Miscellaneous Notes

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES A SYDNEY LAWSUIT: .AN ADDENDUM In my article" A Sydney Lawsuit" publliihed in Arch. Oant., LXIV (1951),pp. 1-12, I failed, through an oversight, to mention three records preserved among the State Papers Domestic which bear upon the )llatter. The omission is here made good. These records demonstrate the avidity with which the Council of State attempted to appropriate the possessions of Princess Elizabeth and emphasize the prudence which had prompted her to leave her valuables a.t Penshurst when she was ordered to Carisbrooke. They also substantiate the claim of the trustees that they wrote to Lady Leicester for particulars of the Royal jewels in January, 1650-1. On 9th October, 1650, only four days after the Rev. Richard Lovell had drawn up his memora.ndum, the Council of State resolved : " To write Capt. Mildmay to send to Council an inventory of the jewels that were in the possession of the Lady Elizabeth at the time of her death, and to see tha.t they are secured until further order."1 A month later (6th November) the resolution was repeated: " To write to Capt. Anth. Mildmay to render an account of the jewels and other things which the ;Lady Elizabeth died possessed of. "2 By 14th November the Council must have received information that the desired objects were not in the I.ale of Wight. For on that day it was decided "Col. Purefoy, Sir Hen. Mildmay, Col. Stapley, and Sir Jas. Harrington to be a committee for finding out the jewels that Lady Elizabeth died possessed of, and to write to such as have them to render them into their hands, to be disposed of by order of Parliament.''3 M. R.TOYNBEE. 1 Oafonda•r of Suite Papers Dome.stic, 1650, p. 376. 2 Ibid., p. 415. 3 Ibid., p. 428 . . 16/'i MISCELLANEOUS NOTES THE REP.AIRING OF THE MEDWAY FORTS C. 1700 Oppenheim, who wrote a very good account of the maritime history of Keri.tin the Victoria County History,4 had little to say> about the . 4 V.O.H. Kent, II, pp. 243-388. 5 Op. cit., p. 332. 16/'i MISCELLANEOUS NOTES rebuilding of the Medway defences after the series of events beginning with the destruction of Sheerness Fort by the Dutch in March, 1667 .1 A start was made on the 22nd January, 1667-8 when a Privy Council Committee for dealing with the fortifications determined on the finishing of work at Sheerness and the erection of new batteries at Cockham Wood and Bird's Nest, below Upnor. Later, probably during the third Dutch War (1672-4), Middleton's battery was made between Upnor and Cockham Wood, according to Oppenheim.2 At the beginning of 1692 a French and Irish force, assembled in France for the invasion of England, gave an incentive to strengthening the defences but Admiral Russell's defeat of the French fleet off La Hogue on the 19th May of the same year removed all fear of attack and could have ushered in a period of self-satisfied slackness. A deed, 3 recently obtained by Maidstone Museum and quoted herewith, proves that the Government was not content to relax even after the Peace of Ryswick was signed between England and France in October, 1697. "An Estimate of Worke and Repaires necessary to be done att the Severall Forts and Batterys upon the River Medway- At How Ness Battery 490 Foot Wharfing to be done wth Firr piles 26 foot Long drove downe to be planked Twenty foot High wth two inch Firr plank wth two Tyre of Landtyes (The upper Tyre of Landtyes 24 foot long at least wth Keys and Piles and the lower tyes 20 foot long) & two Walpeices 9 & 7 Inches Scantling and a Campshott 12 & 10 Inches wth Boults, Spikes, and all other Ironworke at 408 per Foott 373½ Floares of Earth in Raiseing the Ambrazures, and filling up the Wharfes att 9• per Floare 69, Squares ofSodd Worke att 248 per Square 51, Square½ Rowleing Sodds att 88 per Square 5, Square Plankeing wth two inch Firr planke upon the Platforms att 408 per Square . 1 Op. cit., p. 327. li. s. d. 980 ,, 00 ,, 00 168 ,, 01 ,, 06 82 ,, 16 ,, 00 20 ,, 08 ,, 00 10 ,, 00 ,, 00 1,261 ,, 05 ,, 06 2 Op. cit., p. 329. But, according to a note on p. 49 of Mitchell's edition of Hogarth's Peregrination, 1952, Middleton's 10-gun battery is shown on a 1620 chart of the Medway forts. 