THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS-FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1902.

XXXVII—KINGSTON.

Kingston is a village in the Elham Valley, in a parish of the same name, which comprises an area of 1510 acres, including a considerable portion of the Barham Downs.

SITUATION AND SCENERY.

From the Dover road Kingston lies in a hollow on the south-west, immediately alter passing the Black Windmill on the Barham Downs The church with the little village clustered round it is a conspicuous object to passengers on the Elham Valley Railway, the church being close to the north side of railway, but, being equidistant between Barham and Bishopsbourne stations, is not much frequented. The land lying in the bottom and south-western side of the valley pasture and arable is fairly fertile, but on the northern and eastern the downs present a stern and rugged aspect, although fraught with historic interest.

THE HISTORY OF KINGSTON.

The earliest traditions of Kingston are associated with the Roman invasion, there being close to the north side of the parish many remains of Caesar's works, and particularly, one of his small camps, made square with a single vallum on three sides of it, the upper, or northern side being left open. This lies on the slope of the hill facing Kingston Church, and from this camp, westward, there are continued several lines of entrenchments, as there are, also, eastward towards Denne Hill. It is assumed that after marching from the coast, and leaving detached posts towards Shepherdswell, to ward off attacks from Britons still holding Dover, the Romans here concentrated their forces to hurl them as they successfully did against the main British force that made its stand to the north-west of the downs between Bridge and Patrixbourne. On all sides of this Roman camp in Kingston there are great numbers of tumuli, or barrows, some of considerable size. The Rev. Mr Faussett, of Heppington, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, opened about three hundred of these tumuli, and he was of opinion that the locality was used as a burying place during the time of their occupation and by the inhabitants in subsequent periods in the tumuli which Mr. Faussett opened he found many Roman antiquities, including several coins of the reigns of Claudius, Gallienns-Probus, Carausius, Allectus, and Constantine the Great, A denarius of Tiberius was found amongst the entrenchments. A tumulus of immense size was opened in the reign of Henry VIII. by Mr. William Diggs, who found in it a very large urn full of ashes and bones, and there were also found in the mound the brass ornaments of hairnets and shields, but too corroded to indicate their date or to whom they belonged.

But for the landmarks left by the Romans Kingston would have had no foothold in history until after the Norman conquest, for there appear to be no records left of the Saxon period. The manor of Kingston was part of the lands which were given by the Conqueror to Fulbert de Dover, together with grants in Barham, Sibertswould, and Hougham, and which with other possessions afterwards formed the barony of which Chilham was the chief seat. In his descendants and the Earls of Athol this manor continued, like Chilham, until it was forfeited to the Crown, and Edward II., in the year 1312, granted the manor of Kingston to Bartholomew de Badlesmere, but his son Giles dying without issue in the year 1340, one of his sisters carried this manor in marriage, together with the advowson of the church, to Sir John Tiptoft. His son, Robert Tiptoft, dying in the year 1373 without male issue, his daughter Elizabeth carried the manor in marriage to Sir Philip le Despencer, and at his death the estate, descending in the female line went to Roger Wentworth, whose descendant, Thomas, Lord Wentworth, sold it in the year 1457 to Thomas Colepeper, who very soon afterwards sold it to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Bishopsbourne, whose family retained it until the year 1647, when it was sold to Thomas Gibbon, of West Cliffe, the ancestor of Edward Gibbon, who in the next century wrote "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” probably his predilection for studying that subject having been inherited from the Kingston Gibbon, who saw on the hillside facing their manor traces that power which once dominated the world. Through marriage the manor passed to Dr. Peters, of Canterbury, in the year 1697, and on his death in 1722 it was carried in marriage by his daughter to Thomas Barrett, of Lee. Once again, at his death, which occurred in 1757, the manor descended in the female line, his daughter Elizabeth entitling her husband, the Rev. William Dejovas Byrche, both to the estate and the advowson. This Rev. William Dejovas Byrche was the son of the Rev. William Byrche, who from 1732 to 1756 was minister of St. Mary the Virgin, Dover. His son Dejovas Byrche, although in Holy Orders, does not seem to have had any cure during the later part of his life. He presented the living of Kingston to the Rev. John Nairn, who held it thirty-seven years. The Rev. W. Dejovas Byrche does not seem to have resided on this manor. He died at Blackfriars, Canterbury, and was buried in the chancel of Kingston Church on the 16th March, 1772, and his wife Elizabeth, who seems to have resided at Kingston after her husband's death, was buried in the same grave on July 10th, 1798. After their death the manor passed to the Brydges family. The other two ancient seats in the parish are Ileden and Denne Hill. Ileden is an ancient residence situated below the hill on the opposite side of the Barham Downs. At a very early period this estate was held by the Garwintons; and in the year 1408, it passed by marriage to the family of Isaac, of Patrixbourne, and then losing all reputation of being a manor, it passed through various hands; and in the reign of Charles II., passed by sale to Thomas Turner, of London, but a descendant of William Turner, an alderman of Canterbury. He was a wealthy man connected with the Drapers' Company, and he was a benefactor to the poor of the parish of Kingston. The Turners held Ileden in that name till about the middle of the eighteenth century, when by by Act of Parliament their name was changed to Payler, in which name Ileden continued until the early part of the nineteenth century. Denne Hill, another seat in this parish, is in a detached portion which is now united with Wymynswold for civil purposes, and is referred to in our notice of that parish.

