# The Old Parish of Nonington

> A small place in East Kent history


## Posts

- [Sir John Harleston at Esol and Freydvill’-revised 2.1.2017](https://nonington.org.uk/sir-john-harleston-esol-freydvill-revised-2-1-2017/): The 1377 St. Alban’s Abbey manorial rental rolls for Esol record that the house, buildings and land previously held by Sir John de Beauchamp was then owned Sir John Harleston, who also had a life interest in the Manor of Freydvill’. Sir John Harleston, sometimes spelt Harlestone or Herliston, had much in common with Sir John de Beauchamp, his predecessor at Esol. Sir John was a knight from a land-owning Essex family and he served and fought in the Hundred Years War with some distinction on behalf of the English Crown, and as a captain in the Free Companies. John [&hellip;]
- [The Quadryng family at Fredeuyle and Esol-revised 1.1.17](https://nonington.org.uk/quadryng-family-fredeuyle-esol-revised-1-1-17/): John Quadryng, a City of London mercer, aquired one half of the Manor of Fredeuyle, as Freydvill’ was by then known, in the opening years of the 15th century and the manor remained with the Quadryng, also Quadring, family for much of that century. It’s not clear when the Quadryngs acquired the Esol house and lands as there are at present no known records of any such property purchases by the Quardryngs. It’s highly likely that they purchased Esol house and lands from Sir John Harleston at the same time, or possibly before, they acquired the Manor of Fredeuyle. A mercer by trade, [&hellip;]
- [Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, at Esol](https://nonington.org.uk/thomas-de-beauchamp-11th-earl-warwick-esol/): Please note: the page for Sir John de Beauchamp at Esol has also had some minor revision. *********************** Sir John Beauchamp died from plague at Calais on 2nd December of 1360 and had no legitimate children so his title became extinct and his property passed to family members, with Esole and the other property in and around Nonington going to his elder brother, Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick. Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, the father of Thomas and John de Beauchamp,  had been a staunch supporter of Edward I and one of the leading opponents of Edward II’s [&hellip;]
- [The Manor of Essewelle: Esol and Freydevill’ under the Colkyns-revised 21.12.2017](https://nonington.org.uk/manor-essewelle-esol-freydevill-colkyns-revised-21-12-2017/): The Colkyns, also Kulkin, Kalkyn, Calkin, Colekin, ect, were not originally members of the Anglo-Norman land-owning class but wealthy Canterbury merchants who appear to have married into it during the reign of King John [1199-1216]. The earliest reference to the Colkyns in connection with the knight’s fee of Essewelle is to be found in a court action bought before the Exchequer for Jewry by King Henry III 1216-1272] in late October of 1219 for the non-payment of money owed to the Crown for the knight’s fee of Essewelle. The ownership and occupation of the knight’s fee of Essewelle was not [&hellip;]
- [Nonington voters in the 1754 Parliamentary elections.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-voters-1754-parliamentary-elections/): During the Middle Ages the Knights of the Shire were the most prominent members in the House of Commons with  two knights elected for each of the 37 counties under Royal jurisdiction. Elections for Knights of the Shire were conducted by county sheriffs at county courts and in the early days of Parliament all freemen, even those who did not own property, could vote in these county elections. This caused resentment among those who did own land and in 1429 Parliament restricted the franchise to those freemen who owned freehold land worth 40 shillings had the right to vote in elections [&hellip;]
- [The Napoleonic Wars-Nonington and The East Kent Volunteers.](https://nonington.org.uk/napoleonic-wars-nonington-east-kent-volunteers/): On February 1st.,1793, France declared war on Britain and Holland causing some alarm in southern England because of the closeness of the enemy. This caused the leading inhabitants of East Kent and Canterbury to call a meeting the following month where it was decided to form an association for the defence of East Kent and to raise ”volunteer Troops of Horse composed of gentlemen and yeoman and others willing to mount themselves on horses no less than 14.3 (hands) high and to clothe themselves at their own expense”. The East Kent division was to provide a troop or more with [&hellip;]
- [The Redd Lyon at Frogham-revised](https://nonington.org.uk/redd-lyon-frogham-revised/): The second oldest alehouse in the old parish of Nonington was “The Redd Lyon”, later &#8220;The Red Lion&#8221;, at Frogham which is a hamlet some  mile and a half or so as the crow flies to the south of St. Mary’s Church. Some of the old alehouse out-buildings still stand on the north side of the Barfreston to Womenswold road about one hundred yards to the west of the junction with Frogham Street. The old alehouse yard entrance has a large yew tree, probably much older than the alehouse, on its western side next to which are the remains of [&hellip;]
- [Soles Court-manorial court information updated](https://nonington.org.uk/soles-court-manorial-court-records-updated/): William Hasted in his ‘History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent’ vol. IX, published in 1800, has a brief history of Soles. SOLES is a manor at the boundary of this parish, next to Barfreston, which at the taking the survey of Domesday, in 1080, was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in that record: Ansfrid holds of the bishop Soles. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is . . . In demesne there are two carucates, and eight villeins with half a [&hellip;]
- [The Quadryng family at Esol, later Beauchamp’, and Fredeuyle-revised with new information.](https://nonington.org.uk/quadryng-family-esol-later-beauchamp-fredeuyle-revised-new-information/): In 1368 Sir John’s nephew Roger and other co-heirs offered “le manoir de Easole” to the Priory of Christ Church in Canterbury on the condition: “namely, that one of your monks there should be perpetually specially assigned and deputed to sing mass, at the Altar of Our Lady in the Crypt, wearing vestments decorated with the arms of the Warwick family, and praying for the souls of our said uncle and our ancestors”. The priory’s response was that: “to bear and perform such a charge for so small a repayment, where there is scarcely any profit, would be too burdensome [&hellip;]
- [The Quadryng family at Esol , later Beauchamp’, and Fredeuyle-revised.](https://nonington.org.uk/quadryng-family-esol-later-beauchamp-fredeuyle-revised/): Some information has just come to light about the Quardyngs of Esol that has made necessary some corrections in the previous article. Nothing major, but it does correct some obvious anomalies. In 1368 Sir John’s nephew Roger and other co-heirs offered “le manoir de Easole” to the Priory of Christ Church in Canterbury on the condition: “namely, that one of your monks there should be perpetually specially assigned and deputed to sing mass, at the Altar of Our Lady in the Crypt, wearing vestments decorated with the arms of the Warwick family, and praying for the souls of our said [&hellip;]
- [Nonington Parish Meeting Minutes From Its Inauguration In December 1894](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-parish-meeting-minutes-inauguration-december-1894/): The following pages 1-33 are copies taken from the minute book of the Nonington Parish Meeting, or Parish Council, which replaced the parish Vestry after the passing of the Local Government Act of 1894. Pages 27-31 are missing. Although various forms of local government existed in Saxon and Medieval times, the kind of local government in existence today really began to evolve in the 19th century.  The Local Government Act of 1894 transferred from the Quarter Sessions (local courts) to the county councils the administrative and financial business of their counties. This included maintenance of roads, bridges and county buildings, [&hellip;]
- [The Ash Path](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ash-path/): The origin of The Ash Path is to be found in the minutes of a Nonington Vestry meeting of 1883. From the Nonington Parish Vestry minutes:-March 13th 1883.&#8221;Mr. Plumptre proposes to give a public footpath from Hanging Hill gate (at the southern end of Nonington Cricket Ground) to the North Corner of North field which shall be continued across Parsonage Field to Nonington School (this footpath is now known as the Ash Path), doing away with the present footpath over Parsonage Field ( which ran from the garden of what is now Green Gables in Holt Street, across North Field and then Parsonage [&hellip;]
- [John Harvey (Nonington) Ltd-some notes by L.E. Fox written in 1974 & 1979](https://nonington.org.uk/john-harvey-nonington-ltd-some-notes-by-l-e-fox-written-in-1974-1979/): The late Mr. Leonard E. Fox was Company Secretary of John Harvey (Nonington) Ltd. for many years, and the  following are  copies of some notes he made on the company in 1974 with a revision written in 1979.