3 Endorsed : 9th December 1698-An Estimate for Repairing the several! Forts and Batterya upon the River Medway. 166 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES At Gillingham Fort- 400, Foot of Drift Wharfeing done w th Firr Piles, each Pile 14 foot Long, one Wallpeice 9 & 7 Inches Scantling wth one Tyre of Landtyes and a Campshott planked wth two inch Firr planke 7 Foot High att 148 per Foot 600 Foot of Drift Wharfeing to be repaired at 68 per Foot Repaires of the Sluce 56, Foot Running Measure of Trunke, 16 inch's Clear wt hin, wth 3 inch Plank.e at 66 per foot 60, Foot Framed Wharfeing 12 foot High wth Firr w th one Walepeice 9 & 7 inch's, and one Tire of Landtyes wth Mudsile 12 inches, and 8 inches Campshott, 10 & 12 inches Punchions 5 & 9 inches well Brest piled at 206 per foot One Penstock to the same Two Aprons 10 foot by 8 foot att 12u Joysts and planked 200 Foot plankeing the Drawbridge wth two-inch planke of Oake at 3u per Square 60 Running foot of Raile 6 & 4 at 308 202 Floars of Earthworke in making good the Ambrazures Sluce &c at 98 per Floar 113 Square of Soddworke in making good the Ambra.zars & Brest Works at 248 per Square 106, Square of Rowling Sodds at 88 per square 13014 Foot of Kentish Ashler for the making New Platformes at 20d per foot Cockham Wood Battery 10856 Foot of Kentish Ashier for paveing the Plat. formes at 20d per foot 48 Rodd ½ Briokworke at 711 per Rodd 466 Floars of Earth in filling up diging foundations and Raising the parrapetts at 99 per Floare 30 Square ½ of Soddworke at 248 per Square 47 Square½ Rowling Sodds at 88 per Square 167 280 ,, 00 ,, 00 180,, 00,, 00 16,, 16,, 00 60,, 00,, 00 5,, 00,, 00 12,, 00,, 00 6,, 00,, 00 1 ,, 10,, 00 90,, 18,, 00 135,, 12,, 00 42,, 08 ,, 00 1084,, 10 ,, 00 1914,, 14,, 00 904 ., 13 ,, 04 339 ,, 10 ,, 00 209 ,, 14,, 00 36., 00,, 00 19,, 00,, 04 1508 ,, 17 ,, 04 l\ITSCELLANEOUS NOTES Birdsnest Battery 3690 Foot of Paveing the Platforme wth Kentish Ashier at 20d per foot 5 Floar's ½ of Earth Worke at 98 per Floare 28 Square½ of Sodd Worke at 248 per Square Middletons Battery 2160 Foot paveing wth Kentish Ashier in the Platforme at 20d per foot 3½ Floars of Earth W orke at 98 per floare 14 Square of Sodd Worke at 248 per Square 9 Square of Rowleing Sodds at 88 per Square At Upnor Castle 3488, foot of Ashier in the Platformes att 20d per foot 68 foot Measure of Brickworke at 7li per Rodd 6 Floars of Earthworke at 98 per floare 8 Square ½ of Soddworke at 248 per Square 6 Square ½ Rowleing Shodds at 88 per Square 320 foot Run.ing Measure Raile of Oake 9 & 7 inches Scantling at 28 per foot for to strengthen the piles drove before the Castle 12 Braces Ditto 13 foot Long & 10 inch's Square to be Spiked to the Raile above & Landtye below at 248 eaoh At Sheerness 10 Rodd of Brickworke to repaire the Parrapetts at 711 105 per Rodd 782 Yards of Brick paveing upon the Walls at 28 per Yard 226 Floars of Earth for Raising the parrapets at 108 per floare 154 Square of Soddworke att 268 per Square 166 Square of Rowling Sodds at 1()11 per Square 34704 foot paveing of platforme wth Ashler at 20,1 per foot 168 307 ,, 10 ,, 00 2,, 09,, 06 34,, 04,, 00 351 ,, 07 ,, 06 179,, 03,, 04 1,, 11,, 06 16,, 16,, 00 3,, 12,, 00 201 ,, 02 ,, 10 290 ,, 03 ,, 04 l ,, 15,, 00 2,, 14,, 00 12,, 04,, 00 2,, 12,, 00 32,, 00,, 00 14,, 08,, 00 355,, 16,, 04 75,, 00,, 00 78,, 04,, 00 113 ,, 00 ,, 00 200 ,, 04 ,, 00 83 1100 11 00 2892 II oo·,, oo 3441 ,, 08 ,, 00 :MISCELLANEOUS NOTES · Abstract vizt Howness Battery1 Gillingham Fort Cock.ham Wood Battery Birdnest Battery Middleton Battery2 Upnor Castle Sheerness li. s. d. 6262.0S-.00 1261 ,, 05 ,, 06 1914 ,, 14,, 00 1508,, 17,, 04 351 ,, 07 ,, 06 201 ,, 02 ,, 10 365,, 16,, 04 3441 ,, 08 ,, 00 Sum:me Totall is 9034 ,, 11 ,, 06 More For Sheerness For Building Lodgings for the Officers For 13320 Yards of Levelling and paveing the Fort with Raggstone or Pebbles · For Supplying the Guns wth standing Carriages Totall 1330 ,, 00 ,, 00 991 ,, 00,, 00 500 ,, 00 ,, 00 11855 ,, 11 ,. 