KINGSTON OF TO-DAY.

The improvement of facilities for locomotion have left Kingston out of account. The Elham Valley Railway passes through the parish, the embankment which carries the line being near the south-west side of the church, but the stations are a mile off on either side, and it is more than two miles to the Adisham station on the London. Chatham, and Dover Railway. The village is therefore reached by roads such as the Rural District Council affords from either of those stations, or by a short detour from the main Dover road, which traverses the parish about half a mile north-east of the church. From Bishopsbourne it is a pleasant walk along the bridle path south of Charlton Park, while from Barham there is a good road which follows the course of the Nailbourne, passing on the north-east Outelmestone House and hamlet and Diggs’ Court, which are in Barham parish, but very near to the village and church of Kingston. Outelmestone House looks a pretty pleasure residence with a front lawn encircled by trees; while nearer Kingston Diggs’ Court, a large and substantial brick mansion, exhibits a profusion of gables, suggesting that the present building dates from about the time of Queen Anne. This is the estate and mansion which Henry Matson, in the year 1730, gave by will for the repair of Dover Harbour, and which was held by the Commissioners for many years and eventually sold to raise capital for improvements. Leaving Diggs’ Court, a field's breadth brings us to the first house in Kingston, the Black Robin Inn, an ancient house which for more than two centuries was held in the family of the Pilchers, a descendant of whom is the host there now. Black Robin is rather a peculiar name—a rara avis (rare bird). As we never heard of a robin of that colour, we presume the name of the Inn has been changed from its old title, "Black Robber," for the sake of respectability at the risk of incongruity. Years ago the Black Robber appeared on the signboard, and tradition has it that that objectionable individual had a den on the side of the Downs from which he used to issue forth to terrorise and gather booty from travellers on that lonely part of the Dover road. The other part of the village lies nearer the Church. The Post Office is in this direction. This is kept by Mr. William Oxley, and is under the head office at Canterbury. There are several other cottages with the touch of antiquity about them. Nearer still to the Church are more dwellings, including the Rectory Cottage. The Rectory itself which is a pretty residence, set in picturesque grounds, adjoins the north-west side of the Churchyard, the owner of which, since 1884, has been the Rev. Christopher Hales Wilkie, M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford. There is attached to the Rectory seven acres of glebe, the advowson being in the gift of the trustees of the late Mrs. Wilkie. The lord of the Manor is the Marquis of Conyngham, the Croft family descendants of a former Rector, have a proprietory interest in Marley Farm and other houses in the parish, and Mr. John Austin Cobb, of Faversham, is the owner of Westwood.

THE CHURCH.

