THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS—FRIDAY, JULY 5, 1901.

VII. WHITFIELD.

Whitfield is a small parish, and a small village; but it has a Parish Church and a Parish Council, which ancient and modern distinctions entitle the place to a niche amongst our villages.

The Name.

The ancient name of this parish was Bewsfield, corrupted from the French Beaux, presumably from splendid views which are afforded by its elevated position. Whitfield it was called as early as 1442, as will be seen from the copy of Mr. Prescott’s will, given in another column. No doubt it was called Whitfield owing to its being high, dry, and chalky, which gives it a white appearance, and the same colour clings to the modern cyclists who, in the summer time, pedal over its powdery roads. From Dover, Whitfield has its main road up the London-road, from which the Sandwich-road that passes through the village branches off up Whitfield-hill at Woodside. Persons going on foot will find a footpath leaving the tram terminus at Buckland to Old Park. Formerly, this path passed through Old Park close by the mansion, and out at the Park gate at the crossroads, but some 25 years ago that path was diverted, and now skirts the park to the east. This is a very pleasant way, as far as the views are concerned, but it is rough, crossed in places by roots of trees forming stumbling blocks, and on the side is a barbed wire fence, which, in addition to being “contrary to the statute in that case made and provided,” is an inhospitable sort of help to clutch when the stones and roots cause a pedestrian to stumble. The Parish Council, which is the special modern patron of pathways, should have this path improved and the barbs removed from the fence. Perhaps the owner of the adjoining park, in acknowledgment of the public surrender of the path through the centre of his domain would, if approached, provide the necessary material for improving this road. Whitfield may also be reached by a rather more circuitous route, by the Roman road to Pineham, which debouches into the Whitfield road near the Church.

An Ancient Open-Air Meeting Place.

Our first halt must be called at the crossroads at the top of Whitfield Hill, a few yards above Old Park Lodge. Here we find a rather elaborate direction post with four arms, on which is painted quite a directory of local information. Arm No. 1 points to the entrance to the diverted footpath before mentioned, and has the words, “Footpath to Dover, 2½ miles.” It may be also mentioned that there is a cart road in the same direction, but the route being long and the ruts deep, most vehicles take the main road. Arm No. 2 has painted on it, “Church Whitfield, Guston, Langdon 2½ miles, Sutton 4 miles.”- This road to Guston and thence by Frith Farm affords another carriage road to Dover, and is used for summer drives. Arm No. 3 pointing to the N.W. reads, “Whitfield ¾ mile, Waldersbare 2¼ miles, Eythorne 3½ miles, and Sandwich 8½ miles.” This is a favourite route for cyclists. Arm No. 4 pointing S.W. is lettered, “River 1 and Dover 3 miles.” The spot where this direction post stands, which is now a roadside waste, used for the storage of road materials, was formerly the place of assembly of the Court Leet for the Bewsborough Hundred. The Court used in ancient times to be opened here under a tree, and two constables were elected for the two divisions of the hundred. Later, it became the custom to open the court at this spot, and then adjourn to some more convenient place for transacting the business which had to do not, only with Whitfield, but with the other thirteen parishes comprised in the Bewsborough Hundred.

Church Whitfield.

Continuing our way from Crossroads down the lane by Archer's Court we arrive at Church Whitfield, where a little cluster of dwellings surround the ancient Roman Church of St. P'eter, which is not by any means an imposing structure. It is, however, in an excellent state of repair, having been restored in the year 1894. It consists of a nave, an aisle, a south porch, and a small bell turret.

Churchyard Inscriptions.