06" It will be noticed that Kentish Ragstone forms a large part of the Sheerness repair work and it is probable that most of this came from the Boughton quarries and was shipped from Waterside, Maidstone, as it had been done from medieval times.3 The contract for this shipment still exists4 and is as follows : " 1st March 1703 /4 Contracted and agreed the day and Year above written by vertue of an Order the same day of the Board by and between the Principall Officers of her Majts Ordnance vizt the Rt Honble John Lord Granvill Lieutenant Generali William Bridges Esqr Surveyor GeneraJl Christopher Musgrave Esqr Clerk of the Ordnance James Lowther Esqr Storekeeper and Ja.mes Craggs Esqr Clerk of the Deliverys for and on her Majts behalfe with William Weaver of Maidstone in Kent for providing and bringing to Sheerness at his own proper cost and Charge such Kentish Ragstone as from time to time he shall be directed in the space of one whole Year from the Date hereof for the Service of the Works there to be taken out and deliver'd ashore at the Charge of her Majtl.0 for which Ragstone 1 Op, oit., ll, p. 332. Fo1· the sites of these forts a.nd batteries see the late seventeenth oentury map oft.he Medway by Joseph Spioe, illustrated opposite p. 358 of op. oit. A =Jomes's Batte1•y. 0 See L. F. Salzman's Building in England down to 1540, pp. 121-2. 4 At Maidstone Museum. 169 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES upon due Certificate of such Person or Persons as shall be appointed to receive the same he shall be paid the Rate of four Shillings per Tunn by Bill and Debenture according to the Course of the Office; And the said Ragstones being at his own proper cost and Charges to be transported thither in Hoya he hereby obliges himselfe to give in the names of such Hoys as he shall employ in that Service to the end the first Loading that each of them shall come with may be ·weighed by such Person or Persons as by this Office shall be appointed to see the same for adjusting the Tonage of them for the future, and alsoe he hereby obliges himselfe that every of the said Roys shall at every time fully and compleatly contain soe many Tunns as the Lading weigh'd that the first came with, and in case upon weighing the Lading of any of the said Hoya after it shall be found otherwise, he shall not only make good what shall then be found short of the Weight of her due Loading but alsoe forfeit the Summe of Fifty Pounds for every such Offence to be deducted out of any money that shall be due to him in the said Office In witness whereof he hath hereunto sett his hand and Seale the Day and Yeare aforesaid. Seal'd and deliver'd the Paper b􀃱ing first stampt in presence of Tho. White Row. Gibson Will Weaver " William Weaver was Mayor of Maidstone in 1691 and 1701 and lived in the house at the bottom of St. Faith's Street, Maidstone, now called "Weaver's" in his memory and the property of our member, Mr. J. W. Bridge, F.S.A. L. R. A. GROVE . 170 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES .AN EARLY SKETOH OF DUNGENESS LIGHTHOUSE To build a lighthouse at Dungeness was originally the plan of John Allen, gold􀃲mith and freeman of the nearby town of Rye; he was unable, however, to raise enough money for his project, which was taken up and completed by Hugh Bullock, the patent being granted, upon proposition of Mr. Bing and William Lamplugh, and upon the recommendation of the Privy Council, to Sir Edward Howard. By the printed proclamation of this patent, dated May 31, 1615, Sir Edward was to receive one penny for every ton of shipping passing there. The lighthouse was evidently very requisite, for in the year before its erection, " 1000 persons . . . perished there for want of light." Local tradition states that it stood by the Pen Bars, at the outlet of Dengemarsh Sewer ; it is, in fact, shown there in the map published by 170 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES Dugdale. In 1634 the Earl of Thanet declared that the lighthouse stood on the demesnes of his Manor of Dengemarsh, and complained that, although it brought in an annual revenue of £500, he could not obtain the small ground rent of £6. Stevenson1 says that the tower of this lighthouse was rebuilt several times ; a new lighthouse was evidently built about 520 yards North of Fm. 1. EARLY SKETCH OF DUNGENESS LIGHTHOUSE the present one ; a third was built in 17922 ; and this, in turn, was superseded by the present light in 1904, the fourth that we know of. The accompanying illustration is from a sketch in the B.M. (Sloane 2717, a tracing of which is in Add. 28655,f5), of the building as it stood in 1692. Its construction reminds one of a windmill ; the top is flat 1 Engli8h Lighthouse Tours, 1801-18, edited D. A. Stevenson: there is a picture of the lighthouse in 1818 on p. 54. 