The dens of Benenden and a possible early lathe boundary

The dens of Benenden and a possible early lathe boundary

ernest pollard and hazel strouts

The lathes, and to a great extent, the dens, are peculiar to Kent and their history is central to understanding the settlement history of the Kentish Weald. Witney (1976), in The Jutish Forest, gives an account of the early exploitation of the Kentish Weald and its conversion from woodland to a farmed countryside, from the fifth to the late fourteenth centuries. In the early period, following Jolliffe (1933), Witney describes a Jutish¹ Kingdom of Kent, divided into lathes, most with Wealden commons used for the pasturage of pigs (pannage) in woodland that was still chiefly a primeval forest. The aim of Witney’s study (p. 31) was ‘to identify the commons and the lathes to which they belong; so exposing the framework of Jutish society’. He describes and maps (p. 39) twelve early Jutish lathes in Kent, nine with Wealden commons (with defined boundaries) together occupying the whole of the Weald of Kent. After discussing the origins of the commons, he describes the formation of early dens, or swine pastures, within them and the subsequent break-up of the commons as the manorial dens were established.

The early history of the Kentish Weald has been reassessed in recent years. In early Saxon times the Weald was not the untouched primeval forest envisaged by Witney and others. Iron smelting in the Iron Age and Roman periods required wood for fuel, so the woods were exploited and managed, even if subsequently neglected. Although most iron sites are in Sussex, evidence for early iron working and settlements in the Kentish Weald is increasing (Aldridge 2003). In addition, exploitation from outside the Weald, by pannage and perhaps in other ways, may have preceded the Saxons, and there may also have been settlement in the Weald from the earliest Saxon period (Brandon 2003).

Another area of uncertainty concerns the structure of the early Kentish Kingdom. There is now little support for the idea that the kingdom had the highly developed administrative structure suggested by Jolliffe and Witney (e.g. Everitt 1986 p. 8; Brooks 1989; Eales 1992). The lathes probably evolved over time by expansion and amalgamation of estates. To quote Everitt ‘as we move backwards in time, what we find in Kent is not an increasingly systematic territorial structure, but on the contrary a more diverse and irregular one …’. If the lathes were not well-defined entities in the early Kingdom, the same must also be true of the Wealden commons. There is however evidence that the eastern lathes, Wye, Lympne, Sturry (or Borough) and Eastry, date in some form from the early days of the kingdom (Brooks 1989, p. 73).

It is against this background of uncertainty that the study of the dens within Benenden parish has been conducted. The writers believe this to be the first detailed study of dens in a Wealden parish. Their aim has been to provide more information on dens in Benenden parish and their parent manors outside the Weald than has been available before and to use this to examine evidence concerning local lathes and Wealden commons.

The dens

Witney (1976) provides a wealth of detail on the dens, their ‘parent’ settlements in the north and east of Kent and the drove roads linking dens and settlements. The first dens are thought to have been ‘Folk’ dens, established by simple occupation and without royal grants (Witney, p. 69). As the manorial system developed and many settlements became manors, these sometimes acquired existing early dens in the Weald and were granted new ones. Typically, individual manors owned several dens along the routes of their drove roads into the Weald, forming linear clusters. The Church at Canterbury in particular acquired many manors and the dens belonging to them.

The woodland of the early dens is likely to have been some form of wood-pasture; that is open woodland with mostly mature trees. Little is known of their boundaries, which were perhaps made stock-proof for the short pannage season. Later the boundaries of many manorial dens were well-defined and some descriptions of perambulations survive. Witney (p. 95) gives examples of five dens in Hawkhurst parish, with known boundaries, which varied from about 100-600 acres. Over the centuries after Domesday the Wealden parishes consolidated and the manorial system was in slow decline. By the sixteenth century, long after pannage had ended, Zell (1994, p. 14) notes that while some deeds referred to the dens on which the lands lay, others did not, so presumably awareness of dens was declining. Nevertheless, even in the nineteenth century a mortgage document for the Hemsted Estate in Benenden mentions seven dens in Benenden parish, each described as ‘the den of …’, in identifying the locations of estate farms (e.g. Appendix, Leasden, ref. 62), and at the same period tenants in some dens still paid manorial quit-rents (e.g. Appendix, Standen). Today many den names survive as those of hamlets, farms, fields, woods and roads.

Although the original situation may have been relatively straightforward, later there were many complications. Some dens became manors within the Weald, perhaps with additional dens acquired from other manors. There were changes of ownership; an example seems to be the transfer of twelve dens of Lyminge Manor (du Boulay, 1961) to Aldington Manor (Furley, 1874), perhaps in the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. Den boundaries may have changed; some large dens were shared between two or more manors; some divided, and small dens may have been amalgamated; some had different names at different periods and different dens shared the same name. Variable spelling of names adds to the problems of identification, as also does the existence of farms named after owners with ‘den’ names. Thus, full identification of the Wealden dens is not to be expected. Witney’s formidable study identifies nearly 700, but he recognises this to be an underestimate and emphasises that some of his suggestions for their locations are tentative and provisional.

The writers have assumed that the known manorial centres were the locations from which people drove livestock to their dens in the Weald. This assumption is needed because some manors included dispersed lands other than in the Weald (Witney, p. 81).

Evidence for commons and a sub-common in Benenden

Witney emphasises the significance of the drove roads in explaining the clusters of dens of neighbouring manors, but considers that more was required to account for them fully (p. 37). He suggests that manors within a particular lathe owned dens in the area that was once the common of that lathe. Thus he suggests that the pattern of den ownership reveals the locations of early commons belonging to provinces (lathes) of the Jutish kingdom.

Two commons are shown by Witney (map p. 39) to lie partly in Benenden parish. In the north and west of the parish is the common of Wye lathe and in the south and east the common of Lympne lathe.² These are weo-wera-wealde and limen-wera-wealde (Wealden commons of the men of Wye and Lympne ) in charters of the eighth century (Witney, p. 31). Witney builds on the idea of defined commons by suggesting specific boundaries; in the case of the Wye and Lympne commons (pp. 42, 51, map p. 150) the Roman road from Ashford to Benenden.

Benenden also provides one of Witney’s examples (p. 85) of the break-up of a common, first into a sub-common, then into manorial dens. His evidence for a sub-common in Benenden is from a charter of 833 (Sawyer 323, BCS 407) granting land to Christ Church, Canterbury. The following is from Sawyer’s (1968) abstract: ‘Athelwulf, King of Kent, to Christ Church Canterbury, confirmed of lands at Langham, Blakeburnham, Plegwingham, Ofneham, pasture in Hliossole and Aegelbertinherst, common in woods in Estercogheringdenne and Hyringdenne’.

