"That John Lofferwyk holds in his manor of Littlebroke xviij acres. "Also the same jury say and present that divers other persons hold the remainder in the same manor, all and each of whom are holding in the manor of Derteford common lands yearly from the feast of the exaltation of the Sacred Cross to the 1st Friday of March. . . . . All of which tenants of land in the aforesaid manor have a common right to fish at any time of the year there at Biggepole, and they only have this right and none other. And they say that all in the aforesaid manor have to maintain whole and entire the walls which enclose the manor, and a certain ditch called the Throwedyche, and a certain watercourse gutter called Throwe, and that the said walls, ditches, and watercourses, wears, or dykes, or retaining walls they were accustomed to keep and amend over the whole manor, and to mend the fences and to make good any damage sustained." And in the same Inquisition, taken in the King's Treasury, it further appears that there were one messuage and six and a half acres in Dartford aforesaid existing, which the Prioress of Dartford held for herself and her successors for the Priory by licence of our Lord the King, under the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem in England of the manor of Sutton, faithfully to pay eighteen denarii per ann. for the same. In the Inquisition* taken at Tunbrygge, etc., they say, upon their oath, that John, lately Duke of Bedford, died seised of two parcels of arable land in the town of Penshurst, called Upperletherhammes and Netherletherhammes with a certain garden thereunto annexed, containing lx acres of land, including a pasture there called Ambermede, containing eight acres of pasture, held of the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem in England for service rendered, vijs per ann. for the whole enclosure. From a recitalt of the rents taken in the first year of Henry VIII., in the time of Thomas Doucra, it would appear that the Temple lands at Dartford are returned as producing xixli viijs ivd. * Nero, E, p. 261. † Recital and Sheriffs' Account, 5493, Pat. Roll, m. 35 d. In the Exchequer Minister's Accounts* at the time of the dissolution of the Order, 33 and 34 Henry VIII., the manor of Dartford with Sutton at Hone appears to have been held by Elizabeth Statham, widow of Nicholas Statham, Citizen and Mercer, to farm at a rental of £55 per ann., and that the arrears were £7 8s. 11d., making altogether £62 8s. 11d.; after deducting 2s. and £14 17s. 10d. there remains £47 9s. 1d., delivered to Maurice Dennys, Esq., Receiver General of the lands and profits of the late Priory. EWELL OR TEMPLE EWELL Is situate in Beausberg Hundred.† Hugo (le Port) held it of the Bishop. It answers for three sulings. There is arable land (but the acreage is not given). In demesne one team, and fifteen villeins with twelve borderers have two teams, two mills of 46 and four acres of meadow, wood for four hogs. In the time of King Edward it was worth 12 pounds, afterwards 100s, now 10 pounds, and yet it renders 12 pounds 12. Edric de Alham held it of King Edward. Of the same manor Hugh de Montfort holds seventeen acres of arable land and one dene and a half, which are valued at 17". The same Hugh holds of the Bishop Wesclive: it answers for two sulings. There is the arable land. . . . . In demesne there is one team, and seventeen villeins have two teams. In the time of King Edward it was worth 8 pounds, when he received it 6 pounds, now 8 pounds. Of this manor Hugh de Montfort holds two mills. The same Hugh also held in Solstone of the Bishop in Dover one mill. .... Ralph de Curbespine also holds in Ewell three sulings and arable land. . . . . In demesne one team and a half and five villeins, four borderers have two teams, wood there for ten hogs. Of this manor a certain knight holds one suling of Ralph with one team and three borderers. The whole manor in the time of King Edward was worth 12 pounds, afterwards 203, now 40s, yet Ralph renders 4 pounds. Hugh *Roll 136 m., 35 a. + Domesday Book. de Montfort has the chief lordship of the manor, 5 mills of 6 pounds. Molleue held it of King Edward. By an Inquisition,* temp. Henry II. (1185), it appears that William the King's brother and William de Peverel in Ewell gave three acres to the Templars, which were in the tenure of William the son of Welsted. Hugo de Essex also gave a mill of the value of 20, conclusive evidence that the Templars were already settled in the neighbourhood. It is to be noted, however, that they held more settlements in other counties than in Kent. The proximity of Ewell and Swyngfeld appears to have led to some confusion as to the site of the Knight Hospitallers. Is it probable that two powerful bodies had each of them a preceptory within a distance of barely one mile? Hasted+ throws but little light on the subject; he tells us that "the Hospital of the Templars stood on the side of the Hill, about a mile from the village, now called Temple Farm, that is to the south of the Dover Road, but