Manors
THE MANOR OF THE DUNGEON, the mansion of
which, situated just without the city walls, at a small
distance westward from the lesser hill of the Dungeon, in the parish of St. Mary Bredin, has been
pulled down for some years, and only part of the
out-offices are remaining, with part of the garden
walls.
This manor, now known by the name of Deanjohn
farm, was formerly the property of an antient family
called Chiche, one of whom, Ernaldus de Chich, was
a person of principal note in the reigns of Henry II.
Richard I. and king John, and the aldermanries of
Burgate and Northgate, in this city, being then held
as an estate in fee, did then belong to him and his
heirs, and had continued for some time in his family.
Thomas Chiche, who was one of the bailiffs of Canterbury in 1259, and again in 1271, was a principal
benefactor to the above church of St. Mary Bre
din. (fn. 1) John Chich was likewise one of the bailiffs of
it in the 23d and 26th years of king Edward III.
In the year 1320, being the 13th of king Edw. II.
a definitive sentence was pronounced by Robert Malling, then commissary of Canterbury, on the evidence
as well of antient deeds and writings as otherwise, that
the hospital of St. Laurence, in Canterbury, was entitled to receive not only the tithes of this manor, but
of three hundred acres of land likewise adjacent to it;
in consideration of which, John Chiche, who was then
lord of this manor, was to receive in autumn for his
servants, five loaves of bread, two pitchers and a half
of beer, and half a cheese of four-pence; and he himself was entitled to receive unum par Chirothecarum ferinarum, one pair of leather gloves, and one pound of
wax in candles; and for his servants three pair of
gloves. Thomas Chich, son of the above-mentioned
John, was sheriff of this county in the 15th year of
king Richard II.'s reign, and kept his shrievalty at
the Dungeon; and his great-grandson Valentine
Chich, dying without male issue, (fn. 2) this manor was alienated by him about the beginning of Edward IV.'s
reign, to Roger Brent, gent. who was of the parish of
All Saints, in Canterbury, who died possessed of it, as
appears by his will in the Prerogative-office, in Canterbury, in the year 1486, anno 2 Henry VII. and
ordered it to be sold for the payment of his debts and
legacies; (fn. 3) after which it appears by an old court-roll,
that in the beginning of the next reign of Henry VIII.
John Boteler, or Butler, of Heronden, in Eastry, was
become proprietor of it, and he passed it away by sale
to Sir John Hales, chief baron of the exchequer; (fn. 4)
and when Leland visited this part of Kent in the 30th
year of that reign, he then resided at this mansion,
which afterwards descended down to Sir James
Hales, of the Dungeon, who died in 1665, (fn. 5) leaving
one only daughter and heir Elizabeth, who carried it
in marriage first to Sir Stephen Hales, K.B. of Warwickshire, and secondly to George, third son of William Sheldon, esq. of Beoly, in Worcestershire, by
neither of whom she had issue. They resided at the
Dungeon, where she died in 1678, and as he did a
few months afterwards, possessed of this manor and
seat, which his heirs alienated in 1680, to Henry Lee,
esq. whose descendant Thomas Lee Warner, esq. in
1752, pulled down to the ground this mansion, then
known by the name of Donjon, alias the Coventryhouse (so called from the lady Coventry's residing in
it) (fn. 6) leaving only a few of the offices in the front, and
the garden walls standing, and near them the farmhouse, with the buildings belonging to it. He died
possessed of this estate in 1768, and was succeeded in
it by his son Henry Lee Warner, esq. of Walsingham
abbey, in Norfolk, the present owner of it. (fn. 7)
THE MANOR OF MORTON, alias DODINGDALE,
lies in the same parish of St. Mary Bredin, about two
miles south-eastward from the walls of Canterbury.
It was originally called Dodingdale, from a family
who were possessors of it, one of which name, Hamo,
the son of Guido de Dodingdale, as appears by the records
of St. Augustine's monastery, gave the tithes of
his manor of Dodingdale to that abbot and convent; (fn. 8)
but it seems it was but for a certain term of years, for
in king Henry II.'s reign, according to the same records, Richard de Marci, who was then the possessor
of this manor, granted the tithes of his lands of Dodingdale, to the hospital of St. Laurence, near Canterbury, in perpetual alms, to the intent, that the
brothers and sisters of it should have these tithes in
particular, to buy linen cloth on the feast of St. John
Baptist; trusting that they would remember him and
his in their prayers.
