�rtlti.olo9ia atantiana.
"ANTIQ,UITA.TES SEU HISTOltliRUM :&ELIQ,ULIE BUNT TANQ,UAM TA.BUL.10
N.A.UFll,.6.GII; OUM, DEFIOIENTE ET FERE SUBllERS.A. RERUM M.EM:ORLI.,
NIRILOJIIINUS ROMINES INDUSTll.U ET S.A.GAlSPERSIS,-EX ms, INQUAM, O:MNIJ3US VEL .A.LIQUlllUS,
NONNULLA. A. TEl\IPORIS DILUVIO E!tll'IUNT ET OONSERVANT. RES SANE
OPEROS.A., SED MORTALll!US GRAT.A. ET OUM REVERENTIA QUA.DAM OONJUNOTA."
"ANTIQUITIES, OR REMNANTS OF RISTO.RY, A.RE, AS WAB SAID, TANQU.A.M
TABULE N.A.UFRAGII ; WREN INDUSTllIOUS PERSONS, BY AN EXACT AND
SCRUPULOUS DILIGENCE AND OBSEllVATION, OUT OF MONUMENTS, NAMES,
WORDS, PROVERBS, TR.A.l>ITIONS, PRIVATE RECORDS AND EVIDENCES, FRAGMENTS OF STORIES, PASSAGES OF llOOltS THAT CONCERN NOT STORY, AND
T:a:E Ll.Jl:E, DO SAVE .A.ND RECOVER SOllfEW:S:AT FROM THE DELUGE OF
TrnE."-Advancement of Lewrtiing, ii,
�rcltrenlogia ry. The
parish church formerly stood east of the .existing chancel, and
was entered by doo1·s, the a1·ches of which are still to be seen,
no1-th and south of the communion .table. The company were
kindly permitted to perambulate the cloister, and view other
portions of the Priory now used as a dwelling house by
Mr. Bramah.
Dinner was in the Great Hall of Faversham Institute, at
,.L.30 ; L01·d Harris p1·esided, and 142 sat down.
The Evening Meeting was held in the Reading Room of the
Institute, Lord Harris in the chair, when F. F. Giraud, Esq.,
read the following paper respecting the
FAVERSH.AM TOWN CHARTERS.
From a :very early period, Faversham appears to have been a
populous plnce. The Town contains an ancient Cemetery of conside1·
able extent, now known as King's Field, where Romano-British and
Anglo-Saxon remains have of late years been discovered, in great
abundance. Mr. Roach Smith, in his introduction to the catalogue of
Anglo-Saxon a�d other antiquities found here, and bequeathed by the
late Mr. Gibbs to the South Kensington Museum, shews that an
unusually large number of the interments denote superior rank and
aftluence. It appears by a chal'ter of Cronwulf, King of Meroia, that
F:wersham was one of the -royal villes or towns as early as A.D. 811 ;
and that in 858 lElthelbert, King of Kent, gave to W allaf, his Thane,
a sn.lt house at Faversham ; and in the reign of Atbelstan we :find a
• witen:i,gemot or great public coUllcil held here.
It is probable that when the men of Faversham obtained their
en.rlfor charters, much of the existing marsh land was tmder water;
that the head of the creek wns deeper and broader than now; and
that the largest vessels were able to approach the town quays. The
mouth of Faversham Creek opens near that of the Swale, which was
forme1·ly deemed part of the 1-iver Thames, and sepa,ra.tes the Isle of
Sheppey from the main land. So late as the reign of Edward ill.,
the Swale was the usual passage for all vessels to and from
London ; and the situation of the port of Faversham must then have
been most favourable. From the time of Henry VIII., large vessels
lAVERSliAM MlllE1!ING.-'.rHE 'rOW'N CHARTERS. lxm...
appear to have laden and unladen :i.t a place called the Thorn. This
was at the entrance of the Liberty, where the tidal creek branched off
in two directions ; one branch ran to the town, forming a channel for
the smaller craft ; and the other branch ·ran towards Clap Gate, forming
what was called Thom Creek. From that time the maintenance of the
navigation seems to have required increasing care, until, under the
powers granted by Acts of Parliament in 1842 and 1843, the channel
was straightened and improved at a cost of £33,000.
The Manor of Faversham at the time of the Domesday survey in
A.D. 1080, was part of the King's ancient demesne, and the town then
possessed a mill, a market, and two salt pits; the King's profits being
one-fourth more than in the reign of King Edward the Confessor.
The manor, with the hundred of Faversham appurtenant to it,
remained part of the possessions of the Crown till the time of King
Stephen, when it was granted to William de Ipre, afterwards Earl of
Kent, who, about the year 1147, gave it up to the King, and received
other estates in exchange. The King having caused an abbey to be
built at Faversham, settled the manor and other premises upon the
Abbot and Convent. Thenceforward there were frequent disputes
between the town and the abbey, respecting the right to civil ju1i.sdiction. In course of time, however, the poverty of the monks and the
increasing prosperity of the townsmen, enabled the latter to purchase,
or compound for, the abolition or mitigation of many imposts, and to
nullify much of the interference in municipal affairs which was exercised
by the Abbot as Lord of the Manoi·.
In the reign of Richard I. the townsmen compounded with the
Abbot for the liberty of sending their swine to pannage, that is, to feed
in the woods, or common grotmds of the manor.
One dispute with the abbey arose out of the mode of appointing the
mayor. In Henry III.'s reign, after a long contest, the townsmen
had to submit to nominate annually for the mayoralty three persons, of
whom the Abbot chose one to be mayor. This course of procedure did
not long obtain. From the time of Edward I. the freemen, with the
person they had elected mayor (so soon as he had nominated the twelve
jurats with the approbation of the freemen) went together to the Abbot,
who administered to the newly chosen mayor the oath of office. It
contained a pledge to maintain the freedom and rights of the monastery.
An Ordinance of 14th Hen. ill. (A,D, 1229), names Fa.versham
among the Ports of the King of England, having liberties which other
ports have not. It likewise states that the Cinque Ports and their
members fornish fifty-seven ships; of which number Dover with its
}xiv UNT AltCH.lEOLOGICAL SOOIE'.rY.
members, Folkestone, Faversham, and Margate, were bound to supply
twenty-one. Every ship was to bear twenty-one men, and one boy,
who were to serve on summons for forty days ; namely, yearly if it
should happen, for :fifteen days at their own cost, and afterwards at the
King's cost, as long as the King would.
Of the twenty-one ships required, from Dover and its members, one
was supplied by Faversham.
In 1217, the po1-ts armed forty tall ships and put them to sea under
the command of Hubert de Burgh, the Warden. Meeting with eighty
sail of French ships, coming to aid Louis, the French king's eldest
son, the Warden gave them a most courageous encounter, wherein he
took some, sunk otl1ers, and discomfited the rest.
In the 8th, 10th, a.nd 11 th years of his r�ign, King Henry ill.
1·eg_uired the ports to set out double.their number of ships, but promised
that this should form no precedent.
The :first Royal Charter granted to the Barons, i. e., the Freemen
of Faversham, was dated 4 June, 36 Hen. III. (A.D. 1252). It made
them free from toll and from every custom on buying and selling
throughout England and Normandy. It confirmed to them the -valuable privileges, which they, their ancestors, and their Com-Barons of the
Oirique Ports, had more fully and more honourably had, from the time·
of King Edward the Confessor.*
Ten years later, however, letters patent, dated from the Tower of
London, recited that for a very long time past there had been contention, between the .Abbot and l3al'Ons of Faversham, upon the liberty of
* These privileges were those ofSoc. The power of compelling a.Jl persons, living within their liberties, to
plead in their court{;.
Sac. The cognizance of causes oriminal and oivil in their courts.
TlieZ. Liberty to buy and sell within their jurisdiction, and to receive toll
on commodities sold there.
Tlteam. Liberty to have their villeins with their offspring and goods.
I1ifaii9tliej. Power to try and convict felons taken within their liberty.
Wrecjey. The privilege that their goods should not be taken as wreck,
although seized by the officers of the King.
Wyttjry. Freedom from being amerced or fined.
Lestagejry. Freedom from exactions in fairs and market.e for things carried.
Locofry. Freedom of trade; so that by no kind of monopoly, patent, or
company, or guild of traders, or merchants, they should be hindered, but freely
and for love be permitted to trade and traffic.
Quittance of skfres allman. station mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus as
"Durolevum." Antoninus, it will be 1·emembered,. goes over
that 1>art of Watling Street which runs between London and
Durovernum or Canterbury three separate times, in making
for the three great Kentish harbour-fortresses of Ritupre,
Dubrre, and Lemanre (or Richborough, Dover, and Lymne).
In the two latter journeys he touches only at Durobrivre (or
Rochester), between London and Canterbury, which he makes
twenty-seven miles from London, and twenty-five from Canterbury. But in the first journey he interposes N oviomagus and
Vagniacre between London and Rochester, and Durolevum, of
which we are now speaking, between Rochester aud Canterbury; these three being no doubt stations of mino1· importance.
Of the two former I will only say here that they do not appear
to have been on the main line of Watling Street, the distances
given for them amounting according to the best readings to
nine miles more than that given fo1· the straight route, and
that no conjecture ever made respecting them appears to be at
all satisfactory. But it is otherwise with Durolevum, which
may, I, believe, be pretty confidently identified.
It has been placed on a great many different sites by differ-
lxxvi KENT A.ROH2EOtO(}:tdAt SOCIETY.
ent authors) scarcely one commanding spot near the road between Canterbury and Rochester having missed being appropriated to it by some writer. Newington has been mo1i than
once named; the woody hill of Ward well, to the north; of the
church, being thougbt a likely place for a fort, and thl neighbourhood of potteries at Upchurch and Keycoll, as well'as of a
villa at Hartlip, shewing Roman occupation thereabo�
ts. But
the spot, wild and unaltered as it is, shews not the sligf test sign
of intrenchments, and these are a sine qud non in th1 identification. I confess to having been much taken at one time with
that neighbourhood, partly from finding a little sfre�m to the
north of Newington, known. as the Libbet, in which it seemed
pol:!sible that the name Durolevum, or Dwr Leb (Dwr being
undoubtedly the British for water), might be traced; but the
absence of any camp seems fatal to its claims.
The compilers of the O�dnance Map. have been somewhat
fluctuating in their views as to the site of Durolevum. , They
placed it once in Bysing Wood, opposite this hill, where there
are again no earthworks, except the channel of an early road
through the middle. The latest phase of their opinion ·on the
subject consists in putting it on a high spot just this side,of the
Teynham Station, a commanding hill enough; but I could
never find in its hedgerow-banks anything resembling Roman
intrenchments, nor have I ever heard of remains discovered
there.
Davington has been suggested-'-a site which in days when
it was an island must have been not unlike that of Richborough, and might well strike an explorer as a likely spot for
a Roman general to select as his camp. Here, however, again
no evidences of fortification exist, and· such remains as a1·e found
are only what would be expected in the immecliate neighbourhood of a Roman town. A gentleman much interested in
establishing Davington as the site of Durolevum, wrote to me
once in triumphant vein, assuring me of the discovery, on the
vei•y bank which he had always supposed part of the camp, of
evidences of Roman occupation; to wit, several urn-intennents
complete. He had not pe1·ceived that he had utterly and for
ever cut his own throat by his discovery, the site of a camp or
FAV.ERS1lA.:M :MEE'.rIN�.-DU'ROLE"V'UM. 1 " XXVII
town being just the very last place in the whole world that
would ever be used by a Roman for burial.
That cle"er hoaxer, the monk of the fourteenth century, called
Richard of Cirencester, finding the Durolevum of Antoninus
unidentified, appears to have thought, or to have wished his
readers to think, that the word might be Durolenum ; and in
his forged Itinerary so arranged his distances as to make it suit
Lenliam. Camden, with less than his usual discrimination,
seems to have swallowed bis bait open-mouthed ; and Stukeley
was so far led away in that direction as to think that the spot
might be Gharing. All this is very interesting as an example
of a most successful medireval literary hoax; but where is the
Iter, the straight military road, which would lead us to either
of these places ? Where is the ·other Iter th�t would bring us
back again? When we are there, where is the camp? Where
are the signs of Roman occupation? Where is the water which
the beginning "Dur" makes an essentfal element in the site?
In what copy of Antoninus will the mileage given bear out the
notion of so great a distance from Canterbury and from Rochester? But that Camden was inclined to it, we might say that
the idea was ridiculous. The great Homer himself is sometimes to be caught napping !
The 1•equirements then for our identification are these:
First, we must find our camp-and here we stand in the area
of one. Secondly, it must be near the Roman road-and this is
little more than a hundred yards from it. Thfrdly, it must be
near some considerable water-and we are not more than. a
quarter of a mile from the old shore of Faversham Creek, the
most important harbour along the south bank of the Thames
estuary. Fourthly, we must find signs of Roman occupation in
and around it-and there are plenty, from coins and funeral
u1•ns to the walls of Stone Church. Lastly, we must make it
fit, as well as we can, to some one of the different readings oi
Antoninus as to mileage distance from known sites-a point
which many writers have given up as impossible.