2 This 1792 lighthouse was only partly dismantled in 1904; the bottom section still remains as a private, rather singular, and surely unique, dwelling house. 171 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES and railed, with an open brazier tended by the keeper (shewn), and fed by fuel hoisted from below by the pulley on the right. IAN JONES. (Authorities : Cal. S.Ps. Dom. 1611-18, pp. 299, 305 ; 1619-23, pp. 227 ; 1623-5, pp. 184, 133 ; 1634-5, p. 424. Hasted, Ill, 512; Acts Priv. Cl., 1615-16, p. 185.) SYMPOSIUM. THE BROMLEY OlliRTER DATED A.D. 862 "The Historical Background." Mrs. Margaret Gelling. "The Boundaries: Geological, Topographical, and Place Name Evidence." Mrs. N. Piercy Fox:. "The Dens of the Charter." Dr. Gordon Ward. "Unidentified Place Names on the Beckenham Boundary." Geoffrey Tookey, Q.C. Local members of the Society; together with members of Affiliated Societies in the area, met at the invitation of the Local Secretary for Bromley on Saturday, 21st September, 1952, to study and discuss the Saxon Charter dated A.D. 862 which is preserved in the British Museum and known as the Bromley Charter. A small exhibition of material . relevant to the Charter was on view. In the opening paper Mrs. Margaret Gelling, Secretary of the English Place Name Society, gave her translation of the Charter in which King Ethelbert granted to Dryhtwa.ld, his minister, an estate of ten sulungs at Bromley. It is worded in the conventional pious phrases of Anglo-Saxon Charters although it is unlikely that this particular gift had any ecclesiastical significance. About a century later King Edgar granted the estate of ten sulungs to Rochester Priory. It was involved in some interesting but complicated litigation in the second half of the tenth century. Later it was confiscated by.King Ethelred but ultimately .restored to the Bishop of Rochester with a long Latin apology for the confiscation. In the charter of restoration the land was described as six sulungs which was also the assessment in Domesday Boole. There are. two possible explanations. Ethelred could have reduced the assessment of the estate to six sulungs and saved the monks taxation, but he was not the man to pass over in silence so praiseworthy an action whereas it wo1Jld be typical of him to pass over the retention of four sulungs of land to which he had no just claim. _ In the second paper Mrs. Piercy Fox made a study of the boundaries, taking first the Geological evidence. The bounda1·ies of the old ecclesiastical parishes in the area were shown plotted on a geological drift map and the significance of the geological control was immediately apparent, for the parish of Bromley was seen to contain a very high proportion of poor land on the Blaokheath Pebble Beds and the boundaries were drawn to exclude the more valuable soils and. out-. 172 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES crops. The very detailed boundaries of the 862 Charter were collated with the boundaries of the later charters and any topog1·aphical evidence which could be used to fix points on the boundaries was examined. The Place Name evidence considered in relation to the geology and topography produced very interesting results, particularly on the northern and eastern boundaries. The Swelgende of the 862 Charter was identified with " de Marlera apud Swellinde Pette in villa de Ohesilherst" of an undated charter, probably thirteenth century. The pit is on the Bromley /Chislehurst boundary and the A.S. swelgende means a place which "swallows up." The exactness of Anglo-Saxon nomenclature is shown by the record of the excavation of this pit; " bones of large animals of the ox: and deer families were found at the bottom