THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS—FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1901

XXVI.—NONINGTON.

Nonington is a village situated about the centre of a parish of the same name near the north side of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, about 8 miles from Dover.

Situation and Scenery.

A more charming village than Nonington does not exist in Kent. Its main street is lined with houses mostly of the industrial class, but all pleasantly situated. Other clusters of cottages are in the surrounding hamlets of Frogham, Holt Street, Ratling Street, and Ackholt. Amongst these are interspersed residences of the better class, and the whole place is endowed with interest by two ancestral mansions—Fredville, situated in a fine Park to the south, and the St. Alban’s Court, also in extensive grounds, to the north east.

The History of Nonington.

The history of Nonington is bound up with its Church and its ancient Manors, which we shall very briefly give separately, but, generally, it may be stated that the Manor of Wingham claims paramount over the greater part of the parish, and the Manor of Eastry over the other part, so that the Manors of the parish are termed subordinate, but, except historically, Manors are declining in interest. With regard to the Church also it was anciently a chapel of ease to Wingham, but on the foundation of Wingham College by Archbishop Peckham in 1286 this was made a distinct parish, appropriated to that College, and continued so till the suppression of that College in Edward VI’s reign, when the curacy of Nonington came into the hands of the Crown, and was in Queen Mary’s reign granted to the Archbishop of Canterbury, with the Chapel of Womenswold appendant. The living, a vicarage, is still in the gift of the Archbishop, but is not now joined with Womenswold.

St. Alban’s Court.

Tracing the history of the Manors of Nonington we would begin with the oldest, but it is not easy to decide which is entitled to that distinction, the weight of evidence seems to turn in favour of St. Alban’s. This was anciently called Eswait, and afterwards Esole. It is situated north east of the church, and in its rear was another mansion called Bedesham, foundations of which have been found in recent years. At the time of the Conquest the Bishop of Baieux held both St. Alban’s, then called Eswait, and Bedesham, and after the Bishop’s disgrace, St. Alban’s, together with Bedesham, was granted to a Norman named Albineto Pincerna whose son, who was the first who bore the title of Lord Albermarle, gave the estate to the Abbot of St. Alban’s, Hertfordshire, and from that circumstance this Kentish Manor took its present name. A Charter under the seal of King Stephen giving the property of Eastwell, Nonington, to the Abbey of St. Albans, is still in the possession of Mr. Hammond. The estate remained in the possession of the Abbey till the reign of Henry VIII, when the King consented to the Abbot selling the Manor, then in the occupation of John Hammond, to Sir Christopher Hales, the then Master of the Rolls. It afterwards was owned by Sir Thomas Culpeper, who, in the year 1555, sold it for 2000 marks to Thomas Hammond, who then resided there, and was a direct descendant of the John Hamon who occupied the property in Henry VIII’s time, and the ancestor of the family that own it and reside there now. It will be observed, therefore, that the family at St. Alban’s Court is a very ancient and honourable one. As far back as 1548 the authority to bear arms was granted to Thomas Hamon, gentleman, of Nonington. The mansion of St. Alban’s was rebuilt in a very substantial style by William Oxenden Hammond, Esq., D.L., J.P., its present proprietor. The Court is surrounded by a beautiful park, making St. Albans one of the finest country seats in East Kent.

Fredville and Soles.

