Reviews: "The Church and Village of Tunstall, Kent"

( 170 ) REVIEWS. THE CHUROH .AND VILLAGE OE TUNSTALL, KENT. The Church and Village of Tunstall, Kent. By A. Midwinter, Rector of Tunstall. Privately printed 1937. Square 8vo. No price. MR. MIDWINTER is not the first historian of TunstaU. One hundred and fifty-eight years ago John Nichols pubhshed in Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica, " The History and .Antiquities of TunstaU in Kent," by Edward Rowe Mores. The Author was the son of Edward Mores, Rector of the parish from 1711 to 1740, and, in his day, an antiquary of some repute. His book contains much valuable information —including an Appendix of original documents, and pedigrees of the several lords of the manor, and of the other principal inhabitants of the parish. Unfortunately like most other topographical works of the eighteenth century, the book is written in a somewhat duU and ponderous style, and, moreover, is now very difficult to procure. Mr. Midwinter, of course, makes use of the earlier work, but he treats his matter with a much Hghter touch, and adds much that is his own. His primary object being to interest his parishioners in the history of theh church and parish, he has been careful not to overload his pages with arohseologioal subtleties, or architectural technicahties. He defines his attitude towards his task by quoting the saying of Voltahe, " Woe to the author who is always wanting to instruct; the secret of boring is that of saying everything." A wise saying, no doubt, but the difficulty is to know what to omit. Mr. Midwinter knows what wiU interest people to-day and selects or omits accordingly ; thus in Chapter II, headed Notable Rectors, Simon Mepham, the most famous name on the hst is dismissed with the foUowing brief note : " Became Rector in 1310 and in 1327 was consecrated .Archbishop of Canterbury. He died in 1333 and was buried in the Cathedral (St. Anselm's Chapel)." On the other hand nearly two pages are devoted REVIEWS. 171 to Rector G. B. Moore (1837-1885), who according to popular tradition had an income of £10,000 per an., kept nine horses and twenty-three servants ! The church was restored during Mr. Moore's incumbency— too drastically, of course, but on the whole in a much better manner than many other churches which were taken in hand in the middle of the last century. Mr. Midwinter gives (avoiding construction and details) an interesting description of the church as it exists to-day. He is puzzled as to the purpose of the Httle hatch with iron grating and shutter, in the south door, and surmises t h a t " it was probably constructed at the time of the civU wars—possibly in 1648, when there was much fighting round Maidstone . . . it seems Hkely therefore that fugitives were concealed in the church, and that the hatch was made to enable theh friends outside to communicate with them." This explanation is, we think, most improbable ; it is more likely that the hatch was inserted merely to give a httle ventUation in the days when the church was kept locked during week-days. We notice with satisfaction that the south chapel now caUed the Hales chapel, but more correctly the Crowmer chapel, has recently been restored and adapted to pubhc worship, and that the monument of Sh James Crowmer (d. 1613) which for fifty years lay upon the floor of the chapel in a dismembered state has been to some extent restored— a complete restoration, except at prohibitive cost, was not possible, since many of the parts are missing; but the kneeHng figures of Sir James and his whe with those of theh three daughters have now been placed on a low waU, buUt for the purpose, against the south waU of the chapel. On the floor of this chapel is a brass of a lady in a Erench hood, ruff, and gown with embroidered petticoat, the inscription is lost. Mr. Midwinter says " name unknown," but it is almost certainly the memorial to Frances the whe of James Crowmer, esquire, who died in 1597. Amongst the more famous Lords of the Manor dealt with in Chapter XX, it is surprising to find no reference to 172 REVIEWS. Sh Walter Manny, KG., who held the Manor of TunstaU from 1346 to his death which occurred in 1372. Sh Walter, whose mihtary exploits are related by Eroissart, was one of the ablest and bravest of Edward I l l ' s soldiers of fortune. Hasted states that his arms were formerly in one of the windows of the church. In the first quarter of the fifteenth century the manor was purchased by Sh WUHam Crowmer, a member of the Drapers Company, and Lord Mayor of the City of London in 1413. On page 92 we read that this Sh William left by his wiU £40 for the fabric of the church, £70 for repairing bad roads, and £40 to the poor