The writers’ interest is in Hliossole, which Witney identifies (p. 85) as a sub-common of the lathe of Lympne and locates it in ‘an area now contained broadly within the quadrilateral of roads connecting Brogues Wood (two miles south of Biddenden), Tenterden, Rolvenden and Benenden’, largely in Benenden parish. He writes that Hliossole was ‘later split into more than a dozen dens, all owned (whether singly or in combination) by manors either of Christ Church or of the archbishop’. Witney’s identification of the sub-common is based on the assumption that the name ‘Hliossole’ has survived as ‘Hole’ (Witney, note 26, p. 287) in Rolvenden and Benenden, a den within the area described, belonging to Aldington manor in Lympne lathe. This assumption is questionable.³

Lathe and hundred boundaries in Benenden

As part of the study, the writers examine the boundaries of hundreds within Benenden parish. The hundreds were subdivisions of the lathes, with military, administrative and judicial functions. Unlike the Kentish lathe system, the hundreds were county divisions throughout southern England. They are thought to date from the late Saxon period, perhaps from the tenth century (Jolliffe, 1933), and thus, in Kent, were probably formed after most dens and the lathes.

Of the four hundreds which lie partly in Benenden parish (Fig. 1), Rolvenden and Selbrittenden in Lympne lathe are mentioned in the Domesday Book. The others, Cranbrook and Barclay (variously spelled), may have been in existence by Domesday, but are not mentioned, perhaps only because they contained no manors recorded in the Domesday Book. At Domesday, the northern boundary of Lympne lathe ran north-east/south-west across Benenden parish, with Wye lathe, or the common belonging to Wye lathe, to the north of the boundary.⁴ Later, at an unknown date, these four hundreds, with others, were formed into the Bailiwick of the Seven Hundreds of the Weald, eventually in the lathe of Scray, an amalgam of earlier lathes. The four hundreds with lands in Benenden parish, formerly divided between two lathes, now lay entirely within the lathe of Scray.

Hundred boundaries are shown on the first large scale (6in. and 25in.) Ordnance Survey maps published c.1870. For Benenden they include some straight ‘undefined’ sections, estimated by rough measurement on the map at 15 per cent of the whole; the undefined sections are generally through areas with few landscape features today. Hanley and Chalklin (1964) caution that hundred boundaries took their nineteenth-century form well after the fourteenth century and that the original lines of division are very uncertain (see also Thorne 1992). Nevertheless there are indications that some at least of the nineteenth-century hundred boundaries are of great age. The Ordnance Survey field survey for Benenden (Public Records Office OS 28/57, dated 1865) includes a note that, for the Rolvenden hundred boundaries, the surveyors were guided by a perambulation of 1823 in the possession of the meresman and deputy constable of the hundred, presumably passed down over the generations. The hundred boundaries in Benenden often follow streams and old roads, and they coincide with parish boundaries for short lengths in the east and west of the parish (Fig. 1). Six boundary stones of unknown age survive. Three of these mark points where three hundreds meet; two of these points are on lines of Roman roads and the third, on the eastern parish boundary, is where three parishes also meet, all features suggesting great age. Harrington et al. (2000) found the boundaries shown on the OS maps to be a good, although not perfect, guide to the hundreds used in the seventeenth-century Hearth Tax assessments.⁵ Witney (p. 32) recognised the potential antiquity of the hundred boundaries, suggesting that, when one lathe was absorbed into another, the old boundaries were usually preserved in those of a hundred, although he did not examine this possibility for the Weald.

Sources for Benenden dens

The major surveys of Wealden dens are by Furley (1874) and Witney (1976). Furley does not give sources, but it is clear that he had seen many manorial records; he was the Steward of Aldington Manor, which itself had many dens, for some forty years (Furley, vol I, p. x). Witney uses a wide range of, mainly published, sources and these are fully referenced.

The writers have consulted additional sources published since Witney’s study, especially printed abstracts of local wills (de Launay; 1981, 1984). They have also examined unpublished abstracts of wills, original wills, estate surveys, deeds, manorial records and miscellaneous other sources. Except in the case of the manor of Halden, which is assumed to have been a den before becoming a manor, we have accepted only references specifying ‘the den of …’, not simply a name ending in ‘den’ or otherwise resembling a den name.

Results of the study – (a) the dens of Benenden

An annotated list of Benenden dens and their parent manors is given (see Appendix). The writers have recorded 32 Benenden dens (Fig. 2). Both Furley and Witney recorded 22 of these dens, each placing 17 in Benenden (and five outside it) although the composition of their lists differ. The writers have added ten dens to those recorded in Benenden by either Furley or Witney and some errors by both authors have been corrected. No doubt, this latest survey of Benenden dens also contains errors and is by no means exhaustive as the number of potential sources is vast. Identifications of 13 parent manors for 24 dens are proposed (Table 1). The manors of most dens were in Wye or Lympne lathes, but three manors, with four dens, were in lathes further to the east (the lathes of Sturry and Eastry, see Witney, map p. 34).

A feature is the number of dens overlapping into neighbouring parishes (at least 12 of the 32 – see Fig. 2 and Appendix); either den boundaries were ignored when the parish boundaries were established, dens were shared between parishes, or parish boundaries changed. Everitt (1986, p. 147) suggests that such shared dens might be areas of late settlement, previously used as commons by people in settled areas nearby.

Some dens are well known, mentioned in numerous documents, and their names survive in the landscape. By contrast, only one reference to Eborden and Isenden is known to the writers. Some dens, for example Benenden (den), Bishopsden and Standen, can be located with some precision; for others only an informed guess is possible. The general patterns of dens and manors should not be seriously affected by the variability in evidence, even if some detail is wrong.

The location of dens (Fig. 2) is based on a variety of evidence, such as modern place-names, early maps, documentary descriptions and mention of adjoining dens. In showing locations, it is not suggested that there was a time when all of these dens existed in the layout shown; some, possibly a great deal, of temporal and spatial change is likely. Bearing this in mind, an assumption of 32 dens gives an average den size of some 200 acres, which is of the same order as suggested by the Hawkhurst dens mentioned earlier.