Now all the known copies of Antoninus make it twenty-five
miles only from Canterbury to Rocheste1', the distance being
1·ather more than twenty-six English miles, or, considel'i.ng that
lxxviii R'.ENT A.RCILiEOLOGIOAL SOCIETY.
the Roman road between Harbledown and Canterbm·y was
shorter than our own, perhaps we may say twenty-six exactly,
Without attempting to settle the disputed point as to what constituted the Roman mile in Antoninus's day, one cannot but
notice that his distances between those places in Britain, as to
. the identification of which there can be no doubt, are at least
never longer than they are in English miles. Thus, in our own
neighbourhood we find his mileages from Canterbury to Richborough· and to Lymne almost exactly c01·responding to our
own, and that from Canterbuq to Dover a mile less than our
own. When therefore we :find two·or three MSS. of Antoninus
giving the distance of Durolevum from Rochester as sixteen
miles, the exact distance from Rochester Bridge to this spot
being sixteen English miles and a half, I think we may boast
of his authority in our favour in this 1·espect also, at least as
reasonably as any other competitor for the honours of the
Roman station.
We should remember too that if this camp (undoubtedly
Roman from its shape, and situated on the military l'Oad) had
been known to our antiquaries before their knowledge of
Antoninus, they would have begun by searching his Itineraty
for a name to correspond to the site ; and f
inding it also the
only camp of this nature on. the road between Canterbury and
Rochester, could not have failed at once to identlfy it with
Durolevum. So that whether we argue from Antoninus to the
�ite, or from the site to Antoninus, the result is equally reasonable and satisfactory ..
Walking through Mr. Hall's grounds to the foot of the hill,
the company proceeded to visit the ruined church of Stone, where
was read another pape1·, prepared. by Mr. Godfrey�Faussett.
By kind permission of Mr. Hall, the owner, and Mr. Murton,
his tenant, excavations had been made within the chancel.
The trees, brushwood, and several feet of soil which. covered its
site having been cleared away, the north and south walls
were exposed to view, even to their foundations. Parts of
both, sixteen feet long, were found to be of ol'iginal Roman
masonry. These walls are composed of layers of hewn tufa,
FAVERSJlA.M MEETISG.-STONE Ol!lJRCR. lxxix
wi"th here and there occasionally a piece of ragstone, and are
bonded by string-courses of Roman brick. The foundations of
two cross walls were found beneath the chancel· floor, shewing
that the north and south walls had formed two sides of a nearly
square Rornau building. In the middle of the western cross
wall was seen the step at the entrance to the chancel ; at the
east end three altar steps formed of Roman bricks were dis�
covered, and ahove them the solid altar itself was found. This
had lost its top slab only ,-the mass of the altar, with Caen
stone coigns, remains. 'l'he Caen stone suggests that it was the
altar of the Norman church which was added to the Roman
building. During the excavations quantities of Roman tiles, a
great many blocks of tufa, and fragments of Roman pottery
we1·e found, together with human bones and pieces of coloured
glass bearing patterns of Early English design. Roman coins
of various dates had formerly been dug up in the field next the
church. The existence of tl;ie solid altar proves that Stone
Church w:as in ruin, or disused, at the time· of the Reformation,
when altars were 1·emoved from all parish churches then. in use.
This view is strengthened by the p1·esentmen.t made concerning
this chm·ch at Archbishop Warham's visitation in 1511. Complaint was then made that there was neither matins nor
evensong on the holydays, and that Sunday service wrui
pe1·fo1·med only once a fortnight ; that the chancel was so1·e
·decayed, and the windows were not glazed.
This "sore decayed " chancel is that portion of the chm·ch
which contained the Roman masom·y. It seems probable that
a church for the Christians in the camp at Syn.dal (or Durolevum) may have been built here during the period of the
Roman occupation, and that the Saxons, finding these walls
ready to their hand, gave the name of Stone to this church and
thence to the pal'ish,-churches of any other material than
wood being 1·are in Sax.on days.
Dodington Church was next visited. There Mr. Scott
Robertson read the following paper:-
lxxx KENT .A.RdHlEOLOGIC.A.L S001ET'Y.
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, DODINGTON.
This parish was by the Sa:xons called Dodeham. It is so named
in the Domesday survey, which mentions that there was a church here,
,vhen that survey was taken. Of that Domesday church an exterior
coign, built of tufa, in the north wall of the chancel, may be a portion.
The four Norman windows, in the east wall of the chancel (three below
and one above), are of much later date, and may not have been put in
before the Transition period at which the handsome chancel arch was
erected.
The nave, which had formerly two aisles, is of the Transition or
Early English period. Traces of three arches of a northern arcade are
clearly visible on the exterior; and traces of an arch in the west wall
seem to suggest that the tower originally stood further north than it
does now, and opened into the middle of the nave. The south chapel
is a beautiful specimen of later work in the Eal'ly English style; perhaps
there was an interval of half a century between its erection and that of
the nave and aisles. When we examine the details of various portions
of the chu1·ch, we may ob�erve many objects of interest. In the north
,vall of the chancel, we notice 6ne window of a single light, remarkable
for its seven-foiled head. We observe the piscina in the eastern wall
with only one ha.sin, although there is space for two, and with the
upper member of its trefoiled head strangely wide, in proportion to its
height and to the other members. There is also what seems to be a
credence on the south side, instead of being, as usual, on the north.
There is the very remarkable double squiut, pierced through the south
pier-of the chancel arch, enabling worshippers in its line within the body.
of the church to see the altars, which were in the chancel and in the
south chapel. There is the curious position of the impost of the eastern
arch of the nave arcade; it is placed far above the impost of the chancel
arch, and above the level of the spring of its own arch. Notice also the
coved heading to the eastern portion of the carved oak screen, be�
tween the chancel and south chapel; probably it was the canopy_ of a
seat or sedile. There are four well carved poppy-head bench-ends in
the· chancel. These minor points, however, have little interest in
comparison with the beautiful Early English work in the southern
chapel. In its eastern window, of two lancet lights, some of the glass is
original. One circular subject-the departure of the Holy Family for
their flight into Egypt-is very old, and is considered by connoissems
to be extremely good. The exquisitely moulded label over the window
has a specialty which may not be seen at a glance-I mean, the position
of the little corbel heads by which it is terminated. They are not
FAVERSHAM M:EETING.-DODINGTON CHURCH. lxxxi
placed at the spring of the label arch, but the label there takes a horizontal course, for about three inches, before it terminates in these pretty
corbels. The three Early English windows in the south wall deserve
attention. In the floor of the south chapel you will see two very
ancient gra-ve-stones. One with au inscription around its edge, in.
double lines of Lombardic capitals, commemoi-ates Ricardus de Sahersted.
The other, with a Norman-French inscription across its head, is not i'n
situ; it was originally in the north aisle. The stone is Kentish rag,
and the inscription is of some interest. It occupies six lines in Lombardic characters, across the head of the stone, but it forms, when
1·ightly read, a rhyming quatrain.
+ IOI : GIST : AGNES : DE
_
: SOT.II*
OESTlll Pl\lRE : UOUS : tn.REZ : T
OUZ A MESON : ME ; OOUENT : DE
MORER E : ORE : uoua : PRIE : ZY
ATER : A.MY : CHIER : LE : UAIEf : MO
RTE : UOILLET : :PENSER :
Of this inscription, a rhymed translation by Archdeacon Trollope,
is printed in the 'Archreological Journal,' vol. xii. p. 280.
Here lies Agnes, under this stone.
All go to the house where I am gone,
Hither hasten, friend most dear;
Think of the poor dea4 maiden here,
Here is another very sentimental epitaph, on the north wall, just
west of the chancel arch; it commemorates Margaret, daughter of John
.Adye, Esq., of Down Com-t, in this parish. She was engaged to be
married, but died before the nuptials were celebrated. The tablet and
inscription we1·e put up by her djsconsolate fiance, S. Aynscombe. After
pouring out his grief in Latin, he bm·sts into English verse, thus :-
Vertuous as wise; wise as fa.ire ; faire as any;
She died untouoht by m11,n though sought by many.
FnJse to none; she chose and changed not; death crost her.
Happy to winne; aocurst was he that lost her.
Nature's amaa'd; .A.rt grudges; Graces pine;
To see their choycest work so soon decline .
.Elx<'.ellence so fruitless; perfection so vaine;
Small hope to see her like 'ere framed again,
Tears store ; all rue the chance; none can prevent it.
Part passions ; Pity you ; Let me fament it.
Obiit solstitio brum11li, 1614.
* Dessous. Kelham gives" Si1tl1dit,_hereunder."
t Maie, may=maiden; used repeatedly by Ch11,ucer.
lxxxii KENT .A.RCHJEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
The visitation articles of Archbishop Wa1·ham, in 1511, record of
Dodingto� that the church walls were unrepaired, and that the roof of
the body of the church was in a bad condition. The churchwarden�
were enjoined to repair both, before the ensuing Michaelmas, under pain
of excommunication. The presentments also stated that the vicarage
was almost down;
The most remarkable feature of this church has yet to be noticed.
It is the low side window at the no1·th-west comer of the chancel. You
will observe that it is of the perpendicular style; that it occupies, not
the centre, but the eastern half of the arched recess into which it is
inserted ; that the other half is blank wall ; that out of the eastern
side of the recess projects a stone book desk, with a ledge; that
this is surmounted by a pretty niche for a small statue; and that in the
western side of the recess there is a square aumbry or locker. The
lower part of the window, .which reaches nearly to the level of the
churchyard on the outside, was formerly closed by a wooden shutter, of
1Vhicb the binge-staples and bolt-holes remain. There are many low
side windows in England, but there is no 1·ecord of ariy other like this.
An engraving of it will be found upon a late1· page of this volume.
The company then entered their carriages and drove to
EASTLING OHURCH,
where they were received by the Rector, the Rev. G. B. Reynardson.
Here Mr. Scott Robertson pointed out the principal features of interest;
the western doo1·way of very late Norman work; 'the chancel stall
canopies in the north wall, and the sedilia and piscina on the south, all
fine specimens of Early English work. The latter, he believed, had been
removed from their original position, when the south chapel was buiH,
in the Decorated period. At that time, about 1350, the eastern portion
of the chancel was also added. He shewed in the north and south walls
of the chancel, the points at which the Early English chancel had ended.
The altar tomb on the north side, with its elaborately cusped canopy,
might be that of the benefactor who built this addition to the chancel,
and it may also have served as , an Easte1· sepulchre. The fluted
column and piers of the south chapel, dedicated to; St. Catherine,
attracted considerable attention, as being early specimens of fluted
columns. All the columns of the Perpendicular church at Eastchurch
are thus fluted. Outside the church were seen, the recently discovered
cist; the twelfth-century, crossed, coffin slab; the Decorated bargeboa1·d of the west porch; the rood�stair turret on the south ; and two
FAVERSH.A.M MEETING.-EAS1'LING.-OSPRINGE. lxxxiii
remarkable little quatrefoiled circular windows, built into the east
• wall, which were considered to have formed part of an ea1;ly English
triplet window in the original earlier chancel.
The day's excursion ended with a visit to Osp1-inge Church
with its N01·man doorways and font; Early English nave; Decorated south chapel, and recently painted chancel. These were
kindly pointed out and described by the Rev. W. N. Griffin,
the 1·ector.
During the two days of meeting a local museum was open
in the Faversham Institute, under the superintendence of Mr.
S. T. Harris, and l\!h. Gfraud. Among many other objects of
interest were ;-a map of Kent, coloured by Mr. GodfreyFaussett in such a way as to shew the state of the country
under Roman occupation; a Roman dagger-head of bronze,
found near Sittingbourne, exhibited by Mr. G. Payne, Jun.,
who also cont1·ibnted some Saxon iibulre, the umbo of a shield
and portions of other weapons, found in Saxou graves at Sitting·
bourne. This period of our history was likewise illustrated by
a life-sized 1·epresenta.tion of a Saxon lady's grave, with all her
ornaments placed around her in the positions in which they
were found at Bifrons Saxon cemetery, by Mr. Godfrey-Faussett;
the charte1•s, ancient books, and regalia of the town of Faversham w:ere kindly lent by the Mayor and Corporation; the
manusc1·ipt note-books of the late J.M. Kemble, Esq., we1·e
exhibited by the Rev. C. E. Donne; the flag, two sw01·ds, and
club, of" Sir William Courtenay," together with Saxon scretta
and various other relics, were exhibited by the Rev. J. F. Thorpe;
large collections of 1'Ubbing!> from monumental brasses were
contributed by Mr. Harris, M1·. Giraud, Rev. J. F. Thorpe, and
others.
The NEXT Council was held October 17th, 1872, at the
house of T. G. Godfrey-Faussett, Esq., within the Precincts of
Canterbul'y Cathedral.
Thanks we1·e voted to Lord Harris for p1·esiding at the
Faversham Meeting; to F. F. Giraud, Esq., our local secreta1·y
at Faversham, fo1• great and successful exertions at the meeting
lxxxiv KENT ARCH.lEOLOGIC.A.L SOCIETY.
and for his papel' on the Faversham Charters; to William
Hall, Esq., fo1• kind hospitality at Syndale, and for pel'mission
to excavate at Stone; to Rev. C. E. Donne, for his papers on
Faversham Church and on the tragedy " Arden of Feve1'Sham ;"
to S. T. Harris, Esq., for much help in arranging the local
museum; to S. M. Crosthwaite, Esq., Mr. G. Bedo, Rev. J. W.