- [Nonington's Various Windmills-Revised](https://nonington.org.uk/noningtons-various-windmills-revised/): The following have been revised- Nonington&#8217;s Various Windmills https://nonington.org.uk/the-windmills/akholte-ackholt-windmill-1309/ The Barson or Barfreston mills. &nbsp; The Easole Corn Mill &nbsp; The Easole Pug or Feed Mill.
- [Nonington and the East Kent Volunteers-revised](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-east-kent-volunteers-revised/): Nonington and The East Kent Volunteers
- [Nonington and the coming of the railways-revised](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-coming-of-the-railways-revised/): &nbsp; Nonington and the coming of the railways, the page has been revised. https://nonington.org.uk/railways/
- [The Ale Houses of Nonington-pages revised.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ale-houses-of-nonington-pages-revised/): All four pages of The Ale Houses of Nonington have been revised: The White Horse, later The Hawks Head, in Church Street, Nonington. https://nonington.org.uk/the-ale-houses/the-redd-lyon-later-the-phoenix-at-frogha/ https://nonington.org.uk/the-ale-houses/the-royal-oak-the-drove-in-holt-street/ The Walnut Tree in Holt Street, Nonington
- [Knowlton, also Knolton and anciently Chenoltone or Cnoltone,  on the NE border of Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/knowlton-also-knolton-and-anciently-chenoltone-or-cnoltone-on-the-ne-border-of-nonington/): Although not part of the old parish of Nonington the small adjoining parish of Knowlton has had close connections to Nonington over the centuries. Since the 1670’s the Knowlton estate has included Kittington, a manor and estate adjoining Knowlton parish in the north-eastern corner of Nonington. Knowlton, often written as Knolton in the past but I will use the modern spelling, was once an ecclesiastical and civil parish in its own right. The former was abolished in 1940 and the latter in 1935 and the hamlet is now part of the civil parish of Goodnestone-next-Wingham. The Church of St Clement, [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and The Kentish Rebellion and Second English Civil War of 1648](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-kentish-rebellion-and-second-english-civil-war-of-1648/): The following article is in brief the parts played in the Kent Rebellion, a precursor to the short lived Second English Civil War of 1648, by those with connections to Nonington. For further information and updates go to the illustrated main article The rebellion had its origins in part in the Canterbury riots of Christmas Day, 1647, which began when the Puritan Mayor and officials of Canterbury tried to forbid traditional Christmas celebrations. In May of 1648 members of the land-owning gentry and other prominent Kent citizens, including Colonel Robert Hammond and Anthony Hammond, his nephew, of St. Alban’s Court, [&hellip;]
- [New photos:Holt Street & Fredville](https://nonington.org.uk/new-photosholt-street-fredville/): Please click on a photo to open the slide show.
- [1705 Nonington Boroughs Tax Roll](https://nonington.org.uk/1705-nonington-boroughs-tax-roll/): Originally transcribed for Kent Online Parish Clerks  by Kris Ellis. The 2nd October, 1705, miscellaneous taxes rolls for Nonington parish&#8217;s various boroughs, and Chillenden and Knowlton parishes. Easoleborough 2 Oct 1705 Parish count of all ye names of all ye inhabitants within this borough (Column Headings. 2 May 1705: Dutis on Burials, Dutis on Births, Dutis on Marriage, Dutis on Bachelors, Dutis on Widowers) William Hamond Esqr and his lady and 4 children. Mrs Jane Dearden (Next are listed his servants) Charles Elles, Richard Bray, Stephen ????, Richard Long, James Elve, Robert Austin, Austin Paine, Thomas Duning, Mrs ????, Mrs [&hellip;]
- [The 1859 Nonington Tithe map](https://nonington.org.uk/the-1859-nonington-tithe-map/): The 1859 Nonington tithe map was drawn from an actual survey and is therefore very accurate. It’s worth noting that the names of fields and woods often changed in the twenty years between the maps, and are different to the present, which can make research very confusing. The following are photographs of parts of the actual tithe map taken by the late Aubrey Sutton. The table below is a partial and incomplete record of the tithe allocations, it mainly records property on the Fredville estate. The reference number shown on the map corresponds to the details in the table and records the [&hellip;]
- ["Brief Notes on Its Church and History"  by the Rev. Sidney Sargent](https://nonington.org.uk/brief-notes-on-its-church-and-history-by-the-rev-sidney-sargent/): In 1912 a booklet of quotations from eminent Nonington parishioners was published. In the front was a brief history of Nonington. It contained some &#8220;Brief Notes on Its Church and History&#8221; written by the Rev. Sidney Sargent, the then vicar of Nonington. Unfortunately the pictures of the  quotations section are not of a good enough quality to reproduce here.
- [Updated: Easole Street and Holt Street galleries.](https://nonington.org.uk/updated-easole-street-and-holt-street-galleries/): The Easole and Holt Street galleries have been updated with additional photographs and information.
- [Updates to articles on the site](https://nonington.org.uk/updates-to-articles-on-the-site/): The article on the  Manor of Ratling has been updated with new information and pictures. The following galleries have also been updated: Fredville House St Alban&#8217;s Court Old House St. Alban&#8217;s Court New House &nbsp;
- [Nonington's Great War and Other Veterans-photos](https://nonington.org.uk/noningtons-great-war-and-other-veterans-photos/): The British Legion was founded in 1921 as a voice for the ex-Service community as a merger of four organisations: the Comrades of the Great War, the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers, the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers, and the Officers&#8217; Association. The following photos are believed to have been taken when, or soon after,  the Nonington branch of the Legion was founded. Please let me know if you can identify any of the people in the photos.
