THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS—FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1901.

VI. GUSTON.

Guston is one of Dover’s nearest neighbours, and although the steep uplands shut it out from the preambles of the short-winded and languid-limbed section of humanity, there is not a pleasanter walk than from Dover to Guston and back.

A Choice of Ways.

Guston may be reached by branching from Frith road at Charlton Cemetery and passing Cow Pastures, or by following Frith road, or by ascending Castle Hill and taking the road between the earthworks of Fort Burgovne, or by following the Deal Road to Swingate and taking the path by the Mill and the Brickfield that leads down into the village. Our way was by Cow Pastures.

The Whiting Works.

After crossing the Deal Railway by the bridge just at the entrance to the tunnel, we soon are in Guston Parish, although a good step still from Guston village. As we go up the hill we pass the Whiting Works, a thriving little industry, where the chalk which is dug out of a cavern under the slope, is ground up into a thick pulp, purified and moulded into whiting balls, which are used largely for the best class of whitewashing and utilised for giving the snowy aspect to door steps which makes visitors with muddy boots tremble. Putty, too, is made here in good quality and large quantity.

The Roman Road.

Above the Whiting Works we strike the old Roman road that used to lead through Cow Pastures down to Dover and northward through Pineham to the Isle of Thanet. The first bit of it is deep between the hedges like a ditch, and so narrow that it might be straddled, but it was wide enough for the pack horses of the olden times, and probably the Roman chariots could just get up and down it. After a little persevering climb, the high level table land is reached, and then the extent of view is only limited by the horizon. Away north are the woods and clumps of trees about Pineham, West Langdon, and Whitfield, and following the Roman road, which lies unfenced between the fields, we seem to be giving Guston the go-by, and there is a temptation to make a short cut, but that would be trespassing, which might necessitate an interview with Major Lawes and his brother Magistrates, who take cognizances of such delinquencies on the third Thursday in each month at Dover. However, by righteously keeping to the narrow way, we presently strike a parish road from Guston, and zigzaging back are soon on a direct track between the fresh green of cornfields to Guston village.

The Wesleyan Chapel.

In the order of march we come first to the Wesleyan Chapel, which is just on the outskirts of the village. It is a substantial structure of flint panels, with brick framing, and is lighted back and front with four windows. “Guston Wesleyan Chapel” is cut on a stone in front, but the date of its erection is not inserted. Its age is about fifty years, and it is served with preachers from Dover and the neighbourhood. Close by the Chapel is Barn Tye, the pretty residence of Mr. Cowley Blackman, one of the Churchwardens, so that Church and Dissent are in close and, we believe, agreeable fellowship.

The Church and Churchyard.

After passing the turning leading to West Langdon and Whitfield, the road into Guston is embowered with trees, and from this a path leads up into the Churchyard. This is a public footway, which passing along the south side of the Churchyard leads in to the fields and down to the lane beyond the other side of the village. That is a path which avoids the village, but as that is just what we desired to avoid avoiding we kept to the left. This Churchyard is a place where old Mortality would love to tarry, and any skilled amateur or professional stone cutter who would like to work con amore might find a congenial task in deepening and renewing the inscriptions on the many head stones placed here as memorials but which are now mute, wind and weather having made a great many altogether illegible. Many of the stones are bowed with age, presenting that leaning appearance which is usual in country churchyards. Why could not the legislature when on the lookout for a few odd jobs to give Parish Councils to do, have committed to them the charge of these ancient monuments? A few of the inscriptions we picked out. On a well kept obelisk is an inscription to the memory of Jane, wife of Richard Eastes (daughter of Thomas and Mary Loud, of West Cliffe), who died 17th August, 1793, aged 36 years. Below there is an inscription in memory of the said Richard Eastes, who died 43 years later, aged 80, and there are many other memorials of the Eastes family, the same family that now holds Guston Court. There are many memorials of the Prescott family, who held land in the parish before the time of the Commonwealth, and about that time one of the family was Mayor of Dover. The oldest decipherable stone is in memory of Samuel Prescott, who died in the year 1787. There is another which looks like one of that family, who died in the year 1734, aged 69 years. That person would have been born in the year that Charles II died. It might be worth the while of any enthusiastic antiquarian to make as complete a record as possible of these old tombstone inscriptions and secure their entry in the parish register. The Church of St. Martin at Guston is of flint and freestone, in very good repair, except that the little wooden bell turret that supports the weather vane is decayed. There has been talk of a new tower, but a big estimate of its cost precluded any possibility of its being built. The minister is the Rev. Mr. Mellis, a curate of River. The attendance is good, and there is an excellent choir composed of villagers, with additions from Dover. The Churchwardens are Mr. G. Ellen and Mr. Cowley Blackman.

