from whom it came down to his Son Henry created Baron Cheyney by Queen Elizabeth who having by Riot and Profusion and other exorbitant Excesses wasted a noble and plentifull Patrimony in the tenth year of that Queens Government alienated the Mannor and Castle of Chilham to Sir Thomas Kempe whose Son Sir Thomas Kempe concluded in four Daughters and Coheirs Dorothy married to Sir John Cutts Ann matched to Sir Thomas Chichley Amy wedded to Sir Henry Skipwith and Mary espoused to Sir Dudley Diggs who being concerned in this Estate the three first by a joynt Concurrence passed away their Right to Sir Dudley Diggs and his Lady who was Master of the Rolls in the year 1636 and a great Assertor of his Countryes Liberty in the worst of times when the Sluces of Prerogative were opened and the Banks of the Law were almost overwhelmed with the Innundations of it from whom it is descended to his Son Mr. ...... Diggs Esquire in whom the Propriety and Interest of this Mannor and Castle does still continue Easture in this Parish was the Seat of a Family which was known by that Sirname and in several ancient Deeds which are not bounded or limited with any Date there is mention of John de Easture who lived here in the Reign of Henry the third and Edward the first after this Name was vanished the Apulderfields of Otterpley in Challock a younger Branch of the Apulderfields of Bedmancore were invested in the Possession and of this Family was Henry de Apulderfield who was Sheriff of Kent in the fifty first year of Edward third and likewise Proprietary of this place but when this Family resolved into a Daughter and Heir called Isabell she by matching with John Idelegh who had a large Income about Mepham Chalk and Cobham cast it into the Inheritance of that Family where it had not long remained but a Vicissitude like the former carryed it by Agnes the Female Heir of William Idelegh to Christopher Ellenden who was Master of a good Estate about Seasalter and Damian Bleane which Name not many years after shrunk into a Daughter and Heir likewise called Mary descended from Thomas Ellenden who was about the Reign of Henry the seventh matched to Edward Thwaits so that in her right that Family became setled in the Inheritance of this place and remained in the Possession till in that Age we stile our Grandfathers it was by Sale translated into Morton descended from the ancient Family of the Mortons of Millbourn St. Andrews in the County of Dorset whose Successor Mr. George Morton not many years since passed away his Interest in it by Sale to his Uncle John Finch Baron of Fordwich and Lord Keeper of the great Seal in the year 1640. Youngs is another Mannor in Chilham which by Deeds of a very high gradation in time which step into the Reign of Edward the second appears to be the Possession of a Family of that Appellation and when that was decayed and worn out at this Place the Beverleys who were a Family which had been planted at Tancrey Island in Fordwich ever since the latter end of the Reign of Edward the third were ingraffed in the Inheritance and continued by an undissolved Chain of several Ages seated in the Proprietie of it till George Beverley the last of this Name at this place in our Grandfathers Remembrance demised his right in it by Sale to George Barley where the Title found no long abode for he passed away his Interest to Fleet extracted from the Fleets of Fleet in the Isle of Thanet who suddenly after alienated it to Shepheard from which Family almost in our Remembrance it was by Purchase brought over to own the Signorie of Sir Dudley Diggs who upon his decease transmitted it to his eldest Son Mt. ....... Diggs Esquire in whom the present Proprietie of it is fixed Dane Court is a fourth Mannor within the Limits of Chilham not to be waved or declined in this present Survey It was anciently the Patrimony of Thomas de Garwinton of Welle in Littlebourne and he held it as appears by ancient Court Rolls in the Reign of Edward the first and Edward the second whose great Grandchild William Garwinton of Welle in the eleventh year of Henry the fourth dying without Issue upon a serious debate and winnowing of Collateral Alliances Joan Wife of Richard Haute was found to be his Cousin and Heir and so this place became in her Right the Inheritance of this Family but this mans Son called Richard likewise not long after deceasing without Issue male Margerie his only Daughter who was matched to Will. Izaack about the latter end of Henry the seventh became his Heir and so it fell under the Jurisdiction of that Name and remained entwined with their Demeasn till it about the beginning of the Government of Q. Elizabeth was by Edward Izaack sold to Hales from which Family in that Age our Fathers lived in by the same conveyance it went away to Spracklin issued out from the Spracklins of St. Lawrence in Thanet in which Name the Possession is at this instant resident There is a place in this Parish on the South-side of the River stretched out on a long green Hill which the Common People who bear the greatest sway in corrupting of Names call Jelliberies Grave The Historie it self will evidence the original of this denomination It was about this place that Julius Caesar respited his farther remove or advance into the bowels of this
Confederate of Simon de Montforts the popular Earl of Leicester in his Quarrel commenced against Henry the third about removing of Strangers both from his Counsells and Throne for which after the Battle of Evesham where that Simon was defeated and slain he was by the Pacification made at Kenelworth in the fiftieth year of Henry the third absolved and pardoned soon after which he dyed and left this Mannor with much other Revenue to his Son Henry Leybourn and he was seised of it at his Death which was in the twenty eighth year of Edward the first from whom it went down to his Son Sir Roger Leybourn who dying without Issue-male Juliana Leybourn his Sole Daughter and Inheritrix entred upon the Inheritance and she was first wedded to John de Hastings and after to William de Clinton Earl of Huntington but by neither had she any Surviving Issue nor yet any collateral Alliance that could put in any pretended Claim to rescue it from an Escheat so that in the forty third year of Edward the third in which year she dyed it devolved to the Crown and Richard the second granted it to Sir Simon de Burley Knight of the Garter and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports a Man of great Virtues and no lesse Vices whose Pride and Ambition first galled others and lastly wounded himself and like some Physick wanting a peccant Matter to work upon preys upon the Vitalls themselves For bandying against some of the Nobility who pretended the Preservation and Sheltring of the peoples Interest against the impetuous Eruptions of an arbitrary Prerogative he was empeached of high Treason in the tenth year of Richard the second and was convicted and executed upon whose Calamitous Tragedie this by Escheat reverts to the Crown and the abovesaid Prince in the twelfth year of his Reign by Grant annexes it to the Revenue of the Canons of St. Stephens in Westminster where it was fixed untill the publick Suppression removed it and united it once more to the Patrimony of the Crown Richard de Albaney principall Butler to King William Rufus gave the Tithes of Elham to St. Andrews in Rochester See Textus Roffensis and then King Edward