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OUR VILLAGES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY AND NOW. (1901) FORDWICH THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS—FRIDAY, 2 MAT, 1902. CUR VILLAGESL.—FORDWICH. Some apology is due from us to Fordwich for presuming to include it amongst.“Our Villages,” but alas! though a limb of the Cinque Ports and for many centuries a corporate town, Fordwich is now shorn of its ancient glories, and is not entitled either by its population, its commerce, or its form of Government to take rank higher than a village. But as some distinction in respect for its traditions, we accord Fordwich the honor of being the fiftieth in our series—our Jubilee Village. SITUATION AND SURROUNDINGS. Fordwich is situated on the left bank of the River Stour, about two and a half miles below Canterbury, and about five miles above Sandwich, of which ancient Cinque Port it is a limb. It is barely a quarter of a mile east from the village of Sturry, where there is a station of the Canterbury and Sandwich Railway, and scarcely a iaile from Westbere, which village occupies a hill beyond the river, and the marginal meadow northwards. To the east lies the parish of Stodmarsh, and to the south-east Trendley Park, situate in Littlebourn and Wickham-breaux. VERY EARLY HISTORY. It is in its history that the strength and glory of Fordwich lies. Its traditions run back to Roman times, and its name is supposed to be derived from fiord-wic, the former meaning an arm of the sea and the latter a bay, for it is supposed that in the time of the Roman occupation the low-lying part now the site of Fordwich was covered by the tide, and that the ancient Fiordwic occupied the hill to the south-east, where, in the Middle Ages, stood the old “ Wyke ” house, diked and banked about. When the sea ceased to flow freely between the Isle of Thanet and the mainland of Kent, the tidal waters receded from the Fordwic, and the river, still tidal, ‘being confined to its present bed the town of Fordwich, with its Church and Town Hall, appeared on its bank. UNDER KENTISH KINGS. It would occupy time and space without adding much to the interest of this sketch to trace the dates of the various stages of this evolution, but it will be sufficient to note that, in the days of the earlv Kentish Kings, Fordwich situated at the head of a navigable river was a town and port, and was endowed with a system of self government. As this town and port grow in size and developed in importance, it came to be an imperium in impero—a Fordw:;ch which comprised the town- and parish, and a greater Fordwich which included in the corporate borough and its liberties, in addition to Fordwich parish, parts of the parishes of Sturry, St. Mary’s Northgate, St. Martin's, Westbere, Stodmarsh, Wickhambreaux, Stourmouth, Chislet, and Wingham. To describe the bounds in the precise words of the finding of an ancient inquest the boundary runs towards the east, where the King's highway goeth from the park of Tr^pdell towards Canterbury, towards the south by the tenement of Wykes and the wood of the Archbishop called Turholt, and westward from a place called Eorstall to Wynelyng Well, a tenement of the Prior of Holy Trinity, Canterbury. From thence the boundary rah to Poldrelese, and along the waterside as far as Roberts Bridge to Fair-borne Lane, and thence to a meadow called Cammede. From Cammede the boundary ran to the wall of the Abbot of St. Austin, and as far as Marshall ditch towards the north of the franchise. Here, seems to have been the end of the land liberty corresponding with its extent on the south of the river, but the water liberty continued onward as far as Stourmouth Ness, beyond Grove Ferry, about nine miles below Fordwich town, with as much land on either side of the river as could be reached by an axe of seven pounds in weight, called taper axe, thrown by a man standing in a boat at high tide. Such was the extent of the town and liberties of Fordwich in the olden times—a very respectable land area, which formed a hundred for its own self government, and an elongated water liberty including a strip of riparian property nine n.iles down the river as far as Pluck Gutter, where it joined the liberty of Sandwich. In early Saxon times the condition of the borough of Fordwich is not clearly defined, but local government for the people and by the people, which seems to have been established at a very early date, became fettered and curtailed as the proprietory rights of the Abbot of St. Augustine increased. The Lord Abbot seems to have got a footing in the borough about the year 866, w’hen one Eg>-ebredus of Fordwich gave him six houses and three acres of arable land in the burgh, and a meadow in the southern part of the town on the occasion of his sen entering upon his novitiate. Later, in the year 1056, Edward the