- [WW2 pictures from Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/ww2-pictures-from-nonington/)
- [East Stoole Farm in Esole.](https://nonington.org.uk/east-stoole-farm-in-esole/): The thatched cottage at the junction of Mill Lane and Easole Street was once a yeoman’s house probably dating  from the mid-15th century although the farm itself was much older. It was part of the Manor of Essewelle which belonged to the Convent and Abbey of St. Alban’s which had been granted the adjoining Manor of Eswalt in the early 1100’s.  The 1501 Essewelle manorial roll recorded that: “Thomas Derbi holds half an acre of land in his messuage between the land of Joan Taylor twds the E &amp; N and the Common Way (Mill Lane) twds the S and the Kings Way [Easole Street-Sandwich [&hellip;]
- [Esole Farm, now White House Farm](https://nonington.org.uk/esole-farm-now-white-house-farm/): White House Farm was previously known as Esole Farm until the early 1900’s. The present farmhouse appears to be a mid to late 15th century hall type house which was later extended, probably in the late 16th century, to give it its present appearance and size. The farm was part of the Manor of Essesole and can be identified in the manorial roll of 1501, unfortunately there is as yet no definite identification of the farm from other older documentary sources. The 1501 roll records the farm as follows: &#8220;The heirs of John Castell hold half an acre in their [&hellip;]
- [John Pemberton Plumptre and Jane Austen’s niece updated](https://nonington.org.uk/john-pemberton-plumptre-and-jane-austens-niece-updated/): During the latter part of 1814 Jane’s niece Fanny Knight, the daughter of her brother Edward, wrote to Jane asking her advise as to whether she should marry J.P.P., who was described as  gentlemanly and wise; but also religious and too serious. Jane’s advise regarding his firm religious beliefs was  ”don’t be frightened by the idea of his acting more strictly up to the precepts of the New Testament than others” but she further counseled “ Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection; and if his deficiencies of Manner &amp;c &amp;c strike you more than all his [&hellip;]
- [Nonington men who served in the Armed Forces during The Great War](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-men-who-served-in-the-armed-forces-during-the-great-war-2/): The following is a record of  Nonington men who served in the Armed Forces during the Great War of 1914 to 1918.  It appears to have been published in the early part of the war as the names of some Nonington men known to have served  are missing. Share this:
- [The Church Lane Denehole-updated with photographs](https://nonington.org.uk/the-church-lane-denehole-updated-with-photographs/): Notes made by Dr. Hardman concerning the discovery of a denehole at Church Lane, Nonington, in May of 1939. Discovered in the last week of May 1939 in the grounds of Mr. F. G. Garlinge of Church Lane (now The Haven in the present Vicarage Lane), Nonington. Mr. Garlinge has recently built a bungalow on the right hand side of the road leading from The Royal Oak Inn to the church (now The Haven). He is a haulier and near the bungalow is a range of open sheds for housing his motor lorries. In one of these sheds and inspection pit [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and The Great War-plans for evacuation in the event of a German invasion](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-great-war-plans-for-evacuation-in-the-event-of-a-german-invasion/): As the outbreak of armed conflict between the British Empire and the German Empire became more certain plans were made to evacuate the civilian population of Kent in the event of invasion. The arrangements for the evacuation of Nonington&#8217;s inhabitants have recently come to light, and appear to have made shortly before the outbreak of The Great War in August of 1914. Parish council members appear to have made up the committee making and administering the arrangements. H.W. Plumptre, the chairman of  the committee, had served as an officer in the 5th East Kent Rifle Volunteers having joined as a 2nd lieutenant in [&hellip;]
- [The Napoleonic Wars:-Nonington's 1804 evacuation plan](https://nonington.org.uk/the-napoleonic-wars-noningtons-1804-evacuation-plan/): In 1803 Napoleon began planning an invasion of England and began to gather and train a new army in camps on the north French coast which eventually amounted to some 200,000 men supported by over 2,000 ships of various types and sizes. Other invasion methods were considered, including a fleet of troop-carrying balloons and a tunnel under the English Channel, but invasion plans were eventually shelved in 1805 when Napoleon’s naval forces failed to gain control of the Channel and its approaches after defeats at Cape Finisterre and Trafalgar. The threat of invasion was for a time taken very seriously [&hellip;]
- [John Pemberton Plumptre and Jane Austen's niece](https://nonington.org.uk/john-pemberton-plumptre-and-jane-austens-niece/): During the latter part of 1814 Jane’s niece Fanny Knight, the daughter of her brother Edward, wrote to Jane asking her advise as to whether she should marry J.P.P., who was described as  gentlemanly and wise; but also religious and too serious. Jane’s advise regarding his firm religious beliefs was  ”don’t be frightened by the idea of his acting more strictly up to the precepts of the New Testament than others” but she further counseled “ Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection; and if his deficiencies of Manner &amp;c &amp;c strike you more than all his [&hellip;]
- [The Redd Lyon at Frogham-renamed The Phoenix in 1833](https://nonington.org.uk/the-redd-lyon-at-frogham-renamed-the-phoenix-in-1833/): In 1833, during John Hopper&#8217;s tenure as land-lord, &#8220;The Red Lion&#8221; was renamed “The Phoenix”. In December of 1832 John Pemberton Plumptre of Fredville had been elected to Parliament as one of the two Eastern Kent M.P’s., the other being Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bt. and a celebration dinner was held at &#8220;The Red Lion&#8221; on February 4th, 1833. The election success may have been the reason for the ale-house being renamed &#8220;The Phoenix&#8221; as the Plumptre coat of arms had a phoenix crest. J.P. Plumptre served as an M.P. from December 1832 until January, 1852. &nbsp; &nbsp;
- [Recently come to light photographs of:Holt Street](https://nonington.org.uk/recently-come-to-light-photographs-ofholt-street/): Recently I have been fortunate enough to have had access to the archive of the late Aubrey Sutton, a Nonington born man with an interest in local history whose father harvested the last crop to be grown on the site of Snowdown Colliery. The archive contains hundred of slides, photographs and news-paper cuttings concerning Nonington and extends back into the late 19th century. I hope to include many of the items from the archive into both new and existing articles on this site. Here are just some of the pictures from the archive:-
- [Recently come to light photographs of: the Fredville Houses and the hamlet of  Frogham](https://nonington.org.uk/recently-come-to-light-photographs-of-the-fredville-houses-and-the-hamlet-of-frogham/): Recently I have been fortunate enough to have had access to the archive of the late Aubrey Sutton, a Nonington born man with an interest in local history whose father harvested the last crop to be grown on the site of Snowdown Colliery. The archive contains hundred of slides, photographs and news-paper cuttings concerning Nonington and extends back into the late 19th century. I hope to include many of the items from the archive into both new and existing articles on this site. Here are just some of the pictures from the archive:- &nbsp;  
- [Molly and Tommy Smith-cave dwellers](https://nonington.org.uk/molly-and-tommy-smith-cave-dwellers/): The Kentish Gazette of the 30th November, 1886,  reported: &#8220;The death has occurred at the Eastry Union of ‘Molly’, who for half a century or more has lived in a cave at Womenswold. ‘Molly’ or Mary Anny Smith, as her real name was, was about 70 years old and lived with her son Tommy, who earns his living as a chimney sweep. Mrs. Smith was found ill on the road some weeks ago and was taken to the Eastry Union, where she has since died&#8221;. The &#8216;cave&#8217; Molly and Tommy lived in  is believed to have been behind the wall on [&hellip;]
- [The present parish of Nonington, where and why.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-present-parish-of-nonington-where-and-why/): The present parish of Nonington, often spelt Nonnington, is to be found in East Kent some two miles or so to the north-east of the A2 approximately mid-way between Dover and Canterbury. Sandwich is some seven miles to the north-east and Deal is about ten miles or so to the east. The original parish of Nonington measured roughly three miles by three miles, some 4,000 acres in all, but was divided into the parishes of Nonington and Aylesham in 1951.
