Jtnt irthrentogitttl
.ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS, 1886 .A.ND 1887.
THE Council met at Maidstone on the 28th of .A.pril 1886. Sir
Walter Stirling, Bart., presided, in the absence of Earl Sydney.
Six members attended.
It was resolved to send to the Countess .A.mherst the following
Resolution: "The members of the Council of the Kent .A.rchreological
Society, meeting to-day £or the first time since the lamented death
of their late honoured President, the Earl .A.mherst, beg to express
to the Countess Amherst their respectful sympathy and their
heartfelt sorrow at the loss of that good man, her noble husband.
His memory will long live in their affection.
"They would esteem it a favour if Lady .Amherst could spare
£or them a photographic (or other) portrait of their late President,
to be placed upon the walls of the Society's Room, in which he so
often and so well presided."
Details of the .Annual Meeting to be held at Rochester were
discussed.
Thirteen new members were elected.
On the 24th 0£ June the Council met in London, at the house
of the noble President, the Earl Sydney, in Cleveland Square, St.
James's. Lord Sydney presided, and ten members were present.
Vol. XVI. of A1·alu:eologia Oa1itiana was laid upon the table.
The Programme for the .A.nnual Meeting was finally settled.
Seven new members were elected.
The .Annual Meeting, held at Roo1rnS!l.'ER, commenced on the
21st of July 1886 .
.A.t 10.30 A..:M:. the Business Meeting was opened in the Guildxxxviii
REPORT, 1886.
hall. The Mayor (Lewis Levy, Esq., Barrister-at-Law) welcomed
the Society in cordial terms, and then invited one 0£ the VicePresidents,
the Dean 0£ Rochester, to occupy the Ohair.
The Very Reverend Robert Scott, D.D., Dean 0£ Rochester, on
taking the Ohair, made a few graceful and appropriate remarks, and
then called upon Canon Scott Robertson, the Honorary Secretary,
to read the Annual Report.
REPORT.
The Twenty-ninth .Annual Report of our Society is presented in the ancient
city of Rochester, in which the Second .Annual Meeting of the Kent .Archreological
Society was held, in August 1859.
The Council have much pleasure in noting that the Society has nearly doubled
its numbers during the interval, and that it has just issued to its members the
Sixteenth Volume of its A.rcl,,ceolo9ia Oantiana. Thanks to the activity of its
twenty-five Local Secretaries, the subscriptions of its members are well paid;
and there is now no room for such a complaint, respecting large arrears, as was
heard in the Report read at the Rochester Meeting in 1859.
During the past year the sum of £30 has been invested in Consols. The
Society has now £538 at its bankers, and the Council will consequently be
justified in causing the printers to commence the Seventeenth Volume of our
A.rckceolo9ia.
Volume Fifteen was issued to members in February 1884, and Volume Sixteen
in July 1886; but it is confidently hoped that the Seventeenth Volume will
be prepared with less delay than its predecessor, and be ready for delivery in the
autumn of 1887.
The new Volume, Sixteen, contains 520 pages of letterpress, and 55
illustrations or woodcuts. It is therefore fully worth the subscriptions of two
years, or even of three. Its delay was caused by the difficulty in obtaining
returns respecting the Old Church Plate in the Parishes of Kent.
The result of the enquiry respecting Church Plate seems to the Council to
be of such value, that they believe our members will not ultimately complain
of the delay it has entailed,
Many sacred vessels of some age have through this enquiry been saved from
alienation.
In one lamentable case of the alienation of the Communion Plate of Bishop
Peter Gunning's private Chapel, bequeathed by him to his native parish, Hoo St.
Werburg, it is pleasant to know that his successor, the present Bishop of Ely,
has been endeavouring to trace out and repurchase the vessels which were
unhappily sold in 1882 by the Kentish vicar and his churchwardens. Unfortunately
they cannot be recovered.
In connection with the illustrations of the new volume the thanks of the
Society are due to several gentlemen for valuable artistic aid, freely renderedMr.
Herbert Baker, a young gentleman well known in the neighbourhood of
Rochester, bas furnished admirable drawings of objects at Lullingstone, as he
did of Restoration House for a former volume. Mr. J. F. Wadmore, and Mr. C.