When the family of Dodingdale was become extinct here, this manor came into the possession of another family of the name of Morton. By a deed without date, Elias de Morton, who implanted his name
on it, by which it has ever since been called, demised
the see simple of it to Hugh Fitzvinon, a family which
had large possessions at Sellinge, near Monk's-Horton; and his daughter Eugenia Fitzvinon passed it
away by deed in the 20th year of king Henry III. to
Nicholas de Twitham, and he immediately afterwards,
by a deed not having any date, settled it on Robert
de Polre, but whether his successor sold it or not to
John Chich, is uncertain, as there is a chasm of this
time in the private evidences of it, (fn. 9) though the records
of St. Augustine make him to have some interest in
this manor in the 3d year of king Edward III. anno
1330. The next that I find to have had possession of
it, are Hardres and Isaac, who by joint conveyance
in the 22d year of king Henry VI. conveyed it to
William Say, for the use of Robert Rigden, in whom
the title did not remain long, for he in the 33d year
of that reign conveyed all his concern in it by sale to
William Barton and John White, and they by joint
consent alienated it in the reign of king Henry VI.
to Richard Pargate, citizen of Canterbury, who died
in the 35th year of that reign, and by his will (fn. 10) gave
it, after his wife Isabel's death, to his son Edward, who
was succeeded in it by his son and heir John Pargate,
whose descendant Edward, in the 25th year of king
Henry VIII.'s reign passed it away to Peter Bruin;
and after it had remained many years united to this
family, Henry Bruin dying without issue, gave it to
his sister Jane Bugge, who in the 1st year of king
James I.'s reign sold it to her kinsman John Bruin;
and he in the 5th year of it alienated it to William
Denne, who dying without issue male, Margaret his
only daughter and heir carried it in marriage to Mr.
Edward Hougham, after whose death it devolved to
his two surviving daughters, Elizabeth, married to
Mr. Edward Rose, of Chistlet, and Anne to Mr.
John Bettenham, of Canterbury, who jointly possessed
it in 1656, (fn. 11) at which time and perhaps for some time
before, it was known by the name of Morton only.
It afterwards became the property of Sawkins, from
one of which name it was passed away to Mr. Wm.
Hammond, of Stone-house, near Canterbury, who on
his son's marriage settled it on him, and dying possessed of it in 1773, was succeeded by his son Mr.
Henry Hammond, who died here on July 20, 1784,
and his son Mr. William Hammond, now of Stonehouse, is the present possessor of it.
IT APPEARS by the Registrum Roffense, that Gerard de Dudingdale, gave A PORTION OF TITHES in
Dudingdale, near Canterbury, to the prior and convent of St. Andrew, in Rochester; which gift was
confirmed by archbishops Richard, Baldwin and
Hubert. (fn. 12)
This portion of tithes, on the suppression of the
priory, came into the hands of king Henry VIII. and
was soon afterwards settled by him on his new-founded
dean and chapter of that church, and continued with
them till the abolition of bishops, deans and chapters,
&c. at the latter end of king Charles I.'s reign; soon
after whose death in 1649, it was surveyed, by order
of the state, in order to its being sold; in which survey it was returned, that the portion of tithes called
Dodingdale portion, and the protion of castle lands
belonging to the above late dean and chapter, in or
near Canterbury, in Thanington and Nackington, and
in the parish of St. Mary Bredin, in Canterbury, consisted of all manner of tithes arising from several parcels of land in those parishes, amounted in the whole
to 101 acres and three roods of land.
Also the portion of tithes called CASTLE LAND TITHES,
in or near this city, all which were let by the dean
and chapter, anno 6 Charles I. to Joshua Colse, alderman of Canterbury, for twenty-one years, at the
yearly rent of 46s. 8d. and two fat capons; but are
worth, over and above that rent, 17l. 9s. 4d. per annum. Parlimentary surveys, vol. xiv. Lambeth library. These premises returned to the dean and
chapter at the restoration, part of whose inheritance
they now remain. Mr. John Toker was lately lessee
of them.
STUPPINGTON is a manor in St. Mary Bredin's parish, which had antiently the same owners as the adjoining one of the Dungeon, having been the property of the Chiches, and afterwards of the Hales's,
one of whom, Sir James Hales, in the 15th year of
king James I. appears to have suffered a recovery of
this manor, with those of Nackington, Staplegate,
and the Dungeon, all within the liberties of the city of
Canterbury.
