RIPPLE,

WRITTEN in antient records likewise, Ripley, lies the next parish northward from Sutton last-described.

THIS PARISH is very healthy; it is situated on very uneven ground, having frequent hill and dale throughout it. The soil of it is much inclined to chalk, though there is a great deal of fertile land in it. The country is mostly open, and the lands uninclosed; it has no wood in it. The church stands on the side of the village, which has Ripple-court about a quarter of a mile from it, and the parsonage-house nearly as far distant, on the opposite side of it. In this parish is an estate called Winkleton Oaks, late belonging to John Baker, esq. of Deal, but now by purchase to Mr. Stephen Carter, of Walmer. There are about sixteen houses in it, and about nine hundred acres of land. There is no fair.

At a small distance northward from the church is a work of Cæsar's, thrown up in his route from the sea towards his main camp on Barham down. This is a plain small raised area, whose front looks over a pretty deep lynse bank towards the succeeding work, the progress of which has been already more fully related, under the description of Barham Downs.

There is a place in this parish, near the boundary, betwixt it and Walmer, called Dane Pitts, where there is an intrenchment of an oblong square, comprehending about half an acre, with various little eminences on it.

The ground of it is extremely barren, and has never been ploughed. Its name certainly points out its antiquity, otherwise I should be inclined to think it to be the remains of one of those little encampaments, thrown up in queen Elizabeth's time, on the expectation of the Spanish invasion. It is evidently a work of art, and has been made for a fortification of defence.

The principal manor in this parish, which is called THE MANOR OF RIPPLE, alias RIPPLE-COURT, was part of the antient possessions of the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, (fn. 1) and was assigned by Hugh, abbot of it about the year 1110, to the cloathing of the monks of it. In the year 1313, being the 7th year of king Edward II.'s reign, in the iter of H. de Stanton and his sociates, justices itinerant, the abbot, upon a quo warranto, claimed and was allowed in this manor, among others, view of frank-pledge, (fn. 2) and other liberties therein-mentioned, in like manner, as has been already mentioned in the description of the other manors be longing to the priory, in the course of this History. In the 8th year of king Richard II. the measurement of the lands belonging to the monastery in this parish, was, of arable one hundred and eighty-three acres and an half and one rod, and of pasture fifty-two acres and one rood.

In which situation this manor continued till the reign of king Henry VIII. when the abbot and convent, in the 29th year of it, demised it, with the tenths within this parish and Dale, belonging to the office of chamberlain of the monastery, to Henry Foche, who resided at Ripple-court. He was younger brother of John Foche, alias Essex, the last abbot of this monastery, descended of a family who had been settled for some generations in this neighbourhood. From John abovementioned, descended those of this parish, Sutton, and Deal; under each of which places a further account of them may be seen. They bore for their arms, Gules, a fess dancette, between six lozenges, or; which arms were granted by Cooke, clarencieux, in 1576. (fn. 3) . After which, this manor, with their other estates in this parish, remained with the monastery till its final dissolution, in the 30th year of that reign. After which the king, in his 34th year, granted this manor, with Greenway's and Palmer's lands, in this parish and Deal, in exchange to archbishop Cranmer, who not long afterwards reconveyed them in exchange back again to the crown, where this manor of Ripple remained, till queen Elizabeth, in her 42d year, granted it to John Hales, esq. of Tenterden, and he afterwards alienated it to John Gokin, gent. the son of Thomas Gokin, gent. of Bekesborne. They bore for their arms, Gules, a chevron ermine, between three cocks, or. He resided at Ripple-court, as did his descendants afterwards, down to Richard Gookin, for so he spelt his name, who about the latter end of king William III.'s reign, passed it away by sale to Sir Abraham Jacob, of Dover, whose son, Herbert Jacob, esq. of St. Stephen's, afterwards succeeded to it. He was bred to the bar, and was in the habit of friendship with the most eminent lawyers of his time; but he soon quitted his prosession, and was very useful to his country as a justice of the peace, and chairman of the quarter sessions. He resided at St. Stephen's upon his estate, which at that time was deemed a sufficient competency. By his will, he left a considerable collection of books to the Society of the Inner Temple, of which he was a bencher. He lies buried in St. Stephen's church, where there is a monument, with an elegant Latin inscription, to his memory, which he penned himself, and inserted in his will. The Jacobs bore for their arms, Per pale and fess, dancette, sable, and or; in the first quarter, a pelican of the second. He died s. p. in 1725, and by will devised this manor, among the rest of his estates, to his nephew John Denew, gent. afterwards of St. Stephen's who bore for his arms, Azure, five chevronels, or. He died in 1750, upon which it came, by the entail of the above will, to his eldest niece Dorothy, sister of the above John Denew, married to the Rev. Julius Deedes, prebendary of Canterbury; and their grandson W. Deedes, esq. of Hythe, is the present owner of it.

