Greenwood 1838–9 C. Greenwood, an Epitome of County History – Vol. I – County of Kent (London, 1838–9). I
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Greenwood 1838–9 C. Greenwood, An epitome of county history – vol. I – county of Kent (London, 1838–9). i AN EPITOME OF COUNTY HISTORY, WHEREIN THE MOST REMARKABLE OBJECTS, PERSONS, AND EVENTS, ARE BRIEFLY TREATED OF; THE SEATS, RESIDENCES, ETC. OF THE NOBILITY, CLERGY, AND GENTRY, THEIR ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR DECORATIONS, SURROUNDING SCENERY, ETC. DESCRIBED, FROM PERSONAL OBSERVATION, AND THE NAMES, TITLES, AND OTHER DISTINCTIONS, CIVIL, MILITARY, OR ECCLESIASTICAL, INSERTED. With Notices of the principal Churches, AND THE MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS OF DISTINGUISHED FAMILIES. EACH COUNTY ILLUSTRATED BY A MAP, EXPRESSLY CONSTRUCTED TO SUIT THE DESIGN OF THIS WORK, EXHIBITING IN ONE VIEW THE PARKS, PADDOCKS, SEATS, AND OTHER RESIDENCES INCLUDED THEREIN. VOL. I. – COUNTY OF KENT. BY C. GREENWOOD. LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETOR, AT THE OFFICE OF THE AUTHOR, No. 5, HART STREET, BLOOMSBURY SQUARE. 1838. ii ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. DENNETT, PRINTER, UNION BUILDINGS, LEATHER LANE. iii PREFACE. The subject of the present work, after a protracted consideration of some years, was entered upon by the author with the greatest diffidence, from a consciousness of the uncertainty as to how far it might be possible, by personal application, to obtain the intelligence absolutely necessary to make it acceptable. He was sensible that nothing short of a disposition all but universal in his favour could enable him to give it such a stamp of originality and novelty as might warrant the expectation of ultimate success. The difficulties here intimated, however, have been surmounted even to an extent exceeding his most sanguine anticipation; and in return the author can claim for himself, with the greatest confidence, the merit of not having abused so unexpected and liberal a patronage. In the course of nearly two years he has in person submitted his proposals to more than 500 of the first families in the county, at their respective residences; and he takes the present opportunity of expressing his gratitude for the kindness and assistance with which he has invariably had the good fortune to be honoured. Indeed, from no less direct sources of information could he have acquired satisfactory and conclusive autho- rity for numerous particulars, which unite to give a peculiar character to his present undertaking. The descriptions of the seats and residences that touch upon such points as the architecture, paintings, museums of natural curiosities, or works of art; the names, titles, and other distinctions, civil, military, or ecclesiastical, of the residents; scenery, distances, bearings, &c. are uniformly the result of personal enquiry and observation: and to this extent the work is entirely original. The copious particulars (given in a smaller type) which follow the descriptions of most of the ancient houses, are abridged from Hasted's elaborate history of the county. But the epitaphs and memorials (in the same type) of later date than 1780, have been collected by the author from the places themselves. The map, it will be observed, has been designed with particular reference to the illustration of the present work, and represents most prominently the parks, paddocks, seats, and other residences particularised in the volume: and the delineation of the objects, their relative situations, &c. have been determined by actual survey. iv Such, therefore, is the construction of the work, as far as its plan has hitherto been submitted to the attention of the subscribers. A new and very important addition, however, has been suggested by many families, viz. a series of lithographical views of the principal seats, to face the respective descriptions. But as this will necessarily form a considerable addi- tional expense, the inclusion of such illustrations will of course be optional with those who have already purchased the work. P.S. For the more extended articles in this volume, materials have been gathered, if not perhaps from any very recondite sources, yet carefully and from approved authorities. At present it will be sufficient to mention a few of the more obvious and important. The two Histories of Kent, by Harris and Hasted, Lyson's "Environs of London," Brayley's volume on Kent in the "Beauties of England and Wales," Lambarde's "Perambulation of Kent," the treatises of Somner and many others, bearing more or less directly on the subjects in view, have been perused or consulted; of which the sequel, it is hoped, will contain satisfactory evidence. The author of these historical notices desires further to observe, that they are limited to places of particular interest; and, though in the description of these he has endeavoured on the whole to embrace as much as possible, he does not pretend to have included every object belonging to them, nor