After this and some intermediate owners, it became
vested in later times in the family of Toker, of whom
Mr. Stephen Toker resided here, and at his death was
succeeded in it by his son John, who married Bennet
Blaxland, by whom he had five sons and one daughter; of the former, Mr. Stephen Toker, the eldest,
possessed this estate, but dying unmarried, he devised
it by his last will to his nephew Edward, eldest son of
his fourth brother, by Margaret Ford his wife. (fn. 13) He
afterwards resided here, and in 1795, conveyed this
estate, consisting of the mansion with out buildings, gardens, and part of the lands, to Mr. Allen Grebell,
who now possesses them; but the other part of the
lands to the westward of the house, called Wellclose
and Stuppington hill, were sold in 1798 to Mr. Joseph
Royle, who is the present owner of them.
THE MANOR OF CALDICOT, lying within the borough of St. Martin, eastward from Longport, was
part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury; as
such it appears to be described as follows in the general survey of Domesday, taken in the 15th year of
the Conqueror's reign, under the title of the lands of
the archibishop.
Ipse Archieps ten villa quæ vocat. S. Martin & ptin
ad Estursete. & jacet in ipso hund. & defd. le p. uno
solin & dim. Tra. e… In dnio sunt. 2 car. & 36.
bord.
Ad banc tra ptin. 7. burgenses in Cantuaria. reddtes
8. sol. & 4. den. Ibi 5. mold. de. 20. sol. & parva
silva.
In hac villa ten Radulf. dim. solin de Archiepo. &
ibi ht. 2. car. in dnio & 5. villos cu. 3. bord. bntes 2. car.
& dimid. T. R. E. valeb. 7. lib. dim solin. S. Mart. &
alind dim solin val. semp. 4. lib.
Which is: The archbishop himself holds the ville,
which is called St. Martin, and it belongs to Estursete,
and lies in that hundred, and was taxed at one suling and
an half. The arable land is. … In demesne there are
two carucates and thirty six borders.
To this land there belong seven burgesses in Canterbury,
paying eight shillings and four pence. There are five mills
of twenty shillings and a small wood.
In this ville Ralph holds half a suling of the archbishop, and there he has two carucates in demesne and five
villeins, with three borderers having two carucates and
an half. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, it
was worth seven pounds; half a suling of St. Martin
and another half suling, were always worth four pounds.
Soon after which this manor appears to have been
appropriated to the use of the archbishop's table, in
which state it continued till the time of archbishop
Walter Reynolds, who, in the year 1326, at the earnest desire of the monks, with both the king's and
pope's consent, gave it, together with the wood of
Thorholt adjoining, then of the value of ten pounds,
to the prior and convent, to be for ever appropriated
to their use, inasmuch as it was a convenient place for
them to retire to, and recreate themselves when they
were wearied out and tired, it being at no great distance from their monastery. (fn. 14) After which there were
continued disputes between the prior and convent,
and the mayor and citizens, concerning their respective rights and jurisdictions within this manor, all
which were compromised and settled, among other
matters of dispute of the like sort between them in and
about the city, by an indenture in the 7th year of
king Henry VII. in which, as to this manor, there
was a clause, saving to the prior and convent all liberties, privileges and franchises, which they had or ought
to have within the borowe of St. Martyn's and the
manor of Calcott, not hurting the mayor and commonalty of a fine or rent of xii pence yearly of the said
borowe, nor of any liberty, franchise or privilege they
had or ought to have in it, or any parcel of the same,
to which the prior and convent had title. To explain
which, a schedule was annexed to the indenture, for
the clause being so general, and not rehearsing what
the manor was in quantity, nor the privileges and liberties specially, there might arise in time to come,
for want of such plain declaration, great variance between them again; therefore it was agreed, that the
manor of Calcott contained in demesne land 318
acres, within the following metes and boundes, that
is to say, from the hed of the conduyt of the prior and
convent toward the north, between the pond of the
cundyt towards the east, and the bank and dyke of
the Barton felde on the west, unto a lane which extended westward from the second pond there, unto
the waye leading unto Fordwich, the which waye so
extended north-east directly unto a crost, called Gallowhell crost, dividing Bishopsfyld, Shepecroft, and
two crofts, pertaining unto the monastery of St. Austin's on the north-west, and the lands pertaining
unto the manor of Calcot, called Hedgecroft, Bryan's
croft, and Turrolt downe on the south-east part, and
so from the said way to the hed of Gallowhill crost
towards the south east, unto the end of the hedges of
Gallowhill croft, and so by the side of that crost castward unto a croft called Hentye, and so from the south
side of Gallowhill crost, southward, unto the street
called Fordwyche waye, and so over that street south.