The History of the Church.

This Church was a part of the ancient possessions of the Priory of St. Martin, Dover, to which it was appropriated by Archbishop Edmund in the year 1239, with a reserve of eight marks for the Vicar, which arrangement was confirmed by the Pope. It is probable that the year 1239 was the date of its erection. It is mentioned in the 8th year of Richard II, the Vicarage of Guston, owing to its smallness, was not taxed to the tenth. In the year 1588 there were 38 communicants, and in 1640 there were 39. On the dissolution of St. Martin’s Priory in the year 1536, the Vicarage went to the Crown, and two years later was granted to the Archbishop, subject to the payment of four pounds a year to the Vicar. To this lean allowance was added the small tithes of the parish. In the reign of Charles II £10 a year was added to the living out of the great tithes, and later there were some additions made from Queen Anne’s Bounty Fund. The living is now a perpetual curacy, and is in the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

History of Guston Manor.

The lands of the Manor of Guston Court at the time of the Conquest were held by Elric, and there were under him six borderers and two villiens. In the time of Edward the Confessor the lands were held by this same person, who appears to have been a prebend of St. Martin’s, Dover. Subsequently, the Abbot of St. Augustine’s Monastery, Canterbury, becoming possessed of this land as prebend of St. Martin’s, Dover, the manor became attached to St. Augustine’s. The Manor of Frith was held by the Canons of St. Martin’s, Dover, and at the dissolution of monasteries the manor passed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and is now held by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

Guston of to-day.

After our pause in the Churchyard, and the brief digression into local history, we will continue our perambulation of the village. We are pleased to note that the farm buildings at Guston Court, destroyed last November by the disastrous fire, have been satisfactorily re-built by Messrs. Denne and Co., of Walmer, and the residence of Guston Court, occupied by Mr. Arthur Eastes, one of the Rural District Councillors, looks charming in its fresh Green covering of ivy. In Guston street there is nothing new in the building line. The few cottages are as they have been for generations, but the school should be mentioned. It stands on the east side of the street, and the pretty residence of the School Mistress adjoins it. This was formerly a School Board School, but it has for some time past been conducted on the voluntary principle, and there is no school crisis at Guston, there being ample accommodation for all the children, and the Mistress, Miss Hammond, is a very fortunate person, for she succeeds in giving satisfaction to the Managers, the children, their parents, and to His Majesty’s Inspector. Guston has long had two Inns The Plough appears to be the oldest, and, as it seemed to get on well, it was thought that there was a chance for another, so the Chance was established. There is also a public well, but some months ago a party of larkish soldiers could not let well alone, so they let one of their party down the shaft, and certain damage was done from which the well has never since effectually recovered, for a defect in its winding gear has prevented its use since then. It is not a matter of great consequence, because the East Kent Water Company having laid their water on in the village, that supply is used. Nevertheless, the public well plant ought to be in working order. The industries of Guston are mainly agricultural, but there are a few others. On the outskirts of the parish, near Swingate, is a windmill that does a fair amount of grinding. At Brickfield, below the mill, there is a forge and a carpenter’s shop, and for the rest farming pursuits hold the sway. To-day, as was ever the case, the principal occupations at Guston are associated with the tilling of the soil. The following farms lie in the parish:— Guston Court, Church Farm, Frith Farm, Well Farm, Arnold’s Pastures, and others. Two farms, Broadlees and Castle Hill, which were formerly under cultivation, are now occupied by the War Department for military purposes. A good deal of the land is pasture, and cow-keeping to supply Dover with milk is carried on to a large extent by Messrs. W. and A. Eastes and by Mr. George Ellen. The village is remarkably salubrious, and some accommodation is provided for visitors who like, for a time, to exchange town life for the quiet of a country village. There is not much public life in Guston, but the parish has its Parish Council, and recently there has been formed here a Lodge of the Ancient Order of Oddfellows. The village usually keeps up its fete once a year, and arrangements for keeping this year’s in the early part of July are now being made.

A Dangerous Hole.

Leaving Guston, a good road leads to Dover by Frith Farm, but we noticed that about midway between Guston and Frith there is on the east side of the road a deep pit—deep enough for a fall into it to kill or badly injure anyone who fell into it. This pit is close by the roadside, altogether unfenced and unprotected, and it occurred to us that the Rural District Council have some responsibility in this matter.

The Guston Tunnel.

Passing Frith Farm, we come to the telegraph wires, reminding us that the railway which forms the link between Deal and Dover is beneath our feet, nearly the whole of the railway in this parish being tunnelled. Passing the railway tower built over the tunnel, the lights of Dover come in view, and our story of Guston naturally ends.