An enthusiastic group met outside the Village Hall in Chiddingstone on a bright evening. Bob Golds first took us to see the Chiding Stone which is the large sandstone boulder behind the houses, formed some 135 million years ago reputedly giving the name to the village. Folklore has it that it was an altar for the Druids but popular suggestions are that it was a place where witches or nagging wives were ‘chided’ in front of the assembled village.
The village is owned by the National Trust who bought it in 1939 to ensure its preservation.
Returning to the Village Hall, Bob outlined the growth of the village. Most villages grow from the centre but unusually in this case the village grew from a series of pig ‘dens’ before the Roman occupation. Surrounded by the Wealden forest with inexhaustible supply of acorns, the dates were uncertain until recently when what is known as the Chiddingstone Hoard of 10 gold coins was found dating from 60 – 50 BC that had been buried for security or as an offering to the gods.
When the Romans left we were invaded by the Jutes from Scandinavia who settled in Kent and gave a lot of power and responsibility to the land owners. They also introduced the concept of Gavelkind in which property was shared equally rather than going to the eldest son as with primogeniture. This may have contributed to the spread-out nature of our landscape as large families took their small inheritances away.
The interest in pigs for pork and bacon every year slowly turned the temporary ‘dens’ into permanent dwelling places resulting in the house-names, hamlets and villages today such as Oakenden, Somerden, Moorden, Cowden, etc. but they could not have formed communities without the church. St Augustine arrived in 597 but it was the great battle between the Jutes and Offa of Mercia in 775 that led to the successor of Offa gifting all the dens to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 814. It is likely that the Archbishop funded the building of the first Saxon church on this site as he wanted a church for the ‘densmen’ and their families but also wanted to keep the pork and bacon rolling in! The Archbishop of Canterbury remains the patron to this day.
We then moved over to St Mary’s Church and settled into the front pews for the next part of the story. The village of Chiddingstone thus developed from a group of dens around the church and lay within the ‘Hundred’ of Somerden. This old Roman term for an area included Penshurst, Hever, Mark Beech and Leigh. At this time there would have been a blacksmith, a butcher, of course a priest and an ale house although a lot of farms or dens would have produced their own ale very weak but a lot safer then water.
Cransted Mill still exists but in name only. The villagers were required to use the miller but many couldn’t afford it so they made their own using small hand grinding stones, the bottom stationary one is called a ‘quern’ whilst the top one that is turned by hand is the ‘handstone’, small enough to be hidden away fast to avoid being seen by the bailiff (at that time you could lose a hand for stealing an egg so you can imagine what the punishment could be)
Moving onto the medieval period of the Manors, there were 6 in all but the two main ones were the Manors of Burghersh and Cobham, created when the two daughters of Peter de Chiddingstone married these two Lords. Eleanor married William Burghersh who built a grand manor house nearby at Wellers Town by the stream. In 1309 Bartholomew Burghersh, an immensely strong man took over the manor. His uncle was the custodian of Leeds Castle but whilst he was away plotting against the King, Edward II, he got Bartholomew to look after Leeds Castle along with his aunt Margaret. She was a very feisty lady who had a deep hatred for Queen Isabella. It happened that the Queen was returning from Canterbury and as she owned the castle wanted to stay the night there. On approach she was given a mouthful by Margaret which she ignored and so Margaret gave an order for archers to fire and 6 of Queen Isabella’s entourage were killed – they decided to go elsewhere!
Normally peaceful, the King raised an army of 30,000 and attacked Leeds Castle for 5 days in 1321 which he conquered eventually and strung up 12 of the garrison and threw Bartholomew and his aunt into the Tower of London where they languished for 5 years. He was eventually released when Queen Isabella overthrew the King and put the young 14-year-old prince who became Edward III on the throne. Bartholomew was invited into Parliament, became Admiral of the Fleet, Warden of the Cinque Ports, Ambassador to France, forever fighting by the King’s side in many battles. All of this made him very wealthy indeed. 20 years on finds him back in Chiddingstone – a very pious man, he decided to build the church by rebuilding the central section and adding the 2 aisles for the common people to look in on the happenings. By the mid 1330’s he had gone into a monastery.
However, he was summoned by the King to go to France for the great battle of Crecy in 1346. Two of the men who were leaders in this battle were the two Lords, Burghersh and Cobham and they would have taken a lot of soldiers and archers from the village. They would train in Targate Field the other side of the old rectory. Interesting that a little later on in 1363 Edward III made it compulsory for every man and boy over the age of 10 to practice archery on Sunday after church.
The Burghersh family line came to an end in 1450 and the Manor itself changed hands when it was bought by a wealthy London Lawyer John Alphegh. This is also the time of the Kentish Rebellion when the Kentish people were fed up with the abuses of power of the King but particularly the Kent officials themselves. The sheriff, under-sheriff and the bailiffs had been extorting money for a long time. John Alphegh was under-sheriff and named as one who would turn up first thing in the morning and demand money and if you could not pay would take your cattle. When the rebels eventually reached London, they pulled out one or two of these officials who had sought refuge in the Tower and executed them. Somehow John Alphegh escaped but maybe with the money he had extorted he bought this manor and lived at Bore Place, a mile or 2 away, rebuilding it as a very grand house.
