( 232 )
THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT.
BY J. F. WADMORE.
THE Order of the Knight Hospitallers of St.John of Jerusalem,
or, as it was also called, the Hospital of St. John the Baptist,
is stated to have been instituted as early as the year 612*
for the protection of pilgrims visiting the Holy City. It was
originally more of a monastic character, but the exigencies
of the time, and the incursions of the Saracens and Turks,
gave it a military character, which became further developed
during the Crusades. The capture of Jerusalem by Godfrey
de Bouillon, Count Raymond, and others gave an importance
and influence to the Order, not only by placing the
Hospital on a :firmer footing, but enabling it to form various
settlements elsewhere, in Rhodes, Malta, and other European
states.
The rules for the guidance of the Order required poverty,
chastity, and obedience. t They were revised by Count Raymond
de Puy himself, Master of the Order, at a council of
clerical and lay brethren, and subsequently ratified by Pope
Boniface in the sixth year of his Pontificate.
The Order appears to have been first introduced into
England in the wign of Henry I., circa 1100, by Jordanus
Brisset, Knight, who purchased a plot of land consisting of
ten acres at Clerkenwell, near London, besides giving an
additional ten acres towards its maintenance at Welynhallt
in Kent. He died .A..D. 1110, and both he and his wife
Muriel, who died two years after, were buried at Olerkenwell.
The first Prior appointed to the Order in England appears
to have been Garnarius the Neapolitan. It is worthy of
note that this appointment is contemporaneous with that of
* Dugdale, Mon., vol. ii., p. 489. t Ibia,., p. 498.
:t: "Wellhall, near Eltham," Hasted, vol. i., p. 470.
THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT. 233
the Sisters of the House at Buckland, of which mention is
made further on in connection with Stroud. He was succeeded
by Richard de Turk, whose name is mentioned in
many early documents. Joseph Chancey, the twelfth in order,
erected a chapel at Clerkenwell, while the names of many
subsequent Priors will be found in the List of Benefactors.
William Tothall, the twentieth in order, died in the year
1318,* and was succeeded by Thomas le Archer, or L' Archer,
in whose time the whole Order in England appears to have
fallen into financial difficulties of no ordinary sort, so much
so that the entire income availed not to meet the more
pressing demands of its creditors,t and the moveables of the
Hospitallers at Olerkenwell were seized under a writ of '' fieri
facias "to meet the interest due to the Lombard and Perugian
merchants, and the whole Order at that time established in
England was in danger of being broken up ancl dissolved.
To remedy this state of things, Elian de Villeneuve,t the
Grand Master at Rhodes, instructed Leonard de Tybertis
of Venice to act as a plenipotentiary commissioner, to
enquire into, and if possible to extricate the Order from, their
numerous difficulties ; and Thomas le Archer, feeble with
age and unwieldy with fat, was compelled to resign his
office (.A..D. 1328). When he and the treasurer died, Leonard
de Tybertis assumed the command, taking the whole affairs
into his own hands.
He had brought with him from Italy a quantity of elegant
jewels, for presents to members of the Court, and by
these and his credentials was fortunate enough to find favour
in the eyes oi: "our Lord the King, and our Lady the
Queen," and he succeeded in recovering a large amount of
the arrears of which the indolent Thomas had been unable
to obtain payment. He cut down wood on the estates and
realized more than £1000 by the sale of it, and collected the
rents so closely as to briug in £3000 more. By these and
other means, and tl;ie secul·ity of certain jewels, he succeeded
* Malcomb's London, vol. iii., p. 254.
t Larking.
:I: Previously Prior of St. Gillis's Province; was elected Grand Master at
Rhodes 1827, and appears to have been an able administrator and diplomatist.
He died .A..D. 1846.
234 THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT.
in raising sufficient to satisfy the more urgent creditors of
the Order. The Lombards were entirely paid off, and the
Perugians partly so, but there was still a considerable sum
owing, for which interest was exacted at 25 per celit.-the
best terms the Order could obtain ! At this time the Hospitallers
held certain lands_ which had formerly been the
property of the Knight Templars, producing £458 ls. 1 0d.,
which, by the influence of the Court and Judges of the
Courts of Law, were with the sanction of the King conferred
on the Order, and for nine years Tybertis so managed to
finance the Hospital's resourees that he was able to retire,
leaving his successor, Philip de Thane, the satisfaction of
presenting a, favourable report to the Grand Master in
1338.
For these and many other particulars we are indebted to
the researches of the late Rev. L. B. Larking, M.A.,* the
Honorary 8ecretary and one of the original founders of the
Kent .A.rchreological Society, and the admirable Introduction
to his work by J.M. Kemble, Esq., M.A.
There appeal' to have been at this time (1338) three
classes of brethren, the Knights (milites), Chaplains (Capellani),
and Esquires (servientes ad arma), or Serjeants at
Arms. Of these three classes there were in England at this
time an aggregate of 119 brethren scattered over the
country in certain bailiwicks, or preceptories as they were
called, under the general control of the Prior of the English
langue.
This high functionary resided at Olerkenwell, but once in
every year (with few exceptions) visited all the country preceptories.
The office was an extremely dignified one, the
Prior taking precedence of the lay barons of the realm. His
allowance for maintenance at Clerkenwell was 20s. a day;
but, when on a visitation, he was paid that sum by the preceptories
where he stayed. In addition to this, he received
a sum of 140 marks for robes for his household.
In the country, the preceptor occupied the same position
as lord of a manor, and received on an average 13s. 4d. for
* Kni9lit Eospitallers iii :England, published by the Camden Sooiety,
1855-56.
THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT. 235
his pay, 20s. for a robe, 6s. 8d. for a mantle, and 8s. for
other necessaries-the lower officers according to their
grades. For instance, in Swenefild the bailiff received 10s.;
the woodreve, cook, brewer, fisherman, and pages, 10s. each.
The confrairii* who were attached to a preceptory did
not always contribute personally to the funds, but they were
exceedingly useful members, and received a stipend for their
services, one of which was to solicit contributions, both for
the men, and also for maintenance of the King's forces for
the defence of the realm.