of the pit in a strata 4 ft. deep which was covered with a layer of chalk debris, then followed more layers of animal bones among them a skeleton of a hog and a small horse while at the top, clearly the latest object that had fallen in, was a small vessel of Samian ware." The "marlera" gave its name to Marle House, later "Elmstead," close by. The weard sell of the 862 and later charters on the Keaton boundary was identified with the Iron Age Camp in Holwood Parle Before the eastern sector of the ramparts was destroyed they touched the parish boundary, and the field name Warbank on the southern slopes of the camp supports the identification. All the available evidence for the boundaries was shown plotted on maps and plans and attention drawn to gaps still to be bridged, notably Oheddan Leage on the Bromley /Lewisham boundary, Sioxslhtre on the Crofton boundary and Bipplestydae and Acustydae on the Wickham /Beckenham boundary. Mr. Geoffrey Tookey contributed a short paper, illustrated with lantern slides, on the problem of the difference in hideage between the 862 and later grants and on the gaps in evidence on the Beckenham boundary. Mr. Geoffrey Copus commented on the Orpington boundary and exhibited a map of the Field Names on this boundary. Finally Doctor Gordon Ward spoke on the Dens of the Charter. The geological evidence had shown that the grant of ten sulungs in 862 was mostly poor land and therefore the dens may have been the more valuable part of the grant, and this view is supported by the dens being placed first in the grant of 973. Dr. Ward exhibited a map he had prepared which showed that the dens were in the Hundred of Westerham and, a point of particular interest, they lay alongside the Roman Road from London to Lewes which connects both areas of the Charter. The papers were summarized by Dr. Ward and a general discussion followed in which Mr. C. C. Fagg contributed a number of interesting points, and many members of the Society took part. N. PIERCY Fox. 173 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES SYMPOSIUM. THE BROMLEY OlliRTER DATED A.D. 862 "The Historical Background." Mrs. Margaret Gelling. "The Boundaries: Geological, Topographical, and Place Name Evidence." Mrs. N. Piercy Fox:. "The Dens of the Charter." Dr. Gordon Ward. "Unidentified Place Names on the Beckenham Boundary." Geoffrey Tookey, Q.C. Local members of the Society; together with members of Affiliated Societies in the area, met at the invitation of the Local Secretary for Bromley on Saturday, 21st September, 1952, to study and discuss the Saxon Charter dated A.D. 862 which is preserved in the British Museum and known as the Bromley Charter. A small exhibition of material . relevant to the Charter was on view. In the opening paper Mrs. Margaret Gelling, Secretary of the English Place Name Society, gave her translation of the Charter in which King Ethelbert granted to Dryhtwa.ld, his minister, an estate of ten sulungs at Bromley. It is worded in the conventional pious phrases of Anglo-Saxon Charters although it is unlikely that this particular gift had any ecclesiastical significance. About a century later King Edgar granted the estate of ten sulungs to Rochester Priory. It was involved in some interesting but complicated litigation in the second half of the tenth century. Later it was confiscated by.King Ethelred but ultimately .restored to the Bishop of Rochester with a long Latin apology for the confiscation. In the charter of restoration the land was described as six sulungs which was also the assessment in Domesday Boole. There are. two possible explanations. Ethelred could have reduced the assessment of the estate to six sulungs and saved the monks taxation, but he was not the man to pass over in silence so praiseworthy an action whereas it wo1Jld be typical of him to pass over the retention of four sulungs of land to which he had no just claim. _ In the second paper Mrs. Piercy Fox made a study of the boundaries, taking first the Geological evidence. The bounda1·ies of the old ecclesiastical parishes in the area were shown plotted on a geological drift map and the significance of the geological control was immediately apparent, for the parish of Bromley was seen to contain a very high proportion of poor land on the Blaokheath Pebble Beds and the boundaries were drawn to exclude the more valuable soils and. out-. 