- [The Plumptre Hospital in Plumptre Square, Nottingham](https://nonington.org.uk/the-plumptre-hospital-in-plumptre-square-nottingham/): The Plumptre Hospital in Plumptre Square was founded by John de Plumptre, a wool merchant and sometime Mayor of Nottingham, in 1392 during the reign of  Richard II. The hospital was more of an almshouse than a hospital and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was endowed to support a Master and a priest and &#8220;thirteen poor women broken down of age and depressed of poverty&#8221; and was endowed with 13 properties around the town of Nottingham. The priest was instructed to pray for John, his wife Emma, the king, the people of Nottingham, and all the Christian dead [&hellip;]
- [The Nonington Poor Houses in Church Street and Easole Street-revised](https://nonington.org.uk/the-nonington-poor-houses-in-church-street-and-easole-street-revised/): The system of poor relief in post-Reformation England had its origins early in the reign of Elizabeth I when consolidating Acts of Parliament of 1597 and 1601 established the civil parish as the administrators of the Poor Law. Every Parish Vestry  was ordered to hold annual elections, usually at Easter, to elect an overseer of the poor who was empowered to raise revenue from local rates, or ‘assessments’ and was answerable to the Parish Vestry,  and the local Justices of the Peace. Overseers usually served for a year without payment and Vestry members were expected fill the position in rotation [&hellip;]
- [Beating the Nonington Parish Bounds of Nonington in 1895](https://nonington.org.uk/beating-the-bounds-in-1895/): The following are taken from the Nonington parish magazines of May and June of 1895 May, 1895 June, 1895
- [Health care in Nonington, 1898](https://nonington.org.uk/health-care-in-nonington-1898/): From the Nonington parish magazine of December, 1898.
- [The fire at Kittington Farm in February of 1898](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fire-at-kittington-farm-1898/): From the Nonington parish magazine of March, 1898.
- [The East Kent Volunteers, The Defence of Fredville, 1895](https://nonington.org.uk/the-east-kent-volunteers-the-defence-of-fredville-1895/): The following item concerning the East Kent Volunteers comes from the Nonington parish magazine for May, 1895.
- [ Notes made by Dr. Hardman concerning the discovery of a denehole at Church Lane, Nonington, in May of 1939.](https://nonington.org.uk/notes-made-by-dr-hardman-concerning-the-discovery-of-a-denehole-at-church-lane-nonington/): Discovered in the last week of May 1939 in the grounds of Mr. F. G. Garlinge of Church Lane (now Vicarage Lane), Nonington. Mr. Garlinge has recently built a bungalow on the right hand side of the road leading from The Royal Oak Inn to the church (now The Haven). He is a haulier and near the bungalow is a range of open sheds for housing his motor lorries. In one of these sheds and inspection pit was made. A domed cover of brickwork was met with at a depth of about 18 inches below the surface and when this [&hellip;]
- [Sir John de Beauchamp-updated with illustrations](https://nonington.org.uk/sir-john-de-beauchamp-updated-with-illustrations/): Sir John was one of the most successful of King Edward III commanders in the wars in Northern France and the Low Countries. He fought in Flanders in 1338; was present at the array at Vironfosse when the armies of the English and French kings met but did not come to battle in October, 1339 ; and took part in the sea battle of Sluys on 24th June, 1340. dward, Prince of Wales and eldest son of Edward III, played a key part in the great victory over the French at Crécy on 26th August, 1346 even though he was only aged 16 at [&hellip;]
- [The Ratling Fireball, 1741](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ratling-fireball-1741/): The Ratling Fireball:&#8211; On December 11, 1741, a fire-ball appeared soon after noon-day, and the sun shining, but few people saw it, and they could only guess at its course; which, however, was observed to be from north-west by north, to south and by south, and right over Littleborne from Westbere, and towards Ratling, near which place lord Cowper (the owner of Ratling Court), who was hunting, heard but one explosion (for there were two); the other most probably happened at such a distance, as to be in one with that so near him. Mr. Gostling, of the Mint yard, [&hellip;]
- [The hamlet of Essesole in 1501](https://nonington.org.uk/the-hamlet-of-essesole-in-1501/): The descriptions of the house and land plots have been taken from the Essesole Manor rental roll of 1501. As can be seen on the sketch map, traced from the 1870&#8217;s OS map, the house plots and roads are still readily recognizable, especially to long term residents of Nonington. Some of the 1501 roads and tracks are now just foot-paths and the Easole Street and Beauchamps Lane junction is slightly different, the Sandwich Road approach to the roundabout then ran where the barn conversions are now and the approach road was then arable land.
- [Nonington and the Volunteer Rifles](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-volunteer-rifles/): On 12 May 1859 Jonathan Peel the Secretary of State for War, wrote  to the lieutenants of the counties of England, Scotland and Wales authorising the formation of volunteer rifle corps and of artillery . The volunteer corps were to be raised under the provisions of the Volunteer Act 1804 previously used during the Napoleonic Wars to form local defence forces.
- [Nonington Parish Charities](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-parish-charities/): Thomas Bate of Challock held land in Challock and Nonington with which he made bequests during the reign of Henry VIII. In Nonington his bequest consisted of:- “Landes given by Thomas Bate to thentent that one priest shulde celebrate masse within the said parishe iij (3) tymes yerelie for ever. Also: rent or  ferme of v rods (5 rods or 1 ¼ acres) of land in the parish of Nonyngton next Harelestrete (Holt Street Buttes, now Butter Street) butts now or late in the tenure of Richard Mockett there, yerely  ijs (2s) (previously owned by the Knights of St. John [&hellip;]
- [Eswala, or Eswalt,  and the d'Aubignys (also Albini).](https://nonington.org.uk/eswala-or-eswalt-and-the-daubignys-also-albini/): One of the families favoured with awards of land by William II was the d’Aubigny’s (also Albini, Albineo, and Albinione) one of whom was William, (known as &#8216;Pincerna&#8217;), Master Butler of the Royal Household. Around 1100 or so Pincerna&#8217;s younger brother, Nigel, gave the Manor of Eswalt (Eswala) to his kinsman the Abbot of St. Alban’s Abbey in Hertfordshire, possibly to help the Abbey’s finances. Some sources say that the Abbot was Nigel&#8217;s uncle, others that he was a cousin. William d&#8217;Aubigny also held the neighbouring Cnoltune (Knolton) estate which passed into the possession of the Earls of Arundal through [&hellip;]
- [Boys Marriage settlement of 1626.](https://nonington.org.uk/boys-marriage-settlement-1626/): Whitfield archive ref. :EK/U 373/T61. Boys Marriage settlement, 1626.  The following information is from a 1667 copy of a marriage settlement of 3rd   day of April in the second year of Charles I. (1626) between: Sir Edward Boys the Elder of ffredvile ( the first party). Sir Edward Boys the Younger of ffredvile( the second party), son and heir apparent to the above. Nicholas Miller of Wrotham (the third party). John Boys, Esq., eldest son  and heir of Sir Ed. Boys the Younger of ffredvile (the fourth party). The marriage was between John Boys and Margaret, daughter of John Miller [&hellip;]
- [Oxenden, later Oxney-revised 24.5.2013](https://nonington.org.uk/oxenden-later-oxney-revised-24-5-2013/): Oxney Wood is now in  Aylesham and  Womenswold parishes, but for centuries Oxenden, as Oxney was originally known,  formed part of old Nonington’s southern boundary with Womenswold parish. Oxenden, Oxney’s original name, probably comes from the Old English, Oxena denn,”oxena” meaning oxen or cattle, and “denn”, meaning a woodland pasture or clearing. The original Oxenden had evolved into the present Oxney by the  mid-17th century, possibly via the suffix “ley”, from O.E, leah, pasture or grazing, replacing the earlier “denn”.