the sixth granted it in Lease for fourscore years to Sir Edward Wotton one of his Privie Councell whose Son Thomas Wotton Esquire passed it away by Sale to Alexander Hamon Esquire who determining in two Daughters and Coheirs Mary married to Sir Edward Bois of Fredvill and Katharine wedded to Sir Robert Lewknor this in his Wifes Right came over to the last but the Reversion in Fee was in the Beginning of the late King Charles by Sir Charles Herbert Master of the Revells purchased of the Crown and he some few years since alienated all his Concernment in this Mannor to Mr. Alst a Dutch Merchant of London Elham had the Grant of a Market procured to it on the Monday by the power of Prince Edward in the fifty fifth year of Henry the third which was after allowed and approved of before the Judges Itinerant when he was King in the seventh year of his Reign Shotleâ—field in Elham was as high as the Reign of Edward the second the Inheritance of a Family called le Grubbe who had Possessions of a considerable Value about Yalding by Maidston and Nonington in East-Kent In the third year of Edward the second Henry Peres and in another old Deed styled Pers or de Petris from his Habitation nere some place of a Rocky constitution demises some parcels of Land lying in Elham and Lyming to Thomas le Grubbe who is written in the Deed de Shotlesfield and from this Thomas did the Title descend by paternal Devolution to John Grubbe who in the second year of Richard the third conveyed it by Sale to Thomas Brockman of Liming and his Grandchild Henry Brockman in the first year of Queen Mary alienated it to George Fogge of Brabourn Esquire and he about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth sold his Interest in it to Bing who in that Age which was circumscribed within our Fathers Remembrance transplanted the Title by Sale into Mr. John Masters of Sandwich from whom it descended to Sir Ed. Masters of Canterbury and he upon his late Decease gave it to Dr ..... Masters his second Son Dr. of the Civil-Law Mount and South Blabden with Jaques Court were Mannors which were involved in the Patrimony of Anketellus de Rosse and he in the twentieth year of Wâ—lliam the Conquerour held them as appears by the Record of Dooms-day Book from which Name they passed away to Cosenton with Acris but with this Clause reserved that South-Blabden and Acris should hold the Mannor of Horton by knights Service which was a principall Seat of this Family of Rosse before it was sold to Kirkby In the seventh year of King Edward the third Stephen de Cosington obtained a Charter of Free-warren to these above recited Mannors This Man was Son and Heir of William de Cosenton who was Sheriff of Kent in the thirty fifth year of Edward the first and is sometimes written of Cosenton and sometimes of Mount in Elham and from these two did Sir John Cosenton extract his Genealogie and with it his Title to these two Mannors and he deceasing about the latter end of Henry the eighth without Issue-male his three Daughters ....... married to Duke Joan matched to Wood and Elizabeth wedded to Alexander Hamon Esquire became his three Coheirs and parted a large Patrimony Upon the Division Wood obtained South-Blabden and Jaques Court and Hamon carried away Mount Wood's Heir alienated the two first to Sir John Wilde of Canterbury whose Son Colonell Dudley Wilde upon his late Decease hath bequeathed them to his Widow during Life Hamon's Heir determined in two Daughters and Coheirs Mary was espoused to Sir Edward Bois of Fredvill and Catharine was matched to Sir Robert Lewknor descended from the noble and Illustrious Family of Lewknor in Sussex who in his Wifes right was invested in the Possession of Mount who upon his Death transmitted it to his Son Mr. Hamon Lewknor whose Widow Mrs. ..... Lewknor eldest Daughter to Dr. Hen. Kingsley Arch-deacon of Canterbury is now in the enjoyment of it Canterwood is another Mannor in this Parish whose Possessors I confesse I could never trace out by any Print of publick Record therefore I endeavoured to give my self Satisfaction by the private Evidences but the Heir being under Age the Deeds were deposited in the Hands of those who represented my Design in Surveying them through the Mists of Cautious Jealousies and Distrusts and so my Attempt became fruitlesse All the Intelligence I could gain as in Relation to that place was collected from an old Manuscript whose Hand seems contemporary to the Time of Henry the eighth and what I have drained from thence I shall now represent to the Reader Canterwood says this Escript was formerly the Estate of Thomas de Garwinton de Welle in Littlebourne who flourished in the Reign
Horspoole Esquire who in the Memory of these Times alienated the Fee-simple to Mr. English of Sussex Secondly the Mannor of Maidstone it self with the Palace fall under Consideration They were in Times of elder Account belonging to the Family of Cornhill and so continued till William de Cornhill desiring to exemplifie his Zeal and Devotion by some eminent Acts of Piety to the Religion which those Times asserted gave them to Stephen Langton Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in the seventh year of the Raign of King John many of whose Successors were Benefactors both to the Church and Palace Boniface of Savoy Arch-Bishop of Canterbury about four hundred years since built here an Hospital then styled the New-work to the Honour of St. Peter and Paul and Thomas the Martyr which Hospital William Courtney likewise Arch-Bishop pull'd down and instituted a Colledge upon the Ruines of it for secular Priests devoted to the Honour of All Saints And also erected the Collegiate Church as the Walls diaper'd in sundry places with his paternal Coat do easily evince John Vfford also Arch-Bishop about three hundred years since began the Foundation of the Palace here but dying before he had compleated the same Simon Islip his Successor gave it its Perfection and being afterwards crumbled into Decay Iohn Morton likewise Arch-Bishop not onely repaired but augmented it Maidston was governed by a Portreve until the Time of King Edward the sixth by whose incorporation it came to be governed by a Maior which Priviledge being lost because this Town was enwrapped in Sir Thomas Wiats Insurrection against Q. Mary Q. Elizabeth not onely restored the same but to improve it to more eminence with a farther Addition of Honour raised it into the Degree of a Borough Maidstone by the Influence of Boniface of Savoy Arch-Bishop of Canterbury had the Grant of a Market procured to be held here weekly on the Thursday as is manifest Pat. 45. Hen. tertii Memb. secunda Thomas Arundel Arch-Bishop of Canterbury about two hundred and forty years since erected a Chauntry for the Brothers of Corpus Christi now converted into the Free-School who by the Rules of their Primitive Institution were to pray for the Fraternity of the Guild The Mannor and Palace of Maidston being exchanged with the Crown by Thomas Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was by K. Henry the eighth about the thirty second year of his Raign granted to Thomas Wiat the elder and his infortunate Son Sir Thomas VViat being attainted in the second year of Queen Mary it devolved by Escheat to the Crown and continued there untill Queen Elizabeth granted it to John Astley Esq Master of the Royall Jewells from whom it descended to Sir Jacob Astley created Lord Astley by