172 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES crops. The very detailed boundaries of the 862 Charter were collated with the boundaries of the later charters and any topog1·aphical evidence which could be used to fix points on the boundaries was examined. The Place Name evidence considered in relation to the geology and topography produced very interesting results, particularly on the northern and eastern boundaries. The Swelgende of the 862 Charter was identified with " de Marlera apud Swellinde Pette in villa de Ohesilherst" of an undated charter, probably thirteenth century. The pit is on the Bromley /Chislehurst boundary and the A.S. swelgende means a place which "swallows up." The exactness of Anglo-Saxon nomenclature is shown by the record of the excavation of this pit; " bones of large animals of the ox: and deer families were found at the bottom of the pit in a strata 4 ft. deep which was covered with a layer of chalk debris, then followed more layers of animal bones among them a skeleton of a hog and a small horse while at the top, clearly the latest object that had fallen in, was a small vessel of Samian ware." The "marlera" gave its name to Marle House, later "Elmstead," close by. The weard sell of the 862 and later charters on the Keaton boundary was identified with the Iron Age Camp in Holwood Parle Before the eastern sector of the ramparts was destroyed they touched the parish boundary, and the field name Warbank on the southern slopes of the camp supports the identification. All the available evidence for the boundaries was shown plotted on maps and plans and attention drawn to gaps still to be bridged, notably Oheddan Leage on the Bromley /Lewisham boundary, Sioxslhtre on the Crofton boundary and Bipplestydae and Acustydae on the Wickham /Beckenham boundary. Mr. Geoffrey Tookey contributed a short paper, illustrated with lantern slides, on the problem of the difference in hideage between the 862 and later grants and on the gaps in evidence on the Beckenham boundary. Mr. Geoffrey Copus commented on the Orpington boundary and exhibited a map of the Field Names on this boundary. Finally Doctor Gordon Ward spoke on the Dens of the Charter. The geological evidence had shown that the grant of ten sulungs in 862 was mostly poor land and therefore the dens may have been the more valuable part of the grant, and this view is supported by the dens being placed first in the grant of 973. Dr. Ward exhibited a map he had prepared which showed that the dens were in the Hundred of Westerham and, a point of particular interest, they lay alongside the Roman Road from London to Lewes which connects both areas of the Charter. The papers were summarized by Dr. Ward and a general discussion followed in which Mr. C. C. Fagg contributed a number of interesting points, and many members of the Society took part. N. PIERCY Fox. 173 MISC􀀛LLAlj.EOUS NOTES PRONUNOI.A.TION OF THE NAME HASTED In volume I of Edward Hughes' l[ent Slcetckes and Annotations, a manuscript in Maidstone Museum, the author1 has added to his description of the former Hasted property of Huntingfield House, Eastling, the following note : " I, long intimate with the parish of Hollingbourne, and in frequent communication with people who knew the Revd. Edwd. Hasted,2 always heard the name as Haste-􀃖nly from Mr. Russell,3 a stranger, had it come to me as Hassted: but now, May 1903, Mr. Louis King has appealed to me on the point: he too had ever pronounced it as I have done, but he says that everyone he meets with in London who may have to refer to the historian, sounds it the otherway as seemingly justified by the spelling. I shall of course continue to the local and doubtless family pronunciation.'' L. R. A. GROVE. 1 A Maidstone artist of considerable skill and merit. Ria mother's cousin was William Alexander, the water-colourist. 2 Son of the Historian of Kent. Vicar of Hollingbourne for 65 yea.re. Died in 1855, aged 94. • J. M. Rusaell, author of The Hi,,t,ory of Maidstone, 1881. 174