There was yet another class of persons called " canodarii,"
t those who desired to participate in the hospitality
of the Order, and the many advantages it had to offer from
the car king cares of life, when violence and robbery was ::i,s yet
unchecked, who for a sum paid down acquired the right of
pensioners, and became mo1·e or less domiciled members of
the community-having in some cases horses and servants,
and feeding sumptuously at the high table, or if of lesser
deg-ree at the second table. They also in many cases took
upon them. the livery or clothing of the Order, as "John
Dyngelee tempore fratris Thome L' Archer et fratris Leonardi
xxx marks, et robam de secta clericornm," or " robam de
secta armigerorum." .At other times not only is the husband
included, hut his wife or daughter also. Of these gentlemen
there appear to have been at least eighty, and as the
principles of life-assurance were entirely unknown, they
frequently formed a heavy burthen on the. resources of the
Order.
Olerkenwell kept up a glorious hospitality; beside fish,
flesh, and fowl from its demesne, it consumed annually
340 quarters of wheat, 413 quarters of barley, 60
quarters called dragget, oats for brewing 225 quarters, for
the stables 300 quarters, 8 quarters of oats and 4 pecks of
peas for pottage, and laid out in kitchen expenses £1216s. Sd.
per annum. A. special distribution was moreover made on
th e day of their patron saint (St. John the Baptist) to the
poor of the neighbourhood.
* Kemble, p. xxx. t Larking, Camden Society, p. 203.
236 THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT.
Where there existed no preceptory, there might be a
bajula, or a bailiwick, to superintend the management of the
estates) as would appear to have been the case at West
Peckham; elsewhere they were frequently let to farm at a
reasonable rate.
The sources of income derived from the several manors
may be summed up as consisting of rent of lands, mills,
wind, water, and fulling; the produce of preceptories, gardens,
and curtilage ; arable, pasture, and meadow land ;
columbaria, market-tolls, and stallage; donations from pensioners;
sale of stock ; appropriations of churches and
chapels; services of villeins, or copy holders in labour or
day's work in kind; assessed rents of tenants in socage;
perquisites of the courts in which pleas were tried; lastly,
collections or subscriptions from landowners or confrairii.
On the other side there was the annual cost of maintenance,
repairs of preceptories and farm buildings, rent
and law charges, collecting tolls and '
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THE KNIGHT HOSPITA.LLERS IN KENT. 255
later Tudor period, of the sixteenth or seventeenth century.
They are described as consisting of a capital messuage (or
manor house), with a farmhouse, a barn, a chapel, and other
buildings. There were also two water-mills under one roof,
and two gardens containing two acres of land, which were
granted by Edward III. to Mary St. Paul.*
I am indebted to George Payne, Esq., F.S . .A.., of the
Precinct of Rochester, for the accompanying plans and elevations,
which have been carefully measured and drawn to
scale by Miss E. Drake of .Rochester in 1893.
SUTTON AT HONE.
Sutton at Hone, in the Hundred of .A.xtane, lies to the
south-east of Dartford and Wilming·ton. In the General
Survey of Domesday it is called Achestan, and derives its
definition of Hone from its position in the valley. Henry I.
gave the Church of Sutton with the Chapel of Kyngstone,
Wilmington, Da,rtford, and Aylesford to the Bishop of
Rochester. Gilbert de Sutton held the tenths for life on a
payment of iiij marks per annum. In 1291 t the value of the
living is returned as worth xxiijl! vjs viijd.
Robert de Basing, in the reign of King John, gave the
Mauors of Sutton at Hone and Hagel (now Hawley) to the
Knight Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem; and Elen de
Sankeville, daughter of Ralph de Dene, gave all her land of
Lageham iu Penshurst to the Manor of Sutton ;t and Gilbert,
son of William Hales, Prior of Clerkenwell, gave additional
lands and rents.
King Edward II.,§ in the :first year of his reign, granted
to the Prior of Clerkenwell all his liberties and lands in
Sutton at Hone, called the Manor of Dartford cum Sutton
at Hone, which extended. into the parishes of Ash, Penshurst,
Edenbridge, etc., together with the assize of bread and ale.
In the eleventh year of Edward III, II the Manor of Sutton,
consisting of three plough lands, was leased to John, Lord
de Pulteney, by a precept from the King, and the payment
* CJamden Society, Larking, p. 212.
t Dugdale, Mon., vol. iii., p. 2, 69. t Ibid., vol. ii., p. 514.
§ Pleas apucl, Roff., 1 Edward II. [m. 19], clause 14, Edward II.
II Larking, p. 93, Kniglit Hospitallers in England.
256 THE KNIGHT HOSPITA.LLERS IN KENT.
each year reserved* to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The
amount is not given, but the rent received appears to have
been xl marks. The brethren received a sum of xx marks,
reserved as a voluntary donation on account of the said
grant, which was paid to the treasurer of the Priory. The
statement is not altogether clear, inasmuch as certain explanatory
words are wanting. The total amount which was
paid to the treasurer for the support of the Order is given
as being Ix marks. t
From a perusal of the Register:j: of the Grants and Charters
appertaining to the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem,
dated 1442, in the time of Richard Bottel, then Prior, the
grants made to this preceptory were not only numerous, but
valuable, and must have considerably added to its wealth
and resources. The mere enumeration of them extends
over not less than 76 folio pages of :MSS., in which the
names of the donors or benefactors are given, the nature and
value of the property, and where situate, but no date is
appended; consequently it becomes a matter of uncertainty
at what period they commence, although they were all previous
to 1442. To attempt to enumerate the several charters
and grants would extend this paper to an inordinate length.
I have therefore thought that a few selected examples would
be sufficient, as they are all more or less drafted on the same
lines. The first refers to Eustachius Oalnus and his gift of
12½d., and six days' work charged on his land in Sutton.
No. 2, to a charge of 2d. on a messuage in Tonbrigge. No. 3,
a rent charge for a chapel lamp. No. 4, a grant by John
Basing of his land in Sutton. No. 5, a grant of two messuages
to the Vicar of Sutton.
Grant§ of Eustace Oalnus relating to the payment 0£ 12½ denarii.
Be it known to all present and in the future that I, Eustace
Calnus, give, conceed, and by this my grant confirm to God and
* Ad sectam.
t Tanner, in his Reg. Roff., called the Preceptory De la Hone, or atte Hone,
as founded by Jeffery fitzs Piers, with a reference to Dugdale's Mon., vol. ii.,
p. 437. rranner adds a note that Dugdale is wrong in placing Sutton de la Hone
in Yorkshire, and quotes Oart. Ant., M, n. 9, p. 220. This is incorrect, Sutton
de la Hone is in the county of York.
