Eswalt was once part of the ancient Manor of Oesewalum also Oesuualun, and Oesewalum, along with adjoining Essewelle (later Essesole, Esole & Easole, and Fredville) and nearby Solys (Soles). At the time of the Domesday survey of 1086 Eswalt was part of the holdings of Odo, Bishop of Bayeaux and recorded as: “In Eastry Hundred………….Aethelwold held ESWALT from the Bishop […]
Category: Farms and manors
The Duke of Newcastle to the Plumptres of Fredville revised 17.5.2013
Thomas Pelham-Holles, Lord Holles, was born in 1693, the son of Thomas Pelham, 1st Lord Pelham, by his second wife, Lady Grace Holles, younger sister of John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. When Thomas’s uncle died in 1711, and his father in 1712, he inherited both their considerable estates. When he became of age in 1714 […]
The Boys family of Fredville-revised 15.4.2013
The Boys family, also, de Bois & de Bosco, claimed descent from R. de Boys, or de Bosco, a companion of William the Conqueror who fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and was rewarded with gifts of land by the grateful King William. In 1357 John Boys was known to have held Bonnington […]
Sir John de Beauchamp at Easole-revised 14.5.2013
Sir John de Beauchamp, 1st. Lord Beauchamp of Warwick, was a younger son of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick and a brother of Thomas, 11th Earl of Warwick. The brothers were founder members of the Order of the Garter in 1348, Sir John’s his stall was number 11. Maud, a sister, was married […]
The Colkyns of Fredville-updated 10.5.2013
The Colkyn, also Kulkin, Kalkyn, Calkin, Colekin, ect, family were not members of the Anglo-Norman land-owning class but were wealthy Canterbury merchants. The exact year they first occupied Fredville is not presently known, but they are believed to have taken possession during the reign of King John, 1199-1216, but they were well established there by […]
The Will of Werhard the Priest-AD 832 [BCS 402]
Oesewalum was one of the properties included in the will of Archbishop Wulfred, who died in 832. He left his extensive estates to his kinsman, Werhard, with the specific instructions that Werhard should continue to endow the charities that Wulfred founded and that in his turn Werhard should leave the inherited property to Christ Church, Canterbury. The following […]
Three Barrow Downs-Rowbergh Butts and Soles Butts.
About four hundred yards to the west of Soles is Three Barrow Downs, historically called Rowbergh and Rowberry Butts, taking its name from the three barrows in the shave adjacent to the ancient track way that is now part of the North Downs Way and known locally as “The Roman Road”. In the adjoining field […]
Jane Austen’s visits to Nonington
In the early 1800′s Jane Austen was a frequent visitor to Fredville. She often stayed with her brother Edward and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Brooke Bridges, at Rowling House on the Bridges estate in neighbouring Goodnestone parish. In 1797 Edward inherited Godmersham Park from some childless relatives who had adopted him […]
Oesewalum and the Vikings-revised 31.05.2019
Oesewalum and the Vikings. Oesewalum was held by Earl Aldberht (also: Ealdbeorht, Ealdberht), and his sister, Selethryth (also: Seleðryth ,Seleðryð), Abbess of Minster on Thanet, and Southminster (also Suthminster), now generally accepted as having been at Lyminge). Oesewalum had either been inherited from their father, a Kentish noble and land-owner, or granted to them along […]
Essewelle and the Barony of Maminot, later the Barony of de Say-revised 15.3.13
After Odo’s downfall his holdings were reclaimed by the crown, and were thereafter held directly from the Crown. Ralph, ‘a noted despoiler of women’, was the brother of Gilbert Maminot, the Bishop of Lisieux and King William’s personal chaplain and doctor as well as being a large landowner in his own right, and Ralph’s and […]