even every object of importance. To have done so, and yet maintained the requisite brevity, would have reduced him to give little else than a meagre sum- mary. The present work aims at an approach to something like completeness only in its comprehensive mention of private residences and families. To this, therefore, the intermingled matter of a more general nature must be considered as subsidiary; though at the same time important, as designed to sustain the other parts of the plan by the occasional intervention of inquiries that open a wider field and admit a freer treatment. Such being the principal intention of the work, a great deal that comes within the scope of local history would here be out of place. Now and then a few statistical particulars are detailed; but only where it seemed that something more popularly attractive might be elicited from them or illustrated by them. Much also which, though otherwise applicable, the repetition of former writers has rendered tediously trite, the author has, for that reason, briefly dismissed or omitted altogether. In general, he has not scrupled to enlarge most on what has happened to appear most interesting to himself; considering that on such topics he had the best chance of being able to engage likewise the attention of the reader. v INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF KENT. The name of Kent (which the Latins turned into Cantium) is of British or Gallic origin, supposed by Camden to indicate a corner, and to allude to the position of this coast at the corner of the island; in support of which he instances the words canton and cantle as having properly the same import, and the Scotch term cantir, for any land thus situated. Such seems to be the popular etymo- logy; but in Welch, it appears, the name Gaint or Caint, which has always been applied to this county, means a region of open downs; a description to many parts of it sufficiently suitable. Kent, if we regard the important events of which it has been the theatre, deserves the first place in English topography. In its public edifices and its various remains of antiquity, it possesses monuments of most of the great epochs of our national history; while several of the mansions, with which altogether it is nobly adorned, recall also some high recollections. Simply considered, the country bears a very pleasing aspect, presenting in most directions a perpetual undulation of hills and woody sequestered dales running in among the rich cultivated landscapes. On the side next the metropolis, from Blackheath to Gravesend, it is literally one scarcely interrupted garden. The whole county indeed is entitled, by its general fertility, to the appellation of the garden of England; and many portions of it, such as the Isle of Thanet, and the pastures of Romney Marsh, are exuberantly rich. It is a well watered country; and the navigable rivers, above all, the Thames, and its tributary, the Medway (the latter flowing through the very heart of the shire), furnish the farmer with the readiest means for pouring his produce into the great London market. Most of the land is arable; but the county supplies also vast quantities of fruit, and especially is famous for its filberts and cherries. To a general observer the most distin- guishing circumstance of its husbandry is the cultivation of the Hop, a plant neglected, and perhaps unknown, in England, till the Flemish exiles, about the reign of Elizabeth, taught this part of the kingdom its value. The hop- grounds are particularly numerous in the neighbourhood of Maidstone, and form, especially at harvest-time, an interesting and almost a peculiar feature in Kentish scenery. The various beauties of the county are well displayed from the hills, vi which traverse it in every direction. Two ranges, superior to the rest, run nearly parallel to each other through its entire length, and terminate together in the steep sea-coast about Dover and Folkstone. The upper or northern chain consists in many parts of dry and chalky downs, where, at least towards the east, the country is rather bare and exposed to winds from the N.E. and S.W. The other line (which, from the nature of the rock, is sometimes called the Ragstone hill), enters Kent about Westerham, and reaches to Folkstone, forming, towards its eastern extremity, the highest ridge of land in the county. The hills on this side overlook the Weald, which is of course the same word as wild; but the tract is now enclosed, though still interspersed with extensive woodlands. It formerly covered a surface of 120 miles, embracing the whole of Sussex, with a large part of Hampshire. The Weald of Kent stretches along the southern border of the county, from Romney Marsh to the confines of Surrey. It made part of the great British forest of Andereda (Coit Andred), and was the grand hunting ground of the Saxon princes, being much noted for its numerous stags and wild boars. In the earliest times the people of Kent had the credit of being better civilized (or less barbarous) than their neighbours.