:J; Cott. MS., Nero, E, pp. 22 a and b to fol. 260. § Ibid., fol. 230.
THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT. 257
the blessed Mary and S. John the Baptist and bretheren of the
Hospital of Jerusalem a payment of 12½ denarii in the town of
Sutton, that is to say, 5½ which the bretheren of the Hospital of
Jerusalem are accustomed to pay me annually for the pasture which
is called Dyke, and five deuarii which Eustachius de Grana and
Roger his Brother were also accustomed to pay truly for the land
which William the son of Roger, and Reginald his son held, and one
obolum for the way which lies before the gate of my mother
Ediline, and six days' work, and one pasture with its appert8 which
lies between Newweye and the pasture of Willm de Ros. And I
the before mentioned Eustace and my heirs will guarantee the before
mentioned payment to the before mentioned bretheren and their
successors against all others round about in perpetuity. These
witnessing, etc.
Grant* of Ralph Tonbridge of two denarii.
Be it known to all present and future that I, Ralph the Son of
William de Thonebrigg, give and conceede and by this my charter
confirm to God and the blessed Mary and S. John the Baptist and
the bretheren of the Hospital of Jerusalem, two denarii yearly to
the bretheren of the aforesaid House.
Grantt of Alfred de Heilonde of six denarii for a lamp in the
Chapel.
Be it known to all present and future, that I, Alfred of the
Heylond, give, conceed, and by this my charter confirm to God and
the blessed Mary, and to St. John the Baptiste and the bretheren
of the Hospital of Jerusalem to pay six denarii to maintain one
lamp in the Chapel of the Hospital before the Altar of St. Nicholas,
to be maintained for ever.
Grantt of Basinges of his land in S utton.
To all the faithful in Christ to whom the present writings may
come, I, John de Basyngges the son of Robert de Basyngges health
in the Lord. Know that I, moved with the divine love and for
the salvation of my soul, and the souls of my autecessors and
successors, give, conceede, and by these my presents confirm to God,
the blessed Mary, and S. John the Baptist, and the blessed poor of
the holy House of the Hospital of Jerusalem and the bretheren of
the House at Sutton att Hone sojourning there, and serving God,
Cott. MS., Nero, E, fol. 280,
:t: Ibid., fol. 240.
VOL, XXII,
t Ibid., fol. 288.
s
258 THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT.
all my land, which I hold in fealty of the aforesaid brothers in the
manor of Sutton, and all my land in fealty of William de W ahell,
Knt., in the same manor, which aforesaid land by any right
I have held since the decease of the said Robert de Basyngges
in the said manor of Sutton, to have and to hold the aforesaid land
with all appertnances to the foresaid bretheren and their successors
for free, pure, and perpetual alms, well and in peace from all services,
customs, exactions, and without charge or other secular demands.
And I, the said John and my heirs give the aforesaid land with all
its app'ts to the bretheren and their successors against all other
people, whether Jews or Christians, in every place for ever. In
testimony of which presents I have affixed my seal opposite. These
witnessing, etc., etc.
Grant* of Hugo, Vicar of Sutton, o:£ Messuage and House.
Be it known to all present and future that I, Hugo, Vicar of
Sutton, give, conceed, and by these my presents confirm to Robert
the Deacon of the House and Hospital of Sutton, all my messuage
with the houses built thereon, with the whole croft and all things pertaining
to it, which lies between the land which was William Blundel's
and the land which Eustace the Porter held aforetime. Moreover I
give and conceed to the same Robert all my pasture lying in Littlebrok.
Moreover I give and conceede to the same Hobert one acre of my land
lying by the land of Roger Ca.dell, to have and to hold the forementioned
land with before mentioned messuage and house and all
things appertaining to me and my heirs to them and their heirs,
paying to me and my heirs an annuity of two denarii at one time,
that is to say at the Feaste of the Nativity of John the Baptist, for
all services, exactions, and demands, saving the service to our Lord
the King. And I, the before named Hugo and my heirs, give
the whole of the before mentioned land with the messuage and
house built thereon and existing, with all its pertinences, to the
before mentioned Robert and his heirs against all people everywhere.
In testimony of which I have hereunto affixed my seal.
These witnessing, etc.
The house, building, chapel, and offices at Sutton continued
as a commandry for the management of these and
other valuable estates up to the date of the dissolution of the
Order of Knight Hospitallers, of which our public recordst
* Cott. MS., Nero, E, fol. 249.
t Exoh. Aug. Off., Particulars of Grants, 85 Hnry VIII., 1548.
THE KNIGHT HOSPITA.LLERS IN KENT. 259
contain full particulars. The Commissioners were instructed
to enquire, and reported as follows : That it was an entire
manor of itself; that there was no advowson, chantry,
or other spiritual charge. .A. recita,tion of the lands are
given and the value is assessed at xxvij11 iijs iiijd per annum,
which at twenty-one years' purchase would be worth the sum
of dxxxvjli xiiij8, including the woodland, which was separately
valued as being worth vijli x8
•
This is followed by a grant* to Maurice Dennys of the
manor and chapel of Sutton at Hone for the sum of £536
and 408
•
Hastedt tells us that Sir Maurice Dennys was descended
from a good Gloucestershire family, and that he afterwards
appended the ·addition of St. John to his name, having
acquired a grant of other lauds. In the fourth year of
Elizabeth he levied a fine of this manor, and died in 1564,
leaving it to his wife the Lady Elizabeth,t who had previously
married Sir Nicholas Statham,§ Mercer, of London. She
died in 1577, leaving the estate to her daughter Elizabeth,
widow of Vincent Randall, and her two daughters Catherine
and Martha, who possessed it in undivided moieties.
Martha carried her moiety in marriage to Thomas Cranfield,
Esq., of London, a.t whose death it passed to Sir
Randall Cranfield,11 Kut., who, in the seventh year of
Charles I., executed a writ of partition with Sarah, Countess
of Leicester,1 and her son Sir John Smythe.
The other moiety, known by the name of Sutton Manor,
was carried by Catherine the other daughter of Vincent
Randall to Robert Wrote,** Esq., of Gunton in Suffolk, who
in the tenth year of King James I. (.A..D. 1613) conveyed it to
* Patent Rolls, 35 Henry VIII., pt. 14, m. 14 (22), .A..D. 1543-4.
t Vol. ii., ;p. 346.
t In the sixth year of Henry VIII. Sir Maurice Dennys obtained a licence
of the Crown t alien the manor of Sutton to Elizabeth Statham, whom he subsequently
married. Pat. Roll {764), 86 Henry VIII., p. 25, m. 87.