Confessor granted to the Holy Minster of St. Augustine all his lands in the town of Fordwich, and together with that gift the King gave to the Abbot a charter of “ sac and soc,” that is, jurisdiction in all criminal and civil causes within the Liberty. FORDWICH AT THE CONQUE8T. In those latter days of the Saxon rule the Abbot had squeezed nearly all the free life out of this early self governing community, and at the Conquest the paramontcy of the Abbot, was completed by the Bishop of Bayeaux, who had taken possession of Earl Godwins property there, giving that also to the Abbot. According to Domesday Book, the Abbot of St. Augustine, in the year 1085, held “the little burgh of Fordwich, but the Abbot’s grasp upon it was not very firm. Soon after the Conquest, owing to friction between Church and State, all the monastery lands had been confiscated on the abdication of Abbot Egelsin in 1070 and although the King had directed that they should be restored, the Abbot never regained his full power at Fordwich. A dual control was the result, which caused frequent contentions between the freemen of Fordw ch and the Abbot of St. Augustine’s, which was never fully disposed of until the dissolution of the Abbey at the Reformation. FORDWICH TOWN AND PORT. The origin and history of the municipal privileges of Fordwich, and also of the link that connected it with Sandwich and the Cinoue Ports, are somewhat indistinct, but none the less real. The Rev. C. E. Woodruff M.A., who wrote a very interesting history of the Town and Port of Fordwich, which has assisted us considerably in compiling this sketch, says, “The town possessed no Charters under seal conferring on the inhabitants municipal ^dependence Indeed, the only Charter specially addressed to Fordwich appears to be a Charter of Henrv II., which grants to the town a Merchant Guild.” Mr. Woodr iff contends that the Merchant Guild was notequivalent to a Charter of incorporation, but the G-’iid was an institution whose function was to regulate trade monopoly, an organised and official part, of civic government, but not that body itself. While admitting that the Charter of Henry II. does not amount to a Charter of Incorporation, it is obvious from its wording that it was a good deal more than an authority for the regulation of trade. For instance, the Charter contains these words, “ And that they have our right of writ so that no Sheriff or Bailiff of us hereafter intromit in any summonses, distresses, or attachments to be executed in the said town concerning any matter to the said town appertaining.'’ It is quite evident that this Charter is addressed to a town having existing rights: To our good men of the town of Fordwich,” and reference is made to laws and customs previously granted by Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror, William II, and Henry I. True, no Charter of Incorporation can be produced, but that applies to the Cinque Ports generally, whose rights are largely prescriptive. The original title of the governing body was “ The Mayor and Com-barons,” and the official designation was, “The Mayor, Jurats, and Commonalty.” The list of Mayors compiled from records still existing at Fordwich commenced with John Maynard in the year 1292, but it is believed that some unrecorded Mayors ruled at least twenty years before that date. HOW THE MAYOR WAS ELECTED. As a relic of this old corporation, Fordwich still has the old Town Hall in which the Corporation used to do their ordinary business, but the election of the Mayor ana Jurats took place for many centuries in the Church. There is no particular description of the election of the 12 Jurats, except that it was in all respects like that of the Mayor; but the Custumal gives the following ritual of the choosing of the Mayor: — On Monday next after the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, the Mayor shall cause the common bell in the Parish Church of the BHssed Virgin, to be tilled before one o’clock in the day, and thereupon the whole community shall assemble therein. And when’ the Mayor of the past year, and the Jurats, together with the whole of the community, are assembled in the Church, the Mayor shall take the keys from the Jurats who have had custody of the common chest and a cerain hanaper which had been in his own keeping, and he shall place them near himself and say, “Men and brethren ye know that I have been in your common service for a year, according to your election, and if I have well and faithfully exercised my office I am well pleased, but if not I am very sorry. And, if I have wronged anyone by word or deed, let him now say so and I am ready to make satisfaction. And your duty is now to choose another who in the present year may, by the help of God, know and be able and willing to faithfully exercise his office.” The Mayor then left the Church, accompanied by three of