STANFORD WITH WESTERNHANGER

THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS—FRIDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER, 1902.
OUR VILLAGES J

LXIX.—Stanford with Westenhanger ,1

Stanford is situate beside the Stone Street { which runs direct from Lympne to Canter- \t bury. The village lies on the north side of t Westenhanger station, on the South-Eas- d tern Railway, but the parish, which in- e eludes Westenhanger, extends as far south- 0 ward as Newingreen. t

THE ROMAN ROAD. J

The name of Stanford is derived from the t Roman Stone Street which it margins, stane c in Saxon signifying a stone, and ford is derived from the fact that the branch of * the «.ld Stour, which rising at Postling, the j next village northward, crosses the road ( here. The Stone Street is associated with I the earliest bit of history of this locality, v having been made during the time of the t Roman occupation of Britain to connect c Canterbury with the port of Lemanis j (Lympne). It was originally paved with c flagstones, fitted together with care, al- e though of all shapes and sizes. When this f ancient road was laid through Stanford it q was the pioneer of civilisation, which was „ destined to redeem East Kent from bar- r bar ism. At that- time probably there was T nothing in the way of building n the par- { ish-no church, nor had that now vener- f able ruin, Westenhanger, been built. In g those days it was a wild, lonely place. To , the south-west extended for many miles , the forest of Andred. across the corner of ] which the Roman road to Lympne hill was , made. In the whole of East Kent but few t of the ancient landmarks now existing had , ben erected. On Dover Castle Hill there ] was little more than an earthwork, and i contemoorary with the construction of the , Stone Street was built at Dover the Roman i watch tower called the Pharos, and a simi- t lar tower for a like purpose was then er^c- , ted on Lvmpne hill. There were some Ro- j man buildings at Canterbury, some al j Richborough. here and there on a few i defensible heights were Roman stations, and , three main roads-this one from Lympne, one from Richborough. and one from Dover, converged on Canterbury. So far and no fur- 1 ther had the tide of civilisation then ad- I , vanned in this the premier county of Eng- j land.

THE ORIGIN OF WESTENHANGER. | The earliest history of the parish of Stan- : ford Is associated with Westenaanger, but ; that was before it was a part of Stanford parish. Westenhanger is mentioned on the , register of St. Augustine’s Monastery, but | it does not appear to have been one of its possessions The ancient name of Westenhanger is entered in the St. Augustine’s register as Le Hangre. There is some doubt ; as to the reason for the change of name from Le Hangre to Ostenhanger and Wes-tenhanger. By way of explanation it has been stated that there were two properties —the one eastern and the other western, and that at the death of Bertram de Criol they were divided between his two sons, Nicholas and John; but as there never appears to have been more than one mansion at Westenhanger, that hardly supplies a solution. The truth seems to be that Bertram de Criol, who was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, had two residences, the j TVIl, vur. han-ring mi the cliff overlook-ine Romney Marsh, which gave the original name of Le Hangre. and at the same time he had an inland residence which was also Le Hangre. but to distinguish between the two the one was called Eastenhanger and the other Westenhanger. There was a point of similarity between th ? two houses in that both were moated and srengthened bv towers. The one on the cliff, subse-oiientlv called Bellevue, was occupied by Bertram de Criol when he wrs Lord Warden : and it was doubtless owing to his residence" there that Shepway Cross, near bv. was chosen as the place of holding of the Court of Shepway..

THE ROMANCE OF WESTENHANGER.