§ Exch. l\'!ins. Acct., 83-84 Henry VIII. Roll 136, m. 35.
II By a writ? 12 Nov. 1553, the She riffs were ordered to distrain on Robert
Kelware and Richard Randall, Esqs., to do homage to the Queen for the manor
of utton at Ho1!e an chapel and all ythes thereto appertaining, for not
havmg first obtamed hoence of Her MaJesty to the transfer of Sir Maurice
Dennys and his wife. Orig. 37 Henry VIII., Ro. 77.
1 Exch. L. T. R. Mins., 2 and 3 Philip and Mary.
** Close Rolls, 10 James I., part 14, No. 20, 1612,
s 2
260 THE KNIGHT HOSPITAl,LERS IN KENT.
Sir William Swan* of Southfleet, and he in 1613 passed it
away to John Cole, Esq., of the Inner Temple (.A..o. 1614),
who two years afterwards sold this moiety to Sir Thomas
Smythe, t the second son of Customer Smythe of Westonhanger.
That part allotted to the Countess of Leicester and
her son Sir John Smyth became a separate manor with
Brook Place for a residence.
The attempts at a division of the manor of Sutton at
Hone between the Countess of Leicester ind her son Sir
John on the one part, and Sir Thomas Smythe of the
other, were referred in the first instance to the arbitration
of Sir George Wright and Sir Thomas Wroth, Knights,
and John Walter and Francis Downes, who having failed to
decide the question, the matter was referred to the Court of
Chancery, and it was decided by Right Hon. Lo1·d Coventrie,
Keeper of the Great Seal, in the High Court of 0hancery.t
It was decreed that the said agreement, and all matters and
things be ratified and confirmed, the defendants forthwith to
take out an execution; and that the Sheriff do proceed in
execution of the division of ibe said lands and allotments;
and that Mr. Francis Downes and Mr. George Ratcliffe shall
determine all differences between the said parties; if need
be, Sir Edward Salter, Knt., to act as umpire.
SwYNGFELD OR SwrNGFIELD.
Swyngfield, as it ii:i sometimes spelt, is situate in the
Hundred of Folkestone, about eight miles from Dover and
six and a half from Folkestone. It is also referred to by
Tanner as Ewell, hence there bas arisen some uncertainty.
It is in this or the adjoining parish that we are to look £or
the house of the Knight Hospitallers of Jerusalem.
Tanner§ states " That there was here a house of the
Sisters of the Order before they were all placed together at
Buckland, but whether this was at Swyngfi.eld is uncertain";
adding, "There was a Preceptory of Knight Temp1ars here
before 1190, to which Sir Waresius de Valoris, Sir Ralph de
* Close Rolls, 14 James I., part 3, No. 44, 1616.
t Close Rolls, 16 James I., part 2, No. 25, 1618.
:J: Chan. Enrolled Decrees, R. 508, No. 11, 1638.
§ Tanner, Notitia,.p. 217,
-.
O'NW-Yu · OP
011t qu1111,tr cf·a'n ,nc,I:) lo tl)e-joot
Jmontl:
1'HE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT. 261
Olestringham,* .Arnulf Kade, and others were great benefactors.
.At the time of the Domesday Survey it probably
formed part of the possessions of Earl Godwin, previous to
the Conquest."
Dugdale states that William de Erleigh for the love that
he bare to the King Henry and his Queen Elinore, his son
Henry and the rest of the family, and fo1· the redemption of
the li:Ee of the said William and his wife, gave the whole land
of Buckland and the church of Penitone, with other churches
and lands in divers other places, as appears by charter, at
that time drawn up at the hand of Thomas the .Archdeacon,
uncle of William de Erleigb, for the planting and ordering of
a religious house at Buckland; and that the said canons so
planted and ordered in the same pla.ce should possess the
aforesaid lands and churches for their own use for pious and
perpetual charity. After many years the canons forfeited
it by their own fault it appears, because they had slain their
own seneschal, a blocd relation of William de Erleigh. .At
the same time King Henry, moved with the affection that
he bare to Brother Garnarius, at that time Prior of the
Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, with the assent of
Richard,t .Archbishop of Canterbury, and Reginald_, Bishop
of Bath and Wells, and many others of the highest in the
land, both ecclesiastical and.fay, gave and· granted the same
lands and churches for the placing there of a Sisterhood,
about the year of_ our Lord 1180. On condition that neither
the said Prior nor.any of his successors should have any other
house in England for the reception of a Sisterhood of this
Order. except in the aforesaid house of Buckland, because
the former sisterhoods were dying out at Hampton, near
Kingston, at Herebroke, Swyng:6.eld, and other places.
On the suppression of the Order of the Templars as
before mentioned in 1312, the lands were escheated to the
Crown and given to the Prior and Brethren of the Knights
of St. John of Jerusalem.
Richard II. was undoubtedly a staunch friend of the new
Order, and at the supplication of Robert Hales,t then Prior
* Dugdale, Mo1i., vol. ii., p. 546. t Radolph Roffensis, surnamed. Nugax.
t Dugdale, Mon., vol. ii., p. 558. Prior .A..D, 1878 to 1877.
262 THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT.
of the Hospital, enlarged their charters and restored to them
all the "Jocanalia" (ecclesiasticAil ornaments), and all other
goods whatsoever which were forfeited in consequence of
the insurrection in Kent under W at Tyler, by whom the
Preceptory at Clerkenwell had been given to the flames.
The Report* drawn up and forwarded by Philip de Thane
to the Grand Master of the Order at Rhodes fortunately
enables us to form a just estimate of the importance of this
Preceptory in the early part of the fourteenth century, after
the :finances of the Order had barely recovered under the
able administration of Leonard de Tybertis.
B.A.YUL.A. DE SwENEFELD.
There was a Manor House and Garden of the yearly
value of ............................................... .
With a Dovecote producing per ann . ................. .
Rents of tenants in socage ............................ ..
A Windmill of the annual value of.. .................. .
The value of the Church appropriation .............. .
The moiety of the Church of Tilmanston ........... .
Voluntary Contributions from the bretheren of the
value of •"···:""'"'"'"'"'·••"'•"·" .......... ..
