The medieval Origins of Wye College

THE MEDIEVAL ORIGINS OF WYE COLLEGE E. W. PARKIN The ancient and attractive small town of Wye is situated 5 km. (3 miles) north-east of Ashford in Kent, and is best known as the location of England's leading agricultural and horticultural college. The main buildings of this fine institution are in the very heart of the little town (Fig. 1), but with broad acres extending far beyond it. Wye College has had a long and chequered history dating back to the fifteenth century when there was established here a college, or 'perpetual chantry', for secular priests. The original buildings have survived surprisingly intact, and it is these which this paper seeks to investigate, together with a brief history of its founder, John Kemp. JOHN KEMP, CARDINAL AND ARCHBISHOP, 1380-1454 Kemp was born at Olantigh, near the northern boundary of Wye parish, of a noble family of Norman origin, known originally as De Campis de Campania, but seemingly shortened somewhere about 1300 to Kemp, or Kempe, when we first read of one, Ralph Kemp who held the manor at Olantigh as a tenant of the Abbot of Battle, and who died in 1313. His grandson Sir Thomas Kemp had married Beatrice Lewknor of Bodiam Castle in Sussex, and they had four children, of whom John was the youngest. Before him was an elder brother named Roger, followed by two sisters Beatrice and Isabelle. Their father died in 1428, and was buried in the north transept of Wye church, when the estate is said to have passed to Roger, but this is not certain. John Kemp was baptised in the same church, and educated first, it is claimed, at King's School, Canterbury. In 1395, his name first appears on the lists of Merton College, Oxford, where in due course he became a Fellow. 1 Then having studied law and 1 DNB, Geo. Smith, Oxford, 1921-2, 1272. 209 CH E.W. PARKIN : ) __ ; C o I • I.!:􀀔::􀀕􀀖:·􀀗'.;:.-_-_·.::· r:::· ,, " " " 0 Fig. 1. Plan of the Centre of Wye, showing principal Buildings of the College. 210 THE ORIGINS OF WYE COLLEGE KEY TO DRAWINGS B Buttery BN Barn C Kemp's Chancel CH The Parish Church CP Path to Parish Church CS Cellar Stairs CY Churchyard D Presumed Dormitory E Present Entrance to Wye College FH The Old Flying Horse G The Old Garden H The Great Hall HS Wye High Street K The Old Kitchen LS The Old Latin School MH Site of Old Market Hall MR Grammar Master's Room OH Site of Original Hearth OV The Old Vicarage P Parlour, with Wine Cellar under PL Porter's Lodge, site of PN Pentice, the Cloisters PY Pantry SL Science Laboratory W Probable site of the well. obtained his doctorate, he practised as a lawyer in the ecclesiastical courts, becoming afterwards ordained into the priesthood. His list of subsequent offices is a long one, of which the main ones may be listed thus, beginning with his earliest known preferment, in the small village of Slapton, 13 km. (8 miles) north-east of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, followed by the rectory of St. Michael's in Crooked Lane, London.2 1408 He resigned the rectorate of St Michael's. 1408 He is said to have become the rector of Southwick in Sussex,3 but this may have been confused with another John Kemp, for he is known to have taken the living of Aldington in Kent about this time. 1413 He was one of the assessors appointed by Archbishop Arundel at the trial of Sir John Oldcastle for Lollardry, held in the Chapter House of St. Paul's in London before the Archbishop. After this he was transferred to Hawkhurst in Kent. 1415 He became, in rapid succession, Dean of the Court of Arches, Vicar General to Chichele, 4 and Chief Justiciary to the Province of Canterbury. 1416 He was appointed Archdeacon of Durham,5 when he was employed by King Henry V to conduct important negotiations in France. 2 Ibid., Newcourt. 3 J. Dallaway, History of westem Sussex, London, 1815-40. 4 C.S. Orwell and S. Williams, A History and Wye Church and Wye College, Ashford, 1913. 5 J. Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesia anglicanae, Ed. Hardy, iii, London, 1716, 303-4. 211 E.W. PARKIN 1418 He resigned the living at Hawkhurst, which, as with other parishes, he may seldom have visited. 1418 He became the Keeper of the Privy Seal. 1419 (Jan.) He was elected Bishop of Rochester.6 1421 (Feb. 28th) He was tranlated to Chichester, but never officiated there. 1421 (Nov. 17th) He was moved by Pope Martin V to the bishopric of London, which office gave him control over great estates. He there began the restoration of Fulham Palace. 1424 He was ordained the fiftieth Archbishop of York. 1429 He officiated at the coronation of Henry VI, who was then only eight. 1430 He quarrelled with Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who had become the Protector of England. 