the late King Charles at Oxford in whose Descendants the Propriety is at this instant resident But the Mannor continued in the Tenure of the Crown even untill the Raign of King Charles For when King James had by his gracious Charter created Dame Elizabeth Finch Widow of Sir Moile Finch of Estwell onely Daughter and Heir of the right Honourable Sir Thomas Heneage of Copped-hall in Essex Vice-Chamberlane and one of the Privy Councel to Queen Elizabeth Vice-Countesse Maidston to her and her Issue-male She obtained the Mannor in Fee Farme for ever and transmitted it to her Son Sir Thomas Finch in her Right Earl of VVinchelsey from whom both the Title of Viscount Maidston and the Right of the Mannor are devolved by Paternal Succession to the Right honourable Heneage Finch the present Earl of VVinchelsey and Vicecount Maidston Leland notes that the Arch-Bishop's Palace was anciently a Castle and I verily believe it was the Caput Baroniae for the Arch-Bishops had more than one and excepting that at Saltwood I have diligently Searched and can find none so likely as this Goulds and Shepway do thirdly expose themselves to our Survey they were formerly the Demeasne of Vinter of Vinters not far distant and so remained till Robert Vinter Founded in Maidston Church that Chantry which bears the Name of Gould's Chantry about the fortieth year of Edward the third and then he annexed both these places to the Foundâ—tion for those Divine Offices which were there to be performed but upon the Suppression of this Oratorie King Henry the eighth granted Goulds and Shepway to Sir Thomas VViat who afterwards sinking under the crime of High Treason in the second year of the Government of Queen Mary She upon his attaint granted them to Sir VValter and Gervas Henley Esq from which Family by Purchase they came over to Andrews but stayed not long there for in our Fathers Memory they were sold to Sir Humphrey Tufton late Sheriff of Kent part of the year 1654. and part of the year 1655. Bigons alias Digons was the ancient Seat of the worthy Family of the Mapelysdens and I have a Deed in my Custody wherein one Edward Mapelysden is mentioned with this Addition Edwardus Mapelysden de Digons The Deed bears Date from the twenty fifth of Edward the third and after the possession had been for many Generations Successively resident in this Family one of this Name being unfortunately concerned in the Defection of Sir Thoma Wyat was blasted with the guilt of High Treason and so by Consequence his Estate by Confiscation escheated to the Crown from which it was granted to Nicholas Barham after Serjeant at Law who did much improve this Fabrick with a Supplement of Building from whose Heir it passed away by Sale to Hawle and from him again soon after to Sir Francis Berneham to whom this Mansion owes much of its Magnificence and Splendor whose Son and Heir Mr. Edward Barneham Esquire has lately alienated his Interest in it to Mr. Beale of London Jordans-Court is a fifth place which may exact our Notice because it gave Seat and Sirname to a Family of that Denomination the next Family after this was expired which held it was Roper of the Ropers of St. Dunstans in Canterbury and John Roper sold it to Edw. and Wil. Brouch of Bersted about the thirty sixth year of Henry the sixth and they quickly after alienated their Concernment to Atwood from whom the same Fate carried it away to Peirce who by Sale transmitted his Right to Cook and he suddenly after demised it to Crooke where after the Title had made some short abode the Possession was passed over to Potkins extracted from the Fotkins of Sevenoke where the Name was very ancient from Potkin by his Daughter and Coheir it descended to Virgo who about the latter end of Q. Elizabeth by Sale translated the Possession into Washington Justice of Peace and often in the Commission of Sewers who sold it to Godwin from whom by Purchase it came to be the Inheritance of Crisp who in our Memory conveyed it away to Smith and he some few years since by Sale invested the Propriety in Mr. Beckman Sixthly Sheals is not to be forgotten because it was the Inheritance of Fremingham for Ralph de
now come down to be the Possession of Sir Stephen Leonard of West Wickham There is yet another ancient Seat within the Verge of this Village whose Name is Maplescombe and partly is situated in this and partly in Kingsdown This place although it now carry a desolate Aspect by reason of its Ruine and Depopulation was anciently of a high Repute and Estimate William de Chellerfield he whom I suppose lies enter'd in Halsted Church held it as Testa de Nevil informs me in the twentieth year of Henry the third but his Family had not been possest of it untill the latter End of Edward the second when the Vicissicude of Sale carried the Title off to Rokesley of Rokesley in North-Crey and Roger the Son of Thomas de Rokesley held the Lordship by a whole Knights Fee in the twentieth year of Edward the third of Richard de Rosse of Horton Kerkbie and he held it of the Successor of Robert de Arsick and he of the King yet I find some part of it to have acknowledged the Signorie of the Family of Merworth for Roger de Merworth in the eighteenth year of Edward the first obtained a Charter of Free-Warren to his Lands at this place and in the fortieth year of Edward the third John de Merworth this Mans Grandchild was by purchase wholly invested in the Possession and held it at his Decease which was in the forty ninth year of that Prince and John de Malmains was his Heir who passed it away to Nicholas de Brember of whom I shall speak more at Merworth and he being attainted in the tenth year of Richard the second there was a return made in the twelfth of that Prince that he held this Mannor at his Conviction upon which that Prince in the thirteenth year of his Reign grants it to John de Hermensthorpe and he not long after passed it away to Richard Fitz-Allen Earl of Arundel and his Son Thomas Earl of Arundel dying without Issue Male 1416. Joan one of his Sisters and Coheits brought it to be the Possession of her Husband Will. Beauchamp Baron of Abergavenny whose Son likewise dying without Issue Male in the ninth of Henry the fifth Elizabeth his sole Inheritrix united it to the Patrimony of Edward Nevil and in his Descendants did the Title remain untill our Fathers Remembrance and then it was conveyed to Lovelace and is now by Margaret Sole Heir of Richard Lovelace annexed to the Demeasn of Mr. ....... Cooke of Lanham in Suffolk Easthall in this Parish was parcel of the Revenue of Rokesley of Rokesley but when Sir Richard de Rokesley determined with the Name in a Female Inheritrix She by matching with Sir Thomas de Poynings entituled that Name to the Proprietie and Jurisdiction of this place in which Family it continued untill the fourteenth year of Henry the eighth and then it being found after a serious Inquisition that Sir Edward Poynings who deceased the twelfth year of that Princes Government had neither lawful Issue nor any Collateral Alliance which could start a Title to his Estate it escheated to the Crown in whose Demeasn this Mannor was locked up untill King Henry the eighth granted it to Sir Roger Cholmeley who suddenly alienated his Interest here to Sir Martin Bowes and he the first year of Edward the sixth conveyed it again to Percival Hart of Lullingston Esquire in whose Successor Mr. William Hart of Lullingston Esquire the Title is