LOOKING BACK AT ELMSTED

Introduction

To celebrate the millenium, the church of St James at Elmsted organised a local history exhibition. It was held on the 22 and 23 July 2000 and on display were:

items of living memory such as photographs, postcards, posters and newspaper clippings;

implements used by local people in their work over the years;

older documents such as wills, deeds of land and house transactions, maps and estate sales;

official documents such as the baptism, marriage and burial records since 1538, Churchwardens Accounts of the 1700s, land tax records of the late 1700s, and census returns of the 1800s; and

items found in the ground such as metal objects, coins, flint tools and pottery

Interestingly, it was found out later that purely by chance the date chosen for this exhibition coincided with the date of the annual fair called St James's Day last held near the church many hundreds of years ago.

Keith Griffiths Elmsted May 2001

LOOKING BACK AT ELMSTED - 1000 YEARS OF HISTORY

LIST OF EXHIBITS

THE CHURCH

DISPLAY

The gifting of Elmsted Chapel to the Priory of St Gregory, 1151 and 1161

The original Endowment of Elmsted church circa 1193

Licence to the Priory of St Gregory to appropriate the Church of Elmsted, 1194-1205

Names of whom served as clergy during that time to date

IN FOLDER

Catalogue of events since the late 11^th century

Lines that pass through Elmsted church from pairs of other local churches

Elmsted church references from the Cartulary of St Gregory, Canterbury

An article on Parsonage Houses

Glebe Land mostly at Parsonage House in 1615 and 1630

Glebe Land at Elmsted circa 1830s

Inventory of valuable Church property and Glebe Land circa 1914

Elmsted Mission – Baptist Church

English Heritage and other photographs

Death sentences for the offences of Murder and Grand Larceny in Elmsted

Two interesting poignant memorials from Elmsted church

A well in Elmsted Vicarage circa 1884

Old newspaper cuttings

Elmsted and Hastingleigh magazine of September 1956

Miscellaneous church related items

ELMSTED PARISH GENERALLY

FILES ON COMPUTER

Churchwardens’ Accounts – occupiers of most dwellings 1762-1835

IN FOLDER

Domesday

Manors of Bodsham and Barton alias Longport

Manors of Elmsted, Dean and Southleigh

Parish of Elmsted

Barrow at Shrub’s Wood – an official assessment of this ancient monument

Archaeological find near Spong Farm

Extracts from ‘Kentish Place Names’ and ‘The Place Names of Kent’ by J K Wallenberg

Letter from Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts concerning Elmsted’s Manors

Elmsted inhabitants who paid taxes in 1334

Shepway’s Listed Building Schedule

Elmsted’s Hearth Tax Return for 1664

Hasted’s History of Kent

Harris’s History of Kent

Windmills in Kent by William Coles Finch

More on windmills from collection of CP Davies including Cloke and Newport names

Tithe Award summary

Igglesdon’s "A Saunter Through Kent"

Old newspaper cuttings

Land Tax Records and summary

GREAT SURVIVORS OF ELMSTED

DISPLAY

People in our parish who survived to 90 years or more

MAPS

DISPLAY

1840 - Tithe Map and Apportionment Award

1916 – Sale of Evington Estate

IN FOLDER

1300 – An assessment of the Lathes of Medieval Kent

1698 – The George

1743 – Holt Farm Map

1757 – a sketch of a map of Gore Farm

1769 – Andrews & Drew

1790 – Hasted’s History of Kent. Hasted sourced his maps from Andrew & Drury

1789 – OSO Colonel Mudge’s Engineers Drawings

1801- OSO map 13 is a copy from the original in the Bodleian Library, Gough Maps

1813-1819 – OSO map 39 is a copy in its earliest state, J maps, Kent 214.

1870 – OSO 25" to 1 mile of Hill Street, Whatsole Street, Elmsted Court Farm, Parsonage Farm, Evington and part of Bodsham from British Library, London

1870 and 1908 – OSO 6" to 1 mile (footpaths)