Bramah, Herbert Winter, Esq., Rev. E. H. Lee, Rev. J. R.
Cooke, W. Murton, Esq., Rev. W. Monk, Rev. G. BirchReynardson, Rev. W. N. Griffin, and the Mayor of Faversham,
for facilities given, and assistance rendered, during the Meeting.
Five new members were elected.
It was resolved that the next General Meeting should be
held at Cranbrook.
18'i3.
TaE FIRST Council in 1873 was held on the 20th of February
in the Society's Rooms at Chillington House, Maidstone.
It waa 1·esolved that henceforward the firm of Mitchell and Hughes,
of 24 W ai·dour Street, Oxford Street, London, should be the Society's
printers.
A local committee was nominated to a1Tange the details of
the General Meeting at Cranbl'ook.
Five new members were elected.
THE NEXT Council was held on June 13th, at the house of t
.he
noble P1·esident in Grosvenor Square.
A letter from Mr. Thomas G. Godfrey-Faussett was read, in
which he expressed his desire to resign the office of Hono1·a1·y
Secretary, adding, however, his wish still to render to the Society
all the service in his power.
The noble President testified the very great regret with
which he had received this intimation of Mr. Faussett's resignation, and the Council fully sharing his lordship's feeling upon
the subj_ect, unanimously passed the following resolution :-
" That the Council receive.d with deepest ·regret the letter from
. Mr. Godfrey-Faussett, which announces his 1·esignation of the office of
secretary, While expressing their sorrow at the circumstances connected with his health, which have led M1·. Faussett to desire to relinquish
PROCEEDINGS, 1873. lxxxv.
the active duties of the secretariat, and their hope that he may speedily
be restored to his former vigour, they earnestly offer him their sincerest
thanks for the very valuable services which, as secretary for the period
of ten years, he has rendered to the Kent Archooological Society. And
they unanimously desire to recommend that at the forthcoming General
Meeting, Mr. Faussett should be elected a Vice-President of the
Society."
Mr. Faussett's coadjutor in the secretariat was asked whether
he would be willing to undertake the whole work of that office,
and Mr. Scott Robertson having expressed his willingness so to
do, it was resolved that no further election would be required.
It was agreed that July 24 and 25 should be the days of
General Meeting at C1•anbrook.
Four new membe1·s were elected.
Thanks were voted to Joseph Mayer, Esq.; to Herr T. J.
Halbe1'tsma, of Haal'lem; and to the Royal University of
Norway, at Christiania, for gifts of books; and to Rev. J. H.
Carr, for a photograph of Calais Grange, Broadstairs.
THE GENERAL MEETING was held at C1·anb1·ook on July 24th
and 25th, 1873. Among those present were :-
The Earl .,Amherst ; Viscount Holmesdale ; Sir Walter Stirling,
Ba1,t,; Archdeacon Harrison; General McQueen; G. Warde Norman,
Esq., Mrs. Norman, and Miss .Akers; G. Leveson-Gower, Esq.; Major
and Mi-s. Luard-Selby; Capt. Tylden-Pattenson and family; J. Kirkpattick, Esq.; John Field, Esq.; G. E. Hannam, Esq.; R. D. Parker,
Esq. ; J. 'I'. Rogers, Esq.; F. Mortimer Lewin, Esq.; Rev. R. P.
Coates; Rev. J. J. Saint; Rev. Middleton Onslow; J. F. Streatfeild,
Esq.; J. H. Parker, Esq., C.B.; T. Thurston, Esq. and Miss Thurston;
Rev. A. J. Pearman; F. C. J. Spun·ell, Esq.; J. F. Wadmore, Esq. ;
Rev. T. A. Carr; Rev. D. and Mrs. Winham; Rev. W. Champion
Streatfeild; T. E. C. Streatfeild, Esq.; Rev. b. and Mrs. Parker; Capt.
Palmer, R.E., and Mrs. Palmer; Rev. E. C. and Mrs. Lucey; Rev.
J. F. and Mrs; Thorpe, and two Misses Lawrence; Rev. C. J. D'Oyly;
Rev. T. W. 0. Hallward; Rev. Thomas and Mrs. Robinson; Rev. J.P.
Alcock, Jun.; Rev. B. St. John Tyrwhitt; Rev. H. Collis; Rev. Dr.
Ash; Rev. Dr. Haslewood; Rev. Francis and Mrs. Haslewood; Dr.
Pulling; Dr. Lowry; W. T. Neve, Esq. and family; W. H. Mold, Esq.;
Rev. E. S. Taylor and pai'ty; Rev. W. J. Loftie; Rev. E. H.
�-� g
lxxxvi KENT ARCH1E0L0GIOAL SOCIETY.
MoLacbla.n; Rev. C. and Mrs. Crowden; Richard Prall, Esq.; Rev. T.
S. Frampton; Rev. C. H. Wilkie; Geo. Payne, Jun., Esq., and Mrs.
Payne; Frank P. Fellows, Esq.; Fulwar Skipwitb, Esq.; Everard T.
Luck, Esq.; H.P. Cotton, Esq.; J. D. Norwood, Esq.; Henry Ross,
Esq.; R. W. Cradock, Esq.; Messrs. Fremlin, Wilkie, Brothers,
Bolton, Bottle, Dennett, Tarbutt, Hudson, Hovenden, Weston, Minton,
Jones, Gibbs, Shaw, Peacock, Bullard, Simmonds, Smallfi.eld, Lightfoot,
the Honorary Secretary, and many others.
The Preliminary Business Meeting was held at Staplehurst,
in the South Eastern Hotel, the noble President in the chair,
when the Annual Report was read, as follows:-
The Council of the Kent .A1'Chrool9gical Society, in presenting their
Sixteenth Annual Report, have to lament the retirement from tlieilsecretariat of that accomplished antiquary, Mr. Thomas GodfreyFaussett.
A worthy successor of the learned founder of this Society, Mr.
Faussett has ably filled the post of. honorary secretary for considerably
more than half the period of the Society's existence. Mr. Lambert
Larking, after launching the Society in 1857, steered it with his wellkno,m skill until July, 1861, when for the space of two years Mr. J. G.
Talbot, now one of the members of Parliament for West Kent, took
Mr. Larlcing's place at the helm. Other and more pressing duties
having compelled Mr. Talbot to relinquish the post, Mr. Faussett was
elected honorary secretaL'Y in July, 1863. During the long period of
ten yea1·s he has devoted to the service of the Society so much learning,
so much zea], and so much time, that the Council feel themselves unable
fully to express their sense of the deep obligation under which the
Society lies to Mr. Faussett. Two years ago he sought and obtained
the election of a coadjutor in the secretariat ; but as he himself performed all the more important duties of the office until this yea1·, the
Council feel that, even in this, Mr. Faussett shewed kindly consideration
for the Society, wishing not so much to obtain help for himself, as to
ensure that upon his retirement the Society should not be left without
a. Secretary already initiated to the work. They beg to recommend to
you that Mr. Faussett should be elected a Vice-President.
Dm-ing the past year tw.enty-five members have joined the Society,
an� twenty-one more now await election at your hands.
The Council have much pleasure in reporting that one of our members, Mr. George Payne, jun., has during the year explored at hill o.;n
cost a Roman Cemetery, at East Hall, in the pal'ish of l\farstou,
CRANBROOK MEETING.-REPORT, 1873. lxxxvii
Some of the potte17 and bronze :fibulre discovered there are exhibited in
the temporary museum at Cranbrook. A description of the cemetery
will kindly be furnished by Mr. Payne fol' our Archreologia.
Canon Jenkins has made further discovel'ies beneath his chul'ahyard
at Lyminge of the foundations of Roman buildings. The work of
excavation is still in progress, and Mr. Jenkins will eventually, with
his usual kindness, supply us with a reco1·d of the results.
Notice has very lately been received of the existence of a RomanoBriti�h Cemetery at Brabourne, in land which belongs to the Right Hon.
Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen. That gentleman has kindly granted
permission to excavate.
The most important work achieved by the Society this year is connected with a large intrenched British settlement in Bigbm·y Wood,
Harbledown, near Canterbury. Although so extensive, being threeeighths of a mile long from east to west, and a quarter of a niile wide
from nol'th to south, this B1·itish settlement has not been marked upon
the county maps, nor has it been noticed by the historians of Kent.
By the experienced eye and indefatigable industry of our valued member,
Mr. R. C. Hussey, the lines of the intrenchment have been completely
traced. At his instance your secretary has l'epresented the mattel' to
Major General Sir Henry James, who is at the head of the Ordnance
Survey Office. Sir Henry James courteously consented to have the
ground inspected by one of his office1·s; and the result of the intervention
of our Society is that the mounds of the intrenchment have been
admirably sketched by Lieut. Wynne of the Royal Engineers, and that
the plan of the British settlement will be fully displayed upon the two
forthcoming Ordnance Maps of the Canterbury district. They will be
upon the extensive scales of six inches, and twenty�:five inches, to one
mile, respectively. Sir Henry James has just consummated his coUl'teous
kindness, by presenting to the Society the original sketch made by
Lieut. Wynne. It will be engraved for our next volume of Archreologia, and will be accompanied by a description of the British settlement, kindly written for us by Mr. R. C: Hussey.
Your Council, sympathising warmly with the efforts made in
Parliament fo1· the preservation of our national monuments of antiquity,
have petitioned the House of Commons in favour of the Bill introduced
by Sir John Lubbock. When ancient monuments cannot be preserved,
your Council will be glad to obtain photographs or drawings of those
which are threatened with destrnction. Thus to preserve faithful
records of the past, they have this year caused photographs to be taken,
from v
a
.lious points, of the ancient church of Murston, visited by the
{J 2
lxxxviii KENT AROH1EOLOGIOAL SOCIETY,
Society in 1870, which has now been pulled down; some of its columns
and arches being, however, preserved and built into the new church.
By the kindness of the Rev. J. Haslewood Ca1-r, rector of B1·oadsta:irs,
the Society has been presented with a photograph of Calais Grange, an
old pargetted house at Broadstairs, which is threatened with destruction.
The members of our Society may do good service by thus enabling it to
preserve amongst its collections records of doomed monuments.
During the past year the Council have had the -pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of many additions to the Library of the
Society at Maidstone; and they would desire to call the attention of
members generally to the need of malting the Library more worthy of
the Society.
Since our fast General Meeting, the eighth volume of ' A.rchreologia
Oantiana' lias been issued, and the Council hope that within six months,
but certainly before another General Meeting is held, the ninth volume
will be ready.
The balance at our bankers is £445. 18s. 8d.
This Report can scarcely close without mention of the fact that the
projected History of Kent, in which the Society, though not directly, is
yet greatly interested, has been confided to the able hands of Professor
Brewer, of the Rolls, and that a first part may be expected to be ready
at no very distant date.
After a few hearty words from the noble President, in
recognition of the valued services of the 1·etiring hon. secretary,
Mr. Thomas Godfrey-Faussett was unanimously elected one of
the Vice-Presidents of the Society.
Votes of thanks were given to Sir Henry James and Mr.
R. C. Hussey, for the good work done by them towards the
insertion upon the Ordnance Maps of :lrent of a plan of the
British Settlement in Big bury Wood.
F. F. Giraud, Esq., was elected a member of the Council, and
the six retiring members, with the other officers, were 1·e-elected.
Twenty-one new members were elected.
The noble President then expressed his 1•egret that important
business in Parliament prevented •him from accompanying the
Meeting in the excm·sion, further than Staplehurst Church, after
visiting which he must return to London. Mr. Gathowe
Hal'dy, his lordship added, was for a similar 1·eason compelled
to return to Town. Earl Amherst announced, however, that
his son, Viscount Holmesdale, had consented to preside at the
CR.A.NBROOK MEETING.-PRITTENDEN. lxxxi.x
Dinner, and would, he hoped, be found a worthy representative
of their president.
With a vote of thanks to Earl Amherst for his kindness in
presiding, the preliminary meeting terminated.
Entering carriages which were in readiness, the members
were conveyed to Staplehurst Church, which w:as described by
the Honorary Sec1·etary in a paper which will be found upon a
subsequent page of this volume.
Tmi NEXT place visited was FRITTENDEN CHURCH, of which
nea1·ly evei-y part save the :fifteenth-century tower has been
re-built. The rector, the Rev. T. W. 0. Hallwa1·d, kindly
received the Society at his church, and pointed out the remarkable features, all of which had been for the most pa1-t copied
exactly from the Decorated work of the original chlll'ch. One
of the most rema1·kable had, however, been presel'Ved, and built
into the new north wall of the chancel. It is a panel of moulded
brickwork of the fourteenth century. Respecting this impo1-tant
example of early brickwork, Mr. R. C. Hussey wrote a paper in
the Archreological Journal (vol. v., p. 34), in the year 1848.