- [Kittington also Ketehampton alias Ketynton-revised 24.05.2013](https://nonington.org.uk/kittington-also-ketehampton-alias-ketynton-revised-24-05-2013/): The name Kittington is said to have evolved from the Old English ‘cyte hamtun’ meaning ‘home farm where there are cottages’ . Kittington is on the east boundary of the old parish of Nonington between Easole and Elvington. It was for centuries a part of the Manor of  Wingham held by the Archbishops of Canterbury until Henry VIII’s reign when it was ceded to the Crown.
- [An inventory of the goods of Richard Creake, yeoman, of (Kettingden or Kittington) Nonington, Kent. 1560.](https://nonington.org.uk/an-inventory-of-the-goods-of-richard-creake-yeoman-of-kettingden-or-kittington-nonington-kent-1560/): The Creake, Kreke, Creke ect. family were what become known as yeoman. These were well-to-do farmers and small land-owners who owned land in their own right and also rented additional land from other land-owners both large and small in their home and nearby parishes.   The yeoman of Kent were thought to be especially well off, a popular rhyme of the early 16th century was:- &#8220;A knight of Cales [Calais], and a gentleman of Wales, And a laird of the north country &#8211; A yeoman of Kent with his yearly rent Could buy them out &#8211; all three.&#8221; The following [&hellip;]
- [Acol, or Ackholt-revised 23.5.2013](https://nonington.org.uk/acol-or-ackholt-revised-23-5-2013/): Ackholt, Acholt or Acol, Nonington. Also:1283 Ackholt; 1469 Akholte; 1626 Acholt. Ackholt is now in the Parish of Aylesham and lies just the other side of the railway-line where the Nonington to Womenswold bridle way crosses the Snowdown to Aylesham road on the southern boundary of the old parish of Nonington. Pronouced Acol (Aye-kul) with a long a and the t dropped as is usual in the old East Kent dialect, the name derives from the Old English (O.E.): ac; oak &amp; holt ; thicket, literally meaning an oak thicket or wood. To the east of Ackholt  is the hamlet of Holt Street, [&hellip;]
- [The trees of Fredville Park-revised 23.5.2013](https://nonington.org.uk/the-trees-of-fredville-park-revised-23-5-2013/): The Fredville Oaks. Fredville Park has been renowned since the late 18th century for magnificent trees, especially its oaks and chestnuts. William Hasted wrote in his :‘History and topographical survey of the County of Kent’, in the late 1790&#8217;s: “At a small distance from the front of Fredvile-house, stands the remarkable large oak tree, usually known by the name of the Fredville oak. It measures twenty-seven feet round in the girth, and is about thirty feet in height; and though it must have existed for many centuries, yet it looks healthy and thriving, and has a most majestic and venerable appearance”. [&hellip;]
- [The Hammonds of St. Alban's Court-revised 20.5.2013](https://nonington.org.uk/the-hammonds-of-st-albans-court/): Two of Sir William Hammond&#8217;s younger brother&#8217;s,  knowing they had little chance of inheriting the family estates,  had by then made their own way and become adventurers, later becoming notable soldiers. Francis, born in 1584 and Robert, born in 1587,  both joined Sir Walter Raleigh’s second South American expedition to search for the fabled city of Eldorado which Raleigh believed to be in Guyana. However, the quest failed and, whilst Raleigh was suffering from fever, men under his command ransacked a Spanish outpost which outraged the Spanish authorities. Consequently Raleigh was arrested on his return to England and was beheaded in [&hellip;]
- [The Duke of Newcastle to the Plumptres of Fredville revised 17.5.2013](https://nonington.org.uk/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 he was one of the largest land-owners in the country with huge influence and patronage in Sussex. On the death of Queen Anne in 1714 Thomas, a Whig like his father and uncle, was an outspoken supporter of Hanoverian succession to the throne and was [&hellip;]
- [The Boys family of Fredville-revised 15.4.2013](https://nonington.org.uk/the-boys-family-of-fredville-revised-15-4-2013/): The Boys family, also, de Bois &amp; 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 in Goodnestone parish, part of the Manor of Wingham. In the following decades members of the family acquired land in and around Nonington parish. In 1484 William Boys bought “The manors of Fredeuyle and Beauchamp&#8217; and 2 messuages, 405 acres of land, 3 acres of [&hellip;]
- [Sir John de Beauchamp at Easole-revised 14.5.2013](https://nonington.org.uk/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 to Geoffrey de Say, 2nd Baron Say, the overlord of Essewelle. At some time after 1346 Sir John de Beauchamp (also Bello Campo), acquired several holding in and around the parish of Nonington, the post mortem inquisition after his death in 1360 recorded these as: [&hellip;]
- [The Colkyns of Fredville-updated 10.5.2013](https://nonington.org.uk/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 1243.