of TunstaU. These sums seemed so extraordinarily large that we were inclined to doubt theh accuracy, and this was confirmed on referring to Rowe Mores, when we discovered the several amounts were £10 to the church, £20 to road repahs, and £10 to the poor. The mistake was due to the use of Roman figures by Mores who wrote xl for £10, and xxl for £20. The Crowmer who married the daughter of Lord Saye and Sele, and who, with his father-in-law, was murdered by the rebels under Jack Cade in 1450 was Sh William, and not, as is stated on p. 92, Sir James Crowmer. On p. 74 the name of Erancis Bradley Dyne should have been inserted as the owner of Gore Court house before that of George Smeed. In the Hst of Rectors (p. 13) the foUowing misprints occur : Eor Lambert de Monetto, read Lambert de Moneto. Eor Alex ? de Steddale read Alex % de Sleddale, For Thomas ButiUes read Tho. ButiUer. Eor John ColdweU read John GoldweU. In the chapter on EHzabeth Carter two corrections should be made. She died in 1806, not 1801, and was buried in the cemetery belonging to St. George's, Hanover Square, in the Bayswater Road, London. To illustrate his book Mr. Midwinter has made use of two plates from More's History, and has further adorned it with pen and ink sketches of his own—that of the interior of the church is of exceptional merit. He gives also, for reference, a sketch map of the parish, and rubbings of certain REVIEWS. 173 graffite, which occur low down on the south respond of the chancel arch of the church. These, we read, were sent to " a weU-known authority on such matters at the Victoria and .Albert Museum." No definite pronouncement as to the meaning of these scribblings seems to have been made by the gentleman consulted, who, however, suggested that the rubbings should be sent to the Kent .Archaeological Society, with an exact note of theh positions. The book, alas ! has no Index. C.E.W. THE INVADER'S SHORE. The Invader's Shore. Some Observations on the Physiography, Archceology, History and Sociology of Deal and Walmer. By W. P. D. Stebbing, F.S.A., F.G.S. Medium Svo. Pp. jci-f-74 : 7 plates and maps. Deal: E. F. Howe, Queen Street. 1937. Price 3s. Qd. IN this smaU book Mr. Stebbing, who is weU known to the Society as the Honorary Editor of its Proceedings, and to a wide chcle of his friends as an authority on the architecture and prehistory of East Kent, has elaborated an introductory lecture on the principles of Regional Survey which he gave at Deal under the auspices of the Kent Council of Social Service in 1932. It must at once be observed that Mr. Stebbing has not attempted to produce a History of the Town of Deal. His concern is rather to show, in non-technical language, how the face of the country has through countless generations influenced its mode and rate of settlement; how, for instance, the backbone of chalk hUls has for ever determined the route an invader should take once he had landed on the Deal shore; and how the shingle ridge which forms the inhospitable shore-line became in 1539 the site of Henry VIII's castles, and thus founded the future prosperity of Deal and its famous Roadstead. The early settlement of the region was chiefly at the heads of the coastal creeks, and on the belts of fertUe and weU-drained loams which occupy parts of the chalk vaUeys. 174 REVIEWS. Adequate drainage has indeed been a constant problem to the inhabitants, and Mr. Stebbing points out that a HabUity to flooding prevented early settlement on lands which would otherwise have been attractive. At the same time, the chalk downs found favour in the Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age, and later for the burial grounds of the Jutes. The author gives brief notes of many of the prehistoric sites and discoveries, a useful hst of the most important, and detaUed references to assist the enquhing reader. " Broadly speaking," says Mr. Stebbing, " this strip of coast, since Britain drifted away from the Roman Emphe, has Httle more history than the most countrified parish." The foundation of its maritime prosperity was laid by Henry VIII. An appeal for a Royal Charter followed in 1698, and with the decay of Sandwich, Deal, though but a limb of its erstwhile flourishing neighbour, made rapid growth. The Downs became recognized as the safest anchorage on the south-east coast; the Navy found Deal a convenient store-house ; and traveUers, who were loth to face the Foreland passage came from London by road and embarked off Deal. And what further and varied activities came to Deal as a consequence ? There was the industry of rope- and sail-making, the danger of the press-gang, smuggling, the establishment of a phot station, and for a time at least, the lucrative profession of wreck-salving. Throughout the years, the Deal fisherman had not ceased to ply his trade. He had in the course of years evolved his own special type of boat, and the unhandy looking but fast Deal Lugger became the bane of the Preventive Men. AAU these matters, and many more, Mr. Stebbing discusses in a pleasant but authoritative way which should secure for his book the encouragement it deserves. And we may hope that one day he wUl give us a further and more detaUed account of his researches into the story of the maritime activities of Deal. R. E. JESSUP. REVIEWS. 