ward, and so down by the hedge of a croft of the
prior and convent, called Toult croft, eastward, by
the said street unto a crost called Borstall, and so from
the street by the said crost southward to Toult wood,
and the wood of the heirs of Thomas Southland, and
so including Toult wood as marks and bounds appeared, by the lands of the manor called the Mote,
and of the pryor and convent on the east part and
Toult leaze on the west part and so southward by the
lands of Richard Luckyn, sometime John Barlowe,
unto the hyghte streete leading from Canterbury to
Sandwyche, and so there westward by the said street
leading from Sandwyche unto Mellefylde, and so
northward along by Mellefylde, unto the north corner of it, sometyme leading from Fordwyche to Canterbury, and unto Toulte downe and so southward by
the oulde street to the hedd of Culverhouse crost, and
so from oulde street westward, by the hedd of Culverhouse crost unto Caponlongate, and so from thence
unto the Oulde sole adjoining unto the fylde of the
monastery of St. Austin, called Pauverage and unto
St. Martyn's peices, and so from St. Martyn's peice
westward under the hedge of Pauverage aforesaid,
unto the end of that land, and so directly from thence
by a aright line unto the aforesaid cundyt of Christchurch —but the said manor extended further more in
three pieces of land lying at St. Martyn's, not being
within the boundes aforesaid, whereof the limits and
boundes follow hereafter; first, one of the said three
pieces of land is called Bromedowne, and unto seventeen acres of land lying between the lands of the monastery of St. Austin's, called North home, towards
the weste, and the said lands called Paveredge towards
the north and east, and the second peice was called
Printkelham, and contained three acres and lay adjoining unto the lands of Bromedowne towards the
east, and the land called North-home towards the
south, and to the lands of the prior and convent called
Barton felde towards the west and north; and the
third peice contaiced three yards and lay between the
church-yard of St. Martyn's and the parsonage of the
same church towards the west, and the lands called
Bromedowne toward the north, and the lands of Thomas Gylbert toward the east and south; within which
limits and boundes and burrowe before rehearsed, the
said pryor and convent and their successors without interruption or let of the mayor and commonaltie, their
heirs and successors, should have the view of frank
pledge with all the articles and things thereto pertaining, weiffe and strayes, and also the said pryor and
convent and their successors, should have of their men
and tenants, and in all their fee within the said limits
and burrowe insangtheff, outfangtheff, warren, goods,
weyfed goods of condemned men for felony, and fugitives for felony, goods of outlawed men and goods
of felons themselves, the year and day and waste, deodands. … … … and all manner of amerceaments
of their men and tenants in all the kynges court, the
yssues and fines before the mayor and commonaltie
in the court of the said cytie excepted; and it was
furthermore agreed between the said parties, that the
pryor and convent should have unto them and their
successors for ever, the like libertie, privilege and
franchise in a parcel of land of the said pryor and
convent, called Polder's leaze, lying within the parish
of St. Martyn, and in all such lands and tenements as
be holden of the said pryor and convent, as by reason
of the said manor as they by this agreement should
have within the limits, boundes and burrowe aforesaid; and the pryor and convent and their successors
should not let, ne interrupt the mayor and commonaltie, their heirs ne successors, of any libertie, franchyse or privilege, within the lymits and boundes of
the said manor and burrowe, ne in the said other lands
and tenements, other than be conteined in the articles before rehearsed; and to this indenture both parties interchangeably set their respective seals.
After this the manor of Caldicot, or Calcot as it
was more usually called, continued in the possession
of the prior and convent till the final dissolution of
that monastery in Henry VIII.'s reign, when it came
into the king's hands, who settled it, among other
premises, by his dotation charter in his 33d year, on
his new founded dean and chapter of Canterbury, part
of whose possessions it still continues. A court baron
is held for this manor.
THE MANOR OF THE MOAT, aliasWYKE, is
situated likewise within the bounds of the city's liberty, in the parish of St. Martin, at the eastern extremity of it. The mansion of it stood almost close
to the north side of the road leading to Littleborne,
in the midst of a park, the wall of which bounded to
it, but the house has been pulled down some few
years ago.