- [Three Barrow Downs-Rowbergh Butts and Soles Butts.](https://nonington.org.uk/three-barrow-downs-rowbergh-butts-and-soles-butts-2/): 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 &#8220;The Roman Road&#8221;. In the adjoining field to the north of the barrows is evidence of a pre-Roman settlement on Ruberry Downs,  an alternative name for Three Barrow Downs to the north of &#8220;The Roman Road&#8221;, now in Womenswold parish. On older maps (see 1870&#8217;s OS map below)  Three Barrow Down runs from [&hellip;]
- [Nonnington via Sandwich to London by sea, a weekly service!](https://nonington.org.uk/from-nonnington-to-london-by-sea-a-weekly-service/): In the 1830′s Nonington was served by a weekly service to London via the port of Sandwich allowing residents, especially the shop keepers, to have goods brought in from outside of East Kent.  I only became aware of this service when I was recently fortunate enough to find an original hand-bill for “The first hoy for Sandwich”  at a local boot-fair in 2012. The service departed every Saturday from Chester’s Quay, near the Tower of London and took in “goods and passengers for Sandwich, Walmer, Wingham, Eastry, Mongham, Goodnestone, Deal, Ash, Littlebourn, Tilmanstone, Nonnington, Eythorn”.  Nonington was therefore in much closer [&hellip;]
- [Jane Austen's visits to Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/jane-austens-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 as their heir, as part of the adoption Edward changed his surname from Austen to Knight, and he left Rolling House and moved to Godmersham. After her brother&#8217;s move to Godmersham Jane continued to visit Goodnestone and frequently wrote to Cassandra, her only sister, of the visits and [&hellip;]
- [Essewelle and the Barony of Maminot, later the Barony of de Say-revised 15.3.13](https://nonington.org.uk/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 the Bishop’s   holdings were inherited by the Maminot, also Mamignot, family and subsequently evolved into the Barony of Maminot and held directly from the Crown. The first recorded holder of the barony was Hugo Maminot, who was succeeded by Walkelin Maminot, his son, who [&hellip;]
- [Early windmills in Nonington: Soles, 1227 and Ackholt, 1309](https://nonington.org.uk/early-windmills-in-nonington-1227-and-1309/): The earliest windmills in Europe had a post-mill structure where the main structure sits on a post, usually a wooden post, that allowed the entire structure to be turned turn to face the wind by a long beam attached horizontally to the body of the mill. The mills usually sat upon a tripod made of two crossed beams resting on the ground and four angled beams coming up to support the post, these cross beams were often buried stop the mill blowing away in a storm. Often the windmills were built on a specially constructed mound, although sometimes an existing [&hellip;]
- [Cookys  or Cooks Hill-updated.](https://nonington.org.uk/cookys-or-cooks-hill-updated/): Cookys  or Cooks. The Cookys farm house was the present Holt Street Cottage, which is just above the Holt Street cross-roads, and the accompanying land seems to have originally been some 14 or so acres to the rear of the house,  and some 14 or more acres of the large field across the Snowdown Road, which is still called Cooks Hill. The Cooks Hill acreage was enclosed by a ditched bank and hedge, which was grubbed out in the 1950&#8217;s but the ditch is still visible, and the land to the rear of the house also had banks and hedges, some of [&hellip;]
- [Colonels Francis and Robert Hammond, adventurers &amp; soldiers](https://nonington.org.uk/colonels-francis-and-robert-hammond-updated-biographies/): The 1555 purchase by John Hammond began an ownership of the St. Alban’s estate by the Hammond family which continued until the late 1930’s, during which time the family continued to acquire additional land and property in Nonington and in neighbouring parishes. &nbsp;By the time the St. Alban’s Court estate was sold off in 1938 it amounted to just over 1,000 acres in Nonington and Chillenden parishes. John Hammond was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward, and he in turn by his eldest son, William, who was knighted by King James I in 1608, the same year as his eldest [&hellip;]
- [Estretling, now Old Court](https://nonington.org.uk/estretling-now-old-court/): A few hundred yards further east of Ratling Court is the apparent site of Estretling manor house, the present Old Court Farm. There are still records of the manorial courts that were held into the 19th.  The windows of the present Old Court farmhouse and some brick work with blue headers indicate a date of construction of about 1700, but there are indications of much earlier foundations. Some older flint ground walls are visible and the south end has the lower part of a wide fireplace and chimney built of wide jointed two inch brickwork which appears to date from around 1600 [&hellip;]
- [The Quadryng family of Fredville](https://nonington.org.uk/the-quadryng-family-of-fredville/): John de Say, fourth and last Baron Say, died in 1382 aged about 12 years old  without a male heir, subsequently for the next two decades the manor, as part of the Barony of de Say, passed by a complicated chain of inheritance to various surviving sisters of the third baron and their heirs. The manor had various occupiers until 1401 when the manor of Fredeuyle, as Fredvill’ was then known, was sold by Thomas Cherlton’, also Charlton, to John Quadryng’, a wealthy mercer of the City of London. It remained in the Quadryng, also Quadrings, family&#8217;s possession for much of the 15th [&hellip;]
- [Aylesham](https://nonington.org.uk/aylesham/): 1367 Elisham; 1405 Eylsham; 1418 Aylsham;&nbsp;1445 Haylesham; 1604 Aylesham. The name is said to derive from O.E. Aegeles ham; Aegel’s homestead. Aylesham now refers to the actual mining village, but before the village was built there were references to Aylesham, or variations thereof, corner, wood and farm. Aylesham was part of the manor of Ackholt, but nothing is really known of its origins. &nbsp;The earliest presently known reference to Aylesham is in a 1367 grant from&nbsp;“Thomas Peny of Welle (possibly connected to the present Well Wood in Womenswold parish, a half mile or so across the fields to the south)&nbsp;to [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and the railways](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-railways/):   The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) The Canterbury to Dover extension of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) was finally opened to traffic on 22nd. July, 1861 after almost a decade of planning. At least two railway companies, the South Eastern Railway (SER) and the East Kent Railway (EKR) which transformed into the LCDR during construction, had initially been involved in planning the construction the line with the War Office expressing an interest for strategic military purposes, but this interest did not extend to the Government investing any money. Several schemes using different routes were put forward [&hellip;]
- [Nonington from:- The History and Topographical Survey of Kent, volume IX, by Edward Hasted, published in 1800.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-from-the-history-and-topographical-survey-of-kent-volume-ix-by-edward-hasted-published-in-1800/): With updated links to other relevant pages
- [Nonington in East Kent, the Old English origins of the name](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-in-kent-the-old-english-origins-of-the-name/): I have previously proposed that the name Nonington, applicable to the settlement around the village church, &nbsp;had its origins due &nbsp;the location of the settlement &nbsp;on four aratra [sulungs or hides] of land “aet [at, by or next to] Oesewalum” owned jointly in the late 700’s and early 800’s&nbsp; by Aldberht, an earldorman, and Selethryth, his sister and the abbess of the convents of Minster-in-Thanet and Lyminge. During the early 820’s possession of these four aratra of land was disputed between Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Cwoenthryth, the then abbess of Minster-in-Thanet and daughter of &nbsp;Coenwulf, the king of Mercia. [&hellip;]