now resident Littlemote and Petham are two Mannors likewise in this Parish which augmented the Revenue of Sibell a Family of deep Antiquity as any in this Track who were for many Hundred years possest of Petham and of the House which is called Littlemote likewise as is evident by their Coat Armour viz. a Tiger viewing himself in a Mirrour or Spigel both carved and embossed very anciently in Wood as likewise represented to the view in old coloured Glass though much of the Land that relates to this Mansion devolved to Sibel about the Beginning of Henry the seventh by the Heir of Cowdale whose Arms viz. Arg. a Cheveron Gules between three Bulls Heads Cabosed Sables both empailed and quartered with this Family are yet visible in many Places of the House finally after these two Places had so many Descents been fastned to this Family they came down at last to John Sibel Esquire who concluded in a Female Heir called Elizabeth matched to Mr. Robert Bosvil Ancestor to Thomas Bosvil Esquire who in Right of this Alliance is now Heir apparent to the Signorie of them There is one part of the Church is called Arsicks Chancel and divers Lands hereabouts are held of the Honour of Arsick by Knights Service and Robert de Arsick that came in with William the Conqueror was one of those that were Assistants to John de Fiennes for the securer Guard of Dover Castle He had eighteen Knights Fees assigned to him of which these lay in Kent viz. Fremingham idest Farningham one Knights Fee Mayplescombe one Knights Fee Nutstted in Kent one Knights Fee Combe in Kent one Knights Fee Bekewel in Kent one Knights Fee The rest lay most in Oxfordshire and some in Dorset Wilts and Lincolnshire In the Reign of Henry the second Manasser de Arsick was of eminent Note in the County of Oxford and Mr. Camden in describing that County affirms the principal Seat of their Barony to be at Coggs and that the Daughter and Heir was married to Hubert de Burgo who was Earl of Kent Alhallows in the Hundred of Hoo with the appendant Mannor of Shawsted did anciently celebrate the Memory of Delapole John De la Pole held it in the twentieth year of Edward the third and paid a respective supply for it at making the Black Prince Knight and in this Family was the possession permanent untill the Reign of Henry the fourth and then it was transmitted by sale to Zouch of Haringworth written in ancient Court Rolls and other Muniments De la Zouch and here the Title was resident untill it was by Descent wafted along to John Lord De la Zouch who being a great Assertor of the Cause and Quarrel of Richard the third against Henry the seventh like some noble Fabrick in whose Joints the Raine hath dwelt and supplanted the Contextures of its Pillars fell under the Misfortune of his Royal Master and sunk in the Ruines of the fatal Field of Bosworth and in the first year of Henry the seventh being attainted by Parliament his Patrimony escheated to the Crown and then that Prince granted his Estate here to his faithful Partisan Sir Henry Wiat whom he had newly taken into his private Councels and from him did it successively come down to his Grandchild Sir Thomas Wiat whose Estate here was much improved and augmented by the Addition of Windlehill another Mannor in this Parish which as appears Rot. Esc Num. 82. did in the forty seventh year of Edward the third belong to the Abbot of Reding and upon the suppression of
Sepulchre of Christ against the Assaults of Infidels is incertain for it was customary in those times if they did but vow to undertake the protection of the Crosse in the Christian Quarrel to insculpe their Figures upon their Sepulchres armed and Crosselegged This abovesaid Sir Henry de Cobham was again Sheriff of Kent in the first and ninth years of Edward the second Stephen de Cobham Son and Heir of this Sir Henry was Sheriff of Kent the eighth ninth and tenth years of Edward the third Tho. de Cobham was Sheriff of Kent in the first year of Richard the second John de Cobham was one of the Conservators of the Peace in this County in the third fifth sixth ninth twelfth and eighteenth years of Edward the third a place of no small Consequence in that Age the end of it being to appease Tumults regulate and bridle the Disorders and Excesses of all Irregular Persons whether Felons Outlaws or other Malefactors of what Complexion soever and lastly to secure the Peace of the County from all Eruptions either inbred or forraign This man had Issue Thomas Lord Cobham Father to John Lord Cobham in whom the male Line determined so that Joan became his Daughter and Heir who was first matched to John Delapole secondly to Sir John Ouldcastle by whom she had only a Daughter that died an Infant and thirdly to Reginald Braybrook who dyed as appears by the Inscription on his Tombe in Cobham Church in the year 1433 and by him she had only Joan who was Heir to them both and she by being wedded to Thomas Brook of the County of Somerset Esquire knitt Cobham and a large Income besides to her Husbands Patrimony And this man had Issue by her Sir Edmund Broke who was summoned to Parliament as Baron of Cobham in the twenty third year of Henry the sixth and he was in the direct Line Ancestor to Henry Broke Lord Cobham Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in the first year of King James who being too deeply concerned in the Design of Sir Walter Rawleigh which was as some who pretend to unravell it in the whole Webb by private Collusion and Treaty with Count Aremberg the Spanish Legat to draw over some Forces from Flanders by whose powerfull Concurrence they might engage this Nation in the Flame of Civill Contention since from that they expected their Light though others wrap it up in so many Vails and Umbrages that the whole Scene of this Attempt becomes perplexed and mysterious made the forfeiture of his Estate here at Cobham though not his Life become the price of his undertaking which being thus rent away by this Escheat from the Patrimony of this Family was soon after by King James invested by Grant in his Kinsman Lodowick Stuart Duke of Lenox who expiring without Issue it did successively devolve to his Nephew James Duke of Lenox upon whose late Decease it is come over to ....... his Dutchesse Dowager only Daughter to George Villiers Duke of Buckingham in whom the blood of those three noble Families Villiers Manours and Beaumont appears to be concentered Cobham-Colledge was founded by John Baron Cobham of Cobham in year 1362 for a Master and Chaplains to pray for the Souls of him his Ancestors and Successors Cobham-Bury lyes likewise in this Parish and was always esteemed as an appendant Mannor to Cobham having originally and successively the same Proprietaries and being found wrapped up in the Patrimony of the infortunate Henry Lord Cobham it escheated upon his Attainder to the Crown and was suddenly after by King James granted to Robert Earl of Salisbury whose Son and Heir the right honorable Robert Cecill Earl of Salisbury some few years since transferred his Right in it by Sale to one Zachary King of Watford in the County of Hertford Henherst is the last place of note in Cobham which as the Records in Rochester inform me was given to the Priory of Leed Castle by Robert de Crevequer upon his Foundation of that Cloister and continued folded up in its Revenue until the Whirlwind of the generall Suppression rent it off and King Henry the eighth granted it to George Lord