1960s – parish boundary change with Stelling Minnis

TRINITY FARM

DISPLAY

Argar family tree and memorabilia, deeds, artefacts

WHATSOLE STREET

VESTRY

Information on owners and occupiers of property – computer file

Abstracts and location of deeds

HILL STREET

DISPLAY

Pictures, listed building details, owners and occupiers

VESTRY

Artefacts – Gothic Cross, Clinker, Ironwork, bricks, pipes, button, flints etc

History of Hill Street and its dwellings – commentary, photographs and maps

MAXTED STREET

DISPLAY

Pictures, listed building details, owners and occupiers

A very old weighing balance and plaited whip

VESTRY

A collection of worked flints

Further information on owners and occupiers – computer file

MISLING STREET

DISPLAY

Pictures, listed building details, owners and occupiers

VESTRY

Further information on owners and occupiers – computer file

HELCHIN HOUSE

VESTRY

Owners and occupiers of this demolished dwelling – computer file

ELMSTED COURT

DISPLAY

Pictures, listed building details, owners and occupiers

VESTRY

Further information on owners and occupiers – computer file

Abstracts of deeds held by Andy and Carol Jakeman

Oil painting of Henry Crosoer, Sarah Lushington and their children

DEAN FARM

DISPLAY

Pictures, listed building details, owners and occupiers

VESTRY

Further information on owners and occupiers – computer file and documents

ITTINGE

DISPLAY

Pictures, listed building details, owners and occupiers

Artefacts

VESTRY

Further information on owners and occupiers – computer file and documents

DUNDAS FARM

DISPLAY

Pictures, listed building details, owners and occupiers

VESTRY

Further information on owners and occupiers – computer file

Sketch of Lord Rokeby

Article on Lord Rokeby - an owner of Dunders in the 1700s

Rokeby family tree showing how this peerage became extinct

References from Whatsole Street deeds

References from Elmsted Court deeds

References from deeds held by Christopher Calcutt

Francis Hopkinson’s ancestor’s signature on USA Declaration of Independence

DOWLES

DISPLAY

Pictures, listed building details, owners and occupiers

VESTRY

Further information on owners and occupiers – computer file

BODSHAM SCHOOL

DISPLAY

History of the school

Photographs of pupils and ex-pupils

COMPETITION

The children have tried to guess the name of the earliest known schoolmaster at Elmsted in the 1600s from a list of christian names and surnames of the period

CENSUSES

DISPLAY

A record of parishioners’ names taken every 10 years from 1841 to 1891

HONYWOOD FAMILY AND EVINGTON PLACE

DISPLAYS

Family tree and pictures of the family

Evington Place

IN FOLDER

Illuminated family tree as compiled by Colonel Sir William Honywood 10^th baronet in 1948

History of the family as compiled by Sir Filmer Honywood the 11^th and present baronet

Various memoirs, pictures, obituaries

Pictures of Evington Place

Letter from Sarah Keeler to Josias Wedgwood about Lady Honywood being in Fleet Prison

OSO map of Evington dated 1870

Letter by Rev Collett in 1885 about Honywood and Gay families

Sale of the Honywood estate in 1916 as acquired by Lord Ashburton in 1906

DOCUMENTS ON LOAN FROM CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL ARCHIVES

DISPLAY

Baptisms, marriages and burials since 1538

Churchwardens’ Accounts 1762-1835

Tithe Map of 1840

Tithe Apportionment Award of 1840

OLD BOTTLES

DISPLAY

A collection presented by Christine Luck

PHILPOTT FAMILY

VESTRY

Baptisms, marriages and burials since 1538

Wills

Extract from Archaeological Cantiana

CLOKE, COURT, DUNKYN, FORDRED AND HEDGECOCK FAMILIES

VESTRY

Information going back to the 1400s

Burke’s Peerage on the Cloke family

College of Arms report on the Cloke family

LANCEFIELD, LUSHINGTON, NEWPORT AND SWAINE FAMILIES

VESTRY

Information going back to the 1400s

PILCHER FAMILY

VESTRY

Family information - computer

SOME PICTURES AND SOME PUBS

Landlords, licensees, publicans and tenants of The George, Rose & Crown and Timber Batts

Photographs of Hastingleigh shop and pub

Photographs of Hastingleigh from the Tappenden Collection

Fred Back and Leigh Barton

Large scale map of part of Bodsham in 1870

Elmstead Lodge

Bodsham Green Windmill

Up Park, Evington, Hastingleigh Green, Bodsham Green, German prisoners-of-war, etc etc

LOST AND FOUND

DISPLAY

Blank maps of Elmsted for locating where dwellings stood

LISTED BUILDINGS

DISPLAY

Location of all our 27 listed buildings

HASTINGLEIGH

Catalogue of events since the 7^th century

Domesday

Extract from "A Survey of Kent Place-Names"

Record of Archaeological finds

Ashford’s Listed Building Schedule

Smeed Farm and other properties at Hastingleigh and Brabourne

Arthur Marsh’s book titled Some Recollections of a Kentish Village

Igglesden’s "A Saunter Through Kent"

Dr Teddy Church’s record of memorials in Hastingleigh church

Some Land Tax records

MISCELLANEOUS

The Socage Tenures of ancient demesne and Gavelkind

Extracts from "Some Kentish Houses"

British Library tract on dating houses

Selections from the proceedings of Elmsted Parish Council 1894 - 1993

CLOSING MOMENTS

No one truly loves history who is not more exalted according to the greater age of the new things he finds. H. Belloc, The Old Road, 1904

Once, on this earth, once, on this familiar spot of ground, walked other men and women, as actual as we are today, thinking their own thoughts, swayed by their own passions, but now all gone, one generation vanishing after another, gone as utterly as we ourselves shall shortly be gone like ghosts at cockcrow. G M Trevelyan – Autobiography, 1949.

CONTACT WITH PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THE PARISH

Shiela Gaunt of Folkestone Heritage Centre is getting information – telephone

Larry Tate of Leicester re Lushington – email

Stan Newport of Cheltenham re Newports - telephone

Nicholas Roberts of Selsdon, Surrey re Pilchers – email

Frank Long of Harrietsham, re Philpotts – 01622-850863

Julian Pilcher of Steventon, Basingstoke re Pilchers – email

Sir Filmer Honywood of Hollingbourne re Honywoods – 01622-880418

Rex Lancefield of Eastleigh, Hampshire re Lancefields, Swaines – email

Jennifer Cloke of Sevenoaks and Sweden re Clokes – email

Larue Olsen of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA re Clokes– email

Sue Young of Manchester re Haywards– telephone

Mrs Maguire of Maids Moreton Bucks 01280-813041 re Podlinge/Hardres family 01280-813041

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Page added 15 May 2001