These two manors may be taken together, although the latter is the more ancient. Soles is a Manor which lies on the boundary of the parish, next Barfreston, which also belonged to the Bishop of Baieux. It had been held by one Elmer in Saxon times, and soon after the Conquest, came into the possession of the family of Crevequer. It was held from Hamode Crevequer by John de Soles in the reign of Edward I. After passing through the hands of several owners it was purchased by John Boys in the reign of Henry VIII, whose descendants held it till the reign of Charles I, when it was sold to Sir A. Percival, Controller of Customs at Dover, and after passing through other hands was purchased by John Plumptre about the year 1750, since which it has been joined to Fredville. This was also an ancient Manor, formerly called Froidville, and no doubt the little hamlet at its S.E. gate now called Frogham was called Froidham, the one being probably the name for the mansion and the other for the dwellings of the borderers attached to the domain. Successively Fredville was held by several warriors as a knight’s fee for keeping ward at Dover Castle, and in the latter end of the reign of Edward IV it was sold to John Nethersole, who, in the reign of Richard III, sold it to William Boys, of Nonington in Goodnestone. In our article Betteshanger we stated that William Boys of Fredville was the founder of the Boys family, but that was a slip of the pen. The family originated in Normandy under the name of de Boseo, and the name of R. de Boys is on the roll of Battle Abbey of those who bore arms under William of Normandy, and he was awarded lands in Kent for his services. The Boys settled in the parish of Goodneston in the 13th Century, and in the year 1257 John Boys was in possessions of the Manor of Bonnington, and he died in possession of it in the year 1479. His son William Boys succeeded him, and while owning Bonnington by fine levied in the King’s Courts obtained from John Nethersole the freehold of Fredville in the year 1485. William Boys took up his residence at Fredville, but his last days were spent at his other seat in Goodneston parish, and dying at Bonnington in 1507, was buried in Goodneston Church. He left five sons and three daughters. To his eldest son, John, he gave his fairest estate, Fredville, but to his second son, Thomas, he gave the ancient family seat of Bonnington, and from John Boys sprang the Boys of Fredville, Hode, Holtstreet, Betteshanger, Challock, Deal, Sandwich, St. Gregory’s in Canterbury, Denton, and in Surrey. Thomas Boys, who remained at Bonnington, left branches of his family at Bonnington, Hythe, Mersham, Wilsborough, Sevington, and Uffington. It was Sir John Boys, a descendant of Thomas, of Bonnington, who so valorously defended Donnington Castle, In Berkshire, for the King, in the Civil War. He died at Bonnington four years after the Restoration, having suffered much in his estate owing to his loyalty; and having very little to bequeath to his children, the estate at Bonnington was immediately afterwards sold, and was purchased by Thomas Broome, Esqr., Sergeant at Law, who was Mayor of Dover when Charles II landed. Meanwhile, the Boys’, of Fredville, had not fared much better. John Boys, who inherited Fredville in 1507, also owned Manors in several other parishes in East Kent, being one of the most powerful men in the County. His successor was Edward Boys, who died, and was buried at Nonington in 1596. His son was Sir Edward Boys, of Fredville, who died in 1634. His son, Major Boys, was an active soldier of Charles I, and sacrificed much for this Royalist cause. His estates were eaten up by levies and sequestrations, insomuch that when he died, his seven sons and a daughter, were left unprovided for. Fredville was theirs, but they had to sell it, and the two elder sons, John and Nicholas, finding no further abode for them at Fredville in the year 1673, left these scenes of their youth, each with a favourite hawk in hand, to become pensioners at the Charter House, London. All the seven sons of Major Boys, of Fredville, died without issue, and that branch of the family became extinct. Nevertheless, other branches were deeply rooted, and have since flourished in different parts of the Kingdom. The present Admiral and Archdeacon Boys, are descendants of the Bonnington branch, and Mr. Boys, solicitor, of Margate, too, is one of this ancient and honourable family. The sale of Fredville, by Major Boys’ sons, in 1673 was to Lord Holles, and his descendant, the Duke of Newcastle, in 1745, sold it to Margaret, sister of Sir Brook Bridges, of Goodneston, and she, marrying John Plumptre, of Nottingham in the year 1750, he became possessed of Fredville, and rebuilt the mansion, where he resided till his death in 1791. He was succeeded by his son, John Plumptre, Esqr., who, dying in the year 1827, was succeeded by John Pemberton Plumptre, Esqr., and his son, the present head of the family, is John Charles Plumptre, Esqr., M.A., L.D. Fredville Mansion stands on a slight eminence, commanding an extensive view of park lands, the beauty of the undulating greensward, and the majesty of the fine oaks and other trees affording sylvan scenery rarely equalled. The timber in the park is remarkably fine, and there are several oaks of enormous girth, one standing a short distance from the front of the mansion is known as the Fredville oak, being 36 feet in circumference. For gracefulness nothing can exceed the fine specimens of Spanish chestnut trees, many of them being 24 feet in girth, and there is a magnificent Horn Bean tree, the branches of which would cover a troop of soldiers. Stairs have been constructed to lead up into the branches, where there is novel accommodation for a considerable pic-nic party. The drive through this park is of course, private, but its present owner is very generous, in from time to time allowing the use of the grounds for pic-nic parties, and visitors are, on request being made at the gate, allowed to drive through the north gate being nearly opposite the Royal Oak at Nonington, and the southern gate at Frogham, not a great distance from the Church of Barfreston.