Cobham who immediately after conveyed it to Sir George Harpur Esquire whose Son Sir Edward Harpur about the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth passed away his Concernment here to Mr. Thomas Wright from whom it descended to his Son and Heir George Wright Esquire who dying without Issue gave it to his Kinsman Sir George Wright and his Son not many years since surrendered it by Sale to Doctor Obert Physitian to the late Queen Mary The Tythes of this Mannor were given by one Goscelinus as the first Book of of Compositions at Rochester discovers to me in the year 1091 to the Priory of St. Andrews in that City which upon the Suppression were by King Henry the eighth granted to George Brook Lord Cobham which upon the Attainder of his infortunate Grandchild Henry Lord Cobham in the second year of King James returned to the Crown and here the Propriety made its aboad untill the late King Charles by his royal Concession made them the Inheritance of Mr. Stephen Alcock of Rochester Esquire Cobham had the Grant of a Market weekly on the Monday and a Fair yearly on the Day of St Mary Magdalen procured to be observed there at those stated times abovesaid by John Lord Cobham in the forty first year of Edward the third Because I have mentioned before and shall have frequent occasion to mention hereafter those Kentish Gentlemen who were embarqued with Edward the first in his victorious and triumphant Expedition into Scotland and were dignified with the order of Knighthood for their Assistance given to that Prince in his succesfull and auspicious Siege of Carlaverock in the twenty eighth year of his Reign I shall represent to the Reader a List which I have collected from an Authentick Roll gleaned from very ancient Registers and other Records by that eminent Antiquary Robert Glover Esquire Sir Henry de Cobham Sir Reginald de Cobham of Cobham and Roundall in Shorn Sir Stephen de Cobham Sir Henry de Cobham le Uncle Sir Simon de Leybourn Sir Henry de Leybourne of Leybourne Castle Sir Jeffrey de Say de Birling Sir Ralph de St. Leger Sir John de St. Leger of Vlcombe Sir Thomas de St. Leger Sir Jeffrey de Lucy Sir Aymery de Lucy of Newington Lucies Sir Thomas de Lucy Sir John de Northwood Sir John de Northwood his Son of Northwood in Milton Sir John de Savage Sir Thomas de Savage of Bobbing Court Sir Roger de Savage Sir Stephen de Cosington in another old Roll there is mention of Sir William de Cosington it is probable they were deslinct persons but both of Cosington Hall in Alresford Sir Peter de Huntingfield of West-Wickham Sir Robert de Crevequer but of what place is not mentioned in the Roll. Sir Simon de Crioll of Walmer Sir Maurice de Bruin de Bekenham Sir Bartholomew de
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
Warden of the Saxon Shore by Pancerollus in his Book called Notitia Provinciarum under the Name of Anderida and sometimes written Anderidos and here was the Castle which the Saxons called Andreds Ceaster and the great Wood which stretched out in length from hence into Hampshire 80. miles was named Andreds-wald and by the Britons Coid Andred other reasons are laid down for the Identity of the place extracted from the Name which the English Saxons gave it who termed it Brittenden that is The Britons Vale from whence the whole Hundred adjoyning is called Sellbrittenden that is The Britons Woody Vale. Here for Defence of the Coast against the Eruptions of Saxon Rovers the Romans placed the Prapositus Numeri Abulcorum and hither the River of Lymen long fince called Rother was sufficiently Navigable But soon after the Romans deserted Brittain it shrunk into Decay being ruined by the English Saxons and yet a marke of the Losse is covertly couched under the Name of the principal Mannor called Losenham of which something is to be remembred when we have done with the History of this place which I have thus abbreviated Hengist being fully determined to expell all the Britons out of Kent and thinking it would much conduce to the improvement of his Design to recruite his Army with Troops of his own Nation called Ella the Founder of the South-Saxon Kingdome and his three Sons with a strong Power out of Germanie and then gave a sharp Assault against this Anderida but was intercepted at that instant in his Designe by those vigorous Impressions which the Britons out of their Ambushments in the Woods then made upon him In Fine after many Prejudices and Losses both given and taken Hengist divided his Army and not onely discomfited the Britons in the adjacent wood but also at the same Time forced the City by Assault and became so enflamed with revenge that nothing but the Extinction of the Inhabitants by a publick slaughter and the totall demolishing of the Town could supersede or allay so great an Animosity The place lying thus desolate was shewed as Henry of Huntingdon reports many Ages after to inquisitive Passengers till in the year 791 King Offa gave this and other Lands to the Arch-bishop and Monks of Canterbury ad Pascua Porcorum for the Pannage of their Hoggs In the Time of the Conquerour the Arch-bishops and Monks of Canterbury held this Mannor of Newenden and it was rated in the extent of it but at one Sulling and was an Appendage to Saltwood and in the Patrimony of the Church did the Title of it remain locked up till the general Dissolution in the Raign of Henry the eighth and then it was unloosned and by Act of Parliament fastned to the Revenue of the Crown where till these infortunate Times it did successively continue Losenham in this Parish was the ancient Seat of the Auchers an eminent and numerous Family this was both in Kent Sussex Nottingham and Essex where they made Coppt-Hall by Epping the Seat and Head of their Barony and it is very probable they derive this their Name from Aucherus that was Consul or Elderman of Kent and led the power of the County wherewith at Richborough nere Sandwich he foiled and defeated the Danes as Alfred of Beverley writes In the Book called Nova Feoffamenta collected in the Raign of Henry the second it is there recorded that that Prince Rot. pipae de Scutagio Walliae An. 42 Hen. 3. gave William Fitz Aucher the fourth part of a Knights Fee in Essex called Lagfare Richard Fitz Aucher his Grandchild is in the Number of those Kentish Gentlemen who were engaged with Henry the third in his Expedition into Wales in the forty second year of his Raign Will. Fitz Aucher See Camdens Britannia pag. 307. another of this Family held the Mannor of Boseham in Sussex by Grant from William the Conquerour and his Rent-service or Acknowledgement was to pay into the Exchequer in whose Time he lived forty pound of tryed and weighted Silver Henry Fitz Aucher fills up the Roll or Inventory of those Kentish Gentlemen who assisted Edward the first at his Seige of Carlaverok in Scotland in the twenty eighth year of his Raign and for his Service there was made Knight Banneret Peter Aucher or Auger for so in old Records they are promiscuously written was Valet to King Edward the second an Office equivalent in its Trust and Dignity to those we called Gentlemen of the Bed-chamber to our late Kings and it seems was mistaken for a Knight Templer in the fourth year of that Prince because he nourished a spreading Beard in that Age an eminent Adjunct of that Order but Edward the second rectified this Mistake and affirmed that his diffused Beard did not evince he was a Knight