H. Read, F.S . .A.., likewise furnished valuable drawings; while Mr. Aug. Franks,
F.S . .A.., Mr. Granville Leveson-Gower, and Mr. Molony gave us the results of
kindly expenditure made by them.
The Society of Antiquaries, in London, has invited your Society to assist in
obtaining the preservation of Manorial Court Rolls, and also in bringing
within the purview of the Commissioners of Works any ancient monuments
in Kent which can be commended to the protection given by Parliament in the
new .A.et for Preserving National Monuments. It is hoped that members of
our Society will co-operate in the work of preserving both our national monu•
ments ofantiquity and the records of Manorial Courts.
Rochester is not only according to our Society a very hearty welcome,, but
MEETING AT ROCHESTER. xxxix
the gentlemen of Rochester, headed by the Mayor, have cordially and
strenuously endeavoured to promote the objects of the Society, by gathering
within their Corn Exchange from all parts of the county such a collection of
Corporation Maces, and Old Plate belonging to corporations and to churches, as
our Society has never before seen; in addition to a fine collection of other objects
of antiquity, such as are sometimes, but not often, seen, in temporary museums,
at our Annual Meetings.
So cordial a reception, and such energetic efforts to assist the study of
Archreology, ca.nnot fail to be gratifying to our members, and to attest the high
position which the Society has achieved during the twenty-nine years of its
existence.
On the proposition of Sir WALTER STIRLING, Bart., seconded
by Colonel HARTLEY, J.P., it was resolved, " That the Report as
read be adopted."
On the proposition of Mr. C. RoAOR SMITH, F.S.A., seconded
by the Rev. A. J. PEARMAN, it was resolved that Mr. GEORGE
PAYNE, F.S.A., F.L.S., be added to the Council in the place of Mr.
Streatfeild, deceased, and that the retiring members be re-elected.
On the proposition of Mr. GEo. M. ARNOLD, J.P., seconded by
the LORD BrsHO:e OF DoVER, it was resolved that Canon Edward
Moore and Mr. Herbert Hordern be re-elected Auditors; also that
Mr. J. Ellis Mace and the Rev. J. Branfi.11 Harl'ison be elected
Local Secretaries for Tenterden and Walmer respectively.
On the proposition of Rev. E. A. CLAYDON, seconded by Mr.
AUGUSTUS A. .ARNOLD, it was resolved that the Society's hearty
thanks be given to the Mayor and Corporation of Rochester, to the
Dean and Chapter of Rochester, and to the Bridge Wardens for the
great kindness shewn by those bodies of gentlemen to the Society
upon the occasion of its meeting in Rochester.
Twenty new members were elected.
Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, F.S . .A., .Assistant-Secretary of the
Society of Antiquaries, then exhibited his coloured map of the city
of Rochester, on which were shewn the existing remains of the
ancient walls of the city. In explaining this map he traced the
development of the defensive boundaries of the city.
The members then proceeded to the new and handsome Chamber
of the Bridge Wardens (on the bank of the Medway), and inspected
the ruins 0£ the ancient Bridge Chapel, called All Souls in
accordance with the wish 0 £ its founder, Sir John Cobham (1392),
but also dedicated by him to the Holy Trinity. Mr. St. John Hope
and Canon Scott Robertson then conducted the members through
the city and arou:Qd its walls. The company had in their hands the
following paper :
NOTES FOR A PERAMBULATION OF ROCHESTER.
PREP.A.RED BY TRE HONORARY SECRETARY FOR THE USE OF MEMBERS
ATTENDING THE MEETING.
Visitors coming to ROCHESTER, by railway, alight upon the opJ?osite or
western bank of the river Medway, in the parish of Strood,
The Rochester Bridge station of the L. 0. and D. line is really in Strood; just
as mucli as the Strood station of the South-Eastern line.
From the platforms of both stations we see on a hill to the north FRINDSDURY
xl ROCHESTER MEETING.
CHURCH ; the chancel of which is Norman, and has faded remains of Early
English frescoes on the jambs of its mutilated Norman windows.
QUA.RR"£ HousE, a half-demolished Jacobean mansion, lies half a mile to the
east of Frindsbury Church.