An engraving of the panel accompanies the paper, in which we
read as follows :-
" The quatrefoil brick panel is formed of fine clay, which has been
burned to a bright red colour. The workmanship is very good, and
some nicety of hand was required in its execution. Three of these
quatrefoils were used as ornaments in the upper part of the inside of
the noi-th wall of the chancel of F1·ittenden Church ; they were built
into the wall, but the centre parts were left ·hollow to the depth of the
inner rims, by which means a strong shadow was produced, which
rendered them highly effective as architectural decorations. The whole
of them were more or less injured, and, as it has been found requisite
to rebuild the wall in which they were placed, the most perfect of them
has been made complete by an adaptation of the fragments of the
others, and is now built into the upper part of the northern wall of the
chancel. Fragments of another of the quatrefoils are inserted in the
north wall of the vestry.
" It has been genernlly believed that, in England, bricks were not
made ( after the departure of the Romans) until the Perpendicular
period. These Frittenden panels of moulded brick are valuable evidence
XC XEN'r .A.RCHJEOLOGICA:t SOClE'..rY.
of the erroneous nature of this idea. Other evidence, however, has
been found. Little W enham Hall, in Suffolk, is entirely built of
bricks of the Flemish shape, and is of the time of Henry III. The
chancel of Trinity Church, Hull, is of the fourteenth century, and of
brick. The ruins of the Priory at Colchester are of brick, a great
deal of which is not Roman, and the same may be said of many
churches or parts of churches in that neighbourhood.
" At Danbury Church, in Essex, when the west window was
restored, it was discovered that a rude relieving arch had been formed
in the original structure immediately above the head of the window at
the time of its first erection. This ,vindow was a plain but pure specimen of the Decorated style, and therefore not of later date than about
the middle of the fourteenth century. The arch just mentioned was
constructed in part of bricks and tiles, all of which appeared to have
been used in an earlier building, and most of them were con&iderably
broken. As no example of a Roman brick with a splayed or bevelled
edge <'.an be referred to, these bricks at Danbury were clearly of ea1·ly
medireval manufacture; disproving, like those at Frittenden, the notion
that bricks were not made (after Roman times) until the Perpendicular
period."
In the porch of Frittenden Chu1·ch, the Rector had kindly
caused many interesting relics of the old church to be placed for
inspection. Amongst these wei·e also placed two Roman urns,
found in the parish, which bear important testimony to the
scarcely suspeQted fact that the Romans occupied this portion
of the Weald. Drawings of these urns were exhibited at a
meeting of the Axchreological Institute, on February 5th) 1858,
by Mr. R. C. Hussey, who thus described them:-
" The vessels are of black ware, not unlike that made by the Romans
in the Upchurch marshes. The largest of them was 16} inches high,
and about 14 inches in diameter; the other about 15 inches high, and
12 inches in diameter. About a mile south-west of Frittenden church
is a bog situated in a1 wood, which is nearly an acre in extent, and till
lately had been overgrown with underwood. The urns ,vere found in a
hole filled up with decayed vegetable matter to the depth of 10 or 12
feet. They rested on the solid ground, embedded in the peat, and
about 15 feet below the original surface. Frittenden is in the district
commonly supposed to have remained unreclaimed forest long after
Homan times. A few years ago several lumps of Roman concrete,
compounded with small fragments of brick, were discovered in the
CRANl3ROOK MEETING.-SISSINGHURST CASTLE. XCl
foun·dations of some of the walls of the parish church, shewing that
some site of Roman occupation e:idsted in the vicinity. Mr. Hussey
bad never heard of any othel' vestige of the same period in that locality .
.A.t or near Wittersham, in the Isle of Oxeney, a Roman altar had
been folmd, and coins are occasionally brought to light in the neighbourhood of Newenden. Those facts tended to justify the supposition
that the Romans navigated the Rother, probably to bring down the
iron which was found in abundance at Ewhurst, Salehurst, and the
more distant parts of Sussex.
" The Roman urns at Frittenden were found in clearing out a pit,
and if the ground had not fallen in, possibly some further discoveries
might have been made. There seems also to have been some timber
work in part of the pit, possibly akin to what was found at Bekesbourne, and is engraved in tbe second vol. of '.A.rchooologia Cantiana,'
but this was broken up by the carts going over it, and was never
examined."
Proceeding next to SxssINGHURST, the company listened
with interest to the following paper, p1·epared and 1·ead by the
Rev. Francis Haslewood :-
SISSINGHURST CASTLE.
'rhe ancient name of this manor was Saxiugherst, and in very
early timeR it gave name to a family, who possessed it. One of the
Cumbwell .Abbey Charters, circa A,D. -1180, mentions Stephen de
Saxingherste (Arch.· Cant. vi. 198.) Another, dated in A.D. 1255, is
witnessed by Galfridus de Saxinberst (Arch. Cant. v. 221.) So late
as A.D. 1442, we find mention of the Manor of Saxingherst in a will
preserved at Lambeth (Chichele's Register, folio 488a.) By a female
heir, this manor passed into the name of Berham. Richard, son of
Henry de Berham, resided here, and the property continued in the
possession of his descendants till the end of the reign of Henry VII.,
when one of them alienated part of Sissinghurst to Thomas Baker, Esq.,
whose family had been settled in Cranbrook in the days of King John.
Excepting the names of the owners, little is known respecting the
Manor of Sissinghurst. There must have been a dwelling house, and
possibly the moat, still existing, is a relic of that old manor house.
The -qiansion was built ·by Sir John Baker, grandson of Thomas
already named. He was Recorder of London, Speaker of the House
of Commons, Attorney General, and a Privy Counsellor. He was also
Ambassador to Denmark from 1526 to 1530. Sil' Samuel Baker, dis-
xcii KENT .A.ROHMOLOGIOA.L SOCIETY.
coverer of lake Albert N yanza, is a lineal descendant of the brother of
this Sir John Baker. Sir John being possessor of the entire manor,
erected a splendid residence, and enclosed a park here. The mansion
was built of brick, and Philipot describes it as " a magnificent pile
within the park, which now charms with so much delight the eyes of
spectators." Unhappily, little now remains to delight our eyes; the
ruins however bespeak its former grandeur, and prove that it covered
a considerable space of ground. A print in Hasted's History gives a
good idea of the original structure, as it appeared in 1551. It consisted of a block of buildings enclosing a quadrangular courtyard, into
·which the principal windows looked. The front was highly ornamental,
having a handsome porch, four gables, and as many bay windows ;
whilst the wings were of nearly the same construction, and had each
three bays, The towers, of course, facecl the centre. The mansion
retained its original form till the middle of the last century. Sir
Horace Wal pole thus briefly describes it in a letter dated 17 52 :
" We finished our work sadly, Yesterday, after twenty mishaps, we
got to Sissinghurst to dinner. There is a park in ruins, and house in
ten times greater ruins. You go through an arch of stables to the
house, the court of which is perfect and very beautiful. It has a good
apartment and a fine gallery-120 feet long by 18-wbich takes up
one side. The wainscoat is pretty and entire, the ceiling vaulted and
painted. The whole is built for show; for the back of the house is
nothing but lath and plaster." . This last observat.ion accounts for the
early decay of this once superb mansion. Sir John Baker was fond of
display, and sacrificed durab!lity to appearance. Henry VIII. entertained great regard for him, leaving him £200 by his will. He was
the only privy counsellor who refused to sign the will of King
Edward VI., whereby his two sisters were to be excluded from the
throne. Queen Mary, on coming to the crown, loaded him with wealth,
granting to him the Manor of High Halden, which the Duke of Northumberland had forfeited by treason. J3ut though a favom·ite at Court,
he was most unpopular about Cranbrook, where he obtained the name
of" Bloody Bake1·," as a persecutor of the Reformers. Sir John died
in London, and was brought down with great ceremony and buried in
Cranbrook Church. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Richard
Baker, who had the honour of entertaining Queen Elizabeth at this
mansion, on her return from Rye, in 1573. She remained here three
days, and l'eceived, as a present, a " standing cup " weighing 117
ounces. We must not confound this Sit- Richard with his nephew,
likewise Sh- Richard Baker, who was grandson of Sir John, and was
0RAN131WOK. MEE'.rING.-S!SSINGitURST CASTLE. xcili
born here. He was the author of a " Chronicle of England," which
was the standard work before the appearance of Rapin's History. The
Sir Richard who entertained Queen Elizabeth died in 1594, and was
succeeded in the estate by John Baker, Esq., who married a daughter
of Sir Thomas Guldeford, of Hemsted, by whom he had a son, Henry,
who was created a baronet and died in 1623. His son, Sir John,
inherited the prope1-ty, which he enjoyed for thirty years. This man's
son, also Sir John, was the last of the name.
The mansion having been long uninhabited, was hired by the
Government during the Seven Years' War, when it acquired the name
of " Sissinghurst Castle," from having been a place of confinement for
French prisoners. As many as three thousand men were quartered here.
The pariah register informs us that several were permitted to
marry; this entry occurs among others, "Sept. 5, 1762: Lawrence
Calberte, a prisoner among the French at Sissinghurst House, and
Mary Pepper wete married."
After the withd1·awa1 of the French prisoners in 1763, the mansion
was uninhabited, and in 1784, the parish officers hired the premises of
Sii· Horace Mann, and thus the grand residence of the Bakers became
the poor house,
"Sio transit gloria mundi."
Various portions of the house were pulled down from time to time
for the sake of the matel'ials, but the gateway remains, and deserves
careful inspection ; the arch and ornamental gable on the inside being
very fine. The entrance (now bricked up) was probably closed with
strong doors. It is to this that Wal pole alludes when he says, " You
go through an arch of the stables to the house." The room to the
right was probably the porter's lodge, whilst that to the left was for
the servants or attendants. In this apartment is a stai.rcase formed of
solid blocks of oak, leading to a panelled room, where some say Queen
.Elizabeth slept. The principal entrance to the mansion was through
the archway of the inner tower, which is flanked by two small towers
octagonal in form. They were erected at the satne time as the mansion,
which they faced, though so1ne affirm that they were built to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's visit. The parish register confu·ms the truth of
the story that a Frenchman ascended the towers, and poising a pnil of
water, let it fall upon the head of an English soldier who was on guard
below, killing him on the spot; this entry :ippe1n·ing among the burials :
"1761, W
i
lliam Basauck killed by a French prisoner at Sissinghurst.''
In a room in the tower n1·e some excellent cnrvings of the sixteenth
century, being the pol'traits of Edwa1·d VI., Queen l'Yfal'y, and othel's.
xciv lr.EN� .A.RCH.lEOLOGIO.A.L SOCIETY.
The moat is perfect on two sides ; and a portion of the brick wall
still remains wbich fo1·merly enclosed tbe house and garden. Tb.e
house at the east of the grounds probably marks the extent of the
mansion. Bagshaw says it measured 180 feet from north to south,
and 150 from east to west. Somewhere within the enclosure was an
ancient chapel, founded by John de Saxonherst; all traces of it, however, bave disappeared, and its site is unkno,vn.
After Mr. Haslewood had read his paper, Mr. George Neve,
of Sissinghurst Castle, most hospitably invited the whole company to pa1·take of luncheon in a shaded nook upon bis lawn,
where tables were laid with abundant refreshments. When
Sir Walte1• Stirling,· in the name of the Society, had proffered
to Mr. Neve cordial thanks for his very acceptable hospitality,
the company re-entered their carriages and proceeded to Cranbrook Church, where an excellent paper was read by the Vicar,
the Rev. T. ,A. Carr, which he has since published.* Of ·it we
give a brief resume only.
ST. DUNSTAN'S OHUROH, CR.A.NllROOK,
The most ancient part of the church i� the western portion of the
north aisle ; it is older in my opinion than the south porch, which bas
been stated to be of the same period. It is difficult to fix a date for
the old church, because the Archiepiscopal Registers anterior to the
end of the thirteenth century are lost, and no mention occurs of the
existence of a parish church in ·cranbrook before 1291 (Edward I.).
There is not the slightest trace of Norman architecture in the present
building; it is therefore probable that the first church was. founded
some time after the Conquest, during the Early English period;
evidence of this 1·emains in the triangular niche, a fragment of the old
church, over the east window. After the settlement here of the
Flemings, as clothworkers, in 1331 (Ed\vard III.) several additions
were made to the church, the clothworkers by their trade having made
Cranbrook a wealthy and populous town. On the exterior the gradations in the character of the masonry of the north aisle seem to
denote work of three different periods. Excavations in the churchyard at the west end of this aisle shew that a tower formerly stood
there, probably dm·ing the Ea.rly English period. The doorway by
* Printed by George Waters, Stone Street, Oranbrook.
CiiAN:BROOB: MEETlNG.-TB'.E CHURCH. Xc'V
··which entrance is made to the south �hancel, has evidently been
removed, having been the priests' doorway before the vestry was built.
