THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS—FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1901.

IV. WEST CLIFFE.

Including Solton, Bere and Swingate.

West Cliffe is a small place that stands beside the highway of civilisation, a spectator of modern progress, in which it has no share. Examinations of its condition century after century yield like results: the situation, the avocations, and the resources seem unchanged from generation to generation.

How the Land Lies.

West Cliffe lies about three miles from Dover, and barely one from St. Margaret’s, in a fine open country, on a little eminence, with three farms - West Cliffe, Solton and Wallet - and a few cottages round the little Church, and its detached portions, Swingate near Dover, on the Deal Road, and Bere, near the Cliff, adjoining Bere Wood. West Cliffe can hardly boast a sea view, but it is almost a maritime place, for in the quiet of the night the vessels under the cliffs can be heard running out their anchors, and the music of the sirens permeates the vicinity.

A Quaint Little Church.

The Church, which adjoins the  north side of the road, has no architectural attractions. It is circumscribed, consisting of a small nave and a still small chancel, the walls of flint , and the porch facing the South is surmounted by a little turret. An external survey discloses the fact that there have been from time to time minor alterations, probably for purposes of economy. In addition to the existing west window, there appears to have been two lancets each side of it, and one above it, and at a time when the mason was less expensive than the glazier the three last mentioned openings were built up. On the North side a door has been built up, and four narrow little windows remain. The Eastern window in the chancel has been subjected to recent restoration. The interior of the church, which is much neater and cleaner than it used to be, contains a small memorial of the Gibbons family, and the churchyard has several interesting memorials, including the tombstone of the late Mr. Michael Elwyn, a former Mayor of Dover, who, with his wife and four children, rest there. There is also a legible engraved tombstone in memory of Thomas Kingswood, of that parish, who died on 7th March, 1716, aged 70 years.

West Cliffe History.

Already we have begun to dip into history, and as we dig deep the soil becomes rich in interesting facts. This place is probably as old as St. Margaret’s, although it does not appear to have had a Church till after the Conquest; but the Manors, Wallett and Solton, seem to have existed in Saxon times, and when the Normans came, these Manors like nearly every other valuable possession in this part of Kent, were seized by that greedy land grabber the Bishop of Baieux, who by virtue of being the Conqueror’s half-brother deemed himself entitled to everything he could lay his hands upon.

The Land in Ancient Times.

This is the tale of the West Cliffe land. Wallets Court was taxed at two shillings, which would be 432 acres; Solton was taxed at one shilling, which would be 216 acres. Bere was not accounted a Manor till later, so that the settled land in the parish at the Conquest was 648 acres, the remaining 517 acres being then uncultivated, and probably forming part of the warren of Dover Castle.

The Earliest Landholders.

The earliest landholders on record in West Cliffe were Edric and Godrid. The former at Wallets Court and the latter at Solton held the land from the King in the last days of the Saxon period. Of these absolutely nothing is known. They may have been good old Saxon gentlemen, kind and generous to the poor within their gates; they may have been enemies, living over against each other in hostility with their retainers as little rival armies; or they may have formed a working union with the object of keeping their slaves, villains , and borderers in wholesome subjection. Immediately after the Conquest, the two  Manors were amalgamated in the hands of Hugo de Montford, a creature of the Bishop of Baieux. Twenty-four years later, when the Bishop of Baieux was disgraced and his lands confiscated, Hugo disappeared with him.

The Norman Westcliff Community.

Bere and Swinggate being of later date, the community of Westcliff, was closely nestled around the church of the site where the church was immediately afterwards built, and that community seemed to have consisted chiefly of Hugo, as Lord of the two manners, 17 villiens at the wallets, and 3 villiens and one boarderer at Solton, making 22 families, which may be roughly estimated as 132 inhabitants. The lord help two curacates of arable land - that is enough for two teams to plough - attached to his domain, and the villiens cultivated the remainder for themselves. In addition to the agricultural employment, there were two mills at West cliffe; windmills they must have been, so that at the time this community did the trade which has been attracted to the windmills since erected at Martin and Swingate. Such was the state of things when the bishop of Baieux and Hugo disappeared from the scene in the year 1090, after which time it will be convenient to follow the history of the Manors separately.

The History of Wallets Court.