The Church of St. Giles, Kingston, is a building composed, like most of the East Kent Churches, of flint, with stone dressings. It consists of a nave, chancel, square west tower, containing three bells. There are two entrances, west and north, the latter, which is mainly used, has a porch in which there is an ancient holy water stoop. The interior of the Church is light, owing to the windows being of a fair size, those having stained glass being confined to the Chancel. The roof is open woodwork, plentiful in stout timber, much of which is ancient, and there being no chancel arch there is a clear run from the tower to the east end. From pier to pier at the entrance to the chancel there is only a wooden beam across. The tower arch is pointed, and being no doubt original work indicates that this church dates from the Early English period, although the older windows are perpendicular. On the north side of the chancel are two handsome stained glass windows inserted as memorials in the year 1873, by the Rev. Percy J. Croft. The one nearest is in memory of his two wives, and the other in memory of the Ven. Archdeacon Croft, father of the Rev. Percy J. Croft the late Rector. The figures in both the windows being portraits. The pulpit is a fine and rare sample of oak carving of the Jacobean period. On the south side of the chancel there is a piscena with shelf over it; a little further west is a sedilia, and on the opposite side an aumbry. The large three-light east window is also a memorial. The subject is the Resurrection. It was put in, in the year 1897 by the Rev, C. A. Wilkie, the present Rector, in memory of his mother. In the south wall of the nave opposite the north door is a recess in the wall, the object of which is not apparent. Some have thought there might have been a south door there, but there is nothing on the outside of the wall to indicate that there had been an entrance there. Within the last thirty years this church has been very thoroughly repaired, and there have been many previous repairs done. It is mentioned in the register that in the year 1566 a presentment was made on the state of the church. The churchwardens asserted “Our church is out of good reparation, raining in divers places thereof; and also the parson's house is out of reparation greatly.” The works done to the church in modern times are briefly recorded in the register. In 1809 the Rector, the Rev. Cowper Willyams, took down the vane from the tower and put up a new one with the letters N. W. E. S., the parish having put up a new pole. Four years later the same Rector re-built the north porch as it now stands at a cost of £30. During the time of the Rev. Thomas Bartlett, in the autumn of 1846, the church was restored. The tower and belfry were repaired and the church re-pewed by the parishioners, assisted by a contribution of £25 from the landowners, under the superintendence of Mr. Robert Gardner, churchwarden. A gallery which existed prior to that date was removed, a new floor laid, and the interior coloured under the direction of Captain Douglas, of Ileden. New oak doors were presented by Captain Douglas. The chancel was restored by the Rev. T. Bartlett He presented a carved oak desk which was made in imitation of the pulpit from an old oak screen, which had been removed to make way for the eastern window. In the time of the Rev. Percy J. Croft, 1873, the north porch was repaired at a cost of £43. The church roof was tiled and the ceiling removed, the timbers thrown open, and cleaned at a cost of £95. In the spring of 1881 the old vestry was removed and the present one built at a cost of £70, and the restoration of the doorway cost £16. In 1882 21 perches of land, added to the churchyard by the gift of the Marquis of Conyngham, were consecrated by the Bishop of Dover. In August and September, 1886, during the time of the present Rector, the church was closed for restoration. The chancel was repaved and furnished with oak prayer desks and choir stalls. The nave was re-seated and the floor paved with wooden blocks, passages paved, and the windows repaired both in glazing and stone work, a heating arrangement was put in, and new gates to the churchyard. This work, which cost £583, carried out under the direction of Mr. Norman Shaw, R.A., completed the restoration as it now stands, and there are few country churches in better condition.

RECTORS OF KINGSTON.

The list of Rectors compiled by the Rev. C. H. Wilkie, carries us back to a time very soon after the church was built. It commences with the institution of Maurice de Dalbenergh by Archbishop Peckham in the year 1279. Following this leader are the names of 34 Rectors, many of whom died at Kingston and were buried in the church. As the term of office of these 35 Rectors extend over 623 years, it makes an average term for each of nearly 18 years. Amongst those whose term was longer than the average were the Rev. Percy J. Croft (1861-1844), the Rev Thomas Bartlett (1816-1852), the Rev. John Nairn (1769-1806), the Rev. Peter Innes (1718-1769), the Rev. Gilbert Burroughs (1692-1718), the Rev. Nicholas Dingley (1648-1671), the Rev. Daniel Nichols (1600-1632), and the Rev. John Hastlyn (1573-1600). The earlier Rectors stayed for shorter periods. The only Rector who appears to have made a name in the history of the country was the Rev. Dr. Balcanqual, who was at Kingston seven years, from 1632 to 1639. He was subsequently Rector of Adisham, and Dean of Durham, of which appointment he was deprived in 1642. He was a Royalist and drew up the declaration of Charles I. concerning tumults in Scotland, and wrote letters on the Synod of Dort, to which he was sent by James I. The present Rector, the Rev. Christopher Hales Wilkie, will also have a name in the history of Kent, owing to his carefully-compiled records of the parishes of Kingston and Wymynswold.