The palace of Westenhanger. according to tradition, existed earlier than the time of Bertram de Criol. It is said to have been built in the reign of Henry II., and there is still to be seen there an ivy-clad ruin which bears the name of “ Fair Rosamunds Tower.” where, it is stated, Henry II. concealed his mistress Rosamund before she was removed to the bower which he constructed for her at Woodstock. This story lias taken a firm hold on the popular mind, and is enveloped in many romantic traditions • but there is not a word of truth in it Vs regards Rosamund d< Clifford, the daughter of a Herefordshire baron, there is no historic proof that she was ever hidden either at Westenhanger or Woodstock. That she was mistress of Henry It. is a matter of historv. and the two iltegii imate sons of the King, of whom she ™ ^ minimi™ and*the' other as Archbishop of York: but the onlv place of retirement the Fair Rosamund ever entered was the iittle Nunnery of Godestow. near Oxford, where, after the illusions of her youth were dispelled, she spent the remainder of her life, and was there buried. We are sorry to thus ruthlessly destrov the very pretty romance of West'enlinnger: hut truth in history must

n«lace had anv existence until it was built fn the reign of Henry ITT . by the wealthy I mid* ambitious Bertram de Criol, who was „..t onlv Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports i but was in his day styled the Great Lord of Kent.

WESTENHANGER AND ITS BUILDER. | •f liistorv clearly point to Bertram de Criol ,

as the buUtler of Westenhanger. Bt^rtnun

f-I n^illors and he was commanded to quit

T ^l/his’”t;,hn,Srwh,fr^

pliinted1 him Sheriff of Keii.^which offl™

sSSS-rrwsi

against the ^n g- occvtr,ied his moated

nmnsi.mon the headland of

Lynipne HH1. ^^Jf'nelded to accord with n greater house^ n ^ hu.)t ft(, mm_ his stale »ndd«nnl.^ The site „f the hmise wason the south bank of the old Stour so situated that its watrrs cooM tje utilized to m^titbyw^ of. defence, Tb

bSd«7 gate-house,

which was large and strong, springi g
- t

six polygonal pillars, guarded by a port- i cullis. In addition to this outer defence, * the walls were very high and of great thick- 1 ness, the whole embattled and fortified by * nine immense* towers, alternately square t. and round, having a gallery reaching y through the whole from one end to the other. > One of the grand halls opening on this gal- A lery was 161) feet in length. There were in c the mansion 126 apartments and 365 win- u dowB, so that a person by looking out of one a each dav might have a new view each day i’ of the vear. When Bertram de Criol had a to leave the world and all his wealth and b power he was buried with great state in St. 1 Radigunds Abbey near Dover, where it was 1 then the fashion for the great men of the i« county to be interred. At his death, a Westenhanger went to his eldest son, Sir t Nichols de Criol, while the younger son. h John de Criol, inherited the older house of 1 Ostenhanger in Limen. In the reign of t Richard III.. Westenhanger came into the (1 hands of the Poynings family. The last of t that race who held it in his own right was t Sir Edward Poynings, who commenced many c improvements, but dying before they were i completed and without legitimate issue, the f estate went to the Crown: but Henry VIIT. * conferred it on his eldest natural son. Sir E Thomas Poynings, who was made a Peer, c and exchanged this estate with the King for ii one in Dorset, After Henry VIII. took / possession, he spent a great deal in fitting <i the place up as a royal residence, laying out I a large circuit of land as a park, including c surrounding estates. It was never used as a s royal residence, but. it remained in the » possession of the Crown until the reign of ‘ Elizabeth, this being one of the places t which her Maiesty visited In her progress t through the county of Kent in the year \ 1573. the keeper of it then being Lord Buck- l hurst. There was a parish church built at 1 Westenhanger at an early period, and de- 1 dicated to Thomas a Becket. but it has long 1 been desecrated and demolished, and Wes- 1 tenhanger has ceased to be a parish. This 2 church! seems to have been destroyed or i fallen into ruins before the Reformation, i for Sir Edward Poynings, in the reign of i Henrv VTTI., erected here a very fine clia- ] pel on the east side of the mansion an- ] proached by a flight of stone steps. The 1 chapel was curiously vaulted, and above « the eastern window was a canopy sculp- I hired in stone, over which was a statue of ] St. Anthony having a pig at his feet with i a hell attached to his ears. At the western 1 extremity were statues of St. Christopher i and another said to represent King Herod.