Also from iiijC:x:x acres of Land in Coklescombt worth
vid p' acre ....................................... •·· ···
And pasture of the value ................................ .
From tenants in socage in Bolynton ................. .
And in the same place c acres worth ij8 per acre .. .
Also xxx acres of pasture worth ij8 per acre ........ .
And pasture worth ..................................... ..
The whole of the receipts and profits of
the above mentioned bailiwick iiijxxij iiij iiij ...
PE:a CONTRA.,
First in house expenses; that is to say, for the Preceptory,
one brother Pensioner Henry Reed,
one parish Chaplain, and two other Secular
Chaplains, and others of the family in the
Preceptory House. In the Rouse and for
others partaking of the Hospitality.
Vij8 viijd
vs
xiij11
XXX9
xli
viijli
xx11
xll xs
xl8
xxvi8 viijd
xll
1xs
XX8•
* Larking, pp. 91 and 92. t Coklescomb in Lidden.
THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT. 263
In baking bread lx:x quarters 0£ bread at the price 0£
iij8 iiijd and x quarters 0£ fine wheat flour at ij8
Total xili vj•
Malt for beer and threashed barley c quarters at ij8 xii
For meat, fish, and other requirements £or cooking
For robes, mantels, and other necessaries £or the
bretheren ............................................ .
In stipends to iij chaplains ........................... . ..
In 1Jayment to Henry de Reed by agreement ..... .
And rendered in return to divers Lords and £or the
ward of Dover Castle ........................ ..... .
xl11
lxix8 iiijd
Jxs
xl•
l• qua.
For House repairs . .. . . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . xx8
And £or v portions £or the protection 0£ divers
Lords ...... ...... ... ...... ... ......... ......... ...... ... x8
In stipends to Esquires, and two frier clerks, to each
1 mare ................................................. ..
For officers Stipends, cook, fishermen, porter, bailifs,
reapers, and two boys of the preceptory, to
each x• .................................................. .
In payment to one page ............................... ..
In the Visitation 0£ the Priory, 11 days .............. .
Sum total 0£ all expenditures lij11 viij• iiijd
Net amount which remains to be paid to
the Treasurer for the support of the order
xliij mares xij8 viijd
iiij11
xl8
iijB
xl•
The names 0£ the \ Brother R.A.LPH B.A.SSET, Knight Preceptor.
Bretheren are (. Brother AL.A.N M ouNcEuxs.
Pensioner, HENRY DE REED.
Of* the possessions appertaining to Swyngfield at the
suppression of the Order by Parliament in the thirty-second
year of Henry VIII., it would appear that the land in
Swyngfield attached to the preceptory was thrown out of
cultivation for the time being, but the returns of Dover,
Ryver, Temple Ewell, Wyngmere, Bloxheme, Belchester,
Gate Hurst in Denton, Hoo, and other towns, Brokelancl,
Canterbury, Ower, Feversha.m, Tylmanstone, Smalshend,
Syberdyswold, etc., etc., amounted to the sum of £60 6s. 9d.,
out of which certain pensions of 40s. go to the Vicar of
* Exchequer Minister's Accounts, 38 Remy VIII., and Edward VI., Roll
32, m. 118.
264 THE KNIGHT HOSPI'l'A.LLERS IN KENT.
Ewell; and a tenth and free commons ha,d to be paid-the
whole of which passed to Sir Anthony Archer, Knight, in
two payments of £40.
The only existing remains of the pre ceptory is the ancient
chapel, some 48 feet long by 21 feet wide, having at the east
end three early lancet windows, with shaft, caps and bases,
and three circular openings above. The roof, which is entirely
of oak, is formed with a substantial tie beam and octagonal
king-post with moulded caps and ba,ses; there are
also the remains of the piscina a-μd aumbry or cupboitrd,
and three lancet windows on either side. .At the west
end there is a g-roined porch, and early pointed door.
Unfortunately the building is now divided into upper and
ground floors, and a portion cut off from the rest by a solidly
constructed chimney. Not long since there were other
buildings to the west; these have unfortunately been demolished,
and a more modern addition erected. The
similarity between the chapels of Swyng:6.eld and Sutton at
Hone is striking.
WALTHAM.
Waltham is not mentioned in Domesday, as it is situate
in three different Hundreds, Bridge, Petham, and Stouting.*
Hastedt mentions it in connection with Petham, calling
it the Manor of Waltham alias Temple, and says that it
formed part of the possessions of the See of Canterbury,
and that it was given by Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury
(the predecessor of Thomas a Becket), to Ramo de
Chethamt for Knight service and charitable purposes, and
that the same Hamo held also 67 acres of arable land,
4 acres of meadow, a,nd 13 acres of pasture, for 53s and 8d,
for all service, and that Ralph, the son of Reginald, held
15½ acres for six shillings; which lands are returned as
appertaining to the Knight Templars in the third year of
King Stephen, and were confiscated in the seventh year of
Edward II.,· and granted by a Parliament assembled at
* Philpot, p. 352. . t Hasted, vol. ix., p. 320.
t Dugdale, Mon., vol. ii., p. 527.
THE KNIGHT -HOSPITALLERS IN KENT. 265
Westminster to the Order of the Knight Hospitallers of
St. John of Jerusalem.
In the return* made by Philip de Thane to Elian de
Villa-Nova, the Grand Master at Rhodes, in 1338, it is stated
that there is in Waltham one messuage and one and a half
carucates of land held during the life of Walter Godchepe
on the payment to the Prior and Brethren at Olerkenwell
by Thomas le Archer of 408
• This land still goes by the old
name of the Temple Farm by the appellation of Godchepes. t
On the dissolution of the Order under Henry VIII. it was
escheated with other manors to the Crown, and so remained
up to the forty-seventh year of Queen Elizabeth, who granted
the same to John Mainwaring, Esq., whose daughter married
Humphry Hammond, and on his decease:j: to Sir Robert
Stapleton.
TONBRIDGE.
Odo, as Bishop of Rochester, held church lands and wood
in Tonbridge which is returned in Domesday§ as being
worth xx lbs., while Richard de Tonbridge held of the Archbishop
in his larger lands valued at x lbs., and in Peckham.
and Hadlow of xxxu, and other demesnes in a still l arger proportion
elsewhere. His son Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare
was created Earl of Hertford, and his brother Gilbert,
surnamed Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke. Roger the
second son of Richard Fitz Gilbert, on the decease of his
elder brother in 1152, founded the Priory of St. Mary
Magdalene at Tonbridge for monks of the Order of St.