In STR0OD, a little Inn called the Red Liou and Star, in the High Street,
about one-third of a mile west of Rochester Bridge Station, has in its bar a
boarded Tudor ceiling, the handsomely carved timbers of which deserve
inspection.
Half a mile south of Strood High Street lies TEMPLE FA.RM, which contains
an Early English vaulted crypt or undercroft that formerly belonged to the
Knights Templars.
To reach RocHESTER we pass over the modern bridge, opened in 1856, across
the Medway. It stands close beside the site of an ancient RoM.A.N BRIDGE.
The MEDIJEV.A.L BRIDGE, built mainly by Sir Robert Knolles and Sir John
Cobham (1387-9.2), stood about 120 feet farther south; nearer to the Castle.
The ruins of the Mediooval Bridge Chapel, which stood near the Rochester end
of Sir R. Knolles' bridge, remain to indicate its exact site.
After we leave the modern bridge, the first lane turning northward, from our
left hand, out of the High Street, marks the site of ST. CLEMENT'S CHURCH,
which stood at the western corner of St. Clement's Lane.
Nearly opposite to St. Clement's Church, but a little farther east, stood for
more than five centuries the CROWN INN. 'I'he ancient hostelry no longer exists,
but has been rebuilt.
Proceeding along the High Street, we find on the left, or north side, the
GuILDH.A.LL (built in 1687), wherein the Mayor of Rochester courteously
permits our Society's Preliminary Business Meeting to be held.
Opposite the Guildhall stands the BULL INN, which has an old cellar, of Tudor
times perhaps. 'l'his was the Inn recommended by Dickens in PICK.WICK.
Entering the GuILDlliLL, we :find its walls adorned with full-length portraits of
King William III. and Queen Anne, by Sir Godfrey Kneller-these are on the
eastern wall; aud also by similar portraits of nine gentlemen who represented
Rochester in Parliament. Richard Watts (an Elizabethan M.P.) is on the south
wall; and beside him hang Sir Stafford Fairbourne (M.P. 1705-8) and Sir Thomas
Colby (1723). On the west wall are seen (i.) Admiral Sir Cloudesly Shovel
(M.P.1695-1707), ancestor of the Earl of Romney; (ii.) the late Philip Wykeham
Martin, of Leeds Castle; and (iii.) Sir John Jennings (M.P. 1714-27). On the
north wall are (i.) Sir Joseph Williamson, Secretary of State under King William
III., a great benefactor of Rochester, which he represented in Parliament from
1690 until 1700; (ii.) Sir Thomas Palmer (M.P. 1714-23); and (iii.) Sir John
Leake (M.P. 170'7-13).
Farther eastward, beyond the Guildhall, is the old CoRN ExcH.A.NGE, built in
1706, with the city clock projecting from its front. In this building, by permission
of the Mayor, our Society's temporary Museum is arranged.
Nearly opposite the Corn Exchange, is Two-Post Alley, in which may be seen,
on the left or east side, an old door and doorway of a house; probably of the
reign of James I. At the top of this alley, is an enclosed rubbish-yard, within
the gate of which we may see a small pointed arch spanning the ditoh; it is one
of those which supported the road to the main gate of the Castle.
Just beyond the Corn Exchange, on the same side of the High Street with it,
is Pump Lane, originally called Cheldegate Lane, at the eastern corner of which
stands an old house; of Jacobean age perhaps. It is No. 41 in the High
Street.
Opposite, still exists the Mediooval College Gateway, sometimes called Chersie's,
leading to St. Nicholas Church (built in 1421) and to the Cathedral. Just inside
the gateway there is, above a shop-window, a carved bell,m, of Tudor date, worthy
of notice.
At No. 59 High Street, on the north side, is Watts's Charity for Poor Travellers,
founded in 15'79 by Richard Watts, M.P. It was repaired in 1771.
Farther east, on the same side, stands the school founded by Sir Joseph
Williamson. It is a red-brick building of the time of Queen Anne.
ROCHESTER MEETING. xli
Behind the schoolroom is an embattled fragment of the old City wall,
terminating in a very perfect bastion .