I In the vear 17111 more than three-quarters : I of the fabric was pulled down, and its ma- i terials sold for £1000. Going back a little, the ownership of Westenhanger was granted ¦ 1 bv Queen Elizabeth to Mr. Thomas Smith, a farmer of the Customs in her reign. He , was succeeded bv his son. Sir John Smith: and Sir John w.-ii succeeded bv his son, Sir Thomas Smith, who by this time had changed the family name to Smythe. He, in the vear 1628 was elevated to the peerage of Ireland under the title of Viscount Strangford. His son Philip sold Westen-lianger to the Finch family, and it was they who pulled own the greater part of it and sold the materials. The remaining part was sold to Mr. Justinian Champneis in the year 1704, who built a smaller residence, leaving some part of the old towers standing. This gentleman was one of the five | Kentishmen who in 1701 delivered the celebrated petition from the county of Kent to the House of Commons. Ill later years Westejihanger lias been but a farmhouse, and the South-Eastern Railway, which was made through the ancient grounds, helped to destroy the romance of the place, although it opened it up to modern civilisation At the present time the premises are the property of the Folkestone Racecourse Company, and the long stretch of flat ground in the south up to the Sellinge road is used for the racecourse.

STANFORD MANORS.

The other manors in Stanford parish are Stanford, Bekehurst, and Heyton. The Stanford Manor was anciently part of the possessions of the De Morins, but it has no historv of anv local interest. The Manor of Bekehurst, otherwise Shorncourt, is mentioned in the Book of Aid levied m the reign of Edward III. The Manor was then Jield bv Walter de Shorn of John de Criol of Westenhanger, but the exact situation of the Manor is not known. The Manor of Heyton lies at the north-west comer of Stanford parish, next to Horton. From the Conquest it was held by the Hayte family, and the Lord of the Manor in ancient deeds signed himself as Dominus de Heyton.

I MODERN STANFORD.

Stanford of to-day is a very pretty village, and anyone having a little time to spare at Westenhanger station could not do better than take a stroll northward, and the village and church will be found within alxmt half a mile to a mile in that direction. Im-mediatefy after going down the sloping road from the railway bridge the branch of the Old Stour will be seen passing under . the road, crossed by a small bridge. Tins before the bridge was built over the stream.

. was .the ford across Stone Street which g.«e . the name of Stanford. On the right is the ! Westenhiuiger brick and. tile works and if we turn to the left, there is a path along the side of the stTeam which leads round to the

• north front of the old Westenhauger man-. Sion, where all that is left can be seen ; and

• also it can he easily imagined how this ¦A cirpnm which runs in a deep gully, sup-: » plied the ancient moat. Returning to the

I road, iis we follow it the Old Stour margins , the north side of it. On the opposite side is a prTtly new house called Swiss Cottage; j while on the north-east the roadside i» for

- a considerable distance walled with quarry i ! stones, as though they bad come from the

! I 5S Direlton

t I House, near the Stanford Mill, held by Hr.

i 1 Hamhrook, of Acrise. This is situated on

- I the Old Stour, but the water is not suftcient t to turn a wheel, and the mill is worked by

- I 1,1 oil engine On the higher land a little S ahead is a windmill, belonging to the same t firm. After passing another good-sized

- 1 modern residence, on the east, we come to

I ' the village. Many of the dwellings »'e "l<l a,id

!; as

- I STjlS &‘Td "the i^mDninntCa i* 1 characteristic village hostelry. There are S few nrettier villages in. Kent than Stanford. J In the opposite direction hpHmd he rail-' i wav. towards Lympne. Stanfnid-e ¦

- i as far as the Royal Oak Inn at Newingreen. o The name <fiven to that place in the time V 1 Wnnrv YTTI was New Tnn Green, so j ; called from the inn which was bnilt rtieye

• at that time, of which the present Royal ,f ! Oak is the successor. >ear tbe inn. in a ,s i field.’ cattle sales are held numlerly^ Be

ii j tween there and the station are ^several

II SBSSSF&k

8 and aHhonV'it 'has few houses in its _ im-for many ^ery

“ I pleasant, country strolls.
STANFORD CHURCH.