Augustine. The date of this foundation is not quite clear,
the earliest charters in the Bodleian vary fromll 1135 to
1180 ; the latter date is the more probable, as the Bull of
Pope Celestine confirming the grant is dated 1191. The
Church of Ealdyngs, the Chapel of Brenchley, with the Church
of Strateshelle, and its Chapel of Mereworth, and x marks
of silver from the Manor of Tonbridge, are mentioned in
* Larking, p. 1'73. t Furley, vol. ii., y,art 1, p. 292, note.
:f; Philpot, p. 252. § Domesday, pp. viii., x., xiii.
II Turner and Cox's OaZ. of O/iarters, pp. 113, 117. Thorpe, Re9, Roff,,
pp. 666-'7.
266 THE KNIGH'l' HOSJ>l'l'ALLERS IN KENT.
this charter, together with certain lands in Wetelestone and
Snoxham on the East, Dudding bury Hanlo, a messuage juxta
barram in Thonebrigge, and vjd quit rent from. .A.gnets near
the Bridge, and the land of Gilbert le Fitz juxta portum
nostrum., with other gifts, which go to prove that the foundation
was amply endowed.
The same Roger de Clare.;c- a1so gave to the Brethren of
the Hospitalt of St. John of Jerusalem in masses for his
soul, as well as those of bis ancestors and heirs (about the
same time), the church, chapel, and advowson, as far as he
himself was concerned; which grant and concession was
duly notified to and approved by Walter, Bishop of Rochester,t
and subsequently confirmed by Pope Clement., at which time
William de Ver, who had been presented by the Prior of
St. Mary Magdalene, resigned, and all future presentations
we1·e made by the Prior and Brethren of St. John's,
Clerkenwell.§ This grant to the Prior and Brethren of
Clerkenwell appears to have caused no small irritation to the
Prior and Brethren of St. Mary Magdalene-so much so
that it was necessary for the Bishop!! to write in strong
terms to admonish them that all disobedience would be
promptly suppressed and punished.
And it was further notified to the Prior and Sub-prior
of Thonebrigge, and the Prior and Brethren of the Knights
of the Cross, that, in accordance with the apostolic mandate,
they should proceed to elect Brother Henry, Master of the
Hospital of St. John of Jer!:lsalem at Sutton, into the corporate
possession of the Church at Thonebrigge, and its
personalities, by the traditional rights of bell and key, in
the usual canonical manner. The epistle is addressed to
W. de Sancto Quinto, nominated by the Chapter, Hugo
de Tonbridge, Chaplain, Nicholas de Blakeman, Canon of
Thonebrigge, William Purdie, Clerk, and other Parishioners,
1267.
Thereupon a mandate from the Prior of the Knights of
* Dugdale, Mon. Anglm., 510. t Thorpe, Reg. Ro.ff., p. 665.
t From 1148 to 1182. § Thorpe, Reg. Ro.ff., p. 666.
II Walter de Merton, Bishop of Roohester and Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Reg. Roff'., p. 668-9, 1260.
Thorpe, Reg, Ro.ff., p. 669.
'l'HE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT. 267
St. John was issued that it should be left to the discretion
of the Prior and Sub-prior of Thonebrigge, in the Diocese of
Rochester, and Master William de Sancto Quinto, Rector
of the Church of Terlakestone, in the Diocese of Ba.th and
Wells, who were commanded within forty days of the receipt
of the mandate, either by themselves or their proctors, "in
accordance with apostolic custom, by our authority to induct
in to the corporate possession of the Oh urch of Thone brigge then
vacant by our authority, delivering all gainsayers and rebels
to ecclesiastical censure." (Dat. apud. Cruceroys 11 t11 Kal.
Februarii .A..D. 11:ICCLXVIJ.)*
In the seventh year of the reign of Edward II. (.A..D. 1314),
John de Stratford, at this time Archbishop of Canterbury,
is required to give full information to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer of all the churches, tithes, and oblations, held by
the Prior of the Hospital of St. John in EnglanJ., as well as
those formerly held by the Knight Templars; the return to
which shews, that in the Diocese of Rochester they held
the Church of Burgham, valued at xxij marks, and Tonbridge,
with the Chapel of Shiburne and St. Thomas the Martyr, of
which the annual value was lx marks, together with a payment
of x marks from the Church of .A.she, which they held
of old time.
In the returnt made by Philip de Thane to the Grand
Master, Elian de Villanova, in 1338, the Churches of Tonbridge
and Hadlo are mentioned as let with the lands and
advowsons at a rental of cxx :μiarks per annum, although
cc were due, by which it appears that a balance was still
owing.
Unfortunately the return is incomplete, and we are only
able to form an idea of the extent of the property held by
the Hospitallers, when we remember that the average value
of arable land at this time was ls. an acre, and pasture
2s., and the price of wheat 2s. 6d. to 3s. a quarter. Taking
the rental at 120 marks, the lower amount stated in the
return, it would amount to something like 1000 acres, and,
allowing for the difference of the value of money at that
* Thorpe, Reg. Ro.if., p. 669. t Larking, p. 124.
268 THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT.
time, it would produce a rental equal to about £1000 a year.
The retum subsequently made by the Commissioners appointed
under Henry VIII. -states that the land appertaining
to the Order was situate in Tonbridge, Hadlow, and
West Peckham (at which latter place there is mention made
of a preceptory). At Tonbridge some old houses and farm
buildings were sti11 standing in 1880.
In* 1526 Thomas Doucra, the Prior, and Brethren in
Chapter assembled, demised and granted to Richard Fane of
Tewdeley their Parsonage of Toubridge to farm, with all
tithes, lands, meadows, pastures, profits, and commodities
belouging to the said parsonage and advowson of vicarage,
in the Church of Tunbrige, all woods (underwoods only
excepted), from the Feaste of St. John the Baptist next ensuing
(A.D. 1526), at a rental of xiiijli sterling, with the
proviso that he and his assigns shall maintaiu and repair the
houses and buildings, palings, hedges, and ditches, at their
own costs and charges, as often as neede shall require,
during the said term of 14 years ; and the said Richard Fane
and his assigns are bound with two others in a term of }xli
sterling by an obligation bearing the date of this indenture,
to which the said Richard Fane hath put his hand and seal.
Given in our house of St. John's, Olerkenwell, beside London,
in our Chapter there holden, the J_st of May 1526.