This manor was formerly possessed by a family
which gave name to it, one of whom, Stephen de
Wyke, possessed it in the 20th year of Henry III.
as appears by Testa de Nevill, and he paid respective
aid for it at the marriage of Isabel, that prince's sister; (fn. 15)
but it appears by the book of aid, anno 20 king Edward III. for making the black prince a knight, that
this family had then but a small interest in it, for it is
there entered, that the heirs of John Tancrey, Stephen de Wyke, (fn. 16) and Richard Betts, for the heirs of
John Taylor, paid respective aid for it, as the fourth
part of a knight's fee, which the heirs of John Taylor
before held at Wike of the archbishop. But before
the beginning of king Richard II.'s reign, their concern here was no more, for by the court rolls of it of
that time, Sir Richard de Hoo (fn. 17) and Richard Skippe
were become possessed of it, and they about the latter end of that reign conveyed it by deed to Simon
Spencer, who a few years afterwards alienated it to
John Standford, gent. and he suddenly afterwards
passed it away to Richard Smith, with whom it had
not long continued before it was conveyed to John
Eastfield, esq. son of Sir William Eastfield, K. B. and
lord mayor of London in the year 1438, anno 16
Henry VI. from whom it passed by sale to William
Rogers, and he by fine levied in the 33d year of that
reign conveyed it to Philip Belknap, esq. of Canterbury, mayor of that city in the year 1458, and sheriff
of the county of Kent in the 34th year of Henry VI.'s
reign, at which time he resided and kept his shrievalty
here, at his mansion called the Moat. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of John Woodhouse, esq. by
whom he had issue Alice, his only daughter and heir,
who married Henry Finch, esq. of Netherfield, the
father of Sir William Finch, banncret, who in his
mother's right to the right hon. John, lord Finch, cremanor of the Moat, and from him it devolved by successive right to the right hon. John, lord Finch, created baron of Fordwich by king Charles I. (fn. 18) when he
was lord keeper of the great feal of England. (fn. 19) He
resided at this seat, of which he died possessed, with
the Heath or Hoath farm adjoining, in 1661, without
male issue, and the title became extinct. (fn. 20) He devised this manor and estate to his kinsman Heneage,
earl of Winchelsea, (fn. 21) whose grandson Charles, earl of
Winchelsea, alienated it to William, lord Cowper; afterwards created earl Cowper and viscount Fordwich, (fn. 22)
whose grandson George, earl Cowper, pulled down
the antient mansion of the Wike, for many years past
known by the name of the Moat-house. He died in
Italy in 1789, and was succeeded by his eldest son
George-Augustus, earl Cowper, on whose death unmarried in 1799, it came to his brother the present
right hon. Peter Lewis Francis Clavering Cowper, earl
Cowper, who is the present owner of this estate, but
it has long since lost even the name of having been a
manor. (fn. 23)
On Thursday evening, Dec. 27, 1770, by the
moon light, was shot by Mr. John Austen, of St.
Martin's hill, in the Mote copse, near Trendley, within
the park wall, a large yellow eagle, of the same kind
as that in the tower. It measured from wing to wing
when expanded, seven feet and two inches, and from
the head to the tail three feet and one inch.
THE MANOR OF LITTLE BARTON, called in the
survey of Domesday, NORTHWOOD, lies about a
quarter of a mile northward from the suburbs of
Northgate, on the north side of the public highway
leading to the Isle of Thanet, and almost adjoining
the river Stour.
It formerly was part of the possessions of the priory
of Christ-church, to which it was given by the name
of Barton, in the year 832, and it continued part of
them at the taking of the survey of Domesday, in
which it is thus entered, under the general title of
their lands.
In Cantuarie hund.
Ipse Archieps ten Nordeude. puno solin se defd. Tra. e.
… In dnio I. car & dim. & 7. villi cu 26. bord. hnt.
2. Car. Huic m ptinent in civitate Cantuaria. 100. burgses. 3. min'. reddentes 8. lib. & 4. sol. Ibi. 8. mold de.
71. sol. & 24. ac pti. Silva 30. porc. In tot val & valuit. 17. lib.
Which is: The archbishop himself holds Nordeude.
It was taxed at one suling, the arable land is .… In
demesne there is one carucate and an half and seven villeins, with twenty six borderers, having two carueates.
To this manor belong in the city of Canterbury one bundred burgesses, three less, paying eight pounds and four
shillings. There are eight mills of seventy one shillings,
and twenty-four acres of meadow; wood for the pannage
of thirty hogs. In the whole it is worth and was worth
seventeen pounds.
It was known by the name of the manor of Barton,
in the 10th year of king Edward II. for in that year
the prior of Christ-church obtained a grant of the liberty of free-warren, for this their manor of Berton,
near Canterbury, among others belonging to them. (fn. 24)
The manor of Little Barton, of which mention has
already been made before, was late the property of
Mr. Allen Grebell, who some years ago built here,
almost adjoining the east side of the mills, a handsome
house, in which he resides. This estate pays a yearly
fee farm rent of 2l. 13s. 4½d.