175 A MANOR THROUGH FOUR CENTURIES. A Manor Through Four Centuries, by A. R. Cooh. Oxford University Press. London : Milford, 1938. 12s. Qd. With plans, views and four pedigrees. ON July 21st last this volume on Roydon Manor in East Peckham and its possessions appeared, the author stating that " the main objects of his book is to stimulate interest in the problem of the country in relation to the town; to examine its future in the midst of a social advancement that has moved at an unprecedented rate in the last fifteen years— and stUl continues to do so—and to reconcUe its needs with the atmosphere which invariably reminds us of the best things we have done and the greatest heights we have achieved." The author has dealt not only with those social and economic conditions which have affected the hfe of every viUage community but has given us most interesting biographical sketches of the Roydons, the Twysdens and the Cooks during the last four centuries. The predecessors of the first held smaU manors in East Peckham, one of which was known as " Fortune," a manor which Thomas Roydon (b. 1482, ob. 1557) acquired on his marriage about the year 1510 with Margaret, daughter of WiHiam WhetenhaU, the former owner. Mr. Cook has traced the property from the time of Archbishop Theodore (668-693) who after forming the larger parishes into dioceses, began to estabfish smaU parishes within them. East Peckham, in which parish " Fortune " was situated, was given in A.D. 941, by Queen Ediva, who was the whe of Edward the Elder, to the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury for the health of her soul, ad cibum, towards theh food and clothing. Lanfranc in 1070 in dividing the lands of the -Archbishopric in two parts assigned Peckham to the monks. In a very interesting manner, Mr. Cook traces the property through the ages to the time when Ehzabeth (daughter of Thomas Roydon of East Peckham (1482-1557) and Margaret, his whe, who was a daughter of WUHam WhetenhaU) married WUHam Twysden of Chelrnington, Kent, through 176 REVIEWS. whom the manor passed from the WhetenhaUs and the Roydons to the Twysdens, the eighth Baronet Sh WUHam Twysden in 1834 disposing of the manor of Roydon to WUHam Cook whose famUy are the present owners. It appears that the above Thomas Roydon buUt the garden Towers, with the waUs and Gateway to surround the demesne upon which he afterwards buUt his mansion ; such massive waUs could not have been erected to surround a smaU farmhouse which " Fortune " was before it came into the possession of Thomas Roydon. Thomas Roydon also, under the Act of Parhament passed in the thhty-first year of Henry VIII (1539) procured the lands to be " disgavelled," i.e. freed from the imposition of Gavelkind. It was Thomas Roydon again who changed the name of the manor from " Fortune " to " Royden " (the former name it had borne since the days of Henry VI) and the greater part of the present house was buUt by him ; but it was Sh Roger Twysden, Bart., the great grandson of WilHam Twysden, whose whe was Elizabeth Roydon (1523-95), who turned the grounds surrounding the house into a Park. Sh Roger Twysden was brother to Sh Thomas Twisden of Bradbourne whose descendent, Sh John Ramskih Twisden, lately deceased, was the twelfth and last baronet. A chapter is devoted to the consideration of the architecture of Roydon which being near Lomeword in Stockenburg, East Earleigh, a place famed for its loam for the making of bricks, is mostly buUt of red brick, and that part of it which has the Old English Bond is strikingly beautiful. The author is very happy in his chapters on Roydon HaU and his description of the Parish Church of St. Michael, East Peckham, which are probably the best in the book. I t is interesting to know that it was during the troublous times that Sh Roger Twysden was occupied in compiling the Decern Scriptores, and that part of it was done when he was practicaUy a prisoner of the Parhament and under confinement at Lambeth, where he remained for two years thl he decided on total submission to the Parhament in 1645. He compounded for his estate, paying £1,300, and returned to Kent in 1650. The Twysdens of Roydon spelt theh names REVIEWS. 