.A.cross the High Street here formerly stood the East Gate of the City, and a
little farther eastward stands Eastgate House, an Elizabethan mansion now
occupied as a Workmen's Club. The three gables of the houses opposite, viz.
N os. 142-4 High Street, deserve attention. Immediately opposite the
Williamson schoolhouse is Eagle Alley ; and from the back-court of a house on
its western or right-hand side a curved portion of the Norman City wall may be
observed. Mr. W. H. St. John Hope suggests that the original Norman wall
turned westward at this point. In 1845 the area of the city was enlarged by
erecting a new wall from this point to The Vines and carrying it along the
northern edge of The Vines.
The Norman Chapel of St. Bartholomew's Hospital is at the extreme eastern
end of Rochester High Street, close to Chatham. The Apse and some Norman
windows remain in situ.
Traces of Norman arches will be found in the west end of the old Parish
Church of St. Mary in Chatham.
Proceeding up Crow Lane we reach the site of the Vineyard of the Monks.
It is now a well-planted green or recreation ground called The Vines .
.A.t its corner in Crow Lane is the handsome new boarding-house of the King's
School or Cathedral Grammar School.
Opposite is the Elizabethan residence of Mr. Stephen Aveling, now called The
Restoration House, because Charles II., when travelling from Dover to London,
at the time of his restoration, slept in this house.
Traversing: The Vines from east to west we reach the old Priors' Gateway, by
whioh one can enter the Precincts of the Cathedral. Passing it, in going to the
street called Boley Hill, we trn.verse the site of the City's South Gate, and on our
right hand, in General Thomas's premises, we may see the Hall and other
remains of the ancient Palace of the Bishops of Rochester.
Near at hand is an ancient Vicarage-house of St. Nioholas Parish, now
occupied by General de Berry, beneath which a vaulted cellar still exists.
The members entered and examined Eastgate House, and
Restoration House, and General Thomas's house which contains
part of the old Episcopal Palace .
.At the Cathedral, the members gathered beneath the central
tower, and were addressed by Mr. St. John Hope from the choir
steps. He subsequently conducted them through the Cathedral.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY
OF ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL CHURCH.
By w. H. ST. JORN HOPE, M.A.., F.S . .A..
1. A..D. 604.-Consecration of Justus, as first bishop, by St. Augustine; for
Justus a church of stone was built by .lEthelbert, King of Kent. To this a
college of secular canons was attached by the Bishop, and endowed by the King
with "Priestfield" (which still belongs to the church) and other property. No
portion of this building is known to remain. Bishop Paulinus was buried in it
in 644, Bishop Ythamar in 655, and Bishop Tobias in Porticu Sancti PauU in
'726. Probably the cathedral of Justus was a church of basilican type with apse
at each end; one containing the high altar, and. another the altar of St. Paul.
2. Inter 1077-1080.-A strong tower of stone was built by Bishop Gundulf
(1077-1108) at the east of the Old English church, probably as a defensive
work. It was used as a bell-tower as early as the middle of the twelfth century.
The lower portion remains on the north side of the choir.
3. Circa 1080.-The Old English church was replaced by a Norman one,
built by Bishop Gundulf, for the reception of Benedictine monks who were
introduced in 1082, in lieu of the secular canons. The plan of this church was
VOL. XVII. e
xlii ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL.
peculiar. It consisted of a choir and aisles six bays long, a very narrow transept,
and a nave (left incomplete) of nine bays. There was no central tower,
Gundulf's northern tower, described above, doing duty for it. As this stood
detached in the angle of the choir and north transept, it was balanced by the
erection of a smaller south tower built in the angle of the choir and south
transept. Beneath the eastern two-thirds of the choir was an undercroft, the
western half of which still remains, as also do four arches of Gundulf's south
arcade of the nave, and parts of his nave-aisle walls. Into this new church the
relics of St. Paulinus were translated, and placed in a silver shrine given by
Archbishop Lanfranc. This shrine seems to have stood in a small chapel which
projected from the centre of the east end of the presbytery.
4. Rearrangement of the choir and completion of the nave, perhaps by
Bishop Ernulf (1115-1124). The west front, and the diaper work in the
triforium, are of slightly later date than the arcades.
