POSTLING

THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS—FRIDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER, 1902.
OUR VILLAGES

lxx.—postling

Postling is a small village in a parish of 1563 acres, under the chalk hills six miles northwest from Folkestone, and about two miles from Westenhanger Railway Station. This parish was associated with Saitwood,the two forming the Hundred of Heane. from which the well known East Kent family of Honeywood (originally Henewood) took their name.

POSTLING MANOR.

There are two manors in the parish of Postling, one Postling Manor and the other Henewpod. The Manor of Postling, according to Domesday Book, was part of the possessions of Hugo de Montfort, who also held Saltwood. When ins grandson was exiled owing to the support he gave to the Curthose claimant to the Crown, the Manor fell into the hands of Henry I., and was soon after granted to Philip de Columbers, a descendant of Randulph Columbers, one of the Norman warriors who fought at the Battle of Hastings. The Columbers, it is presumed, built the parish church about the 12th century, and it was given to the Canons of St. Radigunds Abbey by Philip Columbers (grandson of the first named Philip) in the reign of Henry III. His son, also named Philip, in the same reign laid out a park at Tostling, of about 50 acres area, and this park was in existence in 1570 when Lambard made his perambulation. This Philip Columbers died in the reign of Edward I., leaving the estate to his brother John Columbers. who held it for Knight’s service in connection with Dover Castle. He was one of the first Knights of the Shire having received a summons to Parliament in the year 1272, not long before his death. He, too, had a son and successor at Postling named Philip, and he being the last of the Columbers, the manor passed to his wife, Eleanor, at his death in the reign of Edward III., and only one year later, at her death, it passed "by inheritance to James de Audely, Baron of Heleigh. Audely. who was a great, warrior, and had other manors, disposed of his Kentish possession to his Esquire John de Delves, of Delves Hall, in Staffordshire, and the latter attended Baron Audely during the wars in France, and by services which he rendered at the battle of Pocitiers. part of Lord Audely’s arms were added to his own. He was knighted bv Edward III., and made a Justice of the Kings Bench. Justice Sir John de Delves dyine in the reign cf Edward III.' by his will vested the Manor of Postling iii trustees, who sold it to Sir John Arundel, the third son of the second Earl Arundel, who became Lord Maltravers. This nobleman was drowned off the coast of Ire-land in the reign of Richard II Postling descended to his grandson, Lord Maltravers, who in the reign of Henry V. became Earl O* Arundel. This Manor of Postling was the property of the Earls of Arundel until it was sold to Sir Anthony Aucher of Otter-den. His son John left it to his daughter Anne, through whom it passed by marriage to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who in the.reign of Elizabeth sold it to Thomas Smith (the Customer), who was then the owner of Westenhanger, and it descended to his son. who •was created Earl of Siiar.gford, and the second Earl, Philip sold it to pay his debts. The next owner of Postling was Mr. Thomas Gomeldon, of Sellinge. He having no male heir. Mr. Thomas Stanley, a I.ancashire gentleman,, who married his daughter became the owner of Postling Manor. This gentleman had the misfortune to become a participator in the Lancashire rising in favour of the old Pretender m,the year 1715. and being convicted of treason, his estates were forfeited to the Crown dunng the joint lives of himself and wife, being let meanwhile by the Crown to Sir William Smith. On their death Postling Manor came to their son. Richard Stanley, but he being a lunatic and the estate owine to family ™sfo*"noe® having become heavily mortgag'd, by an Act of Parliament passed in the vear 1750. was sold to the trustees of Sir Wyndham Knatchbull. Bart., who was ther. a minor and the manor continued in the Iimiiv. ana was held bv Sir Edward TCnatchhull when he was one of the County Members. HENEWOOD MANOR.