It would appear thatt Ralphe Fane still retained posses.
sion of the church lands at the time of the suppression of
the Order in the thirty-eighth year of Henry VIII., as
appears from the Exchequer Minister's Accounts, when a
grant of the same, together with West Peckham, Stalisfield,
the Rectory of Rodmersham, and the Oha.pel of Selisbourne,
was given to him for the sum of cjli xiij 0 iiijd in the :first year
of Edward VI.
On the decease of Ralph Fane the property passed to his
wife Elizabeth,t who died i.n 1554, and alienated§ them to
Henry Stubbers:6.eld, yeoman, of Tonbridge, 1554, who again
* Reg. Roff., p. 675. Biblia Ootton., Olaudius, E, vi., fol. 263.
t Exchequer Minister's Accounts, 32-33 Henry VIII.
:I: Hasted, vol. v., p. 263.
§ •rhe Rectory and its appurtenances at Tonbridge.
.THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLEltS IN KENT. 269
parted with them to Alexander Colepeper, by the description
of the Rectory of Tonbridge, with its appurtenances, messuages,
lands, tenements, and tithes, etc., in the Parishes of
Tonbridge, Southboro', and Brombrig,* in the Great Park of
Southfrith, and the park and land called Northrith, with
the pastorri and large farms, parcels of the Rectory.
Hastedt tells us that Colepeper passed it away in the
seventh year of therP-ignof Elizabeth to William Denton, whose
son Sir Anthony held it by Knight's Service. He was one of
the Gentlemen of the Band of Pensioners both to Elizabeth
and her successor James I. He died in 1615. His monumentt
is still to be seen on the south side in the chancel of
the church, cased in armour, and his wife Elizabeth by his
side, both reclining on cushions. She survived, and married
Sir Paul Dewes of Suffolk. The property was inherited
after his death by his three nephews, Anthony, Walter, and
Arthur, the sons of Sir Alexandet Denton by Anne, daughter
of Lord Windsor.
They disposed of the Rectory, lands, and Parsonage to
several persons in districts, or tithe-wards.§ The Parsonage
consists of the tithe-wards of Baisden, and Little Barden,
formerly the property of John Petley, Esq., of Oldbury Hill,
near Ightham, who probably purchased them of the Den tons.
At his death he devised them to Gilbert Wood of Market
Cross in Sussex, who had married Elizabeth his daughter.
Their son, J. Wood of Tonbridge, left issue an only daughter,
who married John Hooker of Tonbridge, who in 1730 purchased
the Castle Manor and demesne lands, and subsequently
sold the estate to "William Woodgate of Somer hill.
The advowson of the Vicara.ge, however, still continued
in the Fane family, who resided at Hadlow Place, and was
afterwards bequeathed to David Papillon of .Acrise. It is
at present held by John Deacon, Esq., of Mabledon.
The question remains (assuming that the Vicarage existed
on the present site), where was the tithe barn, and necessary
glebe buildings for such extensive tithe land P I am
* Pembury. t Vol. v., p. 258.
:t For inscription see Reg. Roff., p. 861.
§ Hasted> vol. v., p. 258,
270 THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT.
inclined to think that they stood on a site described as" ante
barram in Villa de Thonebrigge," allotted originally to the
Priory of St. Mary Magdalene, and that when the Vicarage
and advowson was handed over to the Knight Hospitallers
the tithe barn and buildings which stood on the north side
of the church passed to them also, which transfer was, as
we have seen, resented by the Brethren of the Priory,
and so called forth strong remonstrance from Walter de
Merton,* Bishop of Rochester, against any interference with
the Knights of St. John. It is singular that we :find the
same words used by Ralph de Tonbridge in a grant of two
denarii arising from a messuage " ante barram in Villa
de Thonebrigge." When Prior Doucra and the Convent of
Clerkenwell granted a lease of the Rectory and tithe lands to
Ralph Fane this property passed with it, and at the dissolution
became his.
It may appear singular that any old buildings which
answer to the description of "ante barram in Villa de
Thonebrigge" should have existed down to the present time.
They were standing in 1573, when Queen Elizabeth in one of
her peregrinations rested here for a while on her way from
Burlingham to Eridge, the occasion of her visit to Henry
Neville, Lord Bergavenny; as the Royal Arms were painted
in tempera in one of the rooms attached to it; but a still
older portion remained until a few years ago (1881), when
it was demolished in order to make room for a more modern
addition to Ferox Hall, at that time the residence of Arthur
T. Beeching, Esq., J.P.
The old building (of which an illustration is given) was
entirely constructed of oak timber, some 45 feet in length
and 22 feet in width. It consisted of two stories, the lower
barely 6 feet 6 inches in height, over which was an upper
chamber, or hall. It was floored with rough oak slabs, from
13 to 14 inches wide and 3 inches in thickness, and approached
with oak winding staircase and newel ; the roof,
which stood on oak chamfered beams, was 24 feet high to
the ridge, with chamfered king post, moulded cap and
* Reg. Roff, A.D, 126'7, p. 668. Cott. MS. Nero, p. 280.
THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT. 271
bases, and curved ribs. The whole was lighted with two
large windows at the east end, and had a :fireplace at the
other end constructed of brick and masonry 6 feet in thickness.
It was no doubt the old tithe farm buildings which
passed on the dissolution of the Order to Ralph Fane.
Being old even ltt that time, and ill suited for a residence,
it seems probable that the before-mentioned Fane built for
himself and his wife Elizabeth, who survived him, a new
residence to the P-ast of the old building, which was constructed
in local sandstone, having a centre and two side
wings. The walls of this building are 2 feet 6 inches in
thickness, and the rooms lighted with Tudor four-light
windows. The house has since been much altered by building
over the forecourt, but enough remains to shew that
the building· corresponds to the time of his original grant.
In one of the rooms there was until recently some fine carved
oak panelling of a renaissance character, with grotesque
heads in circular wreathed carvings. These were removed
and adapted, as :fittings in Ferox Hall, by Mr. Beeching,
when the new adil.itions were made, and may still be seen
by any cnrious archooologist.
ScnrnoURNE OR SHIPBOURN.
Not mentioned in Domesday, but is returned by Ramo,*
Bishop of Rochester, in the seventh year of King Edward II.
as one of the chapelries attached to the Church of Tonbridge;
the other two being Hadlow and St. Thomas the Martyre
(Capel), which were held by the Prior and Brethren of the
Knight Hospitallers of St. John. Hastedt speaks of it, as
being " under the cognizance of the Preceptory or Commandry
of West Peckham as a Chantry Magistrate."