Templer as appears Pat. 14. Hen. 2. parte secunda Memb. 20. And if it could any way multiply or improve the Eminence of a Family that was so deeply rooted in Antiquity before I could tell you that sundry of this Name and Family were Conservators of the Peace and concerned in other Comissions both to levy Taxes imposed by Parliament and to have Inspection into Sewers both in the Raign of Edward the third and Richard the second but I avoid the recital lest this Book might swell into too large a Bulk by these curious and unnecessary Disquisitions It is enough to inform you that after this Mannor had for many Centuries of years been wrapt up in the Patrimony of this Family it went away by Ann Sole Daughter and Heir of John Aucher of Losenham to Walter Colepeper second Son of Sir John Colepeper of Bayhall in Pepenbury from which Alliance Sir John Colepeper created Lord Colepeper at Oxford by the late K. Charles claims at this instant the Inheritance and Lordship of Losenham There was in this Parish a House of Carmelite Friers called so because they came from Mount Carmel in Palestine and was the first Seminary of that Order here in England who by their Rule were styled Brothers of Mary the blessed Virgin to whom this Covent was dedicated It was founded in the year of our Lord 1241 and in the twenty sixth year of the Government of Henry the third by Sir Thomas Alcher or Fitz Aucher for the Name was often promiscuously written so but never Albuser as Mr. Camden and Mr. Speed have printed it though I do not deny but such a person might be a Benefactor to the Foundation Newenham in the Hundred of Feversham was parcell of that Demeasn which related to the Abbey of Boxley and continued united to it till the Suppression by Henry the eighth and then it was granted by that Prince to Sir Thomas Wiatt in the twenty eighth year of his Government and he by his unhappy Defection in the first year of Queen Mary forfeited it to the Crown where it remained till Queen Elizabeth by royal Concession invested the Possession in her faithfull Servant John Astley Esquire
and by Sale transmitts it to John Mew and from him about the latter end of Henry the fourth both these Mannors with all their Appendages were passed away to Iohn Tutsham and Nicholas Remkin of Eastmere but he determined in Alize Remkin his Sole Inheritrix who by matching with Thomas Rolfe of Tunbridge brought her Interest in Albans and Black-pits to be the Inheritance of that Family but long the Right of both these places continued neither in Rolfe nor Tutsham for about the beginning of Henry the sixth they were alienated by Sale to Thomas Stidulfe of Badsell Esquire and he by Deed bearing date 1463 that is about the third year of Edward the fourth settles them on his two Sons Robert and Henry Stidulfe and in the Deed there is a remembrance that they were purchased of Rolfe and Tutsham From Robert they descended to his Son Thomas Stidulfe who was Heir both to his Father and his Uncle but he concluded in a Daughter and Heir who was matched about the latter end of Henry the eighth to Richard Vane Ancestor to the right honorable Mildmay Fane now Earl of Westmerland who in Right of this Alliance now enjoys Black-pits but Albans was by Henry Vane Successor to the above-mentioned Richard in the year 1589 passed away to Roger Twisden of Roydon-Hall Esquire Grand Father to the instant Proprietary Sir Roger Twisden Knight and Baronet Eastmere is another Mannor in East-Peckham which acknowledged a Family called Remkin anciently to be its Possessors John Remkin was Father of Christian Remkin who held it as appears by an ancient Court-roll in the thirty fourth year of Edward the third and from him did it by paternal Vicissitude devolve to Nicholas Remkin in whom the male-line failed so that Alice his Sole Daughter became the visible Heir to his Estate and she by matching with Thomas Rolfe of Tunbridge knit this and other Land here at Great Peckham to his Patrimony but it did not long thus continue united for John Rolfe his Son in the sixth year of Henry the sixth conveys it to Richard Ruyton and he in the eighth year of the abovesaid Prince alienated it to William Hextall but he deceasing without Issue-male Margaret his Sole Daughter by her Inter-marriage with William Whetenhall originally descended from the ancient Family of Whetenhall of Whetenhall in Cheshire cast it into the Possession of that Name from whom it is now descended to my worthy Friend Thomas Whetenhall of Hextall Court Esquire Spilfted is a fourth Mannor in this Parish It was the Inheritance for diverse Ages as appears by the Evidences now in the Custody of Sir Roger Twisden of an ancient Family called Cayser the last of which Name who enjoyed this place was John Cayser who went out in Daughters and Coheirs one of which was wedded to Matthew Chetwind to whom this place upon the Separation of the Estate into parcells in his Wifes Right accrued and he after some small residence in the Possession passed away his Right by Sale in the one and fortieth year of Queen Eliz. to Roger Twisden Esq Grand-father to Sir Roger Twisden Knight and Baronet the instant Lord of the Fee a Person upon whom I need drop no other Character when I say that in these times when there is such a Damp and Astonishment by publick blastings and discouragements cast upon Literature He is both a Gentleman and a Scholler Here is likewise a Seat in Peckham very venerable for its Antiquity which in old Rolls is called Hextall Court and was the Mansion of Gentlemen of principal Account in this Track In a Deed without Date Simon de Hougham does demise certain pieces of Land to John de Hextall which lay within the Limits of the Parish of Hougham where anciently this Family enjoyed no contemptible Possessions as well as at East-Peckham The last of this Name at this place was William Hextall who dyed without Issue-male and left Margaret his only Heir who was matched to William Whetenhall Esquire in the raign of Henry the seventh descended from the ancient and illustrious Family of Whetenhall of Whetenhall in the County of Chester and so it was incorporated into the Income of that Family where it hath ever since remained so that it is now the present Inheritance of Thomas Whetenhall Esquire West-Peckham or Little Peckham in the Hundreds of Twyford and Littlefield was annexed to the Demeasne of the Knights Templars when John Colepeper founded a Praeceptory here for them in the year of our Lord 1 .... which upon the finall Extirpation and Dissolution of their Order here in England in the second year of Edward the second was granted to the Knights Hospitallers and was sometimes called a Praeceptory and sometimes a Commandry Now a Praeceptory was a Benefice in Kind and was termed so because this and all others of the same Capacity were possest by the more eminent sort of Templars whom the Chief Master created and called Praeceptores Templi A Commandry was some principal Mannor of the Knights Hospitallers wherein was placed some Brother of the Order who could not dispose of the Profits of it but was to mannage it only to the Use of the whole Fraternity deducting so much of the Revenue as might support his Livelyhood and Subsistence of which see more in Dr. Cowells Interpreter in his Notes and Comment upon the word Commaundry This upon the Suppression was by Henry the eighth in the thirty second year of his raign granted to Sir Robert Southwell