There is a court leet and court baron held for this manor, at which one borsholder is chosen for this parish, and another for the parish of Sutton. This manor claims over almost the whole parish; that part belonging to Watling-court only excepted. The demesne lands are exempt from the payment of great tithes.

WALDLING, alias WATLING, is a manor likewise in this parish, which in antient time was held by the family de Sandwich, by knight's service, of the family of Badlesmere; after which it came into the possession of the Leybornes; for William, son of Sir Roger de Leyborne, appears by the escheat rolls to have died possessed of it in the 2d year of king Edward II. leaving Juliana, the daughter of his son Thomas, who died in his life-time, usually stiled from the greatness of her possessions, the Infanta of Kent, his next heir, she carried this manor successively in marriage to her three husbands, the last of whom was William de Clinton, created afterwards earl of Huntingdon. He died in the 28th year of that reign, as did his widow Juliana, in the 41st year of it, s. p. and there being no one found who could make claim to her estates, even by a collateral alliance, this manor, among the rest of them, escheated to the crown, where it remained till king Richard II. granted it to Sir Simon de Burley, knightbanneret, lord-warden, and K. G. but he being attainted in the 10th year of that reign, and afterwards beheaded, this manor became vested in the crown, and the king in his 11th and 22d years settled it on the priory of canons, alias Chiltern Langley, where it remained till the suppression of that house, anno 30 king Henry VIII. when it came into the king's hands, and was the next year granted with the scite of the priory, and other lands and estates belonging to it, to Richard, bishop sussragan of Dover, to hold for his life, or until he should be promoted to some ecclesiastical benefice, of 100l. yearly value, which happened before the 36th year of that reign; for the king that year, granted this manor of Woodling, aliasWatling, among others, late belonging to the priory, to Sir Thomas Moyle, to hold in capite, (fn. 4) and he gave it in marriage, with his youngest daughter and coheir Amy, to Sir Thomas Kempe, of Ollantigh, who in the 9th year of queen Elizabeth, conveyed this manor, lying in the parishes of Ripple, Walmer, Deal, and Mongeham, to Thomas Shirley, of Sussex, whose successor, William Shirley, is said, after several claims and suits of law, to have passed it away to Sir William Crayford, of Great Mongeham.

The manor of Wadling after this continued in Sir William Crayford's descendants down to Wm. Crayford, esq. of Mongeham, who gave it to his wife Ursula, (by whom he left no surviving issue) and she having remarried Nordash Rand, esq. entitled him to the possession of this estate; for I find no further mention of it as a manor; and he afterwards sold it to Mr. Robert Bowler, of Deal, who afterwards resided here, and his daughter Mary carried it in marriage in 1721 to George Lynch, M. D. of Canterbury. He was son of John Lynch, esq. of Grove, and younger brother to John Lynch, D. D. dean of Canterbury, whose descent has been already mentioned under that seat. He died possessed of it in 1765, leaving her surviving, and she possessed this estate till her death in 1776, when her eldest son, Robert Lynch, M.D. of Canterbury, succeeded to it. He died unmarried in 1783, having a few years before his death resided at Ripple, and devised it to his brother the Rev. George Lynch, vicar of Limne, and he, upon this, removed to Ripple, where he died in Nov. 1789, and by his will gave this estate, then called by the name of New farm, to his two surviving sisters; Mary, married to the Rev. John Denne, curate of Maidstone, and Elizabeth, to the Rev. John Herring, rector of Mongeham, in equal shares, and they jointly possessed it till the death of Mrs. Denne, since which the latter, who has been separated from her husband for some years, is become the sole possessor of it; but the reversion by the Rev. George Lynch's will is devised to the heirs of the Rev. Obadiah Bourne, and John Talbot, esq. of Stone castle, in this county. The hon. lady Frances Benson resides in it.

A see-farm rent, payable yearly by the heirs of Dr. George Lynch, for the manor of Wadling, alias Watling, is now remaining in the rental of the see-farm rents of the crown bailiffs; but there does not seem at present to be any manerial rights claimed, nor any other traces left of this estate ever having been a manor.

Charities.

THERE IS a small parcel of land, being part of the waste, which was given in 1621, by Thomas Gookin, esq. lord of the manor of Ripple court, for the building of a poor-house, upon this ground a building was erected, consisting of two dwellinghouses, at the cost of the parish. These are still kept up, and appropriated to the use of such poor as are thought fit objects of charity.