The church at Stanford stands on the east side of Stone street, and is approached by a footpath from the centre of the village and by a road iu the same direction, over which the Stour, in its most infantile stage, flows pure and sparkling. From this little rivulet, which is so small that there is only need for a foot bridge, the carriage road passes up to the church, which is on a knoll, with a fine old yeu- tree west of it. the Rectory at the north-east of the churchyard, and on the south the village schools, now being enlarged by Messrs. Knock, of Ashford, from plans by Mr. Lacy. The church is a substantial but, in siz,-. a very modest edifice, consisting of only a nave and chancel. The building looks as though it had been erected within the last century, and iu substance it has, for the nave was re- ' built in the year 18-U, and the chancel in 1878. the material used being quarry stone. ¦ The Church is dedicated to All Saints, and is in Early English style. As traces of its antiquity, there is a piscena preserved in . the south wall of the Chancel, and an aumbry and credence table on the north side. Ihe register dates from 1556. The bodv of the Church is well lighted bv lancet win-1 dows. The chancel arch is lofty and pointed, resting on dark polished shafts. On the north side of the chancel is an organ 1 chamber with a septemfoil arch over it sur- 1 mounted by three small niches. Opening ! from the back of the organ chamber is a 1 small vestry, beside the door of which is a modern brass bearing this inscription: “The chancel of this Church, with organ chamber and vestry, was dedicated May 30th. 1879. Archibald Campbell Tait. D.D . Archbishop of Canterbury, Joseph Williamson, M A. i Rector. Elgar Amos. Churchwarden." The 1 chancel east window consists of three lancets separated by dark circular polished shafts and filled with stained glass, and inscribed: 'To the Glory of God. and in commemoration of All Saints, 1881.” On the south side of the chancel are three memorial lancet windows. The one next the east is in memory of the Rev/William Tylden. 27 years Rector of Stanford, obit. 1875'. aged 56 years.’ , The second window is in memory of Richard ! Jones, of Yew Tree House, obit. October IR’h. If5t. aged 60. and Sarah his wife, obit November 3rd, 1677, aged 89. This window is placed by their children. The third window on the same side is to the memory of John Kingsnorth, of Westenhanger, obit. 1860. aged 72, and Martha his wife, obit. 1851). aged 60. The window was placed bv their son. Tllos. Kiligsnorth. Near the wnt end on the south wall there is a tablet to the memory of William Smvthe, gent., obit. 17UK. the last male representative of the family of Smythe, who had been lords of the Manor of Ha.vton in Stanford since the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The mason's name on this monument is “Morehouse. Dover, fecit 1791." The old vew tree at the west end of the Church must have stood there many centimes—probably from the time the Church was built. Its trunk is r.ow much decayed, the rustic high-backed seat in front of it sewing the double purpose of hiding the gaping void and affording a very pleasant resting place from which the village below ciui be surveyed. The Rector of Stanford, who lias held the living since 1899, is the Rev. Herbert Francis Smith. B.A.. who also do»s duty at the neighbouring Church of Postling. The patron of Stanford is Mrs. Tylden. The pomilation is now 312, and the acreage 1181. The nopu lation in 1801 was 203. in 1821 it. was 229. in 1841 it was 235. and in 1891 the number was 288. so that there is a slow lint steady growth 288. so that there is a slow but steady growth As an indication of population at' a much earlier period, it may be mentioned that in the year 158S there were 40 communicants in the "arish. which would represent practically the whole of the adult population. The numher of dwellings in 1821 was 31. and there are now 68. There are several plots of building land in the market, situated between the village and the railway station and it seems nrnhnble that Stanford will Increase considerably during the next decade.