After the disgrace of Odo and the flight of Hugo, the West Cliffe property was confiscated by the Crown. Later, Wallets Court was granted to Hamon de Crevequer, a great man at that time, who was made Constable of Dover Castle. Bertram de Croil, who was Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden, was the next Lord of Wallets Manor, and after that King Edward I. made it a part or the dowry of his Queen Eleanor, and it remained as a Royal possession during the next 17 years, Queen Eleanor dying possessed of it in the year 1201. From the Crown, this manor was granted in the time of Edward III., to Sir Gawin Corder for knight service in connection with Dover Castle, and after his life interest expired it went to Lord Reginald de Cobham, who for services in France received this gift. There was a bit of a scandal attached to this family, Eleanor, the daughter of Lord Reginald, being "the wanton paramour of the Duke of Gloucester (the King’s brother), to his great reproach"; but after being divorced by the Pope from Madame Jacqueline, with whom he seems to have contracted an irregular marriage, the Royal Duke, married Lord Reginald Cobham's daughter, and so the lady from West Cliffe became  attached legally to the Royal house. West Cliff manor was inherited by Lord Reginaid's son, Sir Thomas Cobham, who held it till his death in 1472. He left it to his only child Ann, and by marriage it passed to Lord Burgh, and in the reign of Queen Elizabeth it was purchased by Thomas Gibbon, who resided at West Cliffe House. Matthew, the elder son of Thomas Gibbon, rebuilt the house in the year 1627, and he resided there also. Amongst the descendants of this Matthew Gibbon were two men who cut a figure in the world. His grandson, Edward Gibbon, was one of the directors of the notorious South Sea Company, and his great-grandson, Edward Gibbon, was the historian who wrote that well-known book, “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.” The Gibbon seem to have sold the estate in 1660 to Mr. Streynsham Masters, one of the Masters family who in those days were leading people in Ease Kent. From the Masters, Wallets Court passed to the Aylmer family. Afterwards Mr. George Lieth of Deal bought it, and he sold it to Mr. Thomas Peek. Surgeon, of the same place; and his two daughters marrying two brothers, James Methurst Poynter and Ambrose Lyon Poynter, they, through their wives, became the joint owners. The whole of the changes above noted, from the Aylmers to the Poynters, took place in the eighteenth century, and the Poynters continued in possession for a number of years afterwards. This Ambrose Lyon Poynter was the father of Ambrose Poynter, Architect, who drew the designs for the Dover Maison Dieu restoration, and the grandfather of Sir Edward Poynter, the President of the Royal Academy. Since the Poynters held the manor of Wallets Court, the property has been divided. Wallets Court, with some 223 acres, is now the property of Mr. W. J. Banks, and West Cliffe Farm, another part of the manor, consisting of 118 acres, is the property of Mr. C. Hughes. The two properties together now represent 10 acres more than the rough measurements by Sulings, given in the Domesday Survey.

The History of Solton.

The incidents connected with the tenure of Solton, since its confiscation in Bishop Odo’s time are worthy of being placed on record. The Manor of Solton was first granted to Jeffery do Peverel, one of the eight Norman Knights of Dover Castle, amongst whom the confiscated property was divided. It was afterwards held by Henry do Cramville for similar knight’s service at the Castle. It then passed to Henry Holland for knight’s service, hie, dying in the year 1307, the manor passed to his son of the same name for like service; and he dying at a good old age in 1387, it passed to his daughter, named Frankers. Subsequently it was held by one Lawrence, and next to Robert Finet, an Italian, who came to England with Cardinal Campejus in the year 1519. His son, Sir John Finet, also resided at West Cliffe, and held offlice as Master of Ceremonies to James I., and Charles I, and Sir John died in possession of Solton, in the year 1641, at an advanced age. He married Jane, the daughter of Lord Wentworth, and by her left two daughters, Lucia and Frunette, who were co-heiresses of Solton, and they sold it to Nathaniel Matson, from whom it was inherited by Henry Matson, who, dying in 1722, left Solton, together with Digg’s Place, Barham, and Singledge, Coldred, to the Commissioners of Dover Harbour, to repair it for ever. There is a monument to this benefactor in old St. James’s Church, Dover. The estates so bequeathed were of the value of £150 a year, but the discharging of the trust, was attended with many difficulties. It is said that this Henry Matson was very fond of walking about the quays and piers of Dover Harbour, and that one day, while walking over a portion of the pier where the planks had trunnell holes in them, he had the misfortune to drop through one of the holes his gold-headed cane and lost it. This so distressed him that he left his estate on condition that such holes should be regularly stopped up. In obedience to this testator’s wish, once a year a day was devoted to stopping these trunrell holes, and on the evening of the day was held a function, known as the Trunnell Feast. Whether this was literally true or not, it is a fact that the bequest was attended by such difficulties that the estate was thrown into Chancery, where it was settled that, out of the income from the Matson estates, £40 a year should be paid to the poor of his family as long as there were any. The management of landed estates being rather out of the province of the Dover Harbour Board, they were, by consent of the Court of Chancery disposed of many years ago, and Solton is now held by Mr. William Coleman.