Fig. 2 suggests that the den of Benenden itself may have been relatively large and this can be roughly confirmed. It is estimated, from eighteenth-century rentals and the contemporary map and terrier, at about 450 acres, compared with Standen and Bishopsden, both about 200 acres (see Appendix for references). Zell (1994, p. 14) separately estimates Iden at 255 acres.

(b) Evidence for Wealden commons and a sub-common in Benenden

Two high ridges run east-west in Benenden, both carrying ancient roads still in use (Fig. 3); these roads are assumed to have been the main drove roads into the parish and are so identified by Witney (map p. 133). The northerly road leads east towards Biddenden and High Halden, linking the dens in the north of the parish with manors of Wye lathe around Ashford. The southerly road leads through Rolvenden and Tenterden, linking the more southerly dens with manors of Lympne lathe along the edge of Romney Marsh. The large den (later manor) of Benenden, which belonged to Bilsington in Lympne lathe, extends for a considerable distance either side of the southerly drove, perhaps suggesting an early origin for the den and strengthening the identification of the road as a drove road. There is a further possibility that this road provided a link with the sea; from Rolvenden there is a direct road to a harbour at Maytham.

Assuming that the association between dens and the manors of east Kent lathes, Sturry and Eastry, was for pannage, access from the manors of Bishopsbourne and Eastry would presumably have been along the northerly road via Wye lathe. An alternative route from these distant manors is by sea and up the Rother, with timber supplies more important than pannage. The Benenden dens belonging to eastern manors may have been transferred from manors in Wye lathe, as suggested more generally by Witney (p. 47).

The aggregations of dens in Benenden and of their parent manors to the east (Fig. 3), linked by drove roads, reinforce the general pattern for the Weald shown by Witney. The aggregations must have arisen at least in part from convenience of access, but might also reveal the locations of lathes and their commons as suggested by Witney. In support of his view that the aggregations of dens show the locations of commons from which they were formed, Witney draws attention to the existence of sub-commons, a phase in the break-up of the commons, and to the boundaries of the commons. These are now considered in turn.

The sub-common of Hliossole

Witney identifies Hliossole as a sub-common, later split into a dozen dens, of Lympne lathe. Hliossole is located only approximately by Witney, but according to this latest survey of dens (Fig. 2; Table 1.), the area contains the dens of Hole, Maplesden and Benenden (Lympne lathe), East and West Ridden, Bishopsden and Eborden (Wye lathe), Walkhurst and Bagtilt (East Kent lathes), Isenden and Halden of unknown lathes and others dens outside the parish. Witney (p. 91) suggests that the original Hliossole dens were all of Lympne lathe and that some were later transferred to manors of Wye lathe and east Kent. An example he gives is Bishopsden, given to the manors of Petham and Bishopsbourne in Sturry lathe. This is almost certainly an (understandable) error due to the existence, unknown to Witney, of West Bishopsden (suggested manor Bishopsbourne, Appendix) in another part of Benenden. More generally the location of the Wye dens in Hliossole (Figs 2 and 3) accords with the pattern elsewhere in the parish, suggesting that their parent manors had not changed. Given this mixture of dens and also the questionable place-name evidence, discussed above, the existence in Benenden of Hliossole as a sub-common of Lympne lathe, seems unsubstantiated.

The boundary between the dens of Wye and Lympne lathes

Witney suggests that the Roman road from Benenden to Ashford was the boundary between the commons, and later between the dens, of Wye and Lympne lathes. However, for much of its length in Benenden, the road is not a strong landscape feature and for significant stretches does not follow field boundaries. It appears to lie slightly to the north of the southern boundary of dens owned by manors of Wye lathe (Fig. 4) and passes through some Wye dens, most clearly Bishopsden and Hemsted. A minor Roman road may have continued westwards beyond Hemsted, where there were more dens of Wye and Lympne lathes, but no clear evidence for a continuation has been found. These features do not suggest that the Roman road was a major boundary in post-Roman times.

The hundred boundary, running irregularly south-west to north-east through the parish (Fig. 4), divides the dens of the manors of Wye and Lympne lathes more neatly than does the Roman road. Only Comden of the dens of Lympne lathe lies to the north of the boundary, and the status of this den is not very firmly established (Appendix). Given this agreement and Witney’s general statement (p. 32) that the lathe boundaries were usually preserved as boundaries of hundreds, it seems likely that this hundred boundary is essentially the Domesday boundary between Lympne and Wye lathes (or commons of the lathes), and may be even older. The boundary continues on this general line beyond the parish to the south-west and to the north-east (Fig. 1).

Conclusions

The study has identified thirty-two dens in Benenden parish. Most were recorded by Witney or Furley, but not all were placed by them in Benenden. Ten have been added to the number of Benenden dens, with approximate locations given for all and parent manors suggested for twenty-four.

The aggregation of dens according to the locations of their parent manors is clear; dens of manors in Wye lathe are in the north of the parish and those of Lympne lathe in the south. The local detail in the study reinforces Witney’s wider findings in this respect.

The aggregations of dens according to their parent manors to the east could simply reflect the most convenient routes from the settlements (and later manors) into the Weald. Equally, the aggregations might be relics of a structure of lathes and their commons. These alternatives are in this case closely connected, as the commons were in areas most accessible from the parent lathes.

Witney identifies Hliossole as a sub-common of Lyminge lathe and suggests that it provides a striking example of the break-up of a common into a sub-common, then into dens. The evidence seems speculative and unconvincing.

The Roman road, suggested by Witney as the boundary between the commons, is unlikely to have been a major boundary. It is suggested instead that the Domesday boundary between the dens of the Lympne and Wye lathes may have survived as a boundary between hundreds. If there was such a boundary at and before Domesday, this provides some support for Witney’s concept of early Wealden commons with defined boundaries, but falls short of confirmation.

Many questions remain unanswered, but the writers believe they have demonstrated the value of testing the conclusions derived from more general studies of the Kentish Weald against detailed local evidence.

acknowledgments

The writers are indebted to Neil Aldridge, Cressida Annesley, Dr Nicola Bannister, Prof. Nicholas Brooks, Dr Mark Gardiner, Duncan Harrington, Dr Susan Kelly, Caroline Richardson, Tony Singleton, Anita Thompson and Dr Michael Zell; all have given them encouragement and help. So, more generally, have staff at the Centre for Kentish Studies, East Sussex Records Office, Suffolk Records Office, Ipswich, and Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Errors of fact and interpretation are those of the writers. Although some criticism of K.P. Witney’s Jutish Forest has been made, it will be obvious that the study would have been very much more difficult without his pioneering work and would probably not have been even attempted.

references

Aldridge, N., 2003, ‘Wealden Archaeology’, Kent Archaeological Society Newsletter, 58, 2-3.