the more worthy and discreet freemen, and in their absence'some good man’ amongst the freemen addressed the community as follows: "Good sirs, behold our four com-barons whom ye have chosen as especially worthy of the office of Mayor have gone out, say, then, in the name of the Lord whom ye will have of these four persons.” Then the freemen, first seated on four benches per quartuar bancos), and next all standing up, proclaim unanimously, or at least with a predominating voice, the name of the chosen person. Two of the freemen are then deputed to inform the Mayor of his election and to conduct him to the Church, where he takes the oath. If a Mayor on election refused to take office, his house was pulled down if he had one, and if he had not one he was disfranchised. NOTES ON THE MAYORS. According to a list, still hanging in the Court House, which the Rev. C. E. Woodruff compiled from the town records, there appear to have been 188 Mayors in the interval between 1292 and 1884, which would make it that each Mayor on an average held the office for three years. Some held the office many years. In the early days when the office was regarded as a prize and the Fordwich trout (at which the Mayor had the first turn) were plentiful, a Mayor seldom held office more than one or two years. The longest- term in early times was Thomas Jennings, from 1688 to 1694, and in lateryears the Jennings seemed to regard the office almost as a freehold. Anthony Jennings was Mayor from 1743 till 1764, a spell of 21 years; another Anthony Jennings held it from 1785 till 1829, being 44 years, and Upton Jennings from 1776 to 1785, being 9 years. The name of Jennings first appears in the list of Mayors in 1680, and during the 149 years that elapsed from that time till the last appearance of the name in 1829, a Jennings was Mayor of Fordwich 88 years. Most of the other Mayors were content with one or two turns, with the exception of Charles Mead (an old Peninsular officer, who married Elizabeth Harvey, of Eythorne Court), who held the office 14 years. Thomas Cooper, of Canterbury, held the office of Mayor from 1848 until his death in 1875, a term of 17 years, and Mr. Denne Denne, of Elbndge House, Littlebourn, from 1875 till 1883. The last Mayor was Colonel Charles James Cox, who held office in the year 1884, when the Corporation was dissolved, and its property was vested in Trustees. He died in 1889, and his tomb of polished red granite, which is in the eastern part of the Churchyard, records the dissolution of both himself and the Corporation. John Woodruff, who was Mayor in 1775, was the great grandfather of the Rev. C. E. Woodruff. M.A., Vicar .of Bredhurst. Kent, who in 1895, wrote the history of the Town and Port of Fordwich ¦ Amongst other notable Mayors of Fordwich mav be mentioned the first on record, in 1292, John Maynard, who was surnamed Dives—not because he had no compassion on the poor man at his gate, for he founded Maynard's Hospital in Canterbury and endowed it with land in the parish of Ford-wich. Thomas Southland, who was Mayor in 1444, had a presentment, brought, against him in the General Sessions that he kept a dog that had done to death men and animals. William Maycott, Mayor in 1499, left a sum of money for the repair of the Church, and endowing the lights then kept burning. Stephen May was Mayor in 1534-7. His descendant. William May, was Water Bailiff when the Corporation was dissolved in 1884, and the family is still at Pordwich. Leyland, writing in the time of Henry VIII, refers to Fordwich having a "pore Maier.” Most of the Mayors have been of fair position, but about that time there was one who by his will, proved in 1553, left his son his “lighter hote, not a very large legacy. Another Mayor who seems to have become poor was Stephen Taylor, Mayor in 1711 and 1716. He was a Jurat to the end of his life, and in the register of his burial at Fordwich he was described as “Stephen Tavlor, a ragged Jurat of Fordwich.” The Rev. John Nicholls, Rector of Fordwich, was Mayor in the years 1727 and 1728. the only clergyman who held the office. Earl Cowper was Mayor in 1732. having taken the office, as was stated, to secure a share of the much coveted Fordwich trout. Amongst the benevolent Mavors .the Biges take rank, Walter Bigg in 1538, George Bieg in 1570. another Walter Bigg in 1606, and Thomas Bigg in 1660, held Church and endowing the lights then kept the office of Mayor. It was the last mentioned who left the money for bread dole, which is still made weekly to the poor of Fordwich. MUNICIPAL DOINGS. Having dwelt so long on the personal points, the history of the Corporation must be very summarily dealt with. Their duties were two-fold, administrative and judicial. In their administrative capacity they had to control their monopoly of trade on the river, collect the tolls for wharfage, and maintain their rights