- [Oesewalum: a re-evaluation of its location as having been near Harrow in Middlesex and not in the old parish of Nonington in East Kent!](https://nonington.org.uk/oesewalum-a-re-evaluation-of-its-location/): Long and careful consideration of information brought to light in recent research and a subsequent re-appraisal of existing documentary evidence has led me to conclude that an estate known as &nbsp;Oesewalum was not actually situated in what became the old parish of Nonington in East Kent, but was in fact located near Harrow in the modern county of Middlesex. &nbsp;The direct consequence of this conclusion is that the posts and articles I have written over the last couple of decades placing Oesewalum in the old parish of Nonington now have no relevance and I have therefore removed from this website [&hellip;]
- [The Beating of the Nonington Parish Bounds in 1895](https://nonington.org.uk/beating-the-nonington-parish-bounds-in-1895-2/)
- [The Elizabethan Communion Cup and Cover of St. Mary's Church in  Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-elizabethan-communion-cup-and-cover-of-st-marys-church-in-nonington/): I have recently had the good fortune to fine a top quality photographic postcard of the Elizabethan Nonington Church communion cup and cover which clearly shows the cup and cover in great detail. The postcard appears to date from the 1920&#8217;s or 1930&#8217;s and would have been sold in local Nonington shops. The following information about the communion cup and cover is taken from a booklet published in 1938 by the then vicar, the Reverend Roger Bulstrode. When compiling the booklet the Reverend Bulstrode used information from his immediate predecessors at St. Mary&#8217;s, namely research undertaken by the Reverend Wilfred [&hellip;]
- [Aylesham: Aegel's Farm in Nonington. With revised and updated  notes and maps](https://nonington.org.uk/aylesham-some-revised-notes-and-maps-6-1-2026/)
- [Jane Austen's 250th birthday. The celebrated writer Jane Austen was born on 16th December in 1775. In the early 1800′s Jane Austen was a frequent visitor to Fredville Park and St. Alban's Court in Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/jane-austens-250th-birthday-the-celebrated-writer-jane-austen-was-born-on-16th-december-in-1775-in-the-early-1800%e2%80%b2s-jane-austen-was-a-frequent-visitor-to-fredville-park-and-st-albans-co/)
- [Anglo-Saxon cemetery sites around Nonington by Keith Parfitt of the Dover Archaeological Group](https://nonington.org.uk/anglo-saxon-cemetery-sites-around-nonington-by-keith-parfitt-of-the-dover-archaeological-group/): Published in Archaeologia Cantiana,&nbsp;Volume 145, 2024, by The Kent Archaeological Society. Keith Parfitt of the Dover Archaeological Group Click on the picture above to read the article
- [Nonnington via Sandwich to London by sea, a weekly service!](https://nonington.org.uk/nonnington-via-sandwich-to-london-by-sea-a-weekly-service-2/): Nonnington via Sandwich to London by sea, a weekly service! An original handbill advertising the weekly service by sea aboard&nbsp;“The Fortune”&nbsp;from Chester’s Quay near the Tower of London to Sandwich. The service carried&nbsp;“goods and passengers for Sandwich, Walmer, Wingham, Eastry, Mongham, Goodnestone, Deal, Ash, Littlebourn, Tilmanstone, Nonnington, Eythorn”. In the 1830′s Nonington was served by a weekly service to London via the port of Sandwich allowing residents, especially the shop keepers, to have goods brought in from outside of East Kent. &nbsp;I only became aware of this service when I was fortunate enough to find an original hand-bill for&nbsp;“The first [&hellip;]
- [Esther, a Nonington witch](https://nonington.org.uk/esther-a-nonington-witch/): Esther, a Nonington witch The parish of Nonington did not escape the horror and injustice of the “witch-hunts” in Puritan Kent. In his book&nbsp;“Those Superstitions”,&nbsp;published in 1932, Sir Charles Iggleston tells the sad story of the persecution and death of Esther, a “witch” who lived and supposedly practiced her “craft” somewhere in Nonington. Unfortunately neither Esther’s surname nor the location of her house was recorded and the date of Esther’s ordeal and subsequent death in unclear, but most likely occurred between 1640 and 1660.Esther was an elderly woman who apparently enveigled superstitious inhabitants of Nonington into believing that they had [&hellip;]
- [Health care in Nonington, 1898](https://nonington.org.uk/health-care-in-nonington-1898-2/)
- [The Ash Path from Holt Street to Church Street in Nonington &amp; other old Holt Street  footpaths](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ash-path-from-holt-street-to-church-street-updated/)
- [Articles written by late Peter Hobbs of Old St. Albans Court in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/articles-by-the-late-peter-hobbs-of-old-st-albans-court-in-nonington/)
- [Brick Building in Kent: The Evidence from Old St Albans Court, Nonington by Gareth Daws and Peter Hobbs](https://nonington.org.uk/brick-building-in-kent-the-evidence-from-old-st-albans-court-nonington-by-gareth-daws-and-peter-hobbs/): First published inBRITISH BRICK SOCIETY INFORMATION 133MAY 2016
- [1940: An Embarrassing Injury, and an Embarrassing Mistake!](https://nonington.org.uk/1940-an-embarrassing-injury-and-an-embarrassing-mistake/): Some of the misadventures of Nonington’s own “Dad’s Army”
- [A Hurricane and a Doodlebug visit Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/a-hurricane-and-a-doodlebug-visit-nonington/)
- [A BRASS AT NONINGTON CHURCH IN KENT BY RALPH GRIFFIN, F.S.A.](https://nonington.org.uk/a-brass-at-nonington-church-in-kent-by-ralph-griffin-f-s-a/)
- [Essole Street house plots &amp; road ways in 1501](https://nonington.org.uk/essole-street-house-plots-road-ways-in-nonington-1501/)
- [Canadian soldiers at Fredville Park &amp; St. Alban’s Downs in Nonington during WW2](https://nonington.org.uk/canadian-soldiers-at-fredville-park-st-albans-downs-in-nonington-during-ww2/)
- [A Luftwaffe view of Nonington in 1940 &amp; 1942](https://nonington.org.uk/a-luftwaffe-view-of-nonington-in-1940-1942/)
- [The Fredville Park Majesty Oak Tree-enquiries regarding visits to see the tree](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-park-oak-trees-enquiries/): Please note: the Fredville Majesty Oak is on private property with no rights of public access. Please do not go knocking on the doors of the nearby cottages regarding access as they are occupied by residents with no connection to the land-owner.Enquiries regarding the Fredville Oaks should be made in writing to:Mr. J.  Plumptre,Little Fredville,Frogham,Nonington,Kent.CT15 4JF.++++++Communications sent by email will not be acknowledged.
- [Thomas Cromwell, Sir Christopher Hales &amp; Saint Alban's Court in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/thomas-cromwell-sir-christopher-hales-saint-albans-court-in-nonington/): Along with millions of other viewers I recently enjoyed watching the BBC’s series “Wolf Hall”&nbsp; which, according to the BBC iPlayer, follows “The irresistible rise of Thomas Cromwell &#8211; who defied and defined an era. Mark Rylance leads the acclaimed adaptation of Hilary Mantel&#8217;s tales from the dark heart of Tudor history”. Thomas Cromwell’s “irresistible rise” to a position of great power and influence in the court and government of King Henry VIII can be largely credited to the likely mentoring and ongoing friendship of a prominent lawyer and &nbsp;politician with a connection to St. Alban’s Court in Nonington, namely [&hellip;]
- [The lost manor of Shrynkelyng’ in Nonington &amp; Eastry](https://nonington.org.uk/the-lost-manor-of-shrynkelyng-in-nonington-eastry/): The &nbsp;north-eastern corner of the parish of Nonington is separated from the parish of Eastry by Thornton Road and across the road just inside the parish of Eastry is Shingleton Farm. Just to the north of the farm house is an area of woodland known as Shingleton Wood which contains the remains of the ancient manor house and accompanying buildings of the “lost” Manor of Shrynkelyng’, also recorded as Shrinkling, Shrynkelyng’, Scringling’, Schrinkling’, Shrynklyng and Shrinkling. These &nbsp;manorial buildings were once quite extensive but have long since gone to ruin and there is now little visible above ground.Although the remains [&hellip;]
- [Mount Ephraim in Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/mount-ephraim-in-nonington/): In its extreme northern corner the old parish of Nonington was bounded by the parish of Goodnestone to the west and to the east by the parish of Chillenden, which was absorbed into&nbsp; the parish of Goodnestone in 1935. This corner is still a part of the present parish of Nonington and here, in the shave adjacent to the ancient trackway known for the last four hundred or more years as Cherry Garden Lane,  is to be found a mound of earth or tumulus known as Mount Ephraim. Cherry Garden Lane derives its name from the cherry gardens or orchards [&hellip;]