Brandon, P., 2003, The Kent and Sussex Weald, Phillimore, Chichester.

Brooks, N.E., 1989, ‘The creation and early structure of the Kingdom of Kent’, in Bassett, S. (ed.), The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, Leicester.

D’Elboux, R.H., 1944, ‘Survey of the manors of Robertsbridge Sussex, Michelmarsh Hampshire and of the Desmesne Lands of Halden in Rolvenden’, Sussex Records Collection, 47.

de Launay, J., 1981, Will abstracts from the Archdeaconry Court of Canterbury, Kent, volume 1, Parish of Benenden, Kent Family History Society.

de Launay, J., 1984, Cranbrook, Kent Wills 1396-1640, Kent Records Collections & The Kent Archaeological Trust.

Du Boulay, F.R.H., 1961, ‘Dens, droving and danger’, Archaeologia Cantiana, 76, 75-8.

Eales, R., 1992, ‘Introduction’, in Williams, A. & Martin, G.H. (eds), The Kent Domesday, Alecto Historical Editions, London.

Everitt, A., 1986, Continuity and colonization: the evolution of Kentish settlement, Leicester University Press.

Furley, R., 1871-4, A History of the Weald of Kent, 2 vols, Henry Igglesden, Ashford.

Hanley, H.A. and Chalklin, C.W., 1964, ‘The Kent Lay Subsidy Roll of 1334/5’, in Medieval Kentish Society, KAS Records, xviii.

Harrington, D., Pearson, S. & Rose, S., 2000, Kent Hearth Tax, KAS, Kent Records, xxix.

Jolliffe, J.E.A., 1933, Pre-Feudal England: the Jutes, Oxford University Press.

Jolliffe, J.E.A., 1933, ‘The origins of the hundreds in Kent’, in Edwards, J.G., Galbraith, V.H. and Jacobs, E.F. (eds), Historical essays in honour of James Tait, Manchester.

Morgan, P. (ed), 1983, Domesday Book: Kent, Phillimore, Chichester.

Sawyer, P.H., 1968, Anglo Saxon Charters: an annotated list and bibliography, Royal Historical Society.

Thorne, E.R., 1992, ‘Hundreds and Wapentakes’, in Williams, A. & Martin, G.H. (eds), The Kent Domesday, Alecto Historical Editions, London.

Wallenberg, J.K., 1931, Kentish Place-names, Uppsala Universitets Arsskrift.

Ward, G., 1945, ‘The lost dens of Little Chart’, Archaeologia Cantiana, 58, 1-7.

Witney, K.P., 1976, The Jutish Forest: a study of the Weald of Kent from 450 to 1380 A.D., Athlone Press, London.

Zell, M., 1994, Industry in the countryside: Wealden society in the sixteenth century, CUP.

appendix

An annotated list of the Benenden dens and their manors

After the den name there is an indication given in parentheses whether it was identified by Furley (F.) and/or Witney (W.) as a Benenden den, or (f.) and (w.) if they name a den, but do not place it in Benenden. If the evidence for the parent manor of a den is considered good, the name of the manor is given in italic; this assessment is subjective. Only minimal additional references are cited for those dens clearly identified by Furley and Witney, and the number of references for most other dens limited to the most informative. Where Witney’s work is referred to, the original source is quoted in The Jutish Forest. The date of any mentions of dens is given in the references.

The names of dens are based on modern usage, older forms if the modern is much changed (e.g. Crithole is now Crit Hall), or, rarely, the only known spelling. Names are given as some guide to the reliability of identification, but the full range of spellings is not provided. In many cases the names are from transcripts; in a few cases the spelling is uncertain and is omitted.

Bagtilt There are references in deeds⁶ and wills.⁷ An estate map,⁸ combined with deeds, help to locate it. A survey of 1590⁹ records it as held by the Archbishop of Canterbury and formerly by Dover Priory. The last reference may provide identification of Wealden dens (it includes Asherinden in Tenterden also held of Dover Priory) owned by the canons of St Martin’s (Dover Priory) mentioned in the Domesday Book (Witney, p. 121). The name survives in Backtilt Wood and Cottage.

Benenden (F.W.) This well known den became a manor early and is recorded at Domesday as a manor in the hundred of Rolvenden and the lathe of Lympne. It was a subordinate manor of Bilsington and in 1193 was given, with Maytham in Rolvenden parish and another den, by the Earl of Arundel to his daughter on marriage; these possessions descended through this family to the Earl of Hereford, c.1236.¹⁰ The pairing of Benenden and Maytham is repeated in the fourteenth century.¹¹ The writers assume that Benenden was originally a den of Bilsington manor. In 1573 Benenden manor was again recorded as held by an Earl of Hereford.¹² A rental of 1777¹³ together with a parish map and terrier of the same year¹⁴ make it possible to locate it with some precision. The early mention of the manor of Benenden, the large size of the den, the fact that it spans the southern drove road and that the parish took its name, all indicate early importance. (Its link with Maytham may suggest early access by sea.)

Bishopsden (F.W.) A well known den, overlapping into Biddenden parish and located by Furley partly in Biddenden. The name survives as a farm name. Furley and Witney name Great Chart as a parent manor, confirmed by many manorial records,¹⁵ which give details of holdings and acreages. Manorial records for Great Chart show, e.g.,¹⁶ talwood (small wood for fuel) obtained from the den. Witney also names Petham and Bishopsbourne manors as owners (following Du Boulay).¹⁷

Bishopsden West (F.) Dens of Bisshoppenden and Lollesden (see Leasden) were recorded in the manor of Bishopsbourne, with another reference to Bysshoppenden in the manor of Petham (see previous den).¹⁸ Witney, reasonably, assumed that these references were both to the above den of Bishopsden. However, a den of Byshoppynden is mentioned together with land in a Cranbrook den in a will19 as also is Byshoppinden Wood in the den of Leasden in the west of the parish in 1550.²⁰ ‘West Bishopsden’ was recorded by Furley, and by Philipott (perhaps Furley’s source),²¹ as belonging to the local manor of Halden in the seventeenth century, at a time when the Bishopsden above is known to have been in Great Chart manor. The writers suggest a den of West Bishopsden close to Leasden (Fig. 2) with Bishopsbourne the parent manor of both (see Leasden). There are no modern place-names.