1431 (Jan.) Kemp became ill, and was unable to attend the opening of Parliament, at which occasion he had always preached the sermon in the Painted Chamber. He was attended by John Somerset, the King's physician. 1432 He resigned the Chancellorship but remained on the Council of State. 1432 On recovering his health somewhat, he departed for France, where he attempted to end hostilities with that country. 1435 After his initial efforts had failed, he was appointed head of an embassy to the Congress of Arras which opened on August 3rd. This again failed, and a second one was convened in 1439. 1439 (Dec.) He was made Cardinal Priest of Santa Balbina by Pope Eugenius IV, 7 an office later confirmed by the King of England. On returning to this country, he found himself in violent disagreement with Archbishop Chichele over the matter of precedence. This was referred to the Pope, who decided in favour of Kemp.8 1445 He officiated at the marriage of Henry VI with Margaret of Anjou. 1450 Kemp had to face considerable social unrest at this time, culminating in Cade's rebellion, and he was forced to take refuge in the Tower of London. During a lull in the uprising, Kemp, together with Waynflete, the Bishop of Winchester, crossed the Thames to meet Jack Cade in St. Margaret's 6 H. Wharton, Anglia sacra, London, 1540. 7 M. Latrie, Trtsor de Chronologie, v. DNB, John Kemp, 1274. 8 A. Duck, Life of Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, London, 1699. 212 THE ORIGINS OF WYE COLLEGE church in Southwark. Kemp prepared two pardons under the Great Seal, and many of the rebels returned home.9 1452 He was translated from York to Canterbury, as successor to Archbishop Stafford, being also made Cardinal Bishop by the Pope, with the title of St. Rufina. At this time most of the nobles were arming in favour of the Lancastrian cause, and although threatened by Norfolk and other lords, Kemp clung bravely to his loyalties. 1454 By this time, he was becoming old and frail, and after a short illness he died at Lambeth Palace on March 22nd, aged seventry-three. He was laid to rest in Canterbury Cathedral, where his tomb may still be seen on the south side of the Presbytery. An inventory of his personal effects at this time, totalling in value £4079 18s. 8d., is still in the library at Lambeth Palace. THE FOUNDING OF WYE COLLEGE In February 1432, Kemp had applied for and obtained a royal licence to found a college for secular priests in his native town of Wye in Kent, but it was not until 1447 that he was able to bring his plans to fruition, being delayed by prolonged negotiations with the Abbot of Battle, from whom he wished to buy land adjoining the parish churchyard at Wye. Kemp had aready greatly enlarged Wye church, where excavations in 195210 showed that besides transepts, Kemp's chancel had been as much as 18.3 m. (60 ft.) long by 7 m. wide (23 ft.), with walls 1.2 m. thick (4 ft.), and had a small chapel or vestry on its south side, near the east end. Hasted describes this chancel thus: 'The great chancel was made choir fashion, wainscotted, and seated around for members of the new college. ' 11 It was in the old north transept that Kemp buried his parents, whose tomb was destroyed when the tall steeple of the church fell suddenly, after morning prayers on Sunday May 21st, 1686, demolishing the transepts and chancel. Kemp gave his college the same dedication as the church, that of St. Gregory and St. Martin; he also compiled a book of statutes for the good government of the college. THE BOOK OF STATUTES These statutes, dated January 14th, 1448, were lengthy and 9 Gregory's Chronicle, v. DNB, 1275. 10 R.F. Jessup, 'Wye Church', Arch. Cant., !xvi (1953), 149-50. ll E. Hasted, History of Kent, vii, Canterbury, 1798, 362. 213 E.W. PARKIN meticulous, and throw a great deal of light on the life of the college as Kemp had planned it. Firstly, the head of the institution was to be the master, or provost, preferably a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He must live in the college and never be absent from it for more than sixty days a year, he taking precedence over all others. Secondly came the 'maister of gramer, diligently intent in techyng, that shall frely teche withoutin anything takyn of hem all thos what wol come to his techyng ... '. He must be a master or member of Oxford or Cambridge, fully instructed in grammar, who, if he were a priest, could be admitted a Fellow of the college, and 'for more honor' should sit next to the provost or his deputy at table. Even possible causes for his dismissal were laid down, which included negligence in teaching, or incapacity through age or illness, although