The sill of the ancient entrance to the chancel was, when discovered,
almost worn away, plainly telling of the frequent daily se1;vices formerly held. The south porch is a ve1·y good specimen of the Decorated
style, and in the centre of its groined roof is a fine boss-a human
l1ead-witb foliated branches of oak proceeding from the tongue; the
Tudor rose is a later addition. Above the porch is a large room, the
doorways to which are of the eady form known as the " Shouldered
A1·ch." At the foot of the stairs, by which this room is approached,
is a modern baptistery for adults. The coats of arms upon the exterior
of the :fine Perpendicular tower will at one� suggest to us the date of
the erection of that portion of the church, as among them may be
recognized those of Archbishop Chicheley, which seem to have been
inserted after the completion of the tower, inasmuch as the stone on
which they were carved does not run in the same line of masonry as
those below. The western entrance to the church, through the tower,
has been called a "Galilee;" it has a groined roof. In the interior
of the north aisle, a portion of the Decorated stringcourse still remains
in the north wall. Supposing we are right in concluding that the
building of the tower, and the first extension of the north a.isle, took
place at the commencement of the fifteenth century, we may infer that
the chancel arch and the north and south windows were built at the
latter part of the same century ; the east window perhaps at a still
later date. '!'here are records of seven, if not eight, altars in the
church ; the High Altar, and those of Our Lady, St. Katherine, St.
Thomas, St. Clement, St. Giles, and St. Nicholas. The north and south
chancels were dedicated to Our Lady and St. Giles respectively. An
account of the nave and south aisle was followed by extracts from the
records of Archbishop Warham's visitation in 1511; and attention
was called to the area of the nave and aisles not being upon the same
level, the explanation being that oui· forefathers simply took the levels
as they found them, since they exactly correspond with the fall of the
land outside the church. The total length of the church from east to
west is no less than 170 feet, while the breadth from north to south
extends to seventy feet. The handsome Perpendicular tower is ninetyfour feet high.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century the clerestory was added
to the nave, and much other work was done. The tombs of the
families of Roberts of Glassenbtn·y, and of the Bake1·s of Sissinghurst,
are to be seen in the south chancel and aisle. Most of the monumental
xcvi ]f])N'l' .A.ROHlEOLOGIOAL SOCIETY.
brasses have disappeared ; but one, circa A.D. 1500, remains in the
south chancel. It represents a merchant in his furred robe, and a
chl'isom-child. The matrix of a large brass, with a cross and inscription
in Lombardic letters, merits attention i it is in the middle of the high
chancel.
DINNER was at 4·30 in the Vestry Hall ; the Viscount
Holmesdale presided, and 115 sat down.
After dinner, an EVENING MEETING was held at the George
Inn, Lord Holm.esdale in the chair. A paper, which will be
found upon a subsequent page of this volume, was read by
Colonel Colomb, R.A., F.S.A., upon the "Royalist Rising in
Kent, A.D. 1648 ;'' after which Mr. W. Tarbutt read the following paper :-
THE ANOIENT CLOTH TRADE OF CRANBROOK.
Tms subject has been but brie.fl.y noticed by our historians, whether
local or general. They simply tell us that a great trade in the
manufacture of broad cloth once reigned here; that many families
were thereby raised to wealth and eminence ; and that the business
baa long since disappeared from the town and neighbourhood. I
propose to note down what I haYe met with in type, or discovered from
personal observation during a long residence here, premising that my
notes are, principally, confined to the cloth trade in the parish of
Cran brook.
Philipot, who wrote in 1659, says, "Cranebrook is a Town very
populous, it was one of the first places where the manufacture of
clothing was professed. and practised, being brought into England in
the reign of Edward III., who, by proposing rewards and granting
many immunities, trained Flemings into the nation in the 10th year of
his reign to teach the English that art of drape1-y, or weaving, and
making woollen cloth, which is esteemed at this day one of the
buttresses which sustain the Commonwealth, and certainly for making
durable broad cloths with very good mixtures and perfect colours
Cranebrook doth with the most that way excell.''
Dr. Hards, who wrote in 1719, and Charles Seymour, in 17761
add-" This mixture of colours was unknown in England until
manufactured here, hence Cranbrook became the seat of useful arts and
mereantile opulence.''
CRA.NEROOK MEETING.-THE CLOTII. TRADE. xcvii
About ten years later, Hasted says-" The greater portion of the
land in the Weald of Kent was owned by these manufacturers, or
their descendants, who from thefr dr�ss were generally called 'the
Grey Coats of Kent.' So great was their influence, at county elections,
that canditlates who had their support were almost certain to be
elected/'
From these statements of,-local historians we push our enquiries
forward with a view to ascertain, from general history, why the
Flemings came to this count�·y, and why they settled in this uninviting
locality, which, in the reign of Edward III., was perhaps little better
than a forest.
With regard to the first question, we meet with this statement
in Knight's 'Pictorial History of England:'-'' By the wise policy of
lMwa1·d III., he invited weavers, dyers, and fullers, from Flanders· to
come over and settle in this country, promising them his protection
and favou1· on condition that they should carry on their trade and
communicate· the knowledge thereof to his subjects. The first person
who accepted this invitation was Jolin Kemp,* a weaver of woollen
cloth. He came with his goods and chattels, his se1·vants and
apprentices. Many of his countrymen soon followed, and in this
manner was established the first manufacture of fine woollen cloths in
England."
In the above statement emphasis is laid upon the word "fine;" for
it is only to the superior quality of the article manufactu1·ed by Kemp
and his countrymen that the word first applies. Cloth had been made
in England for centuries before the days of Edward III.; there is
evidence that it was first made �n Britain by those pioneers of
civilization the Romans ; factories are stated to have been established
by them in Yorkshire. t During Anglo-Saxon times the art of
making a coarse kind of cloth was not unknown, nor neglected ; and
advances being made after the Norman Conquest, legislation from time
to time regulated the manufacture of cloth. :But when Edward III.
invited the Flemings over, they brought with them a secret not
previously understood by manufacturers in England. That secret was
the art of fulling or milling, and dyeing, the cloth after it came from
the loom. To accomplish this a peculiar sort of marl was needed, and
water-mills to drive large wooden hamme1·s. By the use of the marl
and water, with the power given by a large water-wheel to wood
hammers, the wool was purified from grease, and the threads of the
• Kemp is a name often met with in these parts,
t See Lougm:m's 'Life and Times of Edward III.,
' vol. i., page 86.
xcvili KENT .A.RCH1EOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
warp and the woof were so beaten that a smooth and even surface was
produced. Thus the cloth was made more durable, as well as a better
protection for the wearer against the vicissitudes of weather. This
improvement in manufacture Edward III. laboured to secure for his
subjects, and encouraged by legislative measures.
No one has so well narrated the steps taken by Edward III., to get
Flemish weavers into Englanq, as Dr. Thomas Fuller, in the 3rd
book of his 'Church History.'-" The king began to grow sensible of
the great gain the Netherlands got by our English wool, in memory
whereof the Duke of Bu1·gundy instituted the order of the ' Gold.en
Fleece,
' wherein indeed the fleece was ou1·s, the golden theirs." Hence
Edward, that his subjects might get a share of the precious metals, sent
over a number of agents to tempt the Dutch to England. These agents
contrived to become familiar with such Dutchmen as were masters of
their trade, but not masters of themselves, To these persons the agents
addressed themselves thus: 'You have to be up very early in the
morning and sit up very late at night, and work very hard all the day,
and yet you get nothing better than herrings and mouldy cheese to
eat with your bread. Now taka our advice, go o,•er to England and
learn my countrymen your trade, and you will find yourselves
welcomed wherever you go i besides, you will be fed on beef and
mutton until your stomachs are full; your beds will be good, and your
bed-fellows better i for the richest yeomen in England will not disdain
to marry their daughters to you, and they are such beauties that eve1·y
foreigner commends them.''
We need not wonder that men having faith in such promises as
these came over here very willingly, and our worthy author follows up
his story by shewing that numbers of those who hazarded the speculation were not disappointed i for these young Dutchmen, with only
industry and intelligence to recommend them, caused such " wealth
and happiness to spring up in many a yeoman's house, that they soon
went from thence as bridegrooms, and returned as sons-in-law."
The first colonists suooeeded so well that many thousands soon
followed, until Flemings were to be met with in all parts of the
kingdom. A new impetus was thereby given to all sorts of textile
manufactures ; but, says Fuller, " the Broad Olotli was made in Kent
and called the Kentish lJroackloths."
Mr. Furley has an excellent chapter (xix.) in bis second volume of
the 'History of the Weald of Kent,'-" On the establishment of a
colony of Flemish Weavers," wherein he· sets forth the laws made on
their behalf. In a proclamation, made on the 3rd of May, 13371 the
CR.A.NBROOK MEETING.-TH.E CLOTH TRADE. XCIX
King's· subjects are warned not to harm these foreign cloth-workers,
and to see that no harm is done to them by others. On *e 27th of
September, 1337, a very stringent measure was enacted. The first •
chapter makes it felony to carry wool out of the realm ; the second
forbids the use of any cloth but such as was made in England ; and,
thirdly, no cloths were suffered to be brought into England from
beyond the King's dominions. In another chapter it is accorded "that
all cloth-workers ·of strange lands, of whatsoever country they be,
which will come into England, freland, Wales, and Scotland, shall
have the King's protection and safe conduct to dwell in the same lands,
choosing where they will. And to the intent the said cloth-workers
shall have the greater will to come and dwell here, our SoYeriegn
Lord the King will grant them franchises as many, and such, as may
suffice them."
Mr. Furley· proceeds to shew that the king not only issued proclamations to his subjects, as to how these foreigners were to be treated,
but also named particular parts of his dominions in which the different
textile manufacturers should locate themselves. The Weald of Kent
was selected for the manufacture of durable broad cloths, of good
mixtures and colours.
Mr. Furley states that, for the administration of the laws made
year by year to regulate the cloth trade, a sp�cial officer was appointed
in each county where the manufacture was carl'ied on. He was to see
that the laws were fulfilled, to collect all dues, and to stamp the
articles with his authority before goods could be offered for sale. This
officer was called an Alnager (aulne signifying an ell). One of the
earliest appointments for the County of Kent was made in the person
of" John Crane of Oranebrooke."
It behoves me now to examine more fully the second point of our
enquiry, vfa., how came the Flemings to settle in this particular
locality? We may well suppose that when they landed, on the high
table lands of East Kent, the fulling men would say, "The land here is
.not adapted for our trade, the hills have no water adapted to our use, and
the valleys are too flat and have too much water; besides, though chalk
is in abundance, there is no mad which we need for cleaning the cloth.
The land assigned to us must have marl, and small streams of water."
Directed probably to this clisMct as likely to furnish what the fullers
required, the Flemish cloth-workers settled in this then dreary region.
It contained, however, marl, to cleanse the cloth ; streams, easily
arrested in their courses, to form n drh•ing power for the hammers of
fulling mills; plenty of timber to make these mills, and the machinery
C KENT .A.RCH2EOLOGIC.A.L SOCIETY.
necessary t0 be introduced into them ; and some sturdy Saxon hands
that could " navvy " the earth across the valleys, to make those bays
or water dams, some of which still exist.
I find, on the north side of the parish, twelYe bays, or remnants of
bays, which formerly held back eighty or ninety acres of water; and
on the south side there are seven or eight of these remnants of dams,
which held back, for mercantile purposes, thirty or forty acres more.
If we add fifteen or twenty acres of pleasure lakes or moats, at Sissinghurst and Glassenbury, we must conclude that at one_ time there could
not have been less than 150 acres of water held in reserve in Cran•
brook, for profit or pleasure.
In process of time the land, to a considerable extent, became
cleared and flocks of sheep were bleating, and shepherds attending
them, where, a generation before, wild hunters were following in the
chase after the still wilder boar.
Our local poet Phineas Fletcher sings beautifully about the
"Shepherd swains 11 that gathered together on the Glassenbm'Y
estate, upon the occasion of one of its heirs being mal'l'ied, at Cranbrook Church, in February, A.P. 1600.
" With him* a shoal of goodly Shepherd swains;
Yet he more goodly than the goodliest swain;
With hert a troop of fairest wood-nymph trains;
Yet she more fair than fairest of the train.":!:
The numerous mills and mill-ponds were not all made aa soon as
the Flemings came ; they were the work of many years. When,
however, there were fifteen or eighteen mills in full work here, and all
the various artificers were engaged in making, for the markets of this
kingdom, the famous Weald of Kent broad-cl.otli, there must have been
no small stir in the parish. How unlike the present day I In those
days a Cranbrook " spinster" maiden would have been, as Longfellow
sings,
" Seated beside her wheel, and the carded wool like a snow drift
Piled at her knee, her white hands feedinl! the ravenous spindle,
While with her feet on the treadle she guided the wheel in its motion."§
* Walter Roberts, Esq., son of the first baronet.
t Margaret Roberts, of Brenchley.
:I: See 'The Works of Phinellll Fletcher,' edited by the Rev. A. B. Grosart,
vol. iii.;page 200.
§ 'The Courtship of Miles Standish,' by Longfellow.
OltANBROOK :MEETING.-TRE CLOTH TRADE.
Nor have the fulling-mill men been neglected by the muses.
"Next from the slaoken'd bea.m the woof unroll'd
Near some clear-sliding stream,
Is by the noisy fulling-mill received ;
Where tumbling waters turn enormous wheels,
.A.nd hammers, rising and descending, learn
To imitate the industry of man."*
.