Comden (F.w.) A small manor of Camden, presumably derived from a den, was held by the Hemsted Estate with the manors of Hemsted, Benenden and Ripton in the eighteenth century.²² Witney records Comdene belonging to Bilsington manor c.1193; he suggested that Comdene was in Sandhurst, but was unaware of the Benenden den which the writers assume it to be. The Hemsted rentals show that Camden manor included the farms of Scullsgate and Babbs and so was in the same area of the parish as land in the dens of Comden and Sarnden, referred to in deeds of 1543, helping to confirm the identification.²³

Crithole (W.) First known record in 993, together with the den of Hemsted in the manor of Brabourne.²⁴ Wills of 1479²⁵ and 1556²⁶ mention the den. In the eighteenth century Hemsted manor was comprised of Hemsted and Crithole, plus at least one other den in Biddenden parish;²⁷ they were presumably all detached from Brabourne to form Hemsted manor. Cruthole was also a borough in Cranbrook Hundred (containing the den). The name survives as Crit Hall.

Dingleden (F.W.) A well known den with surviving place-names. Both Furley and Witney place it in Aldington Manor and this is confirmed by manorial records.²⁸

Dockenden (W.) The Black Book of St Augustine gives Doclynden in the manor of Kennington.²⁹ Witney (p. 264) suggests that it was included in the Black Book as an alternative name to Ridden, although the basis for this is unclear. There is some continuity of spelling in a will of 1539³⁰ and sixteenth-century references to the den of Dockenden;³¹ one source (DLB will 105) mentions a ‘woodland called Hothe in the den of Dockenden’, probably Hoads wood on a map of 1599,³² the location of which is consistent with the surviving house and land of Dockenden.

Eborden Known only from a survey of 1590;³³ manor Brook. The holding described is on the dens of Isenden and Eborden and as the holding is small (30 acres) it is probably a single entity and the dens adjoining.

Ewhurst (f.w.) Placed by Furley (and followed by Witney) in Biddenden. Other references suggest that it spanned the parish boundary, adjoining Dockenden, with a small area in Benenden; Furley gives the parent manor as Hothfield, confirmed by manorial records.³⁴ There are no modern place-names.

Folkenden (F.) Recorded as Folkenden by Philipott,³⁵ but Fokynden in a Halden Manor rental of c.1575,³⁶ suggesting that Fekynden in a sixteenth-century will is the same den.³⁷ It belonged to the local manor of Halden and a survey of the manor records that it lay in Benenden and Sandhurst.³⁸ The original parent manor is not known and there are no modern place-names.

Halden (alias Lambin) (f.w.) The larger part of this manor was in Rolvenden, where Furley and Witney place it, but it extended into Benenden, Tenterden and Biddenden,³⁹ and it is assumed that part of an earlier den of Halden was in Benenden. The manor held twelve other dens, four, Folkenden, West Bishopsden, Holnhurst and Ramsden, entirely or partly in Benenden, presumably acquired from manors outside the Weald.⁴⁰ Witney suggests that the den of Halden was owned in part by Westgate by Canterbury and in part by Reculver, although Petham is also a possibility (see Bishopsden). Perhaps more likely than these is Great Chart, as there is a thirteenth-century reference to a Great Chart den of Heldindenne in Benenden parish.⁴¹ Surrounding lands are given, but although Heldindenne is clearly in the north-east of the parish, the location is unclear and does not seem to tally with Halden. Other references to the Heldindenne place-name are similarly obscure. The original parent manor of Halden and the identity of Heldindenne are therefore considered uncertain. There are many modern place-names.

Hartnope There is one known reference to land in Benenden in this den, in a rental for Mersham manor.⁴² The den includes Woodsden Farm in Hawkhurst and Benenden, but is mainly in Hawkhurst. Heartenoak, a name used for a road and houses, is a modern survival.

Hemsted (F.W.) A well known den, first mentioned in 993,⁴³ which later, with other dens formed Hemsted manor;⁴⁴ the early parent manor is thought to be Brabourne (see Crithole). The name survived in Hemsted House and Park, now Benenden School.

Hinksden or Hinxden (F.W.) A well known den of Aldington manor.⁴⁵ Modern place-names include Hinxden Farm and Hinksden Bridge.

Hole (F.w.) Witney records the den in Rolvenden parish, but Furley notes that part is in Benenden. The parent manor seems to have been originally Lyminge,46 then Aldington.⁴⁷ The name survives as Hole Park.

Holnhurst (F.) A den of the local manor of Halden⁴⁸ with several other references (it seems at some period to have been divided into Great and Little Holnhurst).⁴⁹ It is located by eighteenth-century deeds⁵⁰ referring to Illden Wood in the den; Illden wood is to the west of Standen.⁵¹ The (assumed) earlier parent manor is not known.

Iden (F.W.) A well known den of Lyminge manor and then of Aldington.⁵² The name is preserved in Iden Green, a residential area of the parish.

Isenden Known only from a survey of 1590, in which two holdings in the den are mentioned.⁵³ Association of den names in the survey suggest that it was near to Maplesden and adjoining Eborden. No manor is mentioned, but the holdings were held by the heirs of Sir Henry Sidney, suggesting a connection with Halden manor, which the Sidneys held at this time.⁵⁴

Knolle (F.W.) Land in the den of Knolle in Benenden was the subject of a fourteenth-century dispute about the felling of timber, involving the Prior of Christ Church Canterbury and his tenant James de Echyngham (Witney, p. 177). Witney (p. 262), following Furley, gives the parent manor as Westwell. However a Christ Church charter records the denn of Syrelesknol in Benenden in the manor of Brook.⁵⁵ Another mentions the tenant, James de Echyngham, and the timber dispute, in Syredisknolle;⁵⁶ a third refers of Le Knolle, clearly the same land, in the parish of Benenden.⁵⁷ The area of land was much the same as that of Knowles Wood in 1848 (32 and 33 acres respectively),⁵⁸ suggesting the location. Furley (p. 728) lists a den of Schiredisknode, parish unknown, in Brook Manor. Therefore Witney’s suggestion that Furley’s Schiredisknode is Shirkoak, in Woodchurch, seems incorrect.