There are many interesting memorials to Whitfielders of the past generations in this Church and Churchyard. The Church contains a monument to the Stringer family, formerly of Archer's Court, which, although not in Whitfield parish, is very near the Church; and in the Churchyard there is a large square space railed in and marked “The Stringer Family Vault.” Thomas, Phineas and George Stringer were Mayors of Dover in the years 1778, 1782, 1801, 1815, and 1820, were successive owners of Archer’s Court, and members of the family have since held important positions in this county and in connection with the Cinque Ports. Atmospheric influences have played sad havoc with the memorials in this graveyard, many of them being altogether worn away. The oldest that caught our attention is against the east end of the Church, a well-sculptured stone indicating the resting place of someone who died in the year 1692, but the name, except “Richard,” is not legible. Another stone near has on it the figures 1763 and 1779, and the name looks like Harper or Hopper. Amongst other old records on the stones around are the following: Legett, of Folkestone, 1782; Edward Bowles, 1790; and another Bowles, 1760; John Prescott, 1770. Amongst well known families having their place of sepulture here, are the following: the Courts, of Dover, who wore formerly of this parish, Edward Court, a corn merchant, having resided at Bewsfield House in the year 1811. The dates of the interments of the Courts go back as far as the year 1810, and the latest inscription is in memory of Percy Simpson Court, who was Mayor of Dover in the year 1877, and who died in March, 1896. A large monument on the southern side of the enclosure is to the memory of members of the Hayward family, of Dover, the last being interred being William Hayward, a highly respected official of the Dover Custom House, who died in the year 1890. Members of this family used to own some of the Cross-channel Packet Boats prior to the introduction of steam navigation. There is a curious record on a headstone near the porch, in memory of the Cross family, of this parish. William Cross was a farmer and Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Whitfield more than half a century ago. The inscription states that William and Jane Cross had five sons and six daughters, who all died in infancy, a table being given of the years of the deaths and the ages of those eleven children as follows:—

1821 ............... 15 months

1822 ...................2 days

1824 ...................2 days

1825 .................. 1 days

1826 .................. 3 days

1827 .................. 1 days

1828 ................. 11 days

1829 ................. 14 days

1831 .................. 3 days

1833 ................. 11 days

1835 .................. 5 days

Yet the parents of these eleven children, who were born to die so prematurely, lived to a good old age. Jane Cross died in January, 1866, aged 66 years, and William Cross died July 10th, 1885, aged 89 years. This William Cross was the clerk in the Workhouse when it was at River, and afterwards held the office of clerk to the Guardians of the Dover Union, retiring, owing to advanced age, about the year 1873.

History of the Church.

Before leaving this church, a few words of its history will be appropriate. This church was originally attached to the manor of Bewsfield, and is very ancient, having been given to St. Augustine’s Abbey in the year 757 by King Offa; but there was no vicarage endowed until the year 1441, when Archbishop Chicheley settled a certain income on William Geddyng, who was the first vicar on record. In the year 1613 Henry Hannington was the vicar; but lately the benefice has been regarded as a perpetual curacy. In the year 1588 the church had 82 communicants, and the income was valued at £15 a year. Archbishop Juxon augmented it, in the year 1661, by an addition of £20 to be paid by the lessee of the parsonage. At the beginning of the nineteenth century its annual income was reckoned at £26. The register of the church dates from the year 1585. The living is at present united with those of West Langdon and Wadershare.

Whitfield Manors.

Before altogether leaving the domain of history, a few words should be said about the manors of Whitfield. The land of this parish, which comprises about 895 acres, was in the year 757 given by Offa, King of Mercia, to the Abbot of St. Augustine’s. In the Doomsday survey, the lands are entered as being held by Oidelard, consisting of two carucates, on which there were ten borderers. The record seems to indicate that there was then no resident lord, and that the borderers held and cultivated the land for him. At a later date there were two manors in the parish. The principal one was Bewsfield manor, which about the reign of Henry VII. changed its name to Linacre Court. This manor was in Norman times held by knights of Dover Castle, and subsequently passing to private persons, in 1785 was owned by Thomas Barrett, of Lee, as did also Bere and other estates in this neighbourhood. The manor of Whitfield and Pising (or Pineham) was held in the time of Henry III. by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent and Chief Justice of England, and he granted it to the Hospital of the Maison Dieu of Dover, which he founded. After the dissolution of religious houses in the time of Henry VIII. the manor was held by Sir Thomas Heneage and Lord Willoughbye for military service. It afterwards passed to the Monins family of Waldershare; and the trustees of Sir Edward Monins sold it in 1663 to Sir Henry Furnesse, of Waldershare, whose daughter Catherine, Countess of Rockingham, inherited it, and her husband dying without an heir, she married the first Earl of Guilford, and the property thus passed to the Guilford estate, of which it still forms a part.

Whitfield of to-day.