Ratling Court.

The Manor of Ratling, or Retling, is the only other ancient estate in the parish calling for special notice. These lands were attached to the Wingham Manor, and were a part of the possessions of the See of Canterbury during the Saxon Heptarchy. There was a lapse in the possession during turbulent times, but they were restored in the year 941. The land was held from the Archbishop, and in the year 1330 Sir Richard de Retling died possessed of it, and he leaving no male issue the Manor passed through several bands till 1421, when it was held by Sir John Fineaux, Lord Chief Justice. About the year 1558 the property was sold to William Cowper, who married the daughter of James Masters, of East Langdon. He resided at Ratling Court, and was in 1652 created a baronet. His grandson was Lord Chancellor in the reign of Queen Anne, and the property is still owned by Earl Cowper, although it has long ceased to be the family seat. William Cowper, the poet, was of the same family. Kelly states that the poet once resided at Ratling Court, but there is no mention of that in the life of William Cowper, the poet, nor in any other history that we have seen. The mistake may have arisen from the fact that Sir William Cowper of Ratling Court was a poet (a minor one), he having composed some lines in commemoration of his spiritual father, the “judicious Hooker.” Near Ratling Court was Old Court, which for a considerable time was owned by the Marsh family, who were large holders of land in East Kent in the 16th and 17th Centuries.

Nonington Church.

The Church of St. Mary, Nonington, has a specially interesting history because, in its origin, it was a chapel of ease for Wingham Church, which was, down to the close of the 13th Century, the mother Church of Nonington, Womenswold, Goodneston, and Ash. Owing to the important Manors then located in Nonington, the Church appears to have been built large and fair, its original size being apparently the same as at present. The Church consists of a nave, chancel, north aisle, north chapel, south porch, and an embattled tower at the west end of the north aisle. The style is early English, the nave and north aisle are separated by an arcade of three arches on light circular early English piers. The arcade is continued in the chancel with two similar arches opening into the north chapel. The windows in the east end are early English, but others are of the Perpendicular and Decorated periods. The chancel arch is remarkably high, but there appears to have been a rood loft there in pre Reformation times, which would have reduced the chancel entrance in height and probably in width. There are jutting corbels at the springs of the arch on which tee rood loft may have rested, and there is an opening through the wall east of the last arch through which a stairway from the north aisle might have led up to the rood loft. At the west end of the nave there are jutting stones on each side as though there had formerly been a west gallery there. The north chapel, divided by the two arches from the chancel, was a century ago partitioned off and used for a school, and the moulding of the low arch there, in which there is a leper window, has received rough usage, probably when this part of the church was devoted to scholastic purposes. The small north door was, perhaps, inserted for the convenience of the school. The church has several times been restored as the windows of various dates demonstrate. The west end was completely repaired and the west window with stained glass inserted in the year 1847, and a year later the whole of the east end was put into a complete state of repair by W. O. Hammond and J. Pemberton Plumptre, Esqrs. At the present time the whole fabric is in a very good condition and the interior bright and beautiful. The last restoration took place in 1887, and was carried out under the late Mr. Evan Christian at a cost of £1873 10s.