afterwards of the Privy Councell to King Edward the sixth and Queen Mary who not long after alienated it to Sir Edmund Walsingham of Scadbery Lieutenant of the Tower from whom it came down by Descent to my Noble Friend Sir Thomas Walsingham his Great Grand-child who not long since passed it over by Sale to his Son in Law Mr. James Masters Oxenheath is an ancient Mannor in West-Peckham and was many Ages past the Demeasn of Colepeper Walter Colepeper dyed seised of it in the first year of Ed. the third Rot. Esc Num. And from him by Successive Transmission threaded together by many Descents did it devolve to ...... Colepeper who determined towards the latter end of Henry the seventh in three Daughters and Coheirs Margaret the eldest was matched to William Cotton of the County of Cambridge Joyce the second was wedded to Edmund Howard a younger Son of Thomas Duke of Norfolke who was Father to Katharine Howard one of the infortunate Wives of Henry the eighth and the third was espoused to Barham of Barham-court in Teston and these three Sisters shared his Inheritance and this upon the Partition was annexed to the Demeasn of Cotton whose Successor passed it away by Sale to Chowne of Faire-lane in which Name it did not long continue for Sir George Chowne in our Fathers Memory being desirous to abridge and contract all his Estate into the County of Sussex alienated this Seat to Nicholas Miller Esquire who upon his Decease bequeathed it to his
is another place of Account in Stockbery It was in Times of an elder Inscription written Godsted as giving Seat and yielding a Sirname to a Family so called William de Codested alias Godsted held it at his Death which was in the twenty seventh year of Edward the first and had Issue William de Codested who was likewise in possession of it at his Death which was in the Enjoyment of it in the ninteenth year of Issue Richard de Codested who was in the Enjoyment of it in the ninteenth year of Edward the third Rot. Esc Num. 43. which was the time of his Decease and from him it descended to John de Codested styled by the vulgar John de Cowsted who bare for his Arms Gules three Leopards heads Argent which was assumed by Higham who about the beginning of Richard the second matched with the Sole Heir of this Family and in this Name it remained until the beginning of Henry the sixth and then it was partly by Sale partly by marching with a Daughter of this Family enstated upon Petit in which Family the Title of this place was fixed and permanent until those Times which came within the precincts of our Grandfathers Remembrance devolved it to O borne but Edward O borne not many years since determining in Mary his Sole Heir she by espousing of William Fagge hath knit it to that Revenue which now confesses his Descendants for proprietaries Stodmersh in the Hundred of Downhamford was innobled anciently by being parcel of the Revenue of the Saxon Kings of Kent and rested in their Demeasne until Lotharius one of the Kentish Kings made Godd his Heir and as Thorne records in his Annals setled it on the Abby of St. Augustins and remained successively interwoven with the Patrimony of that Convent until the publick Suppression in the reign of Henry the eighth rent it away and then that Prince in the thirty seventh year of his reign granted it to John Masters and he upon his Decease setled it on his Son Mr. Thomas Masters and he dying without Issue-male left it to his Daughter and Co-heir Elizabeth Masters who by matching with Mr. William Courthop knit the propriety of it to his Inneritance and he had Issue Mr. Thomas Courthop who in Right of this Alliance is now entituled to the instant possession of it Stroude in the Hundred of Shamell was granted in the eleventh year of Henry the third by the same Prince Magistro Fratribus Militiae Templi Solomonis that is to the Knights Temples who had here an eminent Mansion which from its being of their possession hath ever since acquired the Name of the Mannor of Temple After the suppression of this rich and magnificent Order in the second year of Edward the second upon what pretences and colourable Insinuations I have discovered in my Description of Temple Ewell this Mannor was united to the Crown And though a principal part of the Lands which related to this Order in this County before their Dissolution was by that Act of Parliament called Statutum de Terris Templariorum setled on the Knights Hospilaters yet this was lodged in the Royal Revenue until the twelfth year of Edward the third and then he conferred it by Grant on Mary Countess of Pembroke who about six years after bestowed it on the Abbess and Sisters Minorites of the profession of St. Clare at the Abby of Denney in Cambridgeshire to which place she had removed them from Waterbeach where they were first planted by her And here did this Mannor reside until another Tempest more fatal and ruinous then the former arose in the reign of Henry the eight which like a Whirl-winde ravished it away from the Revenue of the Church and then that Monarch in the thirty second year of his reign made it the propriety of Edward Elrington Esquire But it seems the Title of Church-Land is stuck so thick with the Curses of the first Donors that it becomes like a Moath received into a Garment which like an ingrateful Guest commonly destroyes the House which entertained it and so it was here for in the same year it was granted the abovesaid Person alienated it to George Brook Lord Cobham whose infortunate Grandchild Henry Lord Cobham was enwrapped in that obscure and mysterious Design of Sir Walter Rawleigh which was muffled up in such a complicated Veile of that magical Mist called Reason of State and other Intrigues of wrested policy that it remains dark and perplexed until this Day indeed the Crimes of this unhappy Gentleman were by the mercenary Tongues of some Lawyers who were in pension to the Interest of those who then steared the Helm of State and who like some Trumpeters knew how to sell their Breath to the best advantage aggravated and multiplied to that Bulk and Dimension that he was convicted of high Treason in the beginning of King James and though he lost not his Life he did that of his Estate here at Stroude which was by the abovesaid Prince conferred by Grant on Robert Cecill Earl of Salisbury principal Secretary of Estate in Respect he had matched with Elizabeth Brook Sister to this infortunate Lord from whom it descended to his Son the Right Honorable William Cecill Captain of the Band of Pensioners to his late Majesty and Earl of Salisbury who in our Fathers Memory passed it away to Mr. Bernard Hide Esquire one of the Commissioners of the Custome-houes to the late King Charles and he upon his Decease gave it to his third Son Mr. John Hide who not many years since alienated it to James Duke of Lenox from whom after some brief possession it was conveyed to Mr. Blague whose Son Mr. Izaack Blague by Descendant Right is now entituled to the Propriety of it The Chappel of St. Nicholas in Stroud was by Gilbert Glanvill Bishop of Rochester with the Consent of the Prior of Rochestor William Arch-deacon of the same See and likewise of the Parish Priest of Frendsbury within the Precincts of whose Village Church and Congregation it was in elder Times circumscribed erected and improved into a Mother-church and that for these two Reasons First it was divided by too great Distance from the Church of Frendsbury And secondly the Inhabitants began to multiply to that Number that it was probable that in Decursion of Time the above recited Church would be in no Capacity for the Reception of so great a Conflux and therefore it was judged convenient by the Authority of that Age to establish Stroud into a Parish independent to Frendsbury and assign to it not only a Church-yard for the Sepulture of their Dead but likewise a Competency of Tiths exceptâ solummodo Decimatione Bladi that is I conjecture the Tithery of Grasse only excepted for the Support of the Incumbent for the Time being as the Records of the Church of Rochester inform us Shorham in the Hundred of Cods-heath hath several places within the Verge of it which may deserve our Notice The first is