to the same against the Prior of Christ Church in the early days and against the City of Canterbury in later times. The fishery on nine miles of the river from Sturry Mill to Pluck’s Gutter below Grove Ferry, they protected most jealously, because the fish were the personal perouisites of the members and officials of the Corporation. They also took fees for compositions for trading, and for admissions to the freedom. They collected the rents of their landed estates until they all gradually disappeared, and they collected bridge tolls in late times from vehicles crossing the bridge at the head of the town, and that anomalous impost still remains. The money so received was expended partly in building at no great expense a Town Hall and a Prison, in paying salaries on a very small scale, in defraying pretty liberally disbursements to the com-barons who attended the Courts of Shepwa.v and of Brotherhood and Guestling of the Cinque Ports, and for some years the Mayor had the magnificent salary of £6 43s. 4d. In the year 1700 that was given up by the Mayor, but was still passed in the accoun*s annually. An in-authorised note in the record book suggests how that money went, some contemporary wag having added the comment, “The Mayor to have no salary but much punch.” JUDICIAL BUSINESS. As regards the judicial aspect of the Corporation, the twelve Jurats, including the Mayor, were magistrates. They elected themselves: to them were committed the issues of life and death in the little community. In the earlier days when death wras the penalty for petty felonies, the unhappy culprit had to stand before the judgment seat of the Mayor and Jurats, with the Town Sergeant with an axe on one side of him. and the prosecutor with a rifle on the other. When sentence of death w’as passed, if he attempted to resist or flee the Sergeant’s axe felled him, and if he took it meekly, it became the duty of the prosecutor to bind him hand and foot and thrust him alive down the “thief's well,” to be there drowned. Latpr there was a gallow's in the Liberty, and a Recorder to try the prisoners, but it does not appear that capital punishment had often to be resorted to, the thief’s w'ell and the gallows being object lessons w'hich w'ere not without their effect. Women’s tongues seem to have been a trouble to the Jurats, and there is still in the old Town Hall the ducking stool in which the scold was ducked in the Stour, and in the roof of the Town Hall is the drying loft, where the cantankerous lady was put up to drip and drv w-hile she was making up her mind whether she would make submission or endure renewed immersion. There is still under the Town Hall the little prison to w'hieh Fordwich culprits were committed,—a cell damn and dank, measuring 8ft. bv 7ft..—a most forbidding looking place: and as the scale of expiation was on the ratio of a 60s. fine or a year and a day’s imprisonment, the money was usually paid and the blank hole avoided. The last prisoner w'hich it received was an official whom the Mavor ordered to be locked ut> for contempt of Court. In the morning the Mayor offered his prisoner liberty and an aDology. The prisoner took the firs*, but instead of the second he demanded compensation, which he obtained. Since then Fordwich has had no prisoner, in 1884 it ceased to have a Corporation : but it now' has a Parish Council, which is quite as useful although not so picturesque. FORDWICH OF TO-DAY. Fordwich, although always a place of interest and importance, w'as never richer in its associations than to-day. Its streets, its houses, and its public buildings all speak of a past which renders the place cent, per cent, more attractive than a brand new creation of the Nineteenth Century. As we enter its liberties at Sturry bridge and see the Stour meander through the meadows, it recalls the ancient Mayors and Jurats who doted on their celebrated trout, w'hich were thought by those wrorthies to be of a special kind provided by Providence for their delectation ; but Mr. Frank Buckland having submitted the creatures to a scientific scrutiny, arrived at the conclusion that they were in reality salmon trout, whose special markings had been altered by the bed of the river since their coming in from the sea. It is rather a cruel science that thus levels the celebrated species of which Thomas Fuller wrrote: “ They differ from all others in many considerables, as greatness, colour, cutting white instead of red when in season, cunning, not being taken with an angle, and abode—remaining nine months in the sea, whence they observe their coming up almost to a day." The Stour, passing through the verdant meadows, looks clear and beautiful as ever, but the trout have nearly forgotten to come up from the sea. The setting of Kidder nets in Pegwell Bay, the Sandwich steam tug, the scouring of the river by the blow boat, have all contributed to