His daughter married the Lord Chief Justice who was much better for Chiddingstone, building the north chapel. The manor passed by the daughters again to the Willoughbys who managed 3 generations as `Lords of the Manor’ leading us into the Tudor period and of course Henry VIII. Thomas Boleyn owned the Manor House in Chiddingstone. This building had replaced the old Manor House when it had fallen down and what is now the village shop and the house next door was built as the Burghersh Manor House.
Doubtless Henry would have come riding through the village on his way to Hever when he was courting Anne Boleyn who was one of his wife, Catherine’s, ladies-in-waiting. His infatuation with Anne eventually led not only to the end of Catherine and Henry’s marriage but also to England becoming a Protestant country! Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves managed to get a tactical divorce and lived out the remainder of her life at Hever where she was guarded by a man called Thomas Birsty. He and his son have a plaque in the floor of St Marys as at that time they were probably the second wealthiest family in Chiddingstone!
Next upturn in Chiddingstone fortunes is in Elizabeth’s reign due the growth of the iron industry. The blast furnace system imported from France around that time – early 1500’s. Great call for iron and cannon and cannonballs and one of the great ironmasters around here was a Richard Streatfield beginning a special relationship between Chiddingstone and the Streatfield family which continues 500 years on. They became rich from not only iron but also textiles so that they eventually owned much of Chiddingstone. It was said that “They managed their estate by care and prudent marriage over the next 300 years never seeking high office, but content to look after their property and tenants – popular and beloved in the villages around Chiddingstone”. When you look round the church you will see the name very frequently indeed!
The party then had the opportunity of climbing the tower steps to see the view of the village.
The group were then given a hand drawn map of the village c.1750 and led down the High Street with pointers on the various buildings in particular the neighbouring Burghersh and Cobham Manor Houses, both of which were probably used as manorial courts as the main Cobham Manor House for instance was Starborough Castle which was exactly like Bodiam Castle but was torn down in the Civil War by the Parliamentarians because they said it was a nest of Royalist vipers!
We then had a visit to Annie Gilbert’s house (Cobham manor house) in particular to view the bread oven and the interesting narrow passage upstairs!
The last building on what remains of the High Street was known as Rock House for many years and had a butcher at the back. It was then purchased by the Weller brothers who made a lot of money out of ale houses and blacksmiths and they called it the 5 Bells which gives a clue as to the number of bells in the tower at that time. Having made their money out of beer and blacksmiths they built Wellers Town – slightly tongue in cheek to call it a town!
The High Street used to go straight on where the gate and path is now as shown on Bob’s map circa 1750 and there was a cage on the corner by the church for miscreants to await the court as well as the village stocks.
What we now know as The Castle was then ‘High Street House’ from mid 1400. By 1500 it was occupied by Robert Streatfield whose son Richard was the first great ironmaster and he was followed by a series of nine Henrys. One of the later ones, inspired by a visit to Italy, came back and built a restoration style house and called it High Street House with great gardens and avenue of trees stretching right down to the river. There was a Village Green which was used for all village celebrations and the Pound Oak where villagers would go if they needed labour or were looking for a job. Beyond was a house called Tyehaw which was bought by the Weller brothers and became the Three Horseshoes.
Before it became a pub it was owned by a bailiff, Thomas Heywood who, like other men fell for the charms of a lady, in this case one called Petronella Brightwell. Unfortunately, both were already married but together they conspired to poison their spouses and then to marry. The law caught up with them and Thomas was hung. Bob did not know what happened to Petronella but there was a saying; “To the father the bough, to the son the plough” which meant that despite the disgrace, the land would still be passed on to the son. Gavelkind was still in place and Thomas Heywood had 5 sons so this house was divided into 5 but they got together and sold it to the Weller brothers and it became an ale house.
Back to High Street House. Another Henry Streatfield turned it into a Gothic structure and his son, Henry, castellated it and decided about 1835 that as he owned most of the houses in the High Street he would demolish all those nearer than Rock House and divert the road so that he could build a lake and turn all the grounds into the castle grounds you see today.
Last chapter. The Castle was owned by the Streatfield’s until about 1900 then during the war it was occupied by Canadian forces, later becoming a school and then was bought by Dennis Bower to house his magnificent Egyptian and Japanese antiques. Unfortunately, he was given life imprisonment for attempting to murder his girlfriend and attempted suicide. He had a good lady solicitor who after a few years managed to get the sentence called a miscarriage of justice and he came out and together with his solicitor opened up the castle to the public displaying the antiques to this day.
Into the 1900’s the area was still a very busy farming community, especially at harvest and hop picking time and the houses were overflowing with farm workers, tradesmen and labourers but it would all change with the sale of the Hever estate. All the tenanted cottages were sold off, the barns were adapted, the oast houses too, prices rose and people who had been in the tenanted properties had nowhere to go and the village changed quite significantly. It does however remain a very happy community now with 2 churches, 2 village halls, 3 cricket clubs and the Streatfield family are still wholly involved. Mark Streatfield is Chairman of the Dennis Bower Trust that owns and runs the Castle. Rachel Streatfield is the headmistress of the school; husband Richard is Chairman of the Parish Council and his youngest brother is getting married in St Marys this Saturday! There are 5 dairy herds and the farming families are still very well respected – they more than anybody hold the link with our past and we all feel lucky to live in this neck of the woods and privileged to share a bit of the history with you.