5. 1130.-Dedioation of the church.
6. 1138.-Destruction of the church and monastery by fire. Extent of
consequent repairs not apparent. Portion of the gable wall of the south
,transept seems to be of this date, and on the evidence of fragments of mouldings
we conjecture that the work was executed by William the Englishman (of
Canterbury Cathedral) or one of his school.
7. 1179.-Second destruction of the church and monastery by fire. Extent
of damages and repairs unknown. The outer wall of north choir aisle is, perhaps,
of this date.
B. Oiroa 1190,-The lower part of the outer wall of the south choir aisle
built, as part of a new cloister, by Bishop Gilbert de Glanville (1185-1214).
9. Oiroa 1190.-Commencement of a central tower. Bases of the piers laid,
and of the adjoining arches into the aisles; and alteration of choir aisles begun.
The whole of this work, however, was only carried up a few feet.
10. Oiroa 1195.-Removal of the eastern half of the Norman undercroft,
and of the presbytery above it, and erection of the present undercroft, choir
transept, and presbytery.
11. Oiroa 1220.-Rebuilding of the Norman choir by William de Hoo,
sacrist, from offerings at the shrine of St. William of Perth (a Scotch baker
murdered outside the city of Rochester in 1201, and canonized 1256). New
choir first used in 1227. Most of the choir fittings then inserted remain in situ.
The eastern face of the pulpitum is of the same date. Parts of .the 'same work
are the eastern piers of the tower, with the arch above, the arches into the choir
aisles, and the bay of the transept clerestory immediately over them. The " new
work," i.e. that of the whole eastern arm, was roofed in and leaded by Priors
Radulfus de Ros and Helias.
12. Oiroa 1235.-'I'he great north transept" versus portam beati Willelmi"
and north-west tower pier built. Begun by Richard de.Eastgate, monk and
sacrist, and almost completed by brother Thomas de Mepeham (sacrist in 1255).
13. Oiroa 1240.-Destruction of Bishop Gundulf's small south tower, and
conversion of south choir aisle into its present form. The upper part of the
outer wall is of this work, but the curious lopsided wooden roof belongs to the
later alterations of the south tranept, temp. Edward II.
14. 1240.-Dedication of the church, i.e. the choir, by Richard de Wendover,
Bishop of Rochester, and Richard, Bishop of Bangor.
15. Building of the great south-west transept (alam australem versus auriam)
by Richard de Waldene, monk and sacrist. Also of the south-west tower pier,
the south, west, and north arches of the tower, and the two first bays of the nave.
16. Oiroa 1320.-Alterations to clerestory of sor1th transept. Conversion,
from two arches into one, of altar recesses on east side of south transept.
Apparently oiroa 1320; for the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was in
the south transept, is spoken of in 1322 as de nova oonstruoto. Building of
western side of pullf!itum, and of screens in north and south choir aisles ; also
west cloister door, and door at west end of south choir aisle. The rebuilding of
nave abandoned, and the junction of Norman and Early Decorated work made
good.
F\gchestef' (§,thedral C..hv-:rch.
HISTORICAL GROUND PLAN.
GREEN C HURCH HAW,
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RUINS OF
CHPTER HOUSE
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ROOHESTER CATHEDRAL. xliii
1'7. 132'7.-Building of an oratory in angulo navis, and insertion of the small
door in the west front. This oratory was built, by agreement between the
monks and the parishioners of St. Nicholas's altar in the nave, for the Reserved
Sacrament.
18. 1348.-Central tower raised, and capped by a wooden spire, by Bishop
Ramo de Hythe, who placed in it four bells.
19. 1344 ?-Insertion of Decorated tracery in windows of presbytery.
Query in 1344, when Bishop Ramo de Hythe reconstructed the shrines of
SS. Paulinus and Ythamar of marble and alabaster. The beautiful door to the
chapter-room is apparently of same date.
20. 1423.-Removal of the parish altar of St. Nicholas from the nave
(where it had stood probably from at least Bishop Gundulf's time) to a new
church built for the citizens in the cemetery on the north side of the cathedral
church, called Green Cliurcl,, Haw.
