EAST SUTTON.
THE next parish eastward from Town Sutton is
East Sutton, having the appellation of East from its
situation eastward of the two adjoining parishes of
Sutton Valence and Chart Sutton, though that of
Sutton, near Dover, is likewise frequently stiled East
Sutton, from its situation in the eastern part of this
county.
IT is a small parish, and would be but little known
or frequented was it not for the residence of the Filmer family in it. It is much the same situation and
soil as the last described parish of Sutton Valence, the
quarry hills crossing the middle of it; the church
stands near the summit of the hill, at the back of East
Sutton-place, which is pleasantly situated, having a
most beautiful and extensive view southward, the
park lying before it, which is well cloathed with trees
both of ash and oak, and has a fine piece of water
in sight of the house in the lower part of it; about
half a mile south-east from the manor house, about
the middle of the hill, is Little Charlton, which has
still the appearance of a gentleman's seat, having several good rooms in it well ornamented with stucco,
fret-work, &c. and every convenience requisite for a
gentleman's family, and the hospitality of former
times; from the top of the hill southward it is within
the Weald, a low, flat and miry country. On the
other side, above the church, from the shade of the
quantities of trees which spread thickly over it, that
part has an unpleasant and gloomy aspect. In this
part is (hartway-street, the only village in this parish,
the southern side of which only, on which however
almost all the houses are built, being in this parish
and its northern boundary, the other side of it being
in Bromfield; the rest of the houses in East Sutton,
excepting the two small hamlets of Friday and Sunday-streets, being intersperted at various distances
throughout it.
THIS PLACE was part of those possessions with
which Odo, bishop of Baieux, was enriched by his
half-brother William the Conqueror, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in the survey of Domesday:
The same Adam Fitzhubert holds of the bishop Sudtone. It was taxed at one suling and an half. The arable land is eight carucates. In demesne there are two,
and fifteen villeins, with nine borderers, having four carucates. There is a church and ten servants, and eight
acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of fifty bogs.
In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards,
it was worth ten pounds, now twelve pounds, and yet it
pays eighteen pounds. Leuenot held it of king Edward.
On the bishop's disgrace, which happened in 1084,
about four years after the taking the above survey,
this among the rest of his estates became confiscated
to the crown.
In the reign of Henry the IIId, John de Salario
held East Sutton (fn. 1) of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester; Geffry de Maitel held it in the latter end of
that reign, and the beginning of the reign of king
Edward the 1st, his successor was Adam de Martel,
whose right to it was allowed against the king before
the justices itinerant, in the 21st year of Edward I.
Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, was in possession of it in the beginning of the next reign of king
Edward II. and died in the 17th year of it s. p. upon
which his three sisters became his coheirs; of whom
Isabel, married to John de Hastings, of Bergavenny,
seems to have had this manor allotted to her as part
of her share in the inheritance, and in his descendants,
earls of Pembroke, it continued down in like manner
as Sutton Valence manor before described, till on
their failure of issue in king Henry the IVth's reign,
Reginald, lord Grey, of Ruthyn, became entitled to it as next of kin and heir of Aymer, earl of
Pembroke, but on his being taken prisoner by Owen
Glendower, in Wales, king Henry IV. in his 4th
year, granted licence to I obert Braybrook, bishop of
London, and others, then seoffees of his several lordships, to sell this manor among others, towards raising
a sum of money for his ransom. They sold it to Richard Brigge Lancaster, king at arms, who alienated
it in the third year of king Henry V. to Thomas Buttiller and Thomas Bank. After which it passed into
the family of Darrell, one of whom Sir Richard de
Darrel, possessed it in the reign of king Edward IV.
In the first year of king Henry VIII. John York,
esq. of Ramsbury, in Wiltshire, was owner of it, and
in the 6th year of that reign passed it away to Richard Chetham, prior of the priory of Ledes, and it
seems to have been for the use of his convent by the
receipt in the exchequer, anno 8 Henry VIII. Nevertheless they had divested themselves of the possession of it before the 20th year of that reign, when Sir
Henry Guldeford, knight of the garter, and comptroller of the king's houshold, owned it. He died
s. p. in the 23d year of that reign, and his heirs sold
this manor the next year to Richard Hill, esq. who
in the 29th year of it alienated it to Thomas, lord
Cromwell, and he soon afterwards exchanged it with
the crown for other lands, where the fee of it remained
till the king in his 37th year granted it, with its appurtenances, to John Tuston, and Stephen Reaves,
to hold in capite, and they that year alienated it to
Thomas Argall, who bore for his arms, Party per
fess, argent and vert, a pale counterchanged; three lions
heads erased gules. He procured his lands in this
county to be disgavelled by the act of the 2d and 3d
of Edward VI. and died possessed of it in the 6th year
of that reign.