Leasden (W.) Witney (p. 272) identifies the Bishopsbourne den of Lollesden (quoting Du Boulay) as Leesden in Benenden.⁵⁹ This is supported by a sixteenth-century reference to Lessenden, held of the same manor.⁶⁰ Land on the dens of Rickmanicheste (mostly in Cranbrook, see Rickmansherst) and Leasden in 1550 suggests that Leasden was near the Cranbrook boundary.⁶¹ A later reference to land on the dens of Simmonden (q.v.) and Leaseden,⁶² near Crabtree Lane⁶³ (earlier Simonden Lane)⁶⁴ pinpoints it fairly precisely. Witney (p. 269) separately identifies Leden, a den of Aldington manor, with Leasden in Benenden and places it near Standen where there is a Leasden Farm. This farm was once owned by Thomas Leasden and presumably takes its name from him.⁶⁵

Maplesden (f.w.) A well known den⁶⁶ and for a time a manor.⁶⁷ Placed by both Furley (p. 719) and Witney (p. 270) in Rolvenden parish, although in Witney’s index assigned to Benenden; a substantial part is in Benenden. There is evidence that the den was originally of Bilsington manor (Witney, p. 270). The place-name survives as Maplesden Farm.

Osenden A den and, for a period, a manor in Benenden and Sandhurst.⁶⁸ Referred to in wills,⁶⁹ the later of which mentions a 2 acre wood in Iden and Osinden, helping to locate it. The early parent manor is not known and no place-names survive.

Ramsden (F.W.) A well known den⁷⁰ with a farm and lane as modern place-names. It was in the local manor of Halden in the seventeenth century,⁷¹ but the (assumed) original parent manor is not known. Placed by Witney (p. 263) in Great Chart manor, but this is a misreading of Furley (p. 703).

Rickmansherst Known as a Cranbrook den,⁷² but shown to be partly in Benenden by rentals of Hothfield manor.⁷³ The approximate location is suggested by a reference to land in this den and in Leasden,⁷⁴

Ridden East (F.W.) A den in the north of the parish, recorded by both Witney and Furley in the manor of Westwell. The manor and the location are confirmed.⁷⁵ Witney seems to complicate the Riddens or Ridings unduly (pp. 196, 262, 263, 264). Field names, ‘Ridings’ and ‘Riddings’, survived at least until 1777 (although these are common field names and may perhaps be unrelated to the dens). Witney (p. 262) suggests that East End is a modern derivative, but East End and West End were parish quarters used for collection of rates;⁷⁶ a more likely origin of this name.

Ridden West (F.W.) The Kennington den of Riddene⁷⁷ is presumably Westryddinge, placed in the same manor by Furley (p. 702). Sixteenth-century references confirm its existence in Benenden; they do not mention a manor, but record that it was held directly of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury.⁷⁸ There is no modern place-name. A complication is a den of Westryden in Lyminge manor;⁷⁹ Witney (p. 266) suggests that this was in Sandhurst.

Sarnden (F.W.) A well known den,⁸⁰ the name surviving as that of a farm. Furley places Sarrenden den in Eastry Manor. Witney mentions this (p. 274) and identifies Sarrenden as Sarnden, but also (p. 270) identifies Saengetden in Warehorne manor as Sarnden. Although there are many references to the den in wills and deeds, the writers have been unable to confirm either manor.

Simmonden (W.) Furley (p. 728) mentions a den of Suthmundene, location unknown, in Westwell manor. Witney (p. 262) identifies this with Simmonden, marked on the tithe map. The existence and location of Simmonden in Benenden is confirmed, as is its manor.⁸¹ The last reference is to lands in Cranbrook, close to the Benenden location; referring to ‘the whole den of Southmunden in Cranbrook’, perhaps meaning that part of the den in Cranbrook; it is known to have spanned the boundary.⁸²

Standen (F.W.) A well known den with modern place-names. Early of Lyminge Manor, later of Aldington.⁸³ Tenants paid manorial rents into the nineteenth century.⁸⁴

Tilden (f.) Furley (p. 711) places Tilden in Hawkhurst, where much of it is. However, some of the present Tilden Farm is in Benenden and the fields Great and Little Barnets in this den,⁸⁵ are part of the present Forest Farm in Benenden.⁸⁶ The parent manor is not known.

Walkhurst (f.W.) A well known den,⁸⁷ with modern place-names. Not listed in Benenden by Furley, who records Welkhurst, location unknown, in Great Chart manor (p. 706) and Walkherst, location unknown, in Eastry manor (p. 728); these are Witney’s sources for manors. Three Walkhurst woods were owned by the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury until the nineteenth century;⁸⁸ one, East Walkhurst, is detached from the main den location. A thirteenth-century document records the partitioning the woods of Walkhurst between men of Walkhurst and Canterbury Prior and Convent, through their manor of Eastry.⁸⁹

Others There are references to dens of Eslynden, Saltenden, Plashed and Chittenden, close to the parish boundary but without confirmation that they included land in Benenden. Woodsden and Eaglesden are modern farms with apparent den names, but for which no supporting evidence that they were dens has been found (Eaglesden is probably named after the Igglesden family, who were tenants there).⁹⁰ Tottenden, listed by Witney (p. 196) in Benenden, has been omitted for lack of evidence. Witney (p. 258) placed the den of Marden in Benenden, but rentals for Slipmill Manor in Wye confirm Furley’s (p. 710) placement of Marden in Hawkhurst.⁹¹ For discussion of a possible den of Heldindenne, see under Halden. No references to the manor of Ripton (see Comden) as a den have been found.

endnotes

Abbreviations

BM map and terrier of Benenden parish by Joseph Hodskinson 1777, CKS P20/27 1&2.

BBA Black Book or Register of St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, (eds) G.J. Turner and H.E. Salter (1915 and 1924), British Academy Records of Social and Economic History.

ChAnt Chartae Antiquae (abstracts) of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury.

CCA Canterbury Cathedral Archives.

CKS Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone.

DEL D’Elboux, survey of Halden Manor, see main references.

DLB de Launay, Benenden will abstracts, see main references. The abstract number is de Launay’s.

DLC de Launay, Cranbrook will abstracts, see main references. The abstract number is de Launay’s.

DUB Du Boulay, see main references.

HCB Hemsted Estate, court book of four manors, Benenden, Hemsted, Camden, Ripton, 1720 to c.1860, in private hands. A transcript of this book has been lodged at the CKS.

IPM Inquisition Post Mortem.

PHIL Philipott, T. (1659) Villare Cantianum, p. 295.

PRO Public Records Office (now National Archives)

¹ It is accepted by Witney (1976) and others that there is little evidence that the early settlers in Kent came from Jutland; the name continues in common use only for the lack of an obvious alternative (Everitt, 1986).