The poor constantly relieved are about twelve, casually four.

THIS PARISH is with in the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Sandwich.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is small and neat. It consists of a nave and a chancel; having a small wooden tower at the west end, on which is a handsome spire. There are two bells in it. There are no marks of antiquity in this church, excepting in the circular arch over the south door, which is very antient, and probably belonged to an older building. Among the monuments are two altar tombs in the chancel, with brass plates, for the Warrens. In the east window are the arms of this family painted, among others. In the Heraldic Visitations of Kent of 1574 and 1619, are pedigrees of this family of Warren, who were settled at Dover in the latter end of Henry VII.'s reign, where they remained till the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, when they removed to Ripple, where they remained for several generations afterwards. They bore for their arms, Azure, a cross, of, between a martlet in the first and fourth quarter, and a chaplet in the second and third quarter, or. A mural monument for Capt. Andrew Rand. He died in 1680; arms, Or, a lion rampant, gules, charged on the neck with three chevrons, argent; impaling a cross, flury, between four dogs heads, erased. A mural monument, consisting of three tablets; on the upper one, an inscription for Robert Bowler, esq. caption in the royal navy in 1728, obt. 1734; arms, Bowler, argent, three piles wavy, issuing from the dexter corner of the shield gules. a chief. sable. On the second tablet, one for George Lynch, M. D. of the cathedral precincts, Canterbury, second son of John Lynch, esq. of Grove, in Staple; obt. 1765. Mary Lynch, sole daughter and heiress of Robert Bowler, esq. his widow, obt 1776. Robt. Lynch, M. D. their elder son, obt. 1783; and for two of their daughters;arms, Lynch impaling Bowler, (the pales issuing from the sinister corner of the shield). On the third tablet, another for Anne Lynch, daughter of John Drake, esq. of Blechingley, in Surry, sister of the Rev. Ralph Drake Brockman, of Beechborough, and wife of the Rev. George Lynch, A. M. younger son of George and Mary Lynch, obt. 1787; also of the said Rev. George Lynch, obt. 1789. A grave-stone for Edward Lloyd, A. M. a native of Denbighshire, many years rector of this parish and Betshanger, obt. April 10, 1741. Another for William Standly, rector, obt. 1680.

The church, which is a rectory, was antiently appurtenant to the manor, and continued so at the surrendry of the abbey of St. Augustine, in the 30th year of king Henry-VIII. when it came into the hands of the crown, and was afterwards, in the 34th year of the same reign, granted as appurtenant to the manor to archbishop Cranmer, and soon afterwards by him reconveyed back again to the crown, from whence the advowson of this rectory, (for the manor continued in the crown) was afterwards granted to Edward, lord Clinton and Saye, who, in the 5th of king Edward VI. reconveyed it back again to the crown, in exchange for other premises. It appears, that in the beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign, the advowson of this rectory was in the possession of Sir Thomas Kempe, owner likewise of the manor of Ripple, in right of his wife Amy, daughter of Sir Thomas Moyle, to whom the manor had been granted by king Henry VIII. in his 36th year; but not as appurtenant to the manor, but as an advowson in gross, in which state it continued, possessed by the owners of that manor, down to William Crayford, esq. of Mongeham, who at his death gave both manor and advowson to his wife Ursula, (by whom he left no survivng issue) and she having remarried Nordash Rand, esq. entitled him to the possession of them. He afterwards sold this advowson to John Paramore, gent. in trust, for the Rev. Edward Lloyd, rector of this parish, after whose death it came to his three heirs at law; Lucy Jones, spinster, of Kelyn, in Flintshire; afterwards married to Charles Fyshe Palmer, esq. of Kelyn asoresaid; Ellen Bennet, spinster, of Glanywem, in Denbighshire, afterwards married to Thomas Mersham, gent. of Ewloe, in Flintshire; and lucy, wife of Thomas Hudleston, ironmonger, of Liverpool, (fn. 5) and they continue joint patrons of it.

This rectory is valued in the king's books at 51. 19s. 4 1/2d. and the yearly tenths at 11s. 11 1/4d. In 1588 it was valued at 50l. communicants sorty-two. In 1640 it was valued at 60l. the like number of communicants. It is now of the yearly certified value of 43l. 3s. 0 3/4d. but is worth at present, in all matters clear, about 100l. per annum. There are about eight acres of glebe.

There are about three hundred and fifty acres of land in this parish titheable, which is rather more than one third of the parish. The rest of the parish is exempt from the paymnent of great tithes, paying to the rector a small composition only, more or lefs, for the several farms and lands in it.

Church of Ripple.

Footnotes