Whitfield of to-day, like many of our other villages, is gradually growing into a suburb of Dover. For some time past professional and business men of Dover have made this their place of residence, and it doubtless would be so to a much greater extent if the means of locomotion were easier. For the present, however, the agricultural element prevails. Round about the Church the place looks most distinctly rural could not be more so if it were “twenty miles from everywhere”; but as one crosses the fields towards Lower Whitfield there is an air about the place as though some twenty years ago the enterprising builder had descended upon it. In spite of the time-honoured windmill which has survived to have its sails filled with the wind of the twentieth century, the place looks modern. There is a pretty suburban villa aspect about the houses, and the Nonconformist chapel is an indication that things have travelled a bit out of the old groove. The latest addition to the public buildings is the Parish Room, which is a wooden structure on the roadside a little way above the Chapel. A villager informed us that this is used for Sunday school purposes, and for entertainments in the winter. The Royal Oak Inn on the roadside flourishes, and has within recent years been enlarged. This being the only public house in the parish is a centre of interest, and on a Saturday evening speech and song, followed by ringing cheers and merriment, can be heard in the club-room, where working men of Whitfield evidently meet to enjoy themselves when the week’s work is over. Nevertheless, public life in Whitfield is sluggish. The Parish Council is practically dormant, and as far as Whitfield is concerned Lord Salisbury was not far wrong in suggesting that a parish circus would have been more acceptable. The men of Bewsfield who used to meet at the cross roads to elect constables were quite as much interested in public affairs as the merrymakers at the Royal Oak, and perhaps more so.

Whitfield of yesterday.

As a contrast we may say a few words of Whitfield of yesterday, that is, sixty years ago. In the threescore years the population has increased by about 130 persons, and the houses have increased, although the ratable value is but £25 more than it then was. By way of recalling the changes in the personnel of the place we may mention that in 1841 the principle residents at Whitfield were William Court, corn merchant, Henry Cadman, miller, William Cross, registrar of births and deaths, John French, farmer, John Dilnot, T. W. Marsh, carpenter and smith, and Richard Sutton, carpenter and landlord of the Royal Oak. At Church Whitfield there were Richard Coleman, gentleman, the Rev. G. Elwin, curate, and George Burbridge, nurseryman and landlord of the Rose Inn. It will be observed that in those days there were two public-houses, and the names of those inns seem to have been selected to suit the ideas of the landlords—Richard Sutton, the carpenter, selected as his sign the Royal Oak, and George Burbridge, the nurseryman, appropriately hung out as his sign the Rose.

Elementary Education.

We did not see any building in Whitfield devoted to the purpose of elementary education. That seems to be rather a lack in its social equipment, for surely the elementary schools at Guston, River, and Waldershare are too far distant for the rising generation of Whitfield to reach.

The Social State.

The social condition of the people of Whitfield is higher than in some villages. Most of the people are well-to-do, and it does not appear that there was ever much poverty in Whitfield, for which reason there are few charities. Many years ago, an unknown person left three roods of land near the church for the benefit of poor who were not in receipt of parish relief, and this by a record made in 1799 was then occupied by a farmer named Redman Jones, who paid 10s. a year for it, which sum the overseers for many years appropriated in aid of the poor rate. In 1841, when the rent of this land had increased to a guinea per year, the question was raised as to the legality of diverting it from the intention of the donor, and from thenceforward the overseers abandoned it and it was left to the discretion of the minister to be given in alms. That land is at present held by Mr. Spanton at a rent of £1 a year. In 1821, Mr. J. M. Fector left the interest of £50 invested in the tolls of the Dover and Sandwich road. The proceeds of that and of the older benefaction were in 1841 given in coals to the poor. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the poor in receipt of constant parish relief numbered ten, and there are now, according to the returns of the Dover Union, five receiving outdoor relief, and eight from this parish are in the Dover work house. We have stated that for many generations leading people connected with Dover had residences here, and it is so now. At Bewsfield House resides Mr. Worsfold MowlI, the Register of Dover Harbour; at Whitfield House, Mr. Frederick Mayes, head of the well-known firm of Metcalf and Mayes, Bench-street; Mrs. Worsfold, at Rolls Court; Miss Hills, Cambridge House: Mr. Edward Crundall, Westfield House; Mr. T. F. Spanton, one of the Dover Board of Guardians, at Linacre Court; and Mr. Edward Tapley, Surveyor of the Dover Rural District, at Sparrow Court; whilst amongst other public men of Dover, Sir William Crundall resides at Woodside, at the foot of the hill, and Major Lawes at Old Park. Nevertheless, with all those residents having urban connections, Whitfield, notwithstanding its natural attractions, has not recently developed as a place of suburban residence, and there is little prospect of its rural quiet being much disturbed in that direction unless some more facilities for locomotion were introduced to enable it to compete with the villages which are located nearer the railway. Those who reside at Whitfield will probably think it best that it should be so, for Whitfield has charms which few villages so near a large town afford.