His son and heir, Richard Argall, esq. had by
Mary his wife, daughter of Sir Reginald Scott, of
Scots-hall, a son John, and two daughters, Catherine, wife of Ralph Bathurst, esq. of Horton Kirkby,
and Elizabeth, of Sir Edward Filmer, of Little Charleton, in this parish, John Argall, esq. the son, was
of Colchester, in Essex, and in the 8th year of king
James I. sold this manor to his brother-in-law, Sir
Edward Filmer before-mentioned, who upon that removed from his seat of Little Charleton to the manor
house of East Sutton, called East Sutton-place, where
he kept his shrievalty in the 13th year of that reign.
The family of Filmer was originally seated at the
manor of Herst, in the parish of Otterden, where
Robert Filmer lived in king Edward the IId.'s reign.
His descendants continued there till Robert Filmer,
son of James, removed to the manor of Little Charlton, in this parish, which he had purchased of the family of Kempe, and had built a seat on it for his residence, it was antiently called Charlton-court, and
had owners of its own name in the reigns of king Edward II. and III. (fn. 2) He was one of the prothonotaries
of the common pleas for twenty years in the reign of
queen Elizabeth, and to him Cooke, clarencieux, in
1570, granted, or rather confirmed the arms of the
family, viz. Sable, three bars, and as many cinquefoils
in chief, or. He died in 1585, and was buried in this
church, which has ever since continued the burialplace of the family. He was the father of Sir Edward
Filmer, the purchaser of this manor of East Sutton as
before mentioned. (fn. 3)
He had by his wife before mentioned, nine sons and
nine daughters, and died in 1629, being succeeded
here by Robert, his eldest son, who was knighted by
king Charles I. and resided at East Sutton. He employed his pen in defence of the rights of the crown.
He was educated at Trinity-college, Cambridge,
and wrote the Anarchy of a limited or mixed Monarchy; Patriarcha, or the natural Power of Kings;
the Freeholder's grand Inquest, and Reflections concerning the Original of Government, besides several other tracts, all which were published after
his death by his son. He was a great sufferer during
the civil wars of king Charles I.'s reign, having his
house here plundered ten times by the rebels, and
himself imprisoned in Leeds-castle for his loyalty.
He died in 1653, having married Anne, daughter and
coheir of Martin Heton, bishop of Ely, by which an
addition of fortune, as well as of arms, accrued to him.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Edward
Filmer, gentleman of the privy chamber both to king
Charles I. and II. who dying unmarried at Paris, in
1668, was succeeded in his estates by his next brother, Robert Filmer, esq. barrister-at-law, of Gray's
inn, who, in consideration of his father's sufferings
and loyalty to Charles I. was, on Dec. 24, 1674,
created a baronet. He resided at East Sutton-place,
which, as well as the park round it, he greatly augmented and improved, inclosing the whole with a
stone wall. He died in 1675, leaving several sons and
daughters, of whom Sir Robert Filmer, bart. his eldest son and successor, resided here, and in 1689, being
the last of king James II. served the office of sheriff.
He died in 1720, having married Elizabeth, daughter
and coheir of Sir William Beversham, of Holbrookhall, in Suffolk, one of the masters in chancery, (fn. 4) by
whom he had several sons and daughters. Beversham
Filmer, esq. one of the younger sons, was of Lincoln'sinn, barrister-at law, master of the Nisi Prius office
in B. R. and one of the most able conveyancers this
kingdom has produced. He died unmarried in 1763,
and was buried in this church, having by his last
will bequeathed his estates in this county to his nephew, Sir John Filmer, bart.
