A NEW AND COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF KENT; EMBELLISHED WITH A SERIES OF VIEWS, From Original Drawings, BY G. SHEPHERD, H. GASTINEAU, &c. &c. WITH HISTORICAL, TOPOGRAPHICAL, CRITICAL, AND BIOGRAPHICAL DELINEATIONS. BY W. H. IRELAND, Member of the Athenæum of Sciences and Arts at Paris, &c. VOL. III. NOTHECT LONDON: G. VIRTUE, IVY LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1829. THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF KENT, &c. &c. THE HUNDRED OF EYHORNE LIES at a short distance north-eastward from that of Brenchley and Horsemonden, only a small district of the hundred of Marden, and lath of Scray, intervening. It is written in Domesday both Aihorde and Haihorne, but in the reign of Edward I. it bore its present appellation, the king being then lord of the same. In the survey taken in 1650, by the trustees appointed by parliament, it was returned that the court-leet, with all other courts and liberties within the bailiwic of Eyhorne, and the hundred contained therein, being the court of the said hundreds and bailiwic, was constantly held at Eyhorne green. THE HUNDRED OF EYHORNE is the largest in this county, and contains within its bounds the parishes of HEDCORNE, in part; BOUGHTON MONCHENSIE; LANGLEY; CHART SUTTON; SUTTON VALENCE; EAST SUTTON; ULCOMBE, in part; BOUGHTON MALHERBE; LENHAM, in part; OTTERDEN; WICHLING; FRINSTED; WORMSELL; HARRIETSHAM; HOLLING BORNE; BROMFIELD; LEEDS; OTHAM; BERSTED, in part; BICK NOR, in part; HUCKING; THURNHAM; STOCKBURY, in part; and BREDHURST, with the churches of those parishes, and likewise part of the parishes of MARDEN and STAPLEHURST, the churches of which are in other hundreds. NORTH EASTWARD from the hundred of Brenchley and Horsemonden, (a small space of the hundred of Marden and VOL. III. B lath of Scray only intervening,) lies the parish of Hedcorne, within the bounds of several hundreds; for the hundred of Eyhorne claims over that part of the same wherein the western portion of the village and the church are situated: the hundred of Tenham claims over such part as is within that manor; the hundreds of Barkley and Cranbrooke claim over the southern portion; the former hundred also over such portion as lies within the borough of Stephurst, and the latter over that division which is in the north borough, both portions ranking within the lath of Scray; and the hundred of Calehill claiming over the eastern part of the same. That portion of the parish which lies eastward of the church of Boughton Malherbe, and thence to the east of that of Hedcorne, and so again eastward to the west head of the church of Smarden, containing all that part within the hundred of Calehill, is in the eastern division of this county, and the residue of the parish on the western side of that line ranks in the division of west Kent. The manor of Tenham claims over a considerable part of this parish, and the manor of Ospringe over another portion of the same. It appeared by the roll of knight's fees, taken in the reign of Edward I. that the archbishop of Canterbury, and the master of the Maison Dieu, at Ospringe, were returned as lords of this parish. The district is very unpleasantly situated, in a flat and low country, the aspect being dreary and forlorn. The soil is composed of a stiff clay, extremely deep and miry, except in very dry summers, when it becomes particularly hard, and the roads through the same, which are impassable in the winter, from frequent traffic in dry seasons, acquire a smooth glaze and polish like that on earthen pottery. The whole parish is watered by different little streamlets, which spread over it, and join the waters of the Medway, which rise near Goldwell, in Great Chart, passing along this parish a little to the southward of the village, in their way to Style bridge, and the main river, which they join a little below Yalding. The village or town of Hedcorne, with the church at the west end, is a dull and unfrequented place, there being also several small hamlets built round the different greens or forstals in the parish. |