drive away the Fordwich trout. Leaving the Stour to take its own course through the meadows, we follow the road, which ultimately brings us to the wooden bridge, under which a branch of the river passes, and on our left is the last of the houses owned by the Corporation of Fordwich. It was built about the year 1734 on a slip of waste ground by a former Mayor, who rented the ground at half a crown a year on a 99 years’ lease; and when the term expired, the tenant holding on and refusing to pay increased rent, action at law was taken by the Corporation, who won the suit, but being out of funds, the municipality had to sell the house to pay their law costs. Between the wooden bridge to the main bridge, over the Stour, the land is called Tancrey Island. Southward, the island between the two streams widens out to about ten acres, and some suppose that that w'as the origin of its name; but the house on it, south of the road, was at an early period owned by Sir Bertram de Tancrey, and in later times it was the residence of the Jennings family, members of which were Mayors for 88 years. This is the Kentish branch of the Jennings family, who are said to be heirs to the Jennings millions locked up in Chancery, and which just now some American lawyers are trying to unlock for the benefit of members of the Midland branch, some of whom are now settled at Chicago. The Jennings of Fordwich were notable people, but presumably not perfect, for in the parish register, after an entry of the baptism of Dorothy, daughter of Thom«s and Susan Jennings, the rector, John Nicholls, added, “To w'hom I pray God grant more grace than he has iriven to their parents.” Passing Tancrey House, we are on the Stone Bridge, as it is called, although built of brick, and from 'thenee eastward down the river and over the level pastures towards Thanet there is a fine view. The river has here a landing place where there are pleasure boats, which are let for hire. Just below can be seen the Court Hall and the church on the south ^ank. Over the bridge is the George and Dragon Inn, where excursion parties are servpd with tea and other refreshments in the booths of the garden in the rear: and at this house the bridge tolls are still collected. Here the street turns to the east, and is margined by houses, every one of which has its history. Several are built with the upper stones quaintly projecting, une of these, a large corner mansion, with picturesque timbered walls, bears antiquity on its face, but we learn that what there is of antique work inside is hidden by modern matchboarding. It was long the property of the Pidducks, and has in recent years been called the Manor House, presumably because someone of the name of “Manners ’ occupied it. The real Manor House is on the other side, now the rectory. It has a modern face, but an ancient history hav-lVgo*m*Very ,?ar!y »times been the Property of St. Augustine s Monastery, when the Abbot was .Lord of the Manor. There was he"- andt until a hundred years ago, an arched gateway on the eastern side, which enclosed the area in front of the Town Hall, the whole property being then in one curti-fev, Thu J?res!ilt rector the Rev. Richard Hitchcock, kindly showed us several interesting points of antiquity in this house, more especially a fifteenth century stone fire place in a cupboard recess of the pre- -Daft the^Green clothTresidfd he?e in 1669. and at the end of the 8tuart period it w-as the property of Colonel Samuel Short who also resided here. It was this gallant colonel who laid an information against the rector, the Rev. John Nicholls, because on the death of Queen Anne and the accession of George I. he preached an ultra-Jacobean sermon, for which the rector was for a short time suspended; but in the contention between Nicholls and Short the rector had the privilege of the last word, for on the Colonel’s decease in 1716 there was entered in the parish register by the rector, ‘ Buried Samuel Short, Esquire and Informer.” This notable rector whom we have mentioned was twice Mayor, and was the father of the mother of Sir Thomas Mantell, F.S.A., who was some time Mayor of Dover. In the open space adjoining the ToWa^^i“ is partly kept up as a show place for curious visitors, and as a room for the Parish uouncu and other local purposes. The lower storey is built of rude stones, here nnd there patched with brick. The upper floor projects, and is built in panels of herring-bone brickwork divided by upright timbers. Underneath is the prison still, with its forbidding iron grating. The Council Chamber is approached by a very steep staircase, down which the Mayor ana his brethren, if they, as was alleged, indulged in “much punch,’’ must have often fallen. But the suggestion is that they adjourned for the punch to the Fordwich Arms, on the other side of the area. Up the stairs is the Council room, with the raised