21. Building of the clerestory and vaulting of the north choir aisle.
Insertion of Perpendicular windows in nave aisles.
22. Circa 1470.-Great west window inserted, and the nave clerestory
rebuilt with the north pinnacle of the gable.
28. Circa 1490.-W estward elongation of the Lady Chapel.
24. 1541.-Construction of the panelled book desks in the choir for the
use of the secular canons, singing-men, etc., substituted by Henry VIII. for the
monks of the suppressed priory of St. Andrew.
25. 1591.-Destruotion of "a greate parte of the chansell" of the cathedral
church by fire.
26. 1664.-South aisle of nave recased.
2'7. 16'70.-North aisle of nave partly rebuilt.
28. Rebuilding of north turret of the west front, and lowering of the south
turret.
29. After 1'7'79.-Partial demolition of the great north campanile.
30. 1826.-Reparation of the church, and recasing and raising of central
tower by Mr. Cottingham.
31. 1850.-New font made.
32. 18'72 and later.--Various repairs by Sir George Gilbert Scott.
From the Cathedral the members proceeded to Rocheste1•
Castle, which was lucidly described by Mr. Stephen Aveling.
ROCHESTER CASTLE with its extensive outworks occupies 4¼ acres of ground.
The oldest portion is the RIVER WALL on the west; much of this was built by
Gundulf, circa A,D. 1076. The great rectangular Keep, 125 feet high, was built
by Archbishop Corbeil between 1126 and 1139. Its walls are 12 feet thick. The
interior of the Keep is divided into two parts by a cross wall 5½ feet thick; beneath
the centre of which the well is sunk. A circular pipe 38 inches in diameter
passes vertically through the core of that wall from the well to the top of the
Keep. On each floor a small arched door opens into this pipe. The south-east
turrent of the Keep was destroyed by undermining when King John captured
the Castle in 1215; it was rebuilt in 1225, when also was ei·ected the fine drum
tower in the south-east angle of the curtain wall behind the Keep. The towers
along the eastern curtain wall were probably built, at any rate in part, ci?'ca
136'7-1380.
Dinner was served in the New Com Exchange at 5 o'clock.
Sir Walte1• Stirling, Bart., presided, and beside him were the
Mayor 0£ Rochester, Colonel Hughes Hallett, M.I?., A;rchdeacon
Cheetham, Rev. Robert Whiston, J.P., Robert Furley, J.P., F.S.A.,
etc., etc.
From the dinner, members went to the Cathedral, where the
talented organist, John Ho1>kins, Esq., assisted by the singing-men
and chorister-boys, gave an hour's musical entertainment, from 17 to
e 2
xliv ROCHESTER MEETING.
8 P.M. This musical recital was greatly enjoyed by the members,
who thence proceeded to the Old Corn Exchange, where a most
admirable Museum had been arranged, and to the New Corn
Exchange, wherein a Conversazione was hospitably given by the
MAYOR and Mrs. LEVY, who had invited aU the elite of the
neighbourhood to meet the members. An amateur band discoursed
sweet music; and at intervals papers were read-one, by Mr. G. L.
GoMME, F.S.A., on Boley Hill, Rochester, is printed in this
volume; as also is another, by Mr. W. B. Rn1, on The Episcopal
Palace anit Bishop Fisher. Mr. Ro.A.CH SMITH, F.S . .A.., also read a
paper on Shakespeare at Rochester.
TRURSD.A.Y, J,rr,y 22, 1886.
At Chatham railway station carriages £or 200 persons were
ready, at 10.15 .A..M., under the direction of Mr. George Payne,
F.S.A.
Thence the members drove to GILLINGHAM CHURCH, where they
were received by the Vicar, Rev. W. H. Robins, and his Curate.
The Church was described by Canon Scott Robertson.
Progress was then made to BLOORS PLACE, in Rainham, to
which the members were kindly admitted and welcomed by
Mr. Stuart. Canon Scott Robertson pointed out the ancient rooms
with their linen-fold panelling and Tudor chimneys, as well as the
remains 0£ the red-brick dovecote, and early Tudor garden walls.
Thence the members drove to the village, and took luncheon in
Rainham Villge Hall at 1 o'clock.