if he were merely infirm he might retain his fellowship while giving up the mastership, the pay for which was to be a matter of arrangement. Again, should he show any partiality in college or school, the provost would have to consider bis behaviour. Following the master, there was to be a chaplain, and then a precentor, or singing master who was to 'direct all psalms, antiphons, responses and other ecclesiastical hymns'. Then a music master to teach the basic singing of chants, etc. The salary of the provost was to be twenty marks per annum, (£13 33p.), whereas the other fellows, and the parish clerk were to receive six marks each (£4) beside their keep. There is some divergence between writers regarding the number of novices or pupils in the college, and although this did in fact vary, the maximum seems to have been ten, divided between priests, clerks and choristers. The free Grammar School was a separate institution, held in the small fifteenth-century building still known as the Old Latin School, (Plates IA and IB). Some historians refer to this as 'the former chapel', and although there is no doubt that it was intended to be used as a school right from the start, there are occasions when it may have been pressed into use as a chapel, as for example after the two known major disasters which befell the church. The first of these, culled from an old churchwarden's book informs us: 'The steple was ffyred by lightenyng the XVth day of our Souerayne Ladye Quene Elizabeth in the yeare of our Lorde God one thousande fyve hundred threescore and eleven, (1571) betwene the hours of two and three in the afternoone of ye same day.' It appears that the tall wooden spire was burned down to the massive stonework of the central tower, but the fire was contained there, and the steeple subsequently rebuilt. The second and worse disaster occurred, as already described, in 1686, when cracks in the stone arches of the central tower gave way, 214 THE ORIGINS OF WYE COLLEGE and the tall steeple fell, destroying the transepts and also the fine chancel built by Archbishop Kemp. The nave had to be boarded-in to allow services to continue, the church not being fully restored until 1706, with the small, semi-circular chancel still to be seen today. The total number of staff on the payroll of the college is not known, but there is mention of a cook and a butler, and there must have been others, such as a porter, cleaners, gardeners, etc. The book of statutes sets out very clearly that meals were to be taken in the great hall at two tables, with the provost and fellows at the high table, and the novices and others at the lower one. Should any visitor be important enough to sit at the master's table, he would be charged two pence for his meal, but if at the lower table, a penny. One may assume that wine would be offered at the high table, but merely ale at the other! The hours for the novices were long; they were to rise at five each morning and begin matins in the parish church at six, followed by mass at eight. Then after 'a convenient hour for dinner' to church again to say vespers, finishing again at five. Even then they were not free, for after compline, the evening service, on each Holy Day, (and there were many), the fellows, clerk and choristers were to assemble at the tomb of Kemp's parents in the north transept of the church to recite the de profundis. 12 A strong chest was provided for valuables, and a second one, yet to be ordered, for documents. Each chest was to have two separate keys. Kemp also laid down the procedure for selecting a new provost. At each vacancy of the provostship, the fellows were to submit several names to the Abbot of Battle, who would select one. No candidate could be eligible unless he were a doctor or scholar of theology, and a member of Merton College, Oxford. Generous end0·.vments were provided for the upkeep of the college, not only from Kemp, but also from King Edward IV. These included the revenues from properties in Newington-next-Hythe, Withersdane, Wye, Postling, Brenzett Grange, Hinxhill, Bromhill, Boughton Aluph, Godmersham, Westwell, Surrenden in Bethersden, Hothfield, Great Chart, Nackholt, Crundale and lands in Walland Marsh. There must have been other properties in addition to these, for documents in the possession of the Ashford History Society show that, in January 1649, 'The Wye College house and land at Eastbridge' was transferred from Thomas Marriot to John and Anne 12 Dugdale, Monasticon, Eds. Caley, Ellis and Bundinel, 1430-32, iii, 254. 215 __ 9!: __ _ CY E.W. PARKIN G D ,' I I I I 1- - -1 I L _______ J :- - - - -iI II I SN I I ... - -----· MR LS .---1 I: P I 1 L I I .;-_-_-_-_ -_ -_ -􀀐- · ===:::' ..A-