The Church Memorials.

In the south aisle and on the south side of the chancel are many memorials of the Hammond family, of St. Alban’s Court. Probably the oldest was on a stone now in the floor near the top of the south aisle, where there is now nothing legible. Hasted states that there was in his day in the south aisle the figures of a man between his two wives traced on the stone, and an inscription for John Hamon and Margaret and Mary his wives, dated 1526. In the chancel floor are inscriptions and the arms of Hammond family, of various dates, from 1625 to the 17th June, 1717. The description of the status of the Hammonds in all these inscription is Arminger, which anciently was the degree immediately below a Knight, and which entitled the holder to bear arms. On the south wall of the chancel are many more modern tablets to the memory of members of the Hammond family, including one to William Osmund Hammond, born 1790, died 1863. “A just man and perfect in his generations.” Near this slab is another in memory of Maximilian Montague Hammond, Capt. 2nd Batt. Rifle Brigade, 3rd son of William Osmond Hammond, of St. Alban’s Court, who fell in the attack on the Redan before Sebastopol, 8th September, 1855. On the other side of the chancel, in the north chapel, the walls are covered with slabs in memory of members of the Plumptre family, the inscriptions being on white marble set on black slabs. There are eleven of these memorials. In the floor of the north chapel is a stone inscribed Daniel Wood, Fredville 1747. To go back to older dates there is an inscription on brass in the sanctuary on the north side to Alys ye daughter of William Simpton, Esquire, Vice-Admiral of Calys, who died 3 Jan., 1581. In the floor of the south aisle is a stone inscribed to the memory of Sir Henry Trotter’s family, of Skelton Castle, Yorks. On the south wall of the nave is an oval slab to Ann Wells, 1798. In the north aisle are memorials of the Boys family. On a large marble tablet in memory of the wife of Sir Edward Boys is the following verse:—

If piety to God and love to Sayntes,

If pity of ye poore and their complaints,

If care of children’s Godly education,

If modest carriage merit estimation,

All these and more shall this good lady have

To keep her ever from oblivion’s grave.

God, He hath crowned her with eternal bliss.

The Church doth honour her, the poor her miss,

Her godly offsprings treading in her ways,

To each succeeding age commends her praise.

Such honour she, such honour may they find

Who unto Syon bear a loving mind.

In the same aisle are tablets to the memory of Sir Edward Boys and Sir John Mennes. In the churchyard many of the older memorials are worn out by wind and weather. The oldest monument by far is the venerable yew tree near the south-east, which in spite of age still has a girth of 25 feet. One stone is inscribed to Mary Anne Critch, a devoted nurse in the Plumptre family, date 1817. There are a good many memorials of the Suttons of Nonington and of Deal, some dated 1808. Across the road south of the church is a cemetery, or an extension of the churchyard. Near the entrance is an enormous rugged stone to the memory of John Payn, on which under the name, which is small, is in very bold letters the words "Two Roads," and underneath, in tabular arrangement are set forth the broad road leading to “Death, Damnation, and Satan,” and the narrow road to “Life, Salvation, God.”

Nonington Bells.