177 with a " Y," those of Bradboume with an " I." They were both descended from the WUHam Twysden who married Anne Finch, eldest daughter of Sir Moile Finch (of EastweU) and EHzabeth, first Countess of Winchelsea. WUHam Twysden (1566-1628) was created a knight in 1603, and baronet in 1611 ; Sh Roger Twysden was the second baronet. His brother, Thomas Twisden (1602-83) was a Justice of the King's Bench and created Baronet of Bradbourne in 1660. The first four volumes of Archceologia Cantiana contain the transcript of Sh Roger Twysden's Journal from the Roydon HaU MSS. edited by the Rev. Lambert B. Larking, the first Hon. Secretary of the Kent .Archaeological Society. From this Mr. Cook obtained much information. The Ulustrations and plans are exceUent, particularly the drawings of the monumental brass of Richard Etclesley (ob. 1426), Rector of East Peckham, and the brasses of WUHam and Margaret WhetenhaU (1539) in the nave of the church. There is a good index. „ ~ ° CHARLES COTTON. NUMISMATIC NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS. Numismatic Notes and Monographs, No. 80. " The Richborough Hoard of Radiates, 1931 ", by Harold Mattingly and W. P. D. Stebbing. The American Numismatic Society, New Yorh. $3. RIOHBOROUGH is in the widest sense the most valuable Roman coin-site in the country and it is fortunate that the description of the important Richborough radiate hoard could be undertaken by two numismatists, one of whom contributes a long first-hand knowledge of the site, including the actual discovery of the hoard, the other the extensive experience of Roman coinage and the highly analytical skiU of a British Museum expert. For numismatists one of the most debated problems is the date of a large number of smaU barbarous coins—that is, local imitations of those from official mints—on the obverse of which the emperor is seen to be wearing a " radiate " crown of the type found chiefly on the smaUer issues 178 REVIEWS. of the thhd century. The majority of the coins of the hoard belong to this class. Other simUar hoards have been found before and freely discussed. Some authorities believe them also to be of thhd century date, others have given them a place in the fifth century or even later. The Richborough find proves conclusively that in some cases at least, the latter theory is correct. .Among the coins of the hoard are some with radiate heads on the obverses, but whose reverses show that the designer had a knowledge of fourth century coins of the family of Constantino with Rev. EEL. TEMP, REPARATIO, a legionary spearing a faUen horseman; and of the famUy of Valentinian I with Rev. GLORIA ROMANORVM, the Emperor holding the labarum and dragging a captive. Consideration of the Richborough coin-list shows that they are unhkely to have been struck earher than the middle of the fifth century, that is they are to be attributed to the Jutes of Hengist and Horsa who colonized Kent. Mr. Derek .AUen, however, who contributes Appendix B to the book, comparing some of the coins of the hoard with Saxon sceattas and thrymsas, argues forcibly for a sixth century date, suggesting that the coinage of the fifth century is represented by another Richborough hoard, as yet unpubhshed, of extremely small coins which would have been in use at a time when the supply of metal was at a minimum. With more settled times a larger supply of bronze would become avahable and permit the use of coins with a larger flan. For more detaUs the reader is referred to the monograph itself. Individual coins of types simUar to those of the hoard have been found at Richborough, including at least one with a GLORIA ROMANORVM reverse. Most of these come from surface deposits and have been registered as of third century date. It may be possible, by a comparison with the coins of the hoard, to revise this view of theh dating and to form some estimate of the degree of occupation of the site during the fifth and sixth centuries. The authors suggest (pp. 5, 6) that there is some criterion by which the obverses may be differentiated from those of other radiates, and it would be a great step forward if this difference could be made sufficiently clear so that a coin REVIEWS. 