² Witney and Jolliffe refer to this as Lyminge lathe, but Lympne is in general use.

³ Wallenburg (1931) and Ward (1945), taken together, link Hliossole, Hlifgesella and the den of Lewcell (later Lessell and other similar forms) in Biddenden, a den lying to the north of the quadrilateral of roads described, belonging to the manor of Little Chart in Wye lathe. Both identifications (that is Hliossole as either Hole or Hlifgesella) are considered speculative and unconvincing (Dr S.E. Kelly, personal communication).

⁴ Jolliffe’s map of the Kentish lathes at Domesday (Witney, p. 34) shows the lathes restricted to the area of Kent outside the Weald. However, the Domesday Book records the few places in the Weald that are mentioned (including Benenden Manor) within their hundreds and lathes and Morgan’s (1983) map of lathes and hundreds at Domesday shows the Wealden hundreds of Rolvenden and Selbrittenden as part of Lympne lathe. It is perhaps unimportant whether land in the Weald is regarded as within a lathe or within the common of a lathe.

⁵ Hasted’s maps (2nd ed. 1798, vol. VII) show the hundreds, but for this area the hundred boundaries on the maps are very inaccurate.

⁶ CKS U24 T311 deeds, 1563, Bagtilt.

⁷ DLB will 30, PRC 17/26/63 Robert Bigge, 1547/8, Begtilt.

⁸ CKS U1506 p1/11, one of a series of maps of the Plummer estate c.1640.

⁹ PRO C142/224 no.21 (Abstract by Dr M. Zell) IPM of Henry Gibbon, 1590, Bagtilt.

¹⁰ Notes on some early documents relating to the manor and Priory of Bilsington Archeologia Cantiana 41, 19-36, c.1236 Beindenne – thought by the author to be perhaps Biddenden, but held with Maytham and undoubtedly Benenden.

¹¹ ‘Assesments in Kent for the aid to Knight the Black Prince’, Archeologia Cantiana, 10, 99-162 (p. 140), 13, Benyndenne, c.1330.

¹² PRO C142/164 no. 81 (Zell abstract) IPM of William Wattes, 1573, Benenden.

¹³ HCB Benenden.

14 BM, 1777 Benenden.

¹⁵ E.g., CCA U62/21 B2/1/1, manorial rentals for the seven manors, Great Chart, 1727-30.

¹⁶ CCA bb(br) Great Chart 46, Bedels Rolls, 1341.

¹⁷ DUB, 1283-5, Bysshoppenden.

¹⁸ DUB, 1283-5, Bisshoppenden.

¹⁹ DLC will 35, PRC 17/3/32, Richard Moore, 1476, Byshoppynden.

²⁰ DLB will 49, PRC 17/31/50, Thomas Gilbert, 1550, Byshoppinden Wood.

²¹ PHIL, p. 295, 1659, West Bishoppenden.

²² HCB, Camden.

²³ CCA U106/v/5 deeds, 1543, Comeden.

²⁴ Edwards, E., 1866 (1964 reprint), Liber Monasterii de Hyda, H.M.S.O., London, 993, Crudanhole.

²⁵ Will, PRC 17/3/18, Robert Telden, 1479, Crotehole.

²⁶ DLB will 62, PRC 17/33/4, Richard Glover, 1556, Croothole & Crotthole.

²⁷ HCB, Crithole.

28 CKS U1220 M27, Survey of Aldington manor, 1703, Dingleden.

²⁹ BBA p. 235, late thirteenth century, Doclyndenne.

³⁰ PROB 11/27 f219, will of Richard Morleyn, 1539, Doklynden (not specified as a den).

³¹ DLB will 105, PRC 17/41/397, Robert Aynyscombe, 1571, Dockenden; CKS U86 T1, deeds, 1582, Dockenden.

³² Suffolk Records Office, Ipswich, HA43 T501/242, 1599 map.

³³ PRO C142/224 no. 21 (Zell abstract) IPM of Henry Gibbon, 1590, Eborden.

34 DLC will 248, PRC 17/33/10, Edward Chittenden, 1558, Ewehurst; DLB will 91, PRC 17/38/234, Henry Asten, 1565/6, Ewhurst; CKS U86 T1 deeds, 1582, Uherste; CKS U455 M14 rental of Hothfield Manor 1609, Ewhurst; CKS U55 M80 survey of Hothfield Manor, 1833, Ewhurst.

³⁵ PHIL, p. 295, 1659, Folkinden.

³⁶ CKS U1475 M74 rental of Halden Manor, c.1575, Fokynden.

³⁷ PRC 32/8/26, will, Walter More, 1500, Fekynden.

³⁸ DEL 1567-70, Folkinden.

³⁹ DEL 1567-70 Halden.

⁴⁰ PHIL, p. 295, 1659, Halden.

⁴¹ CCA-DCc-ChAnt/C/333, 1225-1275, Heldindenne or Helzindenne.

⁴² CCA U62/21 B2/1/1 Rental for the seven manors (Mersham), 1742, Hartnope.

⁴³ Edwards, E., 1866 (1964 reprint), Liber Monasterii de Hyda, H.M.S.O., London, 993, Haemstede.

⁴⁴ HCB, Hempsted.

⁴⁵ CKS U1220 M27, Survey of Aldington manor, 1703, Hinxden.

⁴⁶ DUB, 1283-5, Hole.

⁴⁷ CKS U1220 M27, Survey of Aldington manor, 1703, Hole.

48 PHIL, p. 295, 1659, Holnherst.

49 DLB will 94, PRC 17/40/48 John Everenden, 1567, Great Hownerst, Little Hownerst; PRO C142/164 no. 81 (Zell abstract) IPM of William Wattes, 1573, Great Holnherst; DEL 1567-70 Holnhurst.

⁵⁰ CKS U1045 T18 1781, Holnehurst.

51 BM, 1777.

52 DUB, 1283-5, Iden; CKS U1220 M27, Survey of Aldington Manor, 1703, Iden.

⁵³ PRO C142/224 no.21 (Zell abstract) IPM of Henry Gibbon, 1590, Isenden.

54 Hasted, E. (1798) The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, 2nd ed vol 7, p. 187.

⁵⁵ CCA-DCc-ChAnt/B/279, 1382, Syrelesknol.

⁵⁶ CCA-DCc-ChAnt/C/183 1333, Syredisknolle.

⁵⁷ CCA-DCc-ChAnt/B/352, 1357, Le Knolle.