Cl
The fulling stock is described as a hollow receptacle in which an
enormous oaken hammer vibrates up and down, and is kept in motion
by machinery from the great water wheel. The hammer sometimes
had to be kept in motion, on one piece of cloth, for three entire days,
before it was sufficiently milled.
As the precious metals flowed into the parish, in 1·eturn for broadcloth, the master manufacturers built Hall.s; here they lived, kept their
stock, and transacted their business. These halls were built after the
Flemish style, with gable ends towards the roads. Many of them,
more or less perfect, are still to be seen in this and adjoining parishes;
although their ancient character is entirely gone. You will find them
now bearing various names and serving various purposes ; such for
instance as Willesley House, the residence of G. B. O'Neil, Esq.;
farm-houses like those at Goddard's Green and Frizley; public inns
like the White Lion, an admirable specimen; the surgery of Dr.
Wood ; the studio of T. Webster, Esq., R.A.; and the cottages of
agricultural labourers, Coursehoarne and one at Willesley Pound to
wit.
As trade increased, and halls were built, other interests were
created.; carriers became much in request, all merchanclize in that day
being conveyed on horseback, and those who kept horses for that
purpose were called pack-carriers. Three establishments of that kind
were kept in this parish ; one at Baker's Cross, another at Willesley,
and a third in the town. "Tlie Horse Pond" and " The Horse Entru"
indicate where, in the town, the premises of the pack-carrier were
situated.
How many horses these three establishments could muate1·, I have
no means of knowing, but a hundred 01· more I should say. Daily
might these horses be seen going oft; with tinkling bells on their ears,
laden with cloth, and returning with wool. Then, again, public inns
were numerous. The George, in which we are now assembled, was a
hostelry of no small magnitude. It had a· frontage of eighty-five feet,
and extended-including stabling-from front to back an equal number
* 'The Fleece/ by Dyer.
VOL IX, h
KENT ARCH1EOLOGIC.A.L SOCIETY.
of feet, covering some twenty-six perches of land. It was known even
then as " Tlie George Inn." Here Queen Elizabeth halted, during
her tour through Kent in 1573; and here she received from the
townsmen of Cranbrook a silver cup, with which their loyalty had
prompted them to present her, in honour of her visit.
It may not be out of place to mention here, that there is evidence
from which we may fairly raise the question, whether C1·anbrook, in
the days of Queen Elizabeth, did not possess as large a population as
any town in Kent. Hasted reports that, while in 1588 there were
only 1930 communicants in eleven parishes in Canterbury, there were,
in 15781 no less than 1905 in this one parish of Cranbrook. '1.'hese
1905 communicants represent a population of about 3000 persons of
all ages ; and I have proved, by a calculation based on the death-rate at
the same pel'iod, that this was actually about ·the number of the
inhabitants. We have it on record that Maidstone did not contain
much more than two-thirds of this number, during the middle of the
sixteenth century.
Respecting the wealth of the Clothiers of that day much is known,
and no doubt a great deal more might be known, if one could only turn
up the manuscripts, that have long lain hidden in large collections.
Our Secretary, Mr. Scott Robertson, has kindly favoured me with the
following Extracts from the Calendar of State Papers :-
" 1519, October. Licence was granted to Thos. Davy of Crain•
brook, Kent, mercer, and Ric. Harman of London, haberdasher, to
export 1000 woollen cloths, within the next seven ·years, without
barbing, rowing, or shearing the same, notwithstanding the statute
3rd Hen. VII."
"1523. William More, of Cranebroke, was one of the many
sureties for the payment before Ascension next, by George Nevi
l, Lord
Burgaveney, of 10,000 marks, in default of which his lordship must go
to the Tower. William More was surety for £100."
"1523, August 30. Grant of protection was issued to William
Arnold, alias Garrard, of Orambroke, Kent, merchant, alias fuller,
going in the retinue of Lord Berners, deputy to Calais."
Other entries of a less important character might be given, but I
pass on to notice an interesting petition furnished to me by M1·.
Furley :---It is from the inhabitants of the Weald of Kent, praying
her Majesty (Queen Elizabeth) to repeal a certain law which forbade
the exportation of coloured cloth and gl'eatly ihjm·ecl the trade.
It states that in the town of Cranbrook alone 1000 pieces of cloth
less are made, than used to be ma.de two or three years ago ; that each
ORA.N:BlWOK MEETING,-THE CLOTH TRADE, oili
piece needs in its manufacture from thirty to forty persons, men,
women, and children, whose labour is worth fifty shillings; that if
they lose this source of maintaining themselves and families, the
produce of the soil will not be sufficient to maintain half the inhabitants,
and that already, through the falling off in the trade, idleness and
poverty are much increased.
Other pleas in this petition, which Mr. Furley will, no doubt,
make known, are full of interest, but I forbear; as I have another
illustration which I wish to . notice. In some privately printed
"Genealogical Memoranda," relating to the family of Hovenden, there
are interesting inventories relating to the clothiers of Frizley; I select
some items from one inventory which bears date 1615 (pp. 24, 25).
Two damson coloured Cloths .£31 0 0
Two new coloured Cloths 26 0 0
One beaver coloured Cloth in London ... 12' 0 0
Six Cloths at the weavers and spinners 63 0 0
Twelve yards of i·emnants 4 10 0
Twenty quarters of List and a little yellow
List and other leavings ... 3 4 0
Eleven packs of Fleece Wool, £12. 10s. per
pack 140 0 0
Four hundred and thirty quarters of white
Wool, cubed .. . . . .. 112 4 0
Twenty-nine quarters of Wool and two pounds
coloured 8 10 0
Five hundred of Madder, at 44s. per hundred ll 0 0
Half a hundred of Brassell ... 2 5 0
One hundred of Red Wood ... 1 12 0
Twenty-two hnndred of Woade 27 0 0
Certain Oopresgalles, Allu' and W oadash 1 13 4
These items alone represent a large sum of money in the present
day.
The total amount of the inventory is £17 42. 13$, l0d., exclusive
of_ doubtful debts amounting to £344. 3s. 10d., making a total value
of the personal estate of Robert Hovenden of Fl'izley, clothier, who
died in 1615, to be of the value of .£10,000 according to present value
of money.
By consulting our registers ( when regh:1ters noted the occupation
of the parishioners) the evidence is particularly striking respecting
the trade carried on in this parish i such notes are appended to names
li 2
civ KENT ARCH1EOLOGIC.A.L SOCIETY.
. H ,,
as "Clothier," "Broad-weaver," "Nai·row-weaver," " ammer�man,
etc., etc.
All this is now past. We have no clothiers now, no broad-weavers
now, not a vestige of this once flourishing trade now remains. It
passed away more than a century ago ; nor do those premises exist
wherein, it is said, the last cloth factory (properly so called) ,vas
carried on. They were pulled down many years itgo, and a prh,ate
house was built upon the site. Nor can we have any hope of the
re-establishment of cloth-making here, unless we could find coals in
the Weald of Kent, which, I fear, is not likely to be the case.
It should be mentioned that after the broarl-clotli manufacture had
deserted C1·anbrook, linen was woven here to a considerable extent.
Farmers cultivated flax to supply the looms, and our grandmothers
made their own linen. This continued for a very lengthened period.
The last product of Cranbrook looms and shuttles was a coarse kind of
stuff called "Hop-bagging," but even that has by competition been
supplanted, and now our shuttles no longer ply to-and-fro.
With votes of thanks to Colonel Colomb and Mr. Tarbutt
for their papers, and to Lord Holmesdale f01· his kindness in
presiding, the proceedings of the fust day were brought to a
close.
ON FRIDAY, JULY 25th, the Society visited Glassenbury
House, by the kind permission of Colonel Roberts, whose family
has resi�ed there for fo� centuries. The panelling and carved
oak, the tapestry, and the inlaid cabinets wete duly inspected
within the house. Then the moat, the grand old trees, the
fine avenue, and the chalybeate spring, attracted much attention
and interest.
Again entering their carriages, the nume1·ous assemblage
proceeded to Hawkhurst, where the vicar, Canon Jeffreys,
kindly welcomed the Society, and read a paper, which is printed.
upon a subsequent page, respecting the history and architecture of Hawkhurst Church.
The railway station nearest to Hawkhurst being at Etchingham, in Sussex (folll' miles distant), it was considered unwise
to pass on thither, in such close proximity to Bodiham Castle,
witho-ut visiting that interesting ruin. The Sussex Archreo-
ORA.NBROOK MEETING,-BODIRAM QA.STLE, CV
logical Society having been previously consulted, it was resolved
that Bodiham should be included in this day's excursion, and
our Society proceeded thither from Hawkhurst. Upon arrival
at Bodiham Cas�le, the members, by the great kindness of
George Cubitt, Esq., M.P., were admitted without payment of
the usual fee, and were received by Mi·. Oubitt's brother-in-law,
the Rev. Charles Parker, vicar of Bodiham.
Within the Castle, a letter was read, from the Rev. W.
Powell, one of the secretaries of the Sussex Archooological
Society, warmly welcoming the Kent Society, and expressing
regret that at the last . moment parochial duty had arisen to
prevent his personal presence. It was then announced that
M1·. George T. Clark, F.S.A., of Dowlais, had with very great
ldndness visited Bodiham dUl'ing the previous week, and had
written the following paper for the use of the meeting. In
Mr. Clark's unavoidable absence, it was read by the Honorary
Secretary.
BODIHAM CASTLE.
About four miles below the ancient Priory of Robertsbridge, and fourteen, by its own sinuous course, above its
0 junction with the sea below the. old Cinque Port of Rye, the
Rother, a considerable Sussex river, receives from the north an
imp01·tant tributa1·y known as the Kent Ditch, and time out of
mind the boundary of the two counties. The wate1·s meet
obliquely, and between them intervenes a tongue or cape of
high land tape1•ing and falling gradually towards the junction,
and occupied by the church, village, and castle of Bodiham.
Who was Bodi, or Bode, whose home was here established,
is unknown. He was evidently a Saxon, and from the position
of his estate, probably an early one, giving name it may be to
a tract won in arms from the Britons. Ham is hei•e a ve1-y
common ·termination to the proper names of places, varied with
Hurst and Den and Ley, and other less frequent but equally
Saxon denominations.
The church stands on the high ground, a little north of the
centre of the cape, the Castle about 600 yaa.·ds to the south of
it, and about half the distance from the Rother, at some 30
feet or so above its level. The Rothe1· he1·e and lower down
cvi KENT ARCRJEOLOGIOAL SOCIETY.
traverses broad patches of lowland, now fertile meadow, but in
former days evidently inaccessible mo1·ass. The position therefore between the two streams with their marshy banks was
defended by nature towa1·ds "tp.e south and east, the quarter
from which, after the complete expulsion of the Britons, and
during the early Saxon pe1·iod, danger was mainly to be apprehended.
The earlier lords, both Saxon and N01·man, who gave name
• to, and derived their names from, Bodiham, pitched their
homestead on the north side of the high ground, some way
from the church, and upon the right bank of the Kent Ditch,
where the site is still indicated by some earthworks and a.moat.
Nearer to, but south of the ·church; on the b1·ow of the hill,
above the present castle, are the remains of another earthwork,
rectangular and oblong in form, and which seem to denote
either an early residence or a still earlier encampment.
Below this brow, on the southern verge of and just within
the slope, it pleased a Lord of Bodiham, having become so by
marriage with its heiress, to establish a new 1·esidence. Sir
Edward Dalingruge, a successful soldier in the rough school of
the Black Prince· and his captains, of whom his immediate ..,
chief, Sir William Knollys, was one of the l'Oughest, having
held offices of trust under Richard II., decided here to build a
castle suitable to his rank, wealth, and military fame ; and
having, in the 9th of Richard, 1385-6, obtained the 1•oyal
licence, he constructed at a vast cost, both in earthwork and
masonry, the castle which it is the scope of this, memoir to
describe.
Bodiham is a building of v�1·y high interest. It is a
complete and typical c·astle of the end of the foui·teenth
century, laid out entirely upon a new site, and constructed
after one design, and at one period. It but seldon;i happens
that a great fortress is wholly ol'iginal, of one, and that a
known date, and so completely free from alterations or additions.
It has, moreover, fallen into goocl hands. Enough, and not too
much, has beeu done 'to ru.·1·est the effects of time and weather.
The 1·epairs have been well executed, and in Wadhurst stone,
the proper material; and, though well watched, it is open to all
who care to ,·isit it.
ORANBROOK MEETING.-:BODIH.A.M CASTLE. evil
In plan and details Bodiham belongs to the early Perpendicular style, and occupies a mean position between Caerphilly,
a work late in the thirteenth century, and W1·essil, only a few
yeai·s later than Bodiham in time, but ·much fater in style and
arrangements. Like these castles, it has no keep, and its domestic
buildings are coustructed within and against the walls of a court,
but while Caerphilly, p.ke Har1ech and Ledes, is concentric, and
has a narrow outer wa1·d, Bodiham and Wressil, like Bolton,
have hut one ward, one line ·of defences, and are only rectangular enclosul'es, with stro�g and lofty curtains, flanked by still
more lofty mural towers.