that the Templars had no house there;" others have placed this commandry at Swyngfeld. Tanner,‡ in speaking of Swyngfeld, in a note, adds a query, "Whether this was not situate upon the extremity of the parish, next Ewell? and whether this was not the house of the Templars, sometimes called Ewell, where, near Dover, as Matt. Paris (p. 237) asserts, King John resigned his Crown to Pandulph the Pope's legate in 1213-for the pardon of Archbishop Langton, which was one of the effects of that meeting, is dated at the Temple of Ewell (vide Pat. Rolls, 15th of John, m. 48). I rather think Swyngfeld and Ewell to have been the same house rather than two distinct ones, but leave it to others." On the 25th of May (0.s.) John, A.D. 1213, agreed to receive Cardinal Langton and the Monks into favour, and resigned his Crown and Sceptre to the Pope's Legate and laid them at the feet of Pandulph, who is stated to have retained them three days till John signed the document transferring England and Ireland to the Pope. He also agreed to pay 700 marks yearly as a rental and 300 for Ireland, and * Dugdale, Mon., vol. ii., p. 527. Tanner, Notitia, p. 217. † Hasted, vol. ix., p. 428. did homage to the Pope in the person of Pandulph, who is stated to have proudly trod under foot the money offered by the King. The revolt of the Barons shortly followed, which ultimately led to the signing of the Charter of Rights at Runnimede. Probably King John encamped at Ewell while awaiting the landing and reception of the Papal Legate, who would take up his quarters at Dover, and the ceremony took place in the church before the altar. Temple Ewell remained in the possession of the Templars until the Order was suppressed, in conformity with a Bull of Pope Boniface, who attributed monstrous crimes and heresies to the Order; and in a Parliament subsequently held at Westminster in 1312 the manors and estates of the Order were handed over to the Master and brethren of the Hospital of St. John at Jerusalem by Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, acting for the King, in the eighteenth year of Edward II.* RODMERSHAM. The manor and church of Rodmershamt is situate in the hundreds of Milton and Teynham, about five miles to the south of the town of Milton. It is within the deanery of Sittingbourne in the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Canterbury. In a charter of King John,‡ reciting and confirming various gifts to the Knight Hospitallers, we find that King Henry II. gave this church and all that pertained to it to the above-mentioned Order.§ There were the remains of an old manor house here, which is referred to as St. John's Hole, where even now portions of the old building are found in digging, but it is doubtful if it ever belonged to the Order. In the chancel of the church the present Vicar, the Rev. W. J. Mellor, found under the plaster a rudely carved "Agnus Dei" on the base of the piscina; this is a link in the chain of evidence, as the Order adopted St. John the Baptist as their Patron Saint, and dropped St. John of Jerusalem when they + Hasted. § Hasted, vol. vi., p. 120. Dugdale, Mon., vol. ii., p. 945; Philpot, p. 149. ceased to be a fighting Order. Again, you descend two steps at the entrance, which custom is found in all churches connected with St. John the Baptist, as typical of going down to the River Jordan. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas. In 1338 Rodmersham is returned as paying xxiiij marks to the Prior of St. John's at Clerkenwell. At the time of the dissolution it was granted to Ralph Fane, Esq., with Tonbridge and Hadlow. STALISFIELD AND ORE. The parish of Stalisfield is situate on the south side of Eastling-Ore, about one mile north-west of Faversham. Adam le Port* held Ore of the Bishop. It answered for two sulings, arable land for four teams. In the demesne one team, ten villeins with ten borderers have two and a half teams. There is a church there and one mill of 223, and two fisheries without rent, and one saltwork of 28, wood for six hogs. In the time of King Edward it was worth four pounds, afterwards 60s, then 40s, now 100s. Turgis held it of King Edward. The same Adam† holds of the Bishop, Stanefelle. It answers for two sulings. In demesne there is one team, and ten villeins have two teams, a church there, and six serfs, and two acres of meadow, wood for sixty hogs. In the time of King Edward it was worth 60%, afterwards 40°, now 100°. Turgis held it of Earl Godwin. On Odo's disgrace Adam de Port held under the King, and was succeeded by Arnulph de Eade,‡ who gave the manor of Stalisfield to the Knight Templars, together with Ore, and all appertaining thereto. Tenths were paid to the Bishop of Rochester.§ Stalisfield and Ore, on the suppression of the Knight Templars, passed to the Knight Hospitallers of St. John some time previous to Prior Leonard de Tybertis's report to the Grand Master at Rhodes in 1338. They are thus entered, * Domesday Book. Dugdale, Mon., vol. ii., p. 450. + Hasted, vol. vi., p. 438. § Reg. Roff., p. 620. |