The three bells in the Nonington belfry are of various dates, and No. 1 of the present time is a substitute for a former No. 3 now gone. The present No. 1 bell, 32½ inches, is a modern one, cast by John Warner and Sons, Crescent Foundry, London, and is dated 1854. This firm, as constructed at present, dates only from 1850, but they are the descendants of “Old” John Warner, a member of the Society of Friends, who cast the church bells of Strood in 1788, and later of Tomson Warner, of Jewin Crescent, Cripplegate. No. 2 bell, 34 inches, was presumably the original No. 1, and is what is termed a black letter bell, owing to the inscription thereon being in black letters. Mr. J. C. L. Stahlschmidt, of great authority on church bells, says that the bell was cast by Robert Burford, a celebrated City of London bell founder, whose period was from 1392 to 1418. It was during that time that this, the oldest bell at Nonington, was cast. The inscription commences with a cross, followed by the invocation in black letters, “Sancta Katerina Ora Pro Nobis.” (St Katharine Pray for Us). The No. 3, 37 inches, bears the following inscription in Roman characters, a fleur-de-lis at the commencement, and a star between the words, thus “John * Hodson * me fecit * 1683 * James * Nash * and * Robert * Payne * C Wardens.” This John Hodson commenced the business of a bell founder in London in 1654, and seems to have continued till 1693. Mr. Fausett notes that in 1758 there were three heavy bells at Nonington. The No. 3 which has disappeared to make room for the newest one, was inscribed “Josephus Hatch me fecit 1621.” (Joseph Hatch made me 1621). There are about 155 of his bells in Kentish Steeples. But although he was successful in business and rich, his will, dated 13th September, 1639, is signed “Joseth Hatch his marke.” His factory was at Alcomb, Kent, but he died and was buried in the parish of Bromfield.

Nonington Notes.

It has been mentioned that the top of the north aisle of Nonington Church was a hundred years ago used as a school. How long that use continued is not recorded, but probably it ceased in the year 1820, when the present schools were built. The schools were enlarged in 1861, and a return made two years ago shows that the accommodation is 190, the average attendance 84, and the annual merit grant £77 16s. 3d. The population of Nonington a hundred years ago was 562, in 1821 it was 730, in 1831 it had increased to 832, and in 1841 there were 171 houses and 860 inhabitants. Since then there has been a decrease, the population in 1901 being 740. The householders on the registered lists of voters last July numbered 167, being 141 and 26 women. The register of baptisms, marriages, and deaths in the parish claims to date from 1525. The Vicar has kindly copied the title page of the oldest parish register, which runs thus: “The Register of Marriages newly copied out A.D. 1598. Christenings and burials (sic) in the parish of Nonington, in the 40th year of the reign of our sovereign Elizabeth by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.” “Nacimur, Vivimus, Morium.” (We are born, we live, to die). The first entry is in the year 1538. The following interesting entry was made in the troublous times of the Commonwealth. “A new Regesser to bee kepte in the parish of Nonington, the Justices being to marry and the Regesser to aske. This to be put in execution on ye—1653. A simple and silly practice.” The record of parish charities is brief. An unknown person bequeathed for two poor householders in this parish two houses and a acre and half of land at Frogham, with a sack of wheat to each at Christmas. Two aged labourers have for many years been appointed to these houses by Mr. Plumptre, who divides £7 4s. annually between them in consideration of the land and wheat; Sir Edward Boys in 1634 gave £6 to be invested in stock to set, the poor to work; Robert Bargar in 1600 gave certain rents for the benefit of the poor; and Edward Boys in 1796 left 40s. per annum for the poor. Nonington has its post office and telegraph communication. There is a village Inn, the Royal Oak, on the main road; the village Stores, near the Church, kept by Mr. Clay; the village Forge, adjoining the Churchyard. The Vicar of Nonington is the Rev. S. G. H. Sargent, M.A., who has held the living since 1891; he also has recently added to his duties those of Vicar of Knowlton, an adjoining parish in which there are but three or four residences, and the Vicar is also a member of the Eastry Board of Guardians and Rural District Council. The principal land owners are W. O. Hammond, Esq., C. J. Plumptre, Esq., H. F. Plumptre, Esq., the Right Hon. Earl Cowper, Mr. H. S. Pledge, and Mr. Speed. The resident Magistrates are W. O. Hammond, Esq., St. Albans Court, and C. J. Plumptre, Esq., Fredville. The latter is also an Alderman of the Kent County Council.