The History of Bere.

Bere Court Estate was accounted a Manor, taking its name from one William de Bere, who was Bailiff of Dover in the years 1274 and 1275. After his day, came the Brockman’s of Bere, and then the Toke’s, the latter holding it for many generations. Sir Ralph Toke was Mayor of Dover from 1444 to 1448, and he was also M.P. for Dover and Marshal of Dover Castle. It next went to the Rooke family, after which it was sold to Thomas Barrett, of Lee, in the year 1739, who left it to his son of the same name, who continued in possession till the beginning of the nineteenth century. He represented Dover in Parliament in 1774. It is now the property of the Earl of Guilford.

History of West Cliffe Church.

There is no record as to when the little Church of St. Peter, West Cliffe, was built, but it is believed that it was built by Edward I. when he gave the Manor of Wallets Court to his Queen Eleanor. However that may be, it is on record that this Church was presented by Queen Eleanor, together with one acre of land, and the tithes of the parish, to the Convent of Christ Church, with other property, in exchange for the port of Sandwich. This was confirmed in the reign of Edward III., and it so remained until the convent was suppressed in the year 1540 by Henry VIII. Two years later the advowson was settled on the newly-elected Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, with whom it remains. During the Commonwealth Period in 1650, when the the possessions of the Dean and Chapter were sequestrated, there was a valuation made of the Church property at West Cliffe, and it was returned as consisting of a parsonage house, a large barn and yard, with the parsonage Close of three acres, and four acres in West Cliffe Common Field, together with the tithes of corn and grass and all other small tithes within the parish of the improved yearly value of £62. This Vicarage, however, was not valued in the King’s books. A century ago the Vicarage was of the clear annual value of £24, which pension was paid by the Dean and Chapter, who, after the Restoration, again had possession. There is no complete list extant of the Vicars of West Cliffe, but it appears from the incomplete list given by Hasted that the Vicarage was not, as now, joined with St. Margaret’s-at-Cliffe. One of the early Vicars, Maurice Callan, who died in the year 1400, left a bequest for the interior of the Church to be paved with tiles. At present the living is held by the Rev. F. Case, Vicar of St. Margaret’s. The gross income is barely £20 a year, the revenue from the great tithes, about £250, going to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

Swingate Hamlet.

Swingate is the most modern part of the parish of West Cliffe. Originally, it was probably nothing more than the gate of Bere Manor. In the early part of the last century, the Dover Races used to be held there, and probably about that time the public house known as Swingate Inn came into existence. There is now at Swingate in addition to the Inn, 7 cottages, the whole of which together with the Inn and some adjoining land are the property of Messrs. Thompson & Son, of Walmer.

Modern West Cliffe.

Briefly summed up. Modern West Cliffe parish consists of four farms—Wallets, West Cliffe, Solton, and Bere, as well as live other parcels of land, being parts of farms that lie in other parishes. There are 17 cottages viz.: 5 at West Cliffe, 4 at Solton, 1 at Bere, and 7 at Swingate, and 1 public house there. The landowners in the parish are Mr. J. W. Banks, Mr. C. Hughes, the Earl of Guilford, Messrs. Thompson & Son. Lady Mexboro, Earl Granville, and Mr. William Coleman. West Cliffe of to-day has 22 houses, and West Cliffe in the days of the Conqueror had exactly the same number.