The estate which is now called Honywood Farm was anciently Henewood Manor, from which the Hundred took its designation and from which the ancient family of Honywotxl took their name. It appears from the ledger books of Horton Priory that I.dmund de Hem-wood was a liberal -benefactor of that institution, which was established m the reign of Henry II. The Honywoods, as they were later designated, during the reigm -of Henry VIII. moved their seat from Postline to Sene, now called Singe, tn Newington! but the estate at Postling continued a part of the possessions of the family. POSTLING OF TO-DAY. *

Passing through Postling of to-day there is •very little left to call to mind the old people and the old doings of the place in the old time referred to in the early history of the Manors, nevertheless the which forms the centre of the village is not much changed. It would requir®. h

effort of imagination to people the parish with the Columbers and the Henewoods.w ith their two sets of retainers at the J*0 hut smart from imagination there is not to be fnnnd in the village a trace of the long line ‘A of the soil—Montforts, Columbers. J enewoods, Audelys. Delves, Arundels, Ma 1-

«fethe ownership votersMist, there does not fltmear to be an owner of the soil resident in the parish. According to the Kent Direc-tory the Lady of the Manor and the owner ¦of the greater part of the land m the par i«h is Mrs. Herbert Deedes of 4. Lyall street. Belgrave square tendon. Some the nicest cottages in the village mtto*

the parisHe find that it roughly measures between two and three miles each wa>. TW are two ways to Postling from the

toadl’Tcr^tpVsan!

Hardv’s fine mansion. S^'inR Hoii^ On the northern side of the road1 the^main feature is the North

portion of which spreads itse f <>ut:as an

... memory had common rights.

One JS east of the church and rectory, known as Tolsford hill. 586 feet.above sea level is a conspicuous coppice-covered height which is said to have he™ the, «nta f>r in ancient cami). Awav in a straight line Wond that is Each End hill. (commonly known as Etching hill), whew is the well-
known workhouse of the Elham Union. Tolslord hill stands out. from tue cuaik range as a ooid spur, the continuation westward falling back, leaving a recess in which the village of Postling and iis church is nestled. Looking across in this direction from the quarry hill on the north side ot Sandling Junction, just the top of the church spire presents ilself above the surrounding higher ground; and looking in the opposite direction from this spot the extremity of the valley opens out to the sea beween Folkestone and Dover. Approaching Postling from the western side, the road leaves Stone Street at Hyham hill, just by Horton Park eastern gate, where the elevation at the foot of the chalk range is 360 feet. From that point a narrow lane runs along the foot of the hill, from whence grand views are obtained across the broad Old Stour valley, of Aldington church, Sellinge. and Lympne Castle on the southern sky-line. On the north, the smooth green hills, covered with good sheep keep, sometimes bluff the road, and at. others running back, leaving a field between. After one of these recesses there is a forward point about a hundred yards northwest of Postling church, the high ground covered with coppice wood, and the road under its brow dippincr down into a romantic embowered lane, where the Rural District Council have prudently placed a handrail on the lower side, looking over which is a deep gorge. This is the identical spot where the Stour rises, issuing from the grass-covered rock by several apertures, forming a stream which was never known to run dry, and which, being augmented by a stream rising at Horton and another from Lenham, travels by a long and circuitous route thro.ugh a pass of the North Downs to the Canterbury meadows, and by Fordwich and Sandwich to the sea. Coming to the starting point, the course of the stream from the “ riverhead.” as it is called, can be easily traced down the valley from the west of Postling churchyard, to Westenhanger, by the luxuriant greenness of the pasture. Near the course of this infantile river is an ancient farmstead known as the Pent Farm, and going east the road leads round to the front of the church, where, closely adjoining the churchyard on its south side, is the old Manor House, some parts of which probably remain since the days of the long-gone Columbers, who came in with the Conqueror. Further east is the rectory and nearer the Manor House are some very pretty modern cottages and a small galvanized iron school room, quite a recent * erection, to save the children the jouraev to Stanford, where they have until recently received their education. By an ordex in Council dated November, 1901. this parish and Stanford were united for Ecclesiastical purposes, the united livines being in the ioint. patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. Tvlden. the Prelate having two turns and the ladv one. The nresent. holder of the united living is the Rev. H. J. Smith, M.A., who resides at Stanford rectory, which is conveniently situated between the two churches.

POSTLING CHURCH.