bench for the jurats, and a central armed seat for the Mayor, along the north side in front an Elizabethan table, and a solid bar, at which the prisoners stood. On the right is the jury room, 8ft. by 7ft., an economy of space suggestive of short consultations. On the other side is the curious old town chest, by it the ducking stool; while on the table are the departed constable’s handcuffs, staff, and key. Overhead are the royal arms, the arms of the Cinque Ports, and the Tudor rose crowned. Everything here speaks of glory departed. Behind the Court Hall is the crane house, the crane being a very , primitive piece of mechanism. Beyond is the church, and on the other side an old house w'hich was formerly the rectory, in the Rev. John Nicholls’ days, on one beam of which is the sacred monogram. Near by is the water bailiff’s residence, and adjacent is a garden, now Mr. Willmore’s, which was once the garden of Richard Harris, Queen Elizabeth’s fruiterer. Turning back a little, another branch of the village street leads up towards the woods. Here, too, nearly all the houses seem historic. This way leads to Fordwich House, which was at one time in the occupation of Admiral Gray don, who presented the large mace to the Corporation (which is now in the Beaney Institute. Canterbury). This mace was made out of Spanish dollars which formed Admiral Graydon’s share of prizes at the taking of a Spanish port. Seymour says it was Porto Bello, but Admiral Graydon was dead w'hen Porto Bello was taken. FORDWICH CHURCH. This ancient church is well worthy of special notice, both for its own sake and iis historical associations, it having been the place w'here the election of Mayor took place for many centuries. It is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, and stands on the left bank of the Stour, a few paces below the Court Hall. It consists of a nave, a north aisle, chancel, south porch, and western tower, surmounted by a shingled spire. There are several marks about it which be-token great antiquity, including traces of a Saxon arch on the south side of the tower, and the long and short work in the north-east quoin of the nave. There is in the bottom of the north aisle a very ancient tomb having on the side a beautiful miniature arcade of 38 interlaced arches, and on the roof of it is well preserved scale work. This was formerly at the bottom of the nave, and in Reformation times was put out in the churchyard, being deemed a P<>P»sh ornament. It was taken by Hasted, the Kentish historian, to Canterbury, but has since been restored to its present position. Seymour, who wrote his sketchy book on Kent shortly before Hasted published his history, wrote of this old relic in a contemptuous style, calling it a Popish sepulchral monument which had been “presented to the gentleman who has been for many years past compiling voluminous records of Kent, a cut of which will probably adorn the pages of his long-expected lucubrations,with a learned and critical disquisition on the subject.” Thus wrote Charles Seymour of a greater historian than himself. An illustration of the tomb did appear in Hasted s History of Kent, and an article and illustration of it also appeared in July, 1836, in the Gentleman's Magazine. The windows of this church are very good—several of them square-headed decorated two-lights, surmounted by quat refoils in which there is still some fourteenth century glass. The chancel has been restored by the present rector, but the other part of the church badly stands in need of conservative restoration. We say conservative because there are many parts that should be preserved. The old square pews would probably have to go. and the three-decker arrangement of pulpit, reading desk, and clerk’s seat; but the place where the mace stood should be retained, as well as the ancient carved work in the Mayors, the Corporation s, and the singers’ pews; and it would be a pity to remove the resting place of the old-time pitchpipe. There is under the tower arch a curious little nest of shelves, just the fitting size to hold the half dozen dole loaves which used to be distributed each Sunday morning. Although the bread is nowr given out on Saturday night, those shelves should remain as a memorial of an ancient custom. The walls of the nave and aisle are covered with bluish colouring which seems to cover many coats of whitewash, which, if carefully removed, might disclose frescoes and other features worth preserving. Owing to the dampness coming from the adjacent river, the floor of this church was raised manv y.ears ago. and on the original floor in 1893 were found some ancient tiles which may be seen in the vestry, and down on that lower level, in the north aisle, is a stone, bearing this inscription: “Here lieth the body of Anne Hams, late wyfe of Richarde Harris, the Queenes Mniestes fruiterer, and daughter of Valentyne Norton of this town, died 21 Oct., 1570.” In the nave floor is a brass effigy of a woman, inscribed: “Here lieth the body of Aphra Hawkins, wrife of Henry Hawkins, gent., and daughter of Thomas Norton, Esq., who scarcely having arrived at 21 years of age, jret fully attayned perfection in many virtues. Departed this frayle life ye 26 Jan., 1605.’’ There are in the floor of the church several memorials of the Jennings family. In the north aisle of this church is a Norman font, having a square basin of Bethers-ien marble sculptured with shallow archlike recesses. In place of a reredos the Ten Commandants occupy the wall over the Communion table, and there is another copy of them in much more ancient orthography over the chanqel arch. The Communion plate is ancient, the silver gilt chalice now in use having on its cover the iate 1575. RECTORS OF FORDWICH. A list of rectors from 1282, ten years earlier than the commencement of the list of Mayors, has been compiled by the Rev. C. E. Woodruff. There were frequent changes in early times, owing, it is said, to the poorness of the living. There have been apparently about 50 in 400 years, making the average tenure eight years. 8everal stayed many years. William Smith, who was rector in 1576 and died 1580, was presented on the following charge: “We say that our parson cometh to the alehouse, then eoeth home and falleth out with his wife dishonestly,” and at the same time the rector presented a parishioner for calling him “a knave and a cock-brained foole.” Miles Cooke, w’ho wras rector for 35 years, was presented in 1583 for not wearing his surplice. The Rev. John Nicholls, to whom several references have been made, w'as rector 27 years. He was presented to the living by Queen Anne. It is related of him that, he was engaged to preach a course of sermons at Sturry Church. He discoursed on the history of Joseph for five Sundays, for which he had ten shillings for each sermon. After the fifth sermon he asked if his services would be required again, w'hen Churchwarden Hogben replied, “Why, no, sir; I have given you 50s. for carrying Joseph into Egypt, and will not give 10s. more to bring him back again.” The entry of the w'ord “ Informer ” in the register in the burial of Colonel Short, has been mentioned. That entry seems not to have weighed on the Tector’s conscience, for he still regarded the dead man as having w'ronged him. One night after the Colonel’s death he saw before him the form of his old enemy, and he supposing the ghost of the Colonel had come to beg his pardon, said, ‘‘ If you are Colonel Short, as I perceive you are, may the Lord forgive you as I do,” whereupon the apparition vanished. There appears to have been non-resident rectors of Fcrdwich for a hundred years, until the Rev. Edward Brailsford purchased the old Manor house for his residence, and made it the rectory. He held the living 41 years, dying in 1893, when the present rector, the Rev. Richard Hitchcock, was instituted. LATTER DAY8. We have followed Fordwich through its many pnases. Excepting that it has lost its Municipal Council and gained a Parish Council, the changes of the last hundred years have not been great, the population is now within ten of the number of the inhabitants then. One modern improvement must be mentioned, that is, its water supply, which was provided as a memorial of our late Queen’s diamond Jubilee m 1897. Fordwich has always had plenty of water from the river and from wells; and at various times there have been conduits made to carry it into some of the principal residences; but that wrater in these days is hardly regarded as sufficiently pure. In the Jubilee year a reservoir w»s built,, and water laid on to nearly every house in the parish. The opening of this water supply was inaugurated by a most interesting sermon preached in the Parish Church by the late Rev. Canon Robertson —a sermon which proved to be his last, for he died on the following Sunday morning. This water supply has been continued. since, and is a great boon to the community. The May number of the Windsor Magazine is well up to the level of the recent special holiday number. An interview' article on Marconi, recorded in the-first flush of the inventor’s recent triumphs, is of exceptional importance, and the second of Mr. Ernest Williams’ trenchant articles on “ Our National Peril” will foster, rather than allay, the storm of discussion aroused by that vigorous writer in the previous number. Then there are articles on “The Evolution of the Atlantic Greyhound” (regarded by the light of recent developments), and other subjects, all finely illustrated. In its fictional department, the Windsor is strong as ever, with another racy “Thompson" story by Cutcliffe Hvne, and complete stories by Hamilton Drummond, Richard Harding Davis, and others. |
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