Save the adjacent river _and the ma1·sh, the immediate site
of Bodiham possesses no natural advantages. A sort of
platform was selected upon the sloping ground, about 30 feet
above the river's level, and there was excavated a rectangular
basin, 180 yards north and south, by 117 yards east and west,
and about seven deep. To the east, the containing bank was
wholly artificial, formed of the excavated material, as was also
the case with the contiguous parts to the north and south. The
remaining part of the south bank was also slightly 1·aised.
On the west side, near the north end, a small natru·al com be •
descended towai·d� the excavation, of which, being wet, it was
regarded as the future feeder. A st1·ong dam was th1·own
ac1·oss the lower part of this combe, between it and the excavation, of which it thus for.med the bank. No doubt the pool so
penned in was intended as a store pond when the moat was _low.
In the centre, or nea1·ly so, of the excavation, was left a rectangular jsland of 1·ather above half an acre in. area, 1·aise.d artificially about fom feet, and to be occupied by .the futu1·e castle, of
which the gi·ound plan would thus be a plot of abo-µt 50 yards
by 46 yards, surrounded by a wet moat from 35 to 65 yards
bl'oad. At present a sluice is provided for the occasional empty�
ing of the moat, and pl'Obahly something of the sort was originally constructed, though it would., of comse, be concealed.
The fact is, however, that a few vigol'ous workmen could at any
time have cut th1·ough the bank in a few hours, and thus have
deprived the castle of one of its defences. No doubt, indeed,
that the mud, until d1•y, would be even a better protector
than the wate1'.
cvili KEN't A.RdR.lEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
Bodiham Castle, then, is a rectangular enclosure 152 feet
north and south, by 138 feet east and west, contained within
four curtain walls. At each angle is a drum tower, 29 feet
diameter, and of three quarters projection, flanking the several
faces. In the centre of the north face is the great, and of the
south face the lesser, gate-house, and in the centre of each of
tlie other faces is a square tower. There are thus four mural
towers, four cylindl'ical and four 1•ectangular, giving an agreeable
variety to the outline. Besides these there is a projection from
the east face of 8 feet, containing the chapel and sacristy. The
walls and towers all rise direct from the water, here about 6 feet
deep.· The curtain is40feet 6inches high from the water to the
crest of the parapet, and the towers are one-third higher, or
66 feet 6 inches. The outer walls generally are 6 feet 6 inches
thick, which is also the height of the parapets. The stafr turrets
rise 14 feet higher than their towers, and the chimneys about
9 feet. Both are octagonal, and are crested with miniature
battlements in the late Perpendicular manner. There is no
water gate or postern, such as those at Ledes and Caerphilly.
The great gate-house is a ve1·y imposing structure. It is in
plan a T, the horizontal limb forming the front of 30 feet breadth,
and the vertical limb extending backwards as far, and containing the entrance passage. The frout is composed of two
towers, rectangular, but having the angles largely recessed, so.
as to throw forward the central part of each tower as a bold
buttress, 15 feet bl·oad by 6 feet deep. The whole part projects
from the curtain about 15 feet, and between the towers, deeply
sunk, is the gateway.
The gateway bas a slightly four-centred arch, very plain,
and set in the usual square-headed shallow recess, intended
apparently to receive the platform. of the hl·idge when lifted.
There a1·e what look like traces of the chain holes in the
spandrels. The whole is placed in a deeper and plain recess,
terminating above in a• four-centred arch, which carries the
parapet, and has behind it three machicolations which protect
the entl'ance. Over the door is tb.e usual Portcullis chamber
window, and 1·ight and left other windows, all small and
lancet, some trefoil-headed, and some plain. Two pail's of loops
command the approach, one pair has oylet holes at each end of
CRANBROOK MEET1NG.-BODl1lA.M dA.STLE.
'
CIX
the slit. The other pa.ir have holes, rather la1·ger, at the lower
end only. This is the style of loop that marks the introduction
of firearms. In the jambs of the portal is a half-round portcullis
groove, and a little within a pair of folding doors. 'l'he entrance
passage, 12 feet broad and 30 feet long, is unusually lofty. It
is divided by a cross arch into two chambers, both vaulted.
The fii'st, 18 feet long, has on the 1·ight and left small lancet
doors, leading by a narrow vaulted and ribbed mural passage
into the lodges, 11 feet by 10 feet. On the left is a second door
opening on a circular well stair, 8 feet diameter, and unusually
steep, leading to the upper chambers and 1·oof, and terminating
in a turret at the angle of the gate-house. The -vaulting has
fallen in, but it is clear that it resembled that of the second
chamber. In the cross a1·chway is a second portcullis, and beyond it the second part of the passage. This is 12. feet square,
without lateral doorways, and vaulted. The vault is of foui· cells,
three 1·ibs and two half or wall-ribs springing from each comer
corbel, and meeting in one central, four lateral, and four half
bosses, placed upon two cross or ridge ribs. They are pierced
as in the inner wa1·d gate of the Tower of London, and possibly
each contained a flower. The openings are, of the central boss
six inches, and of the others, four inches diameter. These apertures can scarcely have been meant for defence ; they are too
small, and do not command the four corners of the passage.
No doubt a long pike might be thrust down some of them, but.
scarcely to be of use, down the half holes next the walls. As
to pouring down melted lead, pitch, 01· oil, such articles were
always too expensive to form a part of the 1·�gular munitions
against a siege, nor is there here, nor in portcullis chambers
generally, any furnace for heating such materials in any
quantity.
The po1·tal leading from this passage into the inner court
has a second pail- of doo1·s, and beyond them a second portcullis.
This chamber is not a part of the regular gate-house. It forms
a sort of porch projecting from it into the coru-t, and has no
upper storey. A well stafr on the left opened from the court,
and led up to the embattled platform which rested on the vault.
This subsidiary prolongation of the length and defences of the
entrance passage is believed to be peculia1· to Bodiham.
ex KENT .A.RCH.2EOLOGIOAL SOCIETY.
Over the outer part of the passage is the portcullis chamber.
It has at each end a low four-centred arch, which conceal�d the
head of the grate, when lifted, and above this, at each end, is
the customary small window. The lobby between the well
stair and this chamber is groined and 1·ipbed, and in the centre
is a la1·ge boss carved in foliage. The gatehouse lodges have a
pit or sub-basement, perhaps a cellar, perhaps me1·ely a cavity to
keep the floo1·s dry. If cellars, they were entered by traps in
the floor above. There are also, above the basement, two upper
:floors.
The lesser gate-house is placed opposite to the main gate, in
the centre of the southern face of the castle, and though equally
lofty, is much smaller. It is a plain tower 22 feet square,
projecting 15 feet in advance of the curtain, but with no
internal projection. The oute1· gate is in the centre of the
tower, and had a portcullis, and behind it w_e1·e folding doors.
The entrance passage is 11 feet square, vaulted as the great
gateway, but not so lofty. Right and left are loops raking the
.curtain. A door in the west wall opens into the usual well
stair, contained within the n01·th west angle. The1·e is no
lodge. The inner portal was closed by doors only. It opened
into the lower end of one side of the great hall.
In front of, and outside this gate� house, there p1·oject nine feet
into the moat two walls about three feet thick. They seem to have
contained between them a bridge pit, over which a bridge
d1·opped from the gateway, upon a cross wall which remains.
The pit is filled up. Opposite, the counterscarp of the moat,
62 yards distant, is revetted, and projects as a half hexagonal ·
pie1'. How this intervening space was traversed is not now
seen. Scarcely by a boat, fo1· the pier is evidently intended to
supp01-t a timber bridge, and a boat could not conveniently be
reached from it. Probably there was a footway upon. tressels or
wooden piers.
Thus much of the two gate-houses, the only towers which
are machicolated. Each leads into the com't of the castle, an
open space 86 feet south and north, by 76 feet east and west;
round which a1·e placed, against the curtains, the domestic
buildings, 22 to 30 feet in depth, some of one floor, some
of two, but all of nearly equal height, and so placed as to
CRA.N:BitOOK MEETING.-:BODI.HA.M CA.STLE. ♦
CXl
conceal the curtain,· and the lower parts of the towers, from the
inner court.
�ight and left of the great gate-house the buildings had a
ground and first floor. Those on the left, or to the east, were
rather more ornate, as being nearer to the state apartments.
The N.E. and N.W. towers communicated on each side, with
these rooms. They have sub-basement pits, with loops, a
ground and two upper floors. They diffe1· somewhat in details,
but each has a well stair in its gorge wall and mlll'al closets and
fireplaces at the several levels. The pits are circular, the
chambers above hexagonal.
Along the West side are offices, and probably servants'
apartments, and rooms for the garrison. In the centre a large
and handsome doorway, with a window on each side, and traces
of a porch, opens into a small kitchen, a room 21 feet by l 6
feet, having on each side a fireplace, with a converging tunnel,
and an arched head of 12 feet span · and 2 feet rise. There is
no hood or projection. The roof was open, and at the battlement level. A gallery seems to have run across above the
do01·, entered from the room to the South, and beneath it in
the wall is also a door.
The enclosure next South seems to have been of two floors.
The lowe1· room 38 feet by 22 feet was probably for st01·es 01•
the servants; the upper was the lesser hall. 'rhe lower room had
two windows to the court and a small door, and perhaps between
the windows a shallow fireplace with a bold hood. Above was
a noble room of the same size. The lower 1·oom opened into
the west tower. This, like the east tower, is 25 feet broad, by
21 feet deep, and of 15 feet projection from the curtain. The
sub-basement here was evidently a cellar. It has three loops a
little above the wate1· level. A well stair in the S.E. angle leads
upwards from the ground level.
Along the south side were placed the great kitchen, butte1·y,
and great hall. The kitchen, 33 feet by 24 feet, occupies the S. W. •
angle, and communicates with the adjacent angle towe1·. It
has two large fireplaces, of 12 feet span, in the N. and S, walls.
The former has au oven in its west jamb, an afterthought, as it
projects into the adjacent room. The other had a large stone
hood, of which one springing stone remains, and is buttressed
CXll KENT A.RCHJEOLO(HdA.L SOCIETY.
by a corbel} placed in the hollow ang1e to receive its thmst} as
at St. Briavels. The kitchen had an open lofty roof. N ex.t is
the buttery} of two floors} with traces of a cellar below. It is
18 feet by 24 feet and opened into the hall by three equilaterally arched doorways side by side} each towards the hall}
having a deep hollow early Perpendicular moulding. These
opened into a pass�e under the music gallery.
The hall was about 50 feet long by 26 feet b1·oad} with an
open roof. It had, at the Dais end of the south wall} a window
of two lights, with a transom ; the lower pair square-headed, the
upper plain pointed. The whole is in a recess, with a flat
segmental arch. There are said to have been two windows in
the north wall, looking into the court, and here p1·obably was
the :fireplace, for fireplaces and not central hearths seem to
have been in fashion here. The hall door 1·emains. It is a
handsome archway with a double ogee moulding. It opened
below the music gallery, and at the other end of this passage
was the entrance to the lesser gate-house, so that there was
access from the court to the gate, through a passage screened
off from the occupied part of the hall. · Of course the lesser
gateway was used for foot passengers only. A passage somewhat simila1·} crosses the lower end, not of the hall itself, but of
the vaults below the hall, at Ke�lworth.
·The state apartments and chapel occupied the east side} and
the former seem mostly to have been of two floors.
Behind the end of the hall was a large room called the
armoury, from which opened the S.E. tower. Here the subbasement is hexagonal, and was vaulted and groined. The
vaulting has fallen away, but the corbels remain, and the six
gables and wall 1i.bs. Probably this was a private store or
cellar, for it has :no fire or guardrobe, and though the vaulting
was elegant, the chamber, being at or a trifle below the water
level, must always have been damp. The upper floo1·s were of
timbe1·.
Probably the term armoury is a modern invention, and here
wel'e the withd1·awing 1·ooms, to which a passage led from the
north end of the Dais, outside the hall. There remains a platform of masonry, whlch seems to have been laid to can·y such a
passage.
ORA.N:B:ROOK MEE'l'ING.-BODillA.M OA.STLE. cxiii
North of these Tooms are traces of others, whlch communicated with the east tower and chapel, and were probably private
apartments, with windows to the court. Under the whole wa�
a range of .cellars, below the court level, but with doors and
loops ascending to it.
Next comes the chapel, 29 feet by 19 feet, having a large
pointed window of tru:ee lights at the east end. The floor, of
timber, covered a cellar, having a loop, rising to the court, and
a door in the south wall. The eastern end has a solid raised
platform for the altar, and near it a small.north window. 'fo
the south is a small plain-pointed piscina, and near it a lancet
door, opening by steps into a· vaulted and groined mural
chamber, 11 feet by 6 feet, intended as a sacristy, having two
lockers, and a small window to the moat. The chapel door was
in the south wall, leading from the lower private apartments.
Above the sacristy is a rather la1·ger room, having a door from
the upp�r a:partments, and a square-headed window, of two
ti·efoiled lights, looking into the chapel; evidently the lord's
private seat, whence, unseen, he could be present at mass.