“FOREFATHERS OF THE HAMLET.”

“The rude forefathers of the hamlet” are always an interesting study, and nowhere are they more so than at Kingston, where the present Rector, the Rev. Christopher Hales Wilkie, has collected all available information by carefully transcribing the baptisms, marriages, and burials from the parish registers, and has also made a collection of the records of the principal monuments, both in the church and the churchyard. The record of the burials runs from the year 1558 to 1812, and the baptism entries extend over the same period; while the marriages, also beginning in 1558, are carried down to 1837. The burials cover about 8½ generations of 30 years each, and the burials in each of those 30 years should approximately afford a basis for calculating what the population of Kingston was at those periods. From 1558 to 1588 there appears to have been 98 burials, and the same number is recorded in the next 30 years from 1588 to 1618. To the next 24 years, for the register seems to have been neglected in the last six years of that generation there were 107 burials recorded. If the other six years had been included that generation would have topped the record, indicating some special mortality or some abnormal influx in the population. The probability is that there were armed forces encamped on the Downs at that period, and that deaths occurring amongst them increased the burials at Kingston. At the beginning of the next 30 years, from 1648 to 1678 there is a gap in the register of burials from 1648 to 1653 and the sparseness of the following entries suggest that in the troubled times the register was neglected, the result being that in the 30 years between 1648 and 1678 there were but 63 burials recorded. In the next 30 years ended 1703, there were 120 burials. In the 30 years ended 1738 there were 111 burials; in the like period ended 1768 there were 113, and in the last complete 30 years ended 1798 there were 123 burials. In the following 14 years, which end the record, the proportion was about the same; which figures seem to indicate the population of Kingston was nearly as great in the reign of Elizabeth down to the close of the eightenth century as now. The total number of burials at Kingston, from 1558 to 1812, was 891. Several of these were from outside the parish; but it is probable that the burials at other places from Kingston were about equal to those that were brought for interment here. It appears from the register that it was the custom in the beginning of the eighteenth century for persons bringing a body for burial from another parish to present an affidavit sworn before the clergyman of the parish they came from. Here and there are entries of interments of soldiers. One in 1779 is described as “Major Barston, private in the 3rd Foot Guards.” On 30th March, 1685, it is entered that “Mary Hopkins” was, according to the Act, buried in woollen; and a similar note is made in case of several subsequent burials. In the years 1776 and 1777 two persons, William Ellen and John Jacob, are noted as having died of small pox. The only suicide mentioned is in 1779, when a woman is said to have “hanged herself.” The ages of the persons buried are scarcely ever given, but the word “ancient” is occasionally appended. In one case the entry is “ancient, 84 years.” so that in the eighteenth century “ancient” seems to have been applied to persons past fourscore years.

KINGSTON MONUMENTS.