Postling Church is undoubtedly a very ancient edifice, but unfortunately those who carelully inscribed on a stone in the north wall of the chancel a memorial of its dedication strangely forgot to put on record the year in wmch the event occurred. The stone juts out of the wall like a small corbel, and 011 its face is this abbreviated inscription, in old capitals: “XIX KL SEPTER S EVSEB1I CFSK, Ac., HEC ECCLA FVIT DED1CATA IN HONORE SCE MATHS MARE.” This unabbreviated, might be taken to read : 19 Kalendarum Septem-

bris Sancti Eusebii Confessoris &c. 'haec ecclesia fuit dedicata in honore sanctfe Dominse Matris Marise.” Although, owing to the absence of the number of the year this inscription does not enable us to fix the date of the dedication of the church, it is a very rare instance of an attempt to comply with a suggestion of Archbishop Waif red, made some 200 years before the Conquest, that the name of the Saint to whom the church was dedicated should be permanently recorded in the fabric; and it is an interesting fact that this day. the 19th of September, is the anniversary of that dedication, although if allowance were made for changes in the calendar since that time, the 19th September would not be the identical day. As to the actual year of the dedication, it is not possible to be exact. There were two small churches in this parish according to Domesday Book, probably one for each Manor; but it seems as though the erection of the existing church took place quite a century after. Historians say this church was anciently appendant to the Manor of Postling, and so continued until Philip de Columbers in the reign of Henry III., gave it to the Abbot and Convent of St. Radigund's, which gift was confirmed in the year 1260 by the King and also by Philip de Columbers. The Columbers were the Lords of Postling Manor 150 years before that deed of confirmation was made, and it may be taken as certain that this church was built by the Columber family sometime during that century and a half, and most probably during the latter part of that period, not long before it was presented to St. Radigunds Abbey, because the style of the building, Early English, would best correspond with the time of Henry III. The church as it now stands is . a very neat and substantial building, bearing marks of careful and recent restoration. The chancel roof was restored in the year 1885 at a cost of £185; and there was also a general restoration about ten years later, during the time of the Rev. A. R. Jackman, now the vicar of Alkham. The church consists of a nave, chancel, south porch, and western tower, in Which there are three bells. While everything connected with the fabric is substantial, plainness is a marked feature, and there is not a piece of stained glass within it: but the plainness of modern days does not correspond with the past, for it appears that the modern whitewash brush is responsible for a good deal. At. the bottom of the nave on the south wall there are the remains of some elaborate mural painting.! which nrobably extended over a great part of the interior. The chancel retains a piscina in the south wall, and a small aumbry in the north side. There is also in the return wall of the chancel at the back of the north pier of the arch, a large recess which mitrbt have been a laree aumbry. The chancel is lighted with a 3-lieht decorated window at the east end and two lancets on either side. A little west of the communion rail there are two projecting stones in the wall on either side, whieh appear to have supported two beams which exten-ded across the chancel, makin* a loft for an imatre or a rood. Tn front of the chancel arch there are similar jutting stones in the north and south wall, one on each side, whieh carried one beam across the upper part of the nave, wMeh. no dnuM. was the rood loft Th° chancel arch is pointed and Tilain. restin* on solid piers At the top of the nave, on the south sid*. is a r>:scina mj'rkirxr the Site n-f a second altar. The nave is liehted op the north side bv three windows, a single-light small window,
high up in the centre, and on either side of it two long lancets with deep ciiis. On the south side are two windows, the lower one a lancet and the other a double-light perpendicular one of modern date. The tower at the west end formerly was open to the church by a Gothic arch, the stonework of which is sawn 111 places by the bell ropes being pulled Irom the inside of the church. In ititio the base of the tower was enclosed by a_door to form a vestry. It also has a western external door. The bells, three in number, two of them pre-Reformation—one bearing the inscription: *' Ora pro nobis Sancte Petre,” and the other: "Ora pro nobis Sancte Maria.” Amongst the Communion plate is a curious two-handled chalice dated 1751-2, said to be probably the only one of its kind in Kent. The oldest tomb in the church is in the eastern end sf the chancel, but it bears no record whatever. It is supposed that this is the tomb af William Mersche, Canon of St, Radigunds Abbey, who was also Vicar of Postling, a.p. 1432. Another tombstone in the floor bears date 1661, for one Joseph Norwood. A mural slab on the south wall of the chancel is in memory of the Rev. J. A. Stock, vicar >f Postling, obit 1792, aged 67 years. There ire also two marble tablets with brass plates on each. The upper and larger one is to ‘he memory of Mary, wife of the Rev. John Winter, ‘‘vicar” of this parish, obit 1862, iged 66; and to Emma Sophia, their only laughter, obit 1862, aged 31. The lower tablet records the death of the Rev. John Winter, “vicar” 31 years, obit 1882, aged )1, laid in the same grave with his wife, rhe south porch has a stone in front of it-searing the date “ 1825, G.S_ Churchwarden,” and 110 doubt that is the date when the porch was built. The graveyard is large, neatly kept, and apparently but little used. The register dates from 1687. We did not see it, but we learnt that baptisms, marriages .and funerals, are rare events at Postling. The patronage of this church was for about 300 years in the hands of the Abbot and Convent of St. Radigund, and after the Reformation it was vested in the Archbishop of Canterbury.