The1·e was no west door, or direct entrance from the court.
The chapel seems to have had an open timber roof.
The masonry throughout the castle is excellent ashlar, the
material a fine grained, soft, but durable sandstone. -There is
but little ornament. There were seven main well-staircases,
each terminating in an octagonal turret, serving as a head.
The stairs did not ascend to the top of the turret, which was
domed over, and inaccessible. The rooms are almost all
furnished with fireplaces, and very many with mui·al guardrobes which seem to have been closed with cUl'tains, 01· not
at all, since there are no marks of doors. The shafts descend
within the walls, and discha1·ge into the moat below the surface.
The windows generally are small, that of the chapel and of the
hall are the only ones even of tolerable size, towards the moat.
The drum towers look older than their real date, their go1·gewalls, general proportions and armngement, contained. wellstaircases, and lancet and often trefoiled windows, savouring of
the Edwardian period. Their hexagonal interiors, however, and·
the bold and simple moulding that crowns their pa1·apets, belong
to the Perpendicular style. The chimneys throughout are
cxiv KENT AIWR1EOLOGIOAL -SOCIETY,
octagonal} well proportioned, but plain save the embattled
moulding above. They may be later than the castle.
The three armorial shields over the great gateway represent
l3odiham or Bodeham, Dalingruge, and W ardeux. The central,
bej.ng that of the founder, is placed angle-wise beneath his
helmet and crest. There were also three shields above the
lesser gateway. One was no dou.bt Dalingruge, as before,
another was Knollys, out of compliment to that commander.
The battlements generally have a plain A coping, with a
beaded 1•idge towards the :field. The merlons are much broader
than the embrasUl'es, but are not pierced. The coping is not
repeated in the lower part of the embrasures. No well has
been discovered, nor any lead piping, as at Ledes, where the
castle was supplied with pure water from a spring at some little
distance. On the whole, the castle, for its period, is unusually
severe in its arrangements, there being scarcely any traces of
luxury. It was a castle, not a manor house, nor palace.
There remains to be described a very singular feature in this
castle, the approach to the great gateway. At present, a
causeway of earth, about six feet broad, springs from the
north bank of the moat, and proceeds direct, about 62 feet,
towards the opposite gateway. It then stops abruptly} and its
, h'ead is revetted in masomy, which however is modern. Opposite, eleven feet distant, the water flowing between, is an octagon
of 16 feet on each face, or 40 feet diameter, rising as an island .
out of the moat, and revetted all round. Thel'e was evidently
a shifting biidge of some kind between this octagon and the
causeway. Whether this octagon. cal'l'ied any superstructure
is uncertain, probably it had only a parapet} of which traces
remain.
Crossing the octagon in the same straight line, there is
reached a second gap, of six feet, and beyond this is a 1·ectangular island about 21 feet north and south, by 20 feet bl'Oad,
also revetted all round, and on which revetment stood the walls
of the barbican. 'l'his was, therefore, a retang;ular building,
traversed by the entrance passage, and having a doorway at
either end, the outer guarded by a portcullis, and the inne1· by
doors. The passage was vaulted and apparently groined. It
seems to have been of one stage only, the platform resting on
ORAN:SROOK MEETING.-BODIHAM OASTLE, CXV
the vault an.d battlements. In the n01•th-west corne1· was a
well stair, op·ening from the passage, and ascending to the roof.
Grose's drawing shews this as though it was a side 01· foot
entrance, which does not appear to have been the case. The
work is all excellent ashlar, but only the west side remains.
The barbican is about 54 feet from the great gate) and at
present is connected with it by a cause\Vay. As this causeway
is here and there seen to be revetted, it may be 01·iginalJ in
which case it was possibly broken at either end, and the connection carried on by bridges falling from the -barbican and from
the great gate. This however is conjecture only.
Some doubt has arisen as to how·the octagon w�s 01·iginally
approached n·om the main land. This doubt is caused by the
presence, of a demi-pier of masonry projecting from the west
bank a few yards from its north end, and therefore opposite
to the octagon. It is therefore supposed that the causeway
from the north bank. is an addition, and that another causeway,
or some kind of communication, was laid from the west bank to
the octagon) a much greate1· distance, nearly thrice as fro., No
doubt a similar half-pie1· on the south bank indicates a communication thence with the lesser gateway, but here there seems no
1·eason whatever for the suggested lengthening and bend in the
approach. On the whole, for whatever purpose the western
pier may have been intended) the evidence is in favour of the
appl'Oach having always been along the p1·esent line. Neithru•
the north or. west bank is commanded seriously by higher
ground. That to the north rises) no doubt) but scarcely so as
to give any great advantage to archers posted to annoy those
entering the castle, and certainly no greater advantage than
could be gained from the rising ground to the west. Possibly
the pier was intended for the moo1-ing and pl'Otection of the
boats employed on that side of the moat. A 1·oadJ still traceable, led up to this demi-pier.
This double outwo1·k in the moat is peculiar, it is supposed)
to 13odiham. At Ledes, indeed, there are two barbicans, but
they are not exactly in the moat, but upon the bank, and it is
deeply intrenched, so as to carry the water round them. At
Caerphilly, there is a single large isolated pier in the centre of
the moat) now dry, and which was connected by drawbridges
cxvi KENT ARCH.lEOLOGIC.A.L SOCIETY.
with the great gate and the counterscarp, and which may be
likened to the octagon in the present in.stance.
Bodiham bas been the subject of two printed memoirs.
The fust, it is presumed, in point of time, for it is undated, is
by William Cotton, Esq., M.A. The second is by M. A. Lower,
M.A., F.S.A., and is dated 1871. It contains an excellent
account of the descent .of the manor from the Conquest, and
gives the license under ,vhich the Castle was constructed. Mr.
Cotton gives a plan of the castle proper, exclusive of the moat
and approaches, but his dimensions differ materially from those
of Mr. Lower, who, however, gives no plan, though he has given
some excellent woodcuts of some of the details of the building.
It appears from Mr. Lower, that at Domesday Bodiham was
held by Osborn, probably a Norman, under the Earl of Augi, 01·
Eu, the lord of Hastings Castle. His descendants bore the
name of·Bodiham for six descents, when the heiress married
W ardeux. From W ardeux, in three descendants, an heiress
conveyed the estate with her hand to Sil- Edward Dalingruge,
the founder of the castle. His niece :finally married, and cal'l'ied
the estate to Lew kn or. In the third descent it was forfeited by
Sir Thomas Lewknor, a Lancast1•ian, but recovered and transmitted, probably the castle being in a ruinous state, to Sir Roger
Lewknor, who died 1543.
After some vibration between the Lewknor co-heirs and
their husbands, one moiety vested in Sir Thomas Bosville,
whose son, Sir Leonard, sold it to Tufton, Earl of Thanet, who,
by another line, had inhel'ited the other moiety. A Lord
Thanet sold the whole to Bovell, a London citizen, th�n it was
again sold to Webster, of Battle; then to Fuller, of Rose Hill,
and finally in 1864, to Mr. Cubitt, of Denbies, the present
owner.
A vote of thanks to Mr. George Clark for his interesting
· paper was passed with acclamation, and then Mr. J. H. Parker,
C.B., kindly conducted the members through the various portions of the Castle.
The last place visited was Etchingham Church, close to
the Railway Station. Here the Rector, the Rev. R. G. Barton,
kindly 1·eceived the Society, and hl'iefly pointed out the prin�
CRANBROOK MEETING.-BODIHA.M CASTLE. cxvii
cipal features of this extremely interesting moated, cruciform,
church, which was rebuilt about 1375-85 by Sir William de
Echyngham, whose effigy in brass remains on the chancel floor,
and whose coat of arms appears upon the 01·iginal weather vane
still standing on the tower. The font, and a south doorway
into the chancel, are the only relics of the p1·evious, Early
English, church. The coats of arms of Edward III. and some
of his relatives and nobles are emblazoned in the windows; the
original miserere seats, with their quaint carvings, and the roodscreen, still remain. The flamboyant tracery of the east window,
and the peculiar plan of the church, with its long chancel,
central towe1•, and sho1·t nave with clerestory, suggest a foreign
architect.
Having rapidly inspected this chm•ch, the company reached
the railway station in time for the 6·47 train, and the General
Meeting for 1878 was concluded.
Dming the two days of meeting a Temporary Museum was
open, for the 'inspection. of members, at the Vestry Hall,
Reading Room, and Octagon. The Rev. Francis Haslewood
and M1·. William Tarbutt kindly superintended the collection
and a1·rangement of the various objects of interest exhibited.
Amongst them were :-a gold torques-like finger ring found at
Sissinghurst, exhibited by Mr. George Neve; Roman fibulre and
other ornaments, with much valuable Roman pottery, all from
Rainham, exhibited by M1•. William Walter; Roman fibulre and
potte1·y from a cemetery at East Hall, Murston, exhibited by
Mr. Geo1·ge Payne, jun.
A tile of Venetian work (coloured lozenge patterns upon a
white ground) from Milton Church, by Mr. Geo1·ge Payne ; a
foU1'teenth-centm·y tile with tiiple-towered castle, from Murston
Church; a fom·teenth-century tile bearing a Lombardic capital
A (by Mr. W. J. Qhapman); mm•al tiles of the seventeenth
century (blue pattems on white ground) from. the ruins at
Tunstall, and heads of several greybeard jugs, one dated 1594,
from. the same ruins (by Mr. G. Payne).
Alabaster carved work of the fifteenth century from a
tabernacle or sh1ine in Sittingbourne Church (by Mr. G.
VOL. IX, i
cxvili KENT A.ROHlEOLOGIOA.L SOCIETY.
Payne). A gold finger-ring of the fourteenth century annular
on the inside, but octagonal outside, and bearing an inscription
in Lombardic chai-actel's (by Mr. W. T. Neve).
- T1:adesmen's tokens of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries (by Mr. Hudson, M1·. Ha1·old Edge, and Mr. C1·amp).
A steel casket (Italian) of the sixteenth centm·y 1·ichly
ornamented with arabesques and gilt medallions, having inside
its lid a complex: spring lock which throws thhteen bolts (by
the Right Hon. Gathorne Ha1·dy).
Ancient plan of Hempsted estate, and copies of old drawings
of Hempsted House (by Right Hon. Gathome Hardy).
Queen Elizabeth's Cha1ter to Cranbrook Grammar School.
Two copies of a folio English Bible, dated 1566, (by Mr.
Tar butt and Mr. Lightfoot). A Geneva English Testament,
dated 1557, and a Breeches Bible, elated 1603 (by Mr. Dennett);
a Book of Sports, dated 1590 (by Mr. E. Russell).
Specimens of linen woven at Cl.'anbrook, and of pottery made
at Cranbrook; curious articles made by the French prisonars
at Sissinghurst Castle ; po1·t1·ait on copper of Thomas Loftie of
Smeeth, obiit 1678 (by Rev. W. J. Loftie). Six original copies
of the 'Spectator' (by M1·. F. D. Hardy). Three steel cross
bows, cannon balls cast at Hawkhmst, medireval padlocks, and
cashbox, with curious spring fastenings; and a fine collection
of rubbings from monumental b1•asses in O1•anbrook, Biddenden,
an.d other churches (by Rev. F. Haslewood, Mr. Huc4ion, and
Capt. Tylden-Pattenson).
The AUTUMN MEETING of the Council was held in the
Society's Rooms, at Chillington House, Maidstone, on the 5th
of September, 1873.
It was resolved that the next Annual General Meeting shall
be held at Folkestone, and a Local Committee was nominated
to al'l'ange details.
The Hon. Secretary was autho1•ized to transmit to the
Trustees of St. Bartholomew's, Chatham, a representation from
the Council, signed by the noble President, in favour of p1·eserving and restoring the Norman windows and masolll'y just
discovered in the south wall of St. Bartholome�'s Chapel.
ORA.NBROOK MEETING.-:BODIHA.M OA.STLE.
.
CXlX
Tlu•ee new members were elected.
Votes of thanks were passed to the Rev. T. A. Cal'l', the
Rev. T. W. 0. Hallward, the Rev. Canon Jeffreys, the Rev. R.
G. :Barton, for kindly receiving us at their churches and for the
papers read by them; to the Rev. F1·ancis Haslewood fo1· his
paper on Sissinghurst Castle, and for great and successful
exe1·tions in connection with. the Local Museum; to Mr.
Dennett for his valuable services in issuing the tick�ts and in
managing the receipts and payments connected with the
Meeting; to Mr. Tru:butt for his paper on the Cloth Tnde of
Cranbrook and for great help with the Museum; to George
Neve, Esq., for admitting us to and entertaining us at Sissinghurst Castle; to the Rev. T. Crick, Colonel Roberts, George
Cubitt, Esq., for kindly admitting us to Staplehurst Church,
Glassenbury House, and Bocliham Castle; to W. T. Neve, Esq.,
for superintending the carriage arrangements and for other
help; to the Rev. C. C1·owden for the facilities most kindly and
hospitably affo1·ded by him; and, to Capt. Tylden-Pattenson
for kind help du1·ing the Meeting.