Sir Edward Filmer, bart. the eldest son, resided at
East Sutton, and married Mary, daughter of John
Wallis, esq. of Oxfordshire, only son and heir of the
learned John Wallis, D. D. Savilian professor of geometry at Oxford, and F. R. S. by whom he had
twenty children, viz. eleven sons and nine daughters;
of the former, John, the eldest, succeeded him in
title and estate; Beversham married Dorothea, second
daughter of William Henley, esq. late of Gore-court;
the died in 1793, s. p. Edmund is rector of Crundall,
and married Arabella-Christiana, the eldest daughter
of Sir John Honywood, bart. by his first lady, by
whom he has had six sons and two daughters; Francis,
barrister-at-law, of Lincoln's-inn, is unmarried. Of
the daughters, Dorothy, married the late Sir John
Honywood, bart. He died in 1755, æt. 72, and was
succeeded by his eldest son, Sir John Filmer, bart. of
East Sutton, who died in 1797, æt. 84, and was
buried with his ancestors in this church. He married
Dorothy, daughter of the Rev. Julius Deedes, prebendary of Canterbury, by whom he had no issue. She
survived him, but the title, and this manor and seat,
together with the rest of his possessions in this parish,
devolved to his next brother and heir, now Sir
Beversham Filmer, bart. who resides here, and is the
present owner of them.
BOYTON is a manor in this parish, which formerly
belonged to the priory of Christ-church, in Canterbury, and continued so till the dissolution of it in the
reign of king Henry VIII. when it was, together with
the rest of the possessions of the priory, surrendered
into the king's hands, who by his dotation-charter in
his 33d year, settled this manor on his new-erected
dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions it still remains.
The lessee of this manor, in the year 1645, was Sir
Robert Stapleton, bart. who held it under the ruling
powers of that time, the dean and chapter being dissolved, at the yearly rent of 5l. 6s. 8d. and one
pound for entertainment money to the receiver of the
church.
The family of Hope have been lessees of it for
many years, the present lessee being Mrs. Sarah Hope.
Charities.
STEPHEER PENDE, gent. of this parish, by deed, anno 23
Henry VIII. gave a messuage, barn, garden, and two crosts of
land, containing four acres in this parish; and GEORGE USMER, gent. of this parish, by deed, anno 6 Elizabeth, gave two
pieces of land, containing three acres, in this parish; and by
his will, anno 8 Elizabeth, gave three pieces of land, called
Randalls and Lakefield, the latter in Town Sutton, and the
former in this parish, all which were given for the habitation
and maintenance of the curate of this parish, but if such curate should not reside in the said messuage, then the churchwardens were to receive the rents of all the before-mentioned
premises, and apply them towards the repairs of the church.
And he gave by will a piece of land called Park-corner, otherwise Lodge-land, in this parish, to the intent that the churchwardens should receive the rents, and, with the assent and advice of the inhabitants, yearly distribute the same amongst the
poor on Good Friday and All Holland day, by equal proportion.
And he further willed, that the churchwardens should receive
the rents of two pieces of land in this parish, called Huntings,
to be by them bestowed, with the advice of the inhabitants, in
bread, cheese, and beer, among the poor of it on St. George's
and Christmas day, yearly.
DAME ELIZABETH FILMER, widow of Sir Edward Filmer,
in 1638, gave 100l. to the use of the poor of this parish.
MRS. SUSAN WATTS, of this parish, widow, gave 50l. for
the use of the poor, and directed, that poor antient widows
should be first preferred, and most relieved, according to their
necessities.
The above-mentioned sums of 100l. and 50l. having been
many years placed out at interest upon a mortgage, were, in
1722, together with 10l. raised by subscription among the parishioners, and 10l. given by Sir Edward Filmer, bart. and the
further sum of 25l. raised by the sale of timber growing on the
lands called Huntings and Lodge-lands above-mentioned,
amounting in all to 1951. laid out in the purchase of a messuage,
barn, orchard, and six pieces of land in Hedcorn, upon the den
of Hockenbury, purchased of one William Fleet, and now in
the occupation of John Croucher, at the yearly rent of 10l. 1s. 8d.
to the uses following: to pay 40s. a year to the curate of this
parish, so long as he inhabited here, and demeaned himself well,
and diligently served the cure, and preached four quarterly
sermons as therein directed; but in default of such residency,
&c. to pay one moiety of the said 40s. towards the repairs of the
church, and the other moiety, together with all the residue
of the rents of the said Hockenbury farm, to the use of the
poor.