179 whether of normal or minim size, could be safely ascribed to the period of the hoard or to the thhd century. Small barbarous radiates from aU sites should be carefuUy scanned and I have no doubt that the authors would be glad to hear of any interesting discoveries. Of the 875 coins of the hoard, 563 have been described, and, where possible, the types from which both obverse and reverse were taken are indicated, while about a thhd of theh number are reproduced on PI. I-XII. Reproductions of barbarous coins from the National CoUection which iUustrate the series are shown on PI. XIII-XV. AUowing for the fact that the coins were not sharply struck and have lost something of theh substance through corrosion, the plates are very clear : the introductory notes are concise and readable and, apart from a few misprints, the printing is accurate. In note 10, p. 12, however, " AeHamus " should be " Aefianus ", on p. 16 " Appendix I I" should be " Appendix B " and in note 23, p. 117, " fifteenth and sixteenth " centuries should be " fifth and sixth ". The book should be read by aU numismatists and students of the Dark Ages. BERTRAM W. PEAROE. KENTISH CORRESPONDENCE 1642-1670. The Oxinden and Peyton Letters, 1642-1670. Being the Correspondence of Henry Oxinden of Barham, Sir Thomas Peyton of Knowlton and their Circle. Edited, with Notes and an Introduction, by Dorothy Gardiner. With four portraits and a pedigree. London, The Sheldon Press, 1937, 15s. THE work which Mrs. Gardiner has put into this book deserves the most unstinted praise. Her former book on the earher series of the Oxinden Letters opened up many interesting sidehghts on the fanhly history of this Kentish famUy, but this larger volume deals on broader lines with a more strenuous period, and with various distressful episodes. The book merits careful study by Kentish historians as much valuable research is embodied in the introduction, 180 REVIEWS. and in the notes which preface each letter. Certainly if it was not for these many of the letters would barely have repaid printing, but they tie the story together and lead one on. In the correspondence between families certain aspects must appeal more to one reviewer than another. In this case the writer has dehghted in those sideHghts on what was going on from day to day, and the reactions from various happenings. How we feel for Henry Oxinden when he ends a letter to his wife in 1651 with " God keepe us and blesse us from the DevUl, the Lady Zouch and her sonne John and aU other evUl." Later we must sympathize, but not quite hold, with him in his attempt to get the ght of a hving, caUed on the Bishop of Rochester three times and then animadverted on the veniahty of the Bishops. In his Hfe in London there is a reference to the charges of the watermen and the porters, and the badness of the writing paper supphed by the Ship tavern. A trouble referred to several times in this correspondence is the opening of letters in transit; the writer therefore dares not say aU he has a mind to. As we may expect, the debatable subject of tithes has its place when Henry Oxinden had at last been given the hving of Radnage in Herts. He affirms that he never received any stipend as he had to supply a curate to do the duty and " the parishioners have had a fooHsh custome time out of mind which yet remains in force, viz. to go twice in the yeare, viz. uppon Xtmas and Easter day, to the Minister's house, and they assume a Hberty to invite as many of other adjoining parishes to go along with them as they please, aU whom the Minister is bound, as they say, to expend as much bread and Beere, cheese, Tobacco and firing as they please io accept of. At which two times they eate and drinke the parson out of house and home ; so that the house and glebe wiU not maintain this unnecessary and fooHsh expense." We may say that oak was the only wood used in England tiU towards the middle of the seventeenth century, but by that time the suitability for many purposes of the cheap and easUy worked fir or pine wood, which was being imported from Scandinavia, was becoming obvious. In the Age of Walnut much of the veneer was glued on to fir as it was less hable to warp, but the Oxinden Letters teU us that as early REVIEWS. 181 as 1645 a packing case for books, speciaUy dignified as " a firr box " was sent off from London by post. Illness—with blood-letting as a matter of course—and medicine, fiU a smaU part in these intimate letters. SmaUpox and measles—which do not appear in the index—are mentioned with the plague of 1665, whUe the cost of medicinal water at 30 or 40 shillings the hah pint, of which three spoonsfuU were to be taken in the morning, seems expensive. An. interesting reference to the sentimental value of glazing occurs in 1663 when Henry Oxinden was leaving Madekin. He gave orders that the two quarries of the Lyon and the Eoxe " in my studie window " were to be taken out. In the " hal window " where some other glazing had been removed new quarries at " ld. a piece " were to be inserted. A further matter in this letter is to a bed that was evidently made for the house. We know that in some houses furniture went