⁵⁸ CCA-DCc-ChAnt/B/354, 1324, Syredisknolle; CKS U3182, uncatalogued, mortgage of Hemsted Estate, 1848, Great and Little Knowles Woods.

⁵⁹ DUB, 1283-5, Lollesden.

⁶⁰ PRO C142/224 no.21 (Zell abstract) IPM of Henry Gibbon, 1590, Lessenden.

⁶¹ DLB will 49, PRC 17/31/50, Thomas Gilbert, 1550, Leasden.

⁶² CKS U3182, uncatalogued, mortgage of Hemsted Estate, 1848, Leaseden.

⁶³ BM, 1777.

⁶⁴ Suffolk Records Office, Ipswich, HA43 T501/242, 1599 map.

⁶⁵ DLB will 148, PRC 17/49/109, Thomas Leasden, 1593.

⁶⁶ E.g., DLC will 110, PRC Thomas Kyppyng, 1508/9, Maplisden.

67 CKS U1475 M76, Court Roll, 1302-1423. Maplesden.

68 CKS U1475 M76, Court Roll, 1302-1423, Osynden.

⁶⁹ DLB will 80, PRC 17/35/88, Stephen Girdeler, 1558, Osenden; DLB will 92, PRC 17/40/17, John Harowden, 1567, Osinden.

⁷⁰ E.g., DLB will 85, PRC 17/37/96, John Kete, 1562, Ramesden.

⁷¹ PHIL, p. 295, 1659, Ramsden.

⁷² DLC will 35, PRC 17/3/32, Richard Moore, 1476, Rygmansherst.

⁷³ CKS U455 M14, rental of Hothfield manor, 1609, Richmansherst.

⁷⁴ CKS U3182, uncatalogued, mortgage of Hemsted Estate, 1848, land in Rickmonsherst and Leaseden.

⁷⁵ PRO C142/224 no.21 (Zell abstract) IPM of Henry Gibbon, 1590, East Ridden; CKS U455 M18 manorial survey, lands in Benenden and Biddenden in this den, 1742 East Ridden.

⁷⁶ CKS P20 5/1 parish rates, many references to East End Quarter, e.g. 1684.

⁷⁷ BBA p. 235 etc., late 13th century, Riddenne.

⁷⁸ DLB will 91, PRC 17/38/234, Henry Asten, 1565/6, West Bidden (assumed to be a misprint for Ridden); PRO C142/224 no. 21 (Zell abstract) IPM of Henry Gibbon, 1590, West Ridden.

⁷⁹ DUB, 1283-5.

⁸⁰ E.g., CCA U106/v/1, deeds, 1425, Serynden; DLB will 80, PRC 17/35/88, Stephen Girdeler, 1558, Sernden.

⁸¹ Suffolk Records Office, Ipswich, HA43 T501/242, 1599 map, Simonden Lane; CKS U3182, uncatalogued, mortgage of Hemsted Estate, 1848, Simmonden; CKS U55 M83 rental of Westwell manor, 1703, Southmonden.

⁸² CKS U3182, uncatalogued, mortgage of Hemsted Estate, 1848, Simmonden.

⁸³ DUB, 1283-5, Steynden; CKS U1220 M27, Survey of Aldington manor, 1703, Standen.

84 CKS U1220 M23/35-42 and others, rentals of Aldington Manor, 1800s, Standen.

⁸⁵ DLB will 33, PRC 17/26/329, Richard Netter, 1549, Telden; DLB will 69, PRC 17/33/84, Stephen Nettar, 1557/8, Telden.

⁸⁶ CKS U1506 P1/13 one of a series of maps of the Plummer estate; this one of ‘Forest Land and Barnets’, c.1640.

⁸⁷ PRO C142/224 no. 21 (Zell abstract) IPM of Henry Gibbon, 1590, Walkhurst; CKS U223 M1, rental, 1720, Great Walkhurst.

⁸⁸ CKS U3182, uncatalogued, mortgage of Hemsted Estate, 1848, Walkhurst; conveyance of woods, 1865.

⁸⁹ CCA-DCc-ChAnt/E/154, c.1200, Walgherst.

⁹⁰ BM, 1777.

⁹¹ CKS U2196 M1, 1771, Rental of the manor of Slipmill alias Moorehouse in Wye.

Fig. 1 The hundred boundaries in the neighbourhood of Benenden parish as mapped by the OS in the nineteenth century. Scale bar = 8km (5 miles).

Fig. 2 The dens of Benenden parish and their approximate locations. In italic are dens for which locations are most in doubt (see Appendix for details). It should not be assumed that this layout existed at any one time. Surrounding parishes and today’s main roads through Benenden are included to aid interpretation; the roads bounding the area of the sub-common of Hliossole, as located by Witney, shown by double-dashed lines. Scale bar = 1km (0.62 miles).

TABLE 1. BENENDEN DENS AND THEIR PARENT MANORS

Lathe	Manor	Dens
Lympne	Aldington	Dingleden, Hinksden
	Bilsington	Benenden, Comden, Maplesden
	Lyminge	Hole, Iden, Standen (later Aldington dens)
Wye	Brabourne	Crithole, Hemsted
	Brook	Eborden, Knolle
	Great Chart	Bishopsden
	Hothfield	Ewhurst, Rickmansherst
	Kennington	Dockenden, West Ridden
	Mersham	Hartnope
	Westwell	East Ridden, Simmonden
E. Kent lathes	Bishopsbourne	Leasden, West Bishopsden
	(Dover Priory)*	Bagtilt
	Eastry	Walkhurst
	Parent manor unknown**	Folkenden, Halden, Holnhurst, Isenden, Osenden, Ramsden, Sarnden, Tilden

* The den of Bagtilt, recorded as belonging to Dover Priory, may have been at an earlier period attached to a manor differently located, but we have assumed an association with the Dover area.

** Halden (see Appendix) became a manor within the Weald with its own dens, which included Folkenden, Holnhurst, West Bishopsden and Ramsden in Benenden – it is assumed that Halden and these other dens originally had parent manors outside the Weald.

Fig. 3 The dens of Benenden parish and their parent manors. The lines of the drove roads are shown.

Fig. 4 The dens of Benenden parish, according to their parent manors. The hundred boundary (See Fig. 1) running irregularly south-west to north-east (double line) may be a Domesday, or earlier, boundary separating the dens of Wye and Lympne lathes. Witney suggested that the Roman road might have been the boundary between these lathes.