Master or Conservator of her Jewells whose Son Sir Jo. Astley upon his Decease bequeathed it to his Nephew Sir Norton Knatchbull Knight and Baronet who is the instant Proprietarie of it Champions-Court is the second place of Account in this Parish It was in elder Times the Mansion and Demeasne of a generous Family whose Sirname was Campania and was certainly a Family of eminence in elder Times Robert de Campania is inserted in the Register of those Kentish Gentlemen who accompanied Richard the first to the Seige of Acon John de Campania his Grandchild obtained the Grant of a Market to Newenham weekly on the Thursday and a Fair yearly to continue the Vigil the Day of St. Peter and Paul and the Day after and was one of those Knights of Kent who was embarked in the Seige of Carlaverock in Scotland with Edward the first in the twenty eighth year of his Raign In Times of a younger Aspect the Name by Depravation and vulgar Use languished into Champion and so continued till it expired in Daughters and Coheirs one of which was Katharine Champion who by matching with Robert Corbett descended from the Corbetts of Morton Corbett in the County of Salop upon the Division of Champions Estate united this to his Revenue where it had not long rested but the same vicissitude brought this Name to determine in female Coheirs likewise two of which called Joan and Elizabeth were espoused to Samuell Slap and Ralph Hart. Samuell Slap had Issue Joan Slap who dyed childlesse and so this Mannor was cast into the Possession of Richard Hart Son of Ralph Hart the Successor of Richard Hart in our Fathers Memory alienated his Interest in it to Sir Henry Spiller and he not many years since conveyed all his Right and Title to it by Sale to Mr. Weckerlin descended from the Weckerlins a Family of good Ranke and Account in Upper Germany A third place of Note in Newenham is Sholand whih was in the Raign of H. the third as an old datelesse Deed discovers to us the Patrimony of Adam de Stomynton and after this Name went out the Bournes of Sharsted in Dodington not far removed from this place were about the twentieth year of Edward the third possest of this Lordship from them by purchase the Propriety was carried over to Chevin descended from the Chevins of Chevins-court in Marden and Thomas Chevin of this place married Thomasin Coheir of Champion of Champions Court in this Parish From Chevin the Interest of Sholand did descend by Sale to Maycott and from them by the same Fate to Adye a Family of Note and very much Antiquity as to the Name in this Track whose Right it had not long acknowledged but by the same Devolution the Title was invested in Steere from whom by Purchase it came over to Sayers descended from those of York-shire who in that Age our Fathers lived in sold his Concernment in it to Mr. Hugison of Dover in whose Heirs the Propriety of this place is at this instant resident Newington-Belhouse lies in the Hundred of Folkston and was in the Raign of King John and Henry the third the Possession of Hubert de Burgo Lord Chief Justice of England and from him it descended to his Son John de Burgo who in the fifty fifth year of Henry the third passed it away by Sale to Thomas de Belhouse by the Name of Newington juxta Hieth And probably this may be a Reason why this Family after they had adopted this Mannor into their own Name assumed a Coat which had some Affinitie with that of Hubert de Burgo videlicet Or upon a Bend Gules three Lozinges Argent and Gules which I suppose was done to preserve the Memory of him of whom it was first purchased But to proceed Sir Thomas de Belhouse great Grandchild of the above-mentioned paid respective Aid for this Mannor by the Name of Newington-Belhouse in the twentieth year of Edward the third at making the Black Prince Knight and died possest of it in the forty eighth year of that Princes Raign from whom a descendant Right brought it down to his Heir John de Belhouse who enjoyed it so narrow a space of Time that it is left upon Record that he died seised of it in the forty ninth year of Edward the third and Robert Knevit a younger Son of Sir John Knevit Lord Chancellor of England who had married the Heir Generall of this Family was found to be his Heir and it was this Robert or else probably his Son who in the seventh year of Henry the fourth had a Patent of Confirmation of Liberty of Free-warren to his Lands at Newington formerly granted to Thomas de Belhouse After the Line of the Knevits was extinguished at this place which was about the beginning of Henry the eighth this Mannor devolved to the Cloptons for Edmund Knevit of Stanwaymagna in Essex had three Sisters who were Coheirs to him and their Father Edward Knevit Esquire Thomasin the eldest was matched to Sir William Clopton of Kentwell in Suffolk for his second Wife and Katharine the second Sister was married to John Clopton Esq eldest Son of the above-said Sir William and Dorothy the third was matched to Thomas Carnaby but these desiring to Contract all their Patrimony within the Verge of Suffolk alienared this Mannor in the twenty seventh year of King Henry the eighth with much of their Land in the Mersh to Thomas Lord Cromwell who being attainted in the thirty second year of Henry the eighth this Mannor escheated to the Crown and lay couched in its Revenue untill the first year of Queen Mary and then it was granted to Edward Lord Clinton who in the last year of the above-said Princesse conveyed it with all its perquisites to Henry Herdson whose Grandchild Francis Herdson almost in that Age we entitle to our Fathers Remembrance alienated it to Mr. Henry Brockman Grandfather to the instant Proprietarie James Brockman Esquire Sene and Bithborough were two ancient Seats which related to the Knightly Family of Valoigns of whom I shall speak more in my Discourse of Petham but before the latter end of Edward the third this Family was extinguished and then one of the two Daughters and Coheirs upon the Distinction of the Estate parcells brought these two places to be the Inheritance of Sir Francis Fogge who lies buried Cross-legg'd in Cheriton-Church with the Arms of Fogge and Valoigns empal'd upon his Tombe and from him did the Propriety and Title in an uninterupted Channell stream down to George Fogge Esquire who alienated Sene in our Grandfathers Memory to Honywood and Bithborough to Mr. Henry Brockman who added much to the ancient Building so that it is now become the Seat of that Family Bertrams in Newington is so called because it was parcell of the Estate of Bertram de Crioll who died possest of it in the twenty third year of Edward the first and left it to Joan his Heir espoused to Sir Richard de