with them as a fixture. Here Mr. Oxinden is worried about the " bedsted in the Long Chamber . . . if it be removeable let it be sent to the house at Barham, for it wiU yield httle and would cost a good deale of money to make new ". The Press gang—that bane on the naval authorities— had curious reactions. Elizabeth Carter found her Deal friends much upset because there was no fish to be had as the Press gang had forced all the fishermen ashore, where they were in no danger of being pressed unless by special leave of the Lord Warden. For the same reason Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Oxinden, could not get oysters a hundred years earher. Writing in 1665 to Katherine the second whe of Henry Oxinden she bemoans that " I have used my utmost indeavour to get som in order to your command but cannot possible get any as yet, they being soe very rare, by reason the seamen being aU prest, that there is none left to get them. I have eate none but once since I were with you and those were sent a Friend of mine for a present." These references and quotations indicate, even if of only part of one side of this voluminous correspondence, the debt of gratitude which Kent owes to Mrs. Gardiner. 182 REVIEWS. Few misprints in text or index have been noted, but the writer cannot agree, as stated on p. 140, to putting Prince Charles on shore at Upper Deal, a viUage a mile from the sea. W.P.D.S. SANDS, CLAYS AND MINER.ALS. Sands, Clays and Minerals, Vol. Ill, No. 3, April, 1938. 3s. 6d. Edited by A. L. Curtis, Chatteris, Cambs. THIS important technical journal continues to reach and interest us, although in this particular number Kent has no part. Owing to this failing Httle space can be given to it but for those with outside interests mention may be made of the foUowing articles. 1. Tantalum and Niobium, metaUic like elements, and not known as ores tiU 1801, but now with definite commercial values as aUoys in modern steels. The latter is expensive but up to 1 per cent, adds important properties. The former was not produced as a metal, except in minute quantities tiU 1903 when it came into use for the filaments of electric lamps. Niobium has only hah the density of Tantalum and is therefore of value in radio valves. 2. Magnesium ; a metal now to some extent a substitute for aluminium and which, from being a curiosity, has developed into metaUurgical importance. Magnesium sulphate is the valuable constituent of Epsomsalts. Magnesia was only proved to be a metaUic oxide in 1808. As a metal it is the lightest employed in constructional uses. In burning the fierce Hght it gives is more closely akin to sunhght than that of any other element, hence its value in photography. 3. The mode of occurrence and preparation of China Clay in OornwaU. 4. The selection of Coal for industrial purposes. 5. Old English Instruments. This article reprints a catalogue of scientific instruments, books and prints issued by Benjamin Martin " At his Shop, the Sign of Hadley's Quadrant and Visual-Gla//es, near Crane-Court, in Fleet REVIEWS. 183 Street " in 1764-5. As an example of what were made for professional or amateur use it is most iUuminating, especiaUy as we can see to-day in the Science Museum some of the actual instruments. Here are some prices. Nose Visual Glasses, 2/6, Speaking Trumpets from 10/6 to £1-11-6, Opera Glasses from 5/- to £1-11-6, and Pocket Compasses from 5/- to £1-1-0. More expensive pieces of apparatus were a 4' Reflector with mahogany tube for £31-10-0, and Orreries, which ranged from £40 to £150. Mr. Martin warns the pubhc against " the Jews and Pedlars " who seU glasses with his name upon them. They are " too bad for any but themselves to recommend or for anyone to buy who . . . has more Regard to the Safety of his Eyes, and the Preservation of his Sight, than to the saving of his money." 6. An interesting paper on Early Technical Balances by Mr. Barclay, Keeper in the Science Museum. The many iUustrations from dated sources, with such a scene as an 18th century scale maker's shop, add to its value. Further articles of general interest are those on " Spun Rock-Wool " and the " Reparation of Historical BuUdings." The first is on a material made from certain rocks which can be melted and then blown into fibres by jets of steam or compressed ah. The wool has many advantages over that made from slag for aU purposes of insulation. The second describes the use of various types of cements. These can be made to match existing stone in any kind of repah, and the work does not necessitate the cutting away and replacement by new stonework. The iUustrations show restoration of ornamental detaUs at Winchester Cathedral and at Great Bookham and Porlock churches.