POPULATION AND HABITATIONS.

The population at the last census was 88, jonsisting of 41 males and 47 females. In L891 the population was 125, being 73 males and 52 females. In the year 1821 the number was 175, being 89 males and 86 females. At that time there were more men in the parish than the present total population, but then the dwelling accommodation was comparatively less. Then there were but 25 houses for 175 persons, and now there are 26 houses for 88 persons. Since ten pears ago the inhabited houses have decreased, there being then 28 and now only 23, the other three being returned as one in occupation but not inhabited, and the other two not in occupation. In the Ecclesiastical part of the last census there is a curious error. Postling is entered as Post-ling with St. Radigund’s, and in a foot-note it is stated that “ on the 4th November, 1901, i the parishes of Postling St. Mary with St. 1 Radigund’s and Stanford All Saints were united by order in Council.” The compilers at the Census Office did not seem to know that St. Radigund’s Abbey is in the parish of Poulton in the Dover Union, and that Postlin^. in the Elham Union, has no connection with St. Radigund’s except that prior to the Reformation the patronage was vested in the Abbot and Canons. In the Ecclesiastical parishes given in the census Poulton is not mentioned, it having neither church nor tithes : but it- is returned as a civil parish having five houses, 32 mhabi-tants. and an area of 816 acres There is no place of worship of anv kind in the parish, so that, if the rector of Postling. acting on the authoritv of the census return, would like to extend his beat ten miles eastward along the chalk hills, his right there would be none to dispute.

HISTORIC SCENES—VERY !

Under the heading “Historic Scenes,” there appears in this week’s Wobld an article which leads off thus: . |

“ Wot’s that you’re a doin’ of ? said Mr. Kruger,—" pursuit of knowledge under drm-cutties—eh, Leydsey ?” !

“ I’ve done now,” said Leyds, with slight embarrassment; “I’ve been a-writin’.” 1

“ So I see,” replied Mr. Kruger. Not to anv o’ them Germans, I hope, Leydsey. j

“Why, it’s no use a-sayin' it amt, replied Levds. “It’s a ultimatum.”

“A what !” exclaimed Mr. Kruger, apparently horror-stricken bv the word. j

“A ultimatum,” replied Levds. . .

“Levdsev, Leydsey,” said Mr.. Kruger, in reproachful accents, “I didn’t think youd ha’ done it. Arter the warning you ve had o’ your Uncle Paul’s wicious perpensities; arter all the nasty thines I’ve said to you upon this here werry subject since you first set me thinkin’ o’ telegrams and ultima-turns ; arter actiwally seem and hem m the company o’ your own Boer generals, vich I should ha* thought wos a moral lesson as vou would never ha’ forgotten to vour dvin* day ! I didn’t think you’d ha done it. Leydsey; I didn't think youd ha | done it,’ , , , ,, 1

These reflections were too much for the old srentleman He raised Levds’s tumbler to his lips and drank off its contents.

The remainder, which runs to a column and a half, may he seen m the Woklp.