SIR ROBERT FILMER, bart. gave by will in 1703, a piece
of land, the yearly produce of it to be given in wheat, among
eight of the poorest inhabitants at Christmas, vested in Sir John
Filmer, bart. and now of the annual produce of 20s.
The number of poor relieved constantly are about twentyfive, casually about ten.
EAST SUTTON is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of
Sutton.
The church is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul.
It is not a large building, and has a square tower at
the west end of it. It is kept remarkably neat, and
in good repair. The grave-stones of the Filmers in
it are a complete series of this family, from the time
of their coming to reside in this parish. All the
brasses on them are perfect. The grave-stone over
Sir Edward Filmer, who died in 1629, within the altar rails, is very curious, having an entire sheet of
copper over it, with the portraits of himself, his wife,
and his numberous issue, engraved on it, and their
names respectively over them, and the coats of arms
and quarterings, belonging to him and his wife, at
the corners of it. There is a neat bust in white marble of the late Sir Edward Filmer, bart. who died in
1755, with an inscription to his memory against the
wall, over the pew where the family sit.
The church of Sutton was antiently part of the
possessions of the priory of Leeds, to which it was appropraited, and the duty of it was first served by a
chaplain, appointed by the prior and convent, at whose
request it was afterwards united to the adjoining
church of Town Sutton, of their patronage likewise,
to which it has been ever since esteemed as a chapel.
On the dissolution of the priory of Leeds, in the
reign of Henry VIII the parsonage appropriate of
East Sutton came into the hands of the crown, as
did likewise the patronage of the church of Town
Sutton, with the chapel of East Sutton annexed,
where they did not continue long; for the king settled them both, in his 32d year, on his new-erected
dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom they remain at this time.
The parsonage has been for many years held in
lease, by the family of Filmer; the present interest
of the lease being vested in Sir Beversham Filmer,
baronet.
The vicar of Town Sutton serves the cure of this
church, as a chapel annexed to it, and as such is entitled to the vicarial profits of this parish, in right
of his vicarage.
The church of East Sutton is not valued in the
king's books, being included in that of Town Sutton.
On the abolition of deans and chapters, after the
death of Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in
1649, when it was returned, that the parsonage, late
belonging to the late dean and chapter of Rochester,
consisted of a parsonage house, and all tithes, and the
glebe land lying together, containing forty-three acres
and two roods, at the improved rent of seventy-five
pounds; also seventeen acres more of glebe land, let
at fifteen pounds per annum; all which premises were
let by the late dean and chapter, anno 13 Charles I.
to Sir Robert Filmer, for twenty-one years, at the
yearly rent of ten pounds, and of two good capons,
or four shillings in money, so there remained a clear
rent of 79l. 16s. per annum; and that the lessee repaired the chancel of this church; out of which lease
the vicarage was excepted, then worth twenty pounds
per annum.
The lessee of the parsonage claims the tithes of all
corn, hops, and grass, growing in this parish. In the
reign of queen Anne these tithes were estimated at upwards of eighty pounds per annum; besides which,
the glebe land belonging to it, was let at fifty pounds
per annum.
In 1648 the communicants of this parish were
one hundred and thirty.
The small tithes and other emoluments of this benefice, in the beginning of queen Anne's reign were
estimated at eighteen pounds per annum, there being
no glebe land belonging to it.
The land given and devised by Stephen Pende and
George Ulmer, as before mentioned, was worth ten
pounds per annum, in the above reign, and seems to
have been intended for the better performance of divine service in this church every Sunday; before
which, the vicar of Sutton Valence used to perform
it here but once or twice in a quarter of a year.
From the year 1648 to 1680, the parishioners bestowed the above income on the repairs of the church;
but since that time, the vicar of Sutton Valence has
generally had it, in consequence of which, he preaches
here and at Sutton Valence alternately on a Sunday,
morning and afternoon.
A list of the vicars of Sutton Valence, or Town
Sutton, with this chapel of East Sutton annexed, has
been already given in the description of that parish.