The Rector of Kingston, in making his transcript of the registers, has added to his book copies of the inscriptions on the monuments in the church, and some of those in the churchyard. He mentions eight in the chancel: (1) A Latin inscription to William Dejovas Byrche, A.M., and his wife Elizabeth, who were patrons of the living. (2) A Latin inscription to John Nethersole, of Nethersole, obit 1627. (3) A tablet to Margaret, the wife of Thomas Turner, of Ileden, obit 1698. She is described as “humble, virtuous, and religious; a benefactor and physician to the poor, an excellent wife, a true friend, and indulgent parent.” (4) A tablet to the memory of the Rev. John Nairn, 37 years Rector of the parish, obit 1806. (5) A tablet to Vincent Denne. Sergeant at Law, obit 1693. (6) A Latin inscription to the Rev. Gilbert Burroughs, Rector of Kingston, obit 1718. (7) A brass to the memory of John Hastlyn P’son, of Kingston, 28 years. Hee dyed A.D. 1600. (8) A brass to the memory of Robert Denne, of Denhill, obit 1594. There is also a stone on the south side of the chancel in the floor, the matrix showing the figures of a man and his wife, with son and daughter, with legend beneath. At the corners were four shields, two of which remain, the one having a figure of a bull, and another of a goat, and the letters “Agrariar” on a scroll on each shield. This brass is assigned by a competent authority to the end of the 15th Century. There are also eight monuments mentioned in the nave of the church. (1) A tablet to the memory of Colonel James Payler, some time Governor of Zante and Corfu. After enumerating his services in the Army, there follows: “Blessed is he whose end is peace.” Obit 1854. (2) A tablet in memory of Mary Lucy, daughter of the Rev. T. Bartlett, M.A., Rector of Kingston, and wife of R. D. Parker, Esq., of the East India Service, obit 1846. (3) A tablet to the memory of the Rev. Cooper Willyams, M.A., Rector of Kingston, obit 1816. (4) To the memory of the Rev. William Payler, M.A., Vicar of Patrixbourn, obit 1814. (5) In memory of Charlotte Payler, wife of T. W. Payler, Esq., of Ileden, and daughter of William Hammond, Esq., of St. Albans, obit 1798. (6) A tablet referring to a vault beneath, where lie the mortal remains of Elizabeth Sarah Martha, beloved wife of Edward Knocker, Esq., of Dover, and eldest daughter of the Rev. Thomas Bartlett, M.A., Rector of Kingston, obit 6 March, 1835, aged 21, leaving one infant daughter, Emily Elizabeth. In the same grave is buried Edward Tottenham Knocker, infant son of the above, who died 10 February, 1835. The marble slab bears a eulogy of her many virtues. (7) A memorial to Thomas Turner, of Ileden, obit 1722. The latter is also in memory of others of the Turner family, and of Sir Thomas Lombe, Kt., and Alderman of the City of London, who married Elizabeth Turner of Ileden, obit 1739. Over this tablet is suspended a surcoat, bearing the arms of Lombe, and other funeral trophies. It was the custom as late as the 18th Century when a Knight was buried for his insignia to be placed on the coffin, and afterwards to be placed in the church. These in question are of special interest, in that they remain complete in all items, surcoat, shield, sword, spurs, gloves, etc. Thomas Lombe was one of the three brothers from Norwich, and his younger brother John, in disguise as a workman, served in a silk mill in Savoy, and having gained a knowledge of the machinery, the Lombes set up the famous silk mill at Derby, which obtained a royal patent in 1718, and Thomas Lombe was Knighted when Sheriff of London in 1727. In consequence of his commercial enterprise, Parliament made Sir Thomas Lombe a grant of £14,000. (8) A tablet to the memory of Elizabeth, second wife of T. W. Payler, Esq., obit 1810. There are also 36 copies of inscriptions gathered up by the Rector from tombs in the churchyard. These refer to the following families: Turner, Innes, Denward, Croft, Rye, Pain, Baker, Ellen, Apostle, Lade, Wood, Law, Grant, Hopkins, Bartlett, Gardner, Benefield, Brooks, Morgan, Torre, Collard, Coltham, Robbins, White, Horton, and Pilcher. There are also copies of inscriptions in memory of former Rectors of Kingston who are interred elsewhere, including Walter Balcanqual, D.D., obit 1632, in Chirk Church, Denbighshire; John Maximillian, D.D., obit 1692, buried at Barham; the Rev. Cooper Willyams, obit 1816, from Fulham Church; the Rev. Thomas Bartlett, M.A., obit 1872, from Buton Latimer Church, Northampton; and the Rev. Philip George Bartlett, obit 1876, from Carleton Forehoe Church, Norfolk.

KINGSTON HOUSEHOLDERS.

In the list of registered householders in Kingston parish corrected for the present year’s register, there are 43 householders. There were five changes in the last registration year, the moves into Kingston having been from Barham, Stodmarsh, Folkestone, Ramsgate, and Stowting.