LITTLE OR w EST PECKHAM.
West Peckham, Little Peckham, or Littlefield with it.s
church and manor formed part of the possession of Odo, and is
mentioned in Domesday as being in the tenure of Corbin, and
answering for two sulings with arable land for six teams.
In demesne, having twelve villeins with five teams and eight
* Re9. Roff., p·. 128. t Hasted, vol. v,, p. 52.
272 THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT.
borderers, and five serfs with three acres of meadow and
wood for ten hogs. In the time of the Confessor it was
worth 12 pounds. The King has of this manor three denes
where there are four villeins, and they are worth 40•.
On Odo's* disgrace it was escheated to the Crown, and
held by Blondeville by Knight's Service of bearing one of the
King's goshawks when he went beyond the seas; at this time
the manor was valued at 15 pounds.
Tanner, t quoting from Philpot, mentions a preceptory
here belonging to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, but
it is uncertain to whom the foundation is to be attributed.
Philpot mentions the name of Sir John Colepeper as the
founder, a,nd that he gave it to the Templars before the dissolution
of the Order under Edward II. Hasted traces the
manor as being held by John de Peckham in the twenty-first
year of Edward I. as passing to Robert Scarlett, and after
him to .A.dam de Brooke, when it was accounted a manor
with a messuage, rents of assize, and 184, acres of land and
wood, and so held by his widow Dionisia, who died possesse<;l
of it .A..D. 1332, when it was divided into two moieties; the
one held by John de Mereworth and the other by Lionel,
Duke of Clarence, in right of his wife Elizabeth, daughter
and heir of William de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, and his
daughter Philippa, the wife of Edmond Mortimer, Earl of
March, after which the property passed to the Colepepers,
and Sir John Colepeper, one of the Justices of the Common
Pleas, gave it to the Knight Hospitallers in the tenth year
of the reign of Henry IV., A.D. 1408; and this seems the
more probable as there is no mention of it in Dugdale's
Monasticon, or in the return made by Philip de Thane to the
Grand Master in 1338.
Sir John Colepepert made his will on the Feast of St.
John the Baptist, 1413. After the usual piou13 bequest of
his soul to God and the Blessed Virgin, he directs that his
body should be buried beside his sepulchre§ in the Parish
* Hasted, vol. v., pp. 57, 58. t Tanner, p. 227. Philpot, p. 269.
:t: Lambeth Palace Library, Chiohele, part 1, fol. 265 b.
§ The monument has this inscription on a brass plate: Rio Jaoet Johannes
Colepeper miles ...• unus justicius domini regis de oommuni banco .... et
Kalri ...• obiit xxx.0 die mensis Augusti A,D. MCCC • , •• animabus propioiatur
Deus .Amen.
THE KNIGHT HOSPITALLERS IN KENT. 273
Church of Westpecham, and leaves the sum of xx8 to be
distributed to the poor residing in the neighbourhood of the
parish of Offam; and to the Church of W estpecham he leaves
a Service Book, to be and remain in the custody of his wife
Katherine while she lives at Oxnode, or to be disposed of
in any other way that the said Katherine and his other
executors may see fit. "I also leave for my soul and John
Solas de Ledys for distribution to the poor xx9
; also I ]eave
to the bretheren of the House Elisford for the celebrations
for my soul and the souls of my ancestors xl8
; and also for
the poor attending at my funeral jd; also to Walter Ladde,
the Vicar of Westpecham, for tenths, and oblations of
obits x8
; also to the Vicar of Hadlo for a like purpose
vj 8 viijd; also to the Vicar of Wrotham for the like V8
; also
to the Church of Brenchesle for the like xs; also to John
Wyght xx9
; also to William Onger xiijs iiijd; also to my
farm laborors who I may have at that time ij8, to be distributeu
by my executors; also to the poor house called
Spitelhouse at London and Canterbury vjs viijd for my soul
and the souls of w·alter Colepeper, Richard, Charles, and
Alice his wife, to pray for me ; also for distribution to the
poor in the parishes of Maydeston and Eastfarlegh for my
soul and the souls of Walter Colepeper, Charles, and Alice
his wife for prayers v marks ; also for two thousand masses
to be celebrated at London and Canterbury and elsewhere
continuously after my decease, 1000 for my soul and another
1000 for my mother's and Walter Colepeper's; also to Walter
Throld xl5, and the residue of my goods not heretofore
devised I leave to my wife Katherine, and appoint my wife
Katherine, Thomas Boteller, late Vicar of Hadlow, John
W oodchirch, John Brikenden, and John Godfray my executors.
In testimony of which I hereby affix my seal." Also
to the parish of West Peckham for the work and fabric of
the Church xx marks.
'rhe advowson* of the Church of West Peckham was held
by the Prior and Convent of Ledes in the twenty-first year
of Edward I., 1298, and confirmed by Thomas, Bishop of
Rochester, in 1333.
* Reg. Roff'., p. 514.
VOL, XXU. T
. 274 THE KNIGHT ROSPITALLERS IN KENT.
Tonbridge and Hadlow* are stated in the return made by
Philip de Thane in 1338 to have been let to farm, at a yearly
rental of 120 mares, and so continued let until the Order was
suppressed by Henry VIII., and passed with West Peckham,
Stalisfield with its members, the Rectory of Rodmersham,
Hadlow, Tonbridge, Shibourn, and Capel to Ralph Fane,
and are returned as valued at 101 pounds 13 shillings and
4 pence.
The remains of the preceptory are yet standing on the
south-east side of the church, near the vicarage, and consist
of a range of timber buildings forming two sides of a square.
They are both old and dilapidated, and are now utilized as
labourers' cottages. They are picturesque and worth a
visit.
Other buildings also which belonged to the Order of
Knight Hospitallers are standing on the higher laud in the
rear of Oxenhoath, being locally known as "Rats' Castle."
On the gable may be seen the distinctive letters S. I.; these
also are utilized as labourers' cottages. The accompanying
views will give a better idea of these ancient buildings than
any lengthened description.
" Thus time which wears the stones away
Of Buildings old, and Ruins Grey,
Recalls the past-but who may tell
How long they flourished ere they fell !"
* Larking, :p. 124.