R.A.INH.A.M Onmwn was next visited, and the paper by the
Rev. A. J. PEARMAN, which he was to have read there, will be
found printed in this volume, pp. 49-65.
At UPcHuncn OnuncR Canon Scott Robertson read a descriptive
paper ; and he likewise described N EWINGT0N Cnuncn, where
the Vicar, the Rev. G. R. Baker, welcomed the Society.
At lliRTLIP C:s:unc:a: the Vicar, Rev. F. T. Scott, read a paper.
The members, after leaving the Church, were most hospitably entertained
at tea, on the lawn at Hartlip Place, by Mrs. Godfrey Jlaussett
Osborne. This was the last place visited, and Mr. Roach Smith,
F.S.A., rendered to Mrs. Faussett Osborne the Society's hearty
thanks for her kindly hospitality.
Among the 300 persons present at this Annual Meeting were
the Earl 0£ Darnley, Lady Elizabeth Oust, Hon. Robert Marsham,
Hon. and Rev. Canon Fremant1e, Sir Walter Stirling, the Bishop of
Dover, the Dean of Rochester, Archdeacon Harrison, Archdeacon
Cheetham, Colonel Hughes Hallett, M.P., Canon Burrows, Colonel
Hartley, J.P., Robert Furley, F.S.A., J.P., Rev. R. Whiston, J.P.,
G. M. Arnold, J.P., G. E. Hannam, J.P., C. Roach Smith, F.S.A.,
etc., etc.
PROCEEDINGS, 1887. xlv
The Council met at Canterbury on the 12th of October 1886,
in the Library 0£ the Cathedral, by the kindly permission of the
Dean and Chapter. The Earl Sydney presided, and the number 0£
members present was seven.
Thanks for help during the Annual Meeting were voted-to the
Mayor of Rochester (L. Levy, Esq.), for generous hospitality; to
A. A. Arnold, Esq., for untiring and laborious assistance; to the
Dean and Chapter, and Messrs. John Hopkins, Humphrey Wood,
J obn Wood, 0. Bullard, G. Payne, 0. Roach Smith, Revs. W. H.
Robins, F. T. Scott, and G. R. Baker.
It was resolved to hold the next Annual Meeting at Tunbridge.
Ten new members were elected.
On March 30, 1887, the Council met at Maidstone. Sir Walter
Stirling presided, and there were ten members present.
Thanks were voted to Lady Amherst £or a very good portrait of
the late President, the Earl Amherst, in a good oak frame, which
her Ladyship has kindly presented to the Society.
It was resolved that the present Earl Amherst and J. G. Talbot,
Esq., M.P. (formerly Hon. Secretary of our Society), be requested
to act as Trustees of the Society's Funded Property, in place 0£ the
late Earl Amherst, and the late James Whatman, Esq.
The Council expressed their sorrow at their losses by death 0£
Archdeacon Harrison, James Whatman, Esq., and R. 0. Hussey,
Esq., old members of the Society and of the Council.
Mr. Payne reported the circumstances connected with the
discovery at Plumstead of a Roman coffin, and its subsequent
reinterment in spite 0£ all remonstrance.
Twenty new members were elected.
June 28, 1887. The Council met in London at the house of
the noble President, the Earl Sydney, 8 Cleveland Square,
St. J ames's. Thirteen members were present.
The Programme of the Annual Meeting was submitted, in print,
and approved,
Thirteen new members were elected.
The Annual Meeting commenced at Tunbridge Public Hall,
on Tuesday, July 19, 188'7, at 11 o'clock. RonERT FuRLEY, Esq.,
F.S.A., presided. Letters were read from Earl Sydney, Lord De
L'Isle, Lord Harris, Sir Walter Stirling, J, G. Talbot, .Esq., M.P.,
and Robert Norton, Esq., M.P., expressing regret that engagements
in London (where, inter alia, the Prime Minister had summoned a
special meeting 0£ his supporters £or this afternoon) prevented
them from being present.
xlvi . ltEPORT, 1887.
