New Books
The Millennium Book on All Saints Church, Foots Cray by David Viceroy-Weekes & Sheila Schnarr. Published by Bexley Archaeological Group. £10.00 inc. p&p.
All Saints Church has been an important factor in local people's lives for over 1000 years. Its story is told against the social and historical background which caused the development and on occasions the decline of what is a wonderful example of an Old English Church. Contents include The Interior, Rectors of the Church, Early Christian Movement, The Hundreds System, Foots Cray Manor and Holders of the Manor, Foots Cray Place Estate and Owners. This is followed by the Phases of Development of the Church, starting at Phase 1 – AD410 to 1050 and AD1050 to 1200, right through to Phase 11 – 1950 to 2000. A definition of terms and phrases used in the book appears at the end, together with a full index.
Available from David Viceroy-Weekes (to whom cheques payable), 10 Hamilton Road, Sidcup DA15 7HB. Tel: 020 8302 9229.
Letters to Sturry, June 1940 to November 1940 from Patricia Askew to Monica Risdon-Brown. Edited and published by K H McIntosh. 0-9544789-08 £9.95.
During her evacuation to Keynsham near Bristol, Pat Askew wrote to her friend Monica (now Headley) who was then Vicar of Sturry. Both girls were just fifteen and had been at Simon Langton Girls School together. Monica kept those letters carefully for sixty years and they are now seen for the first time. A charming and entertaining book which will not only give rise to much reminiscing amongst those who lived through the wartime years, but will also interest those who never experienced the difficulties of separation and constant sirens.
Available from Mrs Monica Headley, 2 McCarthy Avenue, Surry, Canterbury CT2 0PE, the Albion Bookshops and the Faversham Heritage Centre (£10.50 by post).
A History of Davington Priory by John Burke and Laurence Young. £3.50
Founded in Faversham in 1135, substantial elements of the original Priory complex have survived in Davington Parish Church, the oldest building in the town. This 50-page book has been produced as part of the celebrations of the 850th anniversary of the foundation. Using documentary and other evidence, particularly from a late 1970’s archaeological excavation, the book reconstructs much of the medieval life of what was one of the largest, most impressive and dominant buildings in north Kent. The later years of the priory buildings, after they passed by default to the crown when the sole remaining nun simply walked out in 1535, is also sketched out, with their conversion to a private house and their glorious renaissance at the hands of the Victorian Thomas Willement, whose exquisite stained glass still graces the church.
Available at the Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre, Preston Street, Faversham or by post for £4.00 from A History of Davington Priory c/o 3 Dark Hill, Davington, ME13 7SP. Cheque payable to The Brents & Davington PCC. Proceeds from sales go to Davington parish funds.
A Court Lodge Century – Horton Kirby & South Darenth Local History Society. £6.00 inc. p&p.
A collection of old photographs from Court Lodge, Horton Kirby, produced in memory of Ralph Rogers. Available from K H Saunderson, 'Appledore', Rays Hill, Horton Kirby, Dartford DA4 9DB.
A Topographical Directory of England by Samuel Lewis (1831)
The Genealogical Publishing Company has done the historical world a very great service in making available the first edition of this splendid work which every serious local historian and genealogist should have on his or her shelf. I was very lucky some twenty-five years ago to purchase a copy of the fifth edition printed in 1844 (although I see from the British Library the fifth edition first appeared in 1842) but it doesn't include maps, which appear to have been placed in a separate supplementary volume in the later editions. The original editions have now become extremely scarce and the topographical maps removed and framed. (The last edition appears to be 7th edition in 1849).
Arranged in alphabetical order, practically every county, city, borough, market town, post town, parish, chapelry, township, hamlet, and some tythings in England are accurately recorded and described. For counties the information normally includes the situation, extent, and population of the county; statistics and history of all civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions; and accounts of the courts of assize and quarter sessions. With respect to cities, boroughs and market towns, information given includes: situation and bearing from nearest county town; population and local institutions; and markets, municipal government, courts, and religious establishments. Concerning parishes, data provided covers the townships and chapelries, which the parishes comprise, their archdeaconries and diocesan, and, if of exempt ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the peculiar court to which the parish belongs, extremely important information to track down probate and associated records.
The first edition has a distinct place in that it records parishes before the great changes at the beginning of the nineteenth century. For instance I looked up Blean. The first edition gives 'Blean, county of Kent, see Cosmus (St) & Damian', whilst the 1844 edition omits county of Kent. 'COSMUS (ST) and DAMIAN in the Blean, a parish in the hundred of Whitstable, lathe of St Augustine, county of Kent, 2¼ miles (NW by N) from Canterbury, containing 438 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage...
Duncan Harrington