The Rev. Canon Scott Robertson, Honorary Secretary, read the
Thirtieth Annual Report as follows:
The Kent Archreological Society is inaugurating its Thirtieth Annual
Meeting in the ancient town of Tunbridge, where its Eighth Annual Meeting
was concluded in July 1865. On that occasion the meeting lasted but one day;
it commenced in Haver Castle, and the members closed that day's proceedings
by visiting Tunbridge Castle, and dining in the new Schoolroom of the renowned
and ancient Grammar School, founded by Sir Andrew J udde.
After the lapse of two-and-twenty years, the authorities of that School, and
the residents in the town, are again according to the Society a hearty welcome.
We must not fail to remember that the Society proposes, to-day, to visit for
the second time Penshurst Place, an historic mansion, of which many poets have
sung; especially Ben Jonson, Waller, and Southey.
The previous visit was made in July 1863, and the Annual Meeting of that
year was held entirely in Penshurst Place, lasting but one day, yet rendered
illustrious by the glories of that mansion, and by the generous hospitality of its
noble owner, the Lord De L'Isle and Dudley.
During the twelve months last;past the Society has had brought to its notice
many discoveries of Roman and Saxon remains. .At Plumstead a singularly
perfect Roman coffin, of lead, wa,s exhumed. Through the activity of Mr.
Spurrell and Mr. George Payne, every detail respecting its discovery ha. been
obtained, and put on record-the coffin itself was, through Mr. Spurrell, given
to the Society; but, unfortunately, the Vicar of Plumstead insisted upon burying
it in the Parish Cemetery, as it had been temporarily deposited in the Mortuary
of that Cemetery. Mr. Payne obtained an accurate drawing of the coffin before
it was thus reinterred, and your Council has camied that drawing to be reproduced
as an illustration for the next volume of .Ll..rchaiologia Oantiana.
Saxon relics found at Wiokhambreux, near Cantrbury, have likewise been
reproduced in chromo-lithography for the next volume. They include a
beautifully ornamented drinking vessel of azure glass.
Near Rochester Roman remains have been found in the grounds around
Quarry House in Frindsbury. These, by the kindness of Mr. A. A. Arnold and
his family, have been sketched for us, and the Council have caused them also to
be reproduced for the forthcoming volume.
In the City of Canterbury Roman remains have likewise been discovered,
during the excavation of foundations for Messrs. Hammond's new bank. These
will be described in the same volume.
Of that Seventeenth Volume, 250 pages are already printed, and for its
illustration 32 plates are now prepared. The Council fully hope that the volume
will be issued in the autumn of this year. They have to thanlt the numerous
Local Secretaries for getting in the Annual Subscriptions promptly; thus
enabling the work of printing and illustrating the volume to be prosecuted
vigorously, without any rashness. They feel justified by the fact that the
balance to the Society's credit at its bankers amounts to £'709 9s. ld. The total
income of the Society in 1886 was £540; of that sum £354 was expended upon
the last volume of .Ll..rcliaiologia Cantiana, which cost altogether £551.
During the past twelve months 63 new members have joined the Society, and
others await election at your hands to-day. In mentioning the accession of new
subscribers, we must not fail to notice the loss the Society has sustained by the
deaths of several old and honoured members. We may especially mention
Arohdeacon Harrison, whose face and voice were so familiar to us all; and Mr.
James Whatm.an, one of the Society's Trustees, who formerly represented the
County of Kent in Parliament.
On the proposition of A. T. BEECHING, Esq., J.P., seconded by
G. E. H.A.NN.A.M, Esq., J.P., it was resolved, "That the Report as read
be adopted."
TUNBRIDGE MEETING. xlvii
On the proposition 0£ the Rev . .A.. J. PEARMAN, seconded by
Alderman THos. DoRM.A.N 0£ Sandwich, it was resolved that the
retiring members 0£ Council be re-elected, and that Canon Edward
Moore and Herbert Hordern, Esq., be re-elected as Auditors.
Five new members were elected.
The Chairman presented the thanks 0£ the Society to Canon Scott
Robertson £or his services as Honorary Secretary and Editor.
The members then visited Tunbridge Castle under the guidance
0£ J. F. Wadmore, Esq., whose History 0£ the Castle is printed in
.LJ..rck
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