- [1863 & 1873: Diversion of footpaths at St. Alban’s Court in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/1863-1873-diversion-of-footpaths-at-st-albans-court-in-nonington/): Parish vestries were the predecessors of parish councils but had much more authority over parish affairs and finances. Nonington Parish Council held its inaugural meeting on 4th December, 1894.At a Nonington Vestry meeting in early 1863 Mr William Oxenden Hammond of St. Alban&#8217;s Court in the parish of Nonington requested: “to divert a certain footpath in Nonnington [sic] aforesaid leading out of Sandwich Road through a gate into the enclosure of St. Alban&#8217;s Court and opposite the kitchen Garden of the same towards Chillenden, that is to say, to a point where a style is placed midway between the mansion [&hellip;]
- [The “lost” Manor of Hartanger, also Hertanger, Hartange or Hartangre, in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-lost-manor-of-hartanger-also-hertanger-hartange-or-hartangre-in-nonington/)
- [The   Black Prince & King John of France hunt at Cruddeswode in 1360](https://nonington.org.uk/the-black-prince-king-john-of-france-hunt-at-cruddeswode-in-1360/): Almost five centuries after the &nbsp;reference to “Crudes silva” in a charter of King Alfred the Great two notable Royal visitors made a brief visit to hunt in what had by then become “the park of Cruddeswode” [parcum de Cruddeswode], a hunting park belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The name evolved further into Curleswood Park, later becoming Curleswood Park Farm and then Park Farm. Most of the park area is now covered by the village of Aylesham and its adjoning industrial estate with the remainder soon to disappear under the ongoing &#8220;Aylesham Garden Village&#8221; developement. At the Battle of [&hellip;]
- [Crudes Wood, later Curleswood Park & now the village of Aylesham in Kent](https://nonington.org.uk/crudes-wood-later-curleswood-park-now-the-village-of-aylesham-in-kent/): The village of Aylesham now covers most of Curleswood or Curlswood Park. Once an old deer park belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury, later it constituted a large part of the six hundred acres of farmland acquired in 1924&nbsp; from Henry FitzWalter Plumptre of Goodnestone by Pearson &amp; Dorman Long for the building of houses for miners then working at the nearby Snowdown Colliery and a proposed new mine at Adisham, which was never developed. For more details, maps &amp; illustrations on the revised known history of Curleswood Park in its entirety, please go to the website page Curleswood or [&hellip;]
- [The Quakers in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-quakers-in-nonington/): The &nbsp;Religious Society of Friends, better known as “Quakers”, were founded in the North of England in the mid-17th&nbsp;century by George Fox, their name possibly originates from Fox telling a magistrate he was appearing before “to tremble (or ‘quake’) at the name of God”.During the Commonwealth under the leadership of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and his son, who succeeded him in 1658, the Quakers were allowed to worship freely. However, after the restoration of King Charles II in 1660 the Quakers were systematically persecuted for their beliefs under  the Quaker Act of 1662 and the Conventicle Act of 1664 whereby [&hellip;]
- [Black Grouse in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/black-grouse-in-nonington/): The Black Grouse: a chromolitho by Lydon, Alexander Francis as an Illustration for Sketch Book of British Birds by R Bowdler Sharpe (SPCK, 1898) I’ve just been looking through a copy of some estate papers for the old St. Alban’s Court estate at Nonington and I’ve found the following reference to a game bird no longer found in Kent. In May of 1810 William Osmund Hammond of St. Alban’s Court in Nonington recommended that William Oxenden Hammond, his son and heir, &nbsp;plant some areas of rough land in the vicinity of Pinners Wood, then extending to around 10 or so [&hellip;]
- [FULKE ROSE OF HOLT STREET FARM, ALSO NONNINGTON FARM, IN NONINGTON, KENT: THE SLAVE TRADE, CARIBBEAN PIRATES, AND THE FOUNDING OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Revised & updated 31.07.2023](https://nonington.org.uk/fulke-rose-of-holt-street-farm-also-nonnington-farm-in-nonington-kent-the-slave-trade-caribbean-pirates-and-the-founding-of-the-british-museum-revised-updated-31-07-2023/): 1855 print of the British Museum from “The World’s Metropolis, or Mighty London, Illustrated by a Series of Views Beautifully Engraved on Steel” (London : 1851-1855). It is now difficult to believe that the pleasant hamlet of Holt Street, more especially the present Holt Street Farm, had connections to the Atlantic Slave Trade between West Africa and the Caribbean. This was one of the darkest periods in British history which, whilst bringing incredible riches to a few European plantation owners, brought unimaginable misery to thousands of male and female convicts sentenced to transportation by English and Irish courts and millions [&hellip;]
- [Nonington Shops &amp; Post Offices-slide show](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-shops-post-offices/)
- [EASOLE STREET IN NONINGTON, A PHOTOGRAPHIC SLIDESHOW](https://nonington.org.uk/easole-street-in-nonington-a-photographic-slideshow/)
- [ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE OLD PARISH OF NONINGTON](https://nonington.org.uk/archaeology-in-the-old-parish-of-nonington/): Articles regarding archaeological discoveries within the old parish of Nonington are now accessible from links on one page
- [FROGGENHAM OR FROGHAM, A SMALL HAMLET IN NONINGTON](https://nonington.org.uk/13476-2/): Frogham most likely derives from the Old English: “Frocgena ham: the place of the frogs, meaning the place with a lot of frogs” . from Frocga, frog, and ham, which can mean variously enclosure, homestead, village, manor, estate. Some Medieval documents refer to Frogenham, not greatly different to “Frocgena ham”. Another possibility is that the name derives from “Frogga”, or similar Anglo-Saxon first name, and “ham”.The place with a lot of frogs has much to recommend it as adjoining Frogham to the south-west is&nbsp;the ancient manor of Soles, originally Solys,&nbsp;which&nbsp; derives its name from the O.E. sol: meaning mud or [&hellip;]
- [Nonington Butchers shops & premises](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-butchers-shops-premises/): There is an early mention of a Nonington butcher in Nonington in a sale document of &nbsp;1659 relating to the sale of &nbsp; The White Horse alehouse in Church Street by Henry Pingle of Nonington, a butcher by trade, and his brothers. The Pingle family appear in Nonington church records throughout the 17th century and into the early 18th century. In the 19th and 20th centuries the principle butcher&#8217;s premises were in&nbsp;Easole Street and are now called Southdown House. The name almost certainly derives from one of the butchers, &#8220;Charlie&#8221; Smith, who specialised in fattening and butchering the Southdown breed [&hellip;]
- [Esther the Nonington witch. A conspiracy of silence?](https://nonington.org.uk/esther-the-nonington-witch-a-conspiracy-of-silence/): The parish of Nonington did not escape the horror and injustice of the “witch-hunts” in Puritan Kent. In his 1932 book&nbsp;“Those Superstitions”&nbsp;Sir Charles Iggleston tells the sad story of the persecution and death of Esther, a “witch” who lived and supposedly practised her “craft” somewhere in Nonington. Unfortunately the location of Esther’s house was not recorded. Esther, no surname known, was an elderly woman who scared ignorant inhabitants of Nonington into believing they had acted in a sacrilegious manner which led them into Satan’s clutches, thereby causing their everyday misfortunes. Esther told the misfortuned villagers that the only way to [&hellip;]
- [Beauchamps Wood in Nonington, Kent, by Peter Hobbs.](https://nonington.org.uk/beauchamps-wood-in-nonington-kent-by-peter-hobbs/): An illustrated article on the archaeology and history in and around Beauchamps Wood in Nonington. Please use this link to read the article
- [Chillenden parish alehouses.](https://nonington.org.uk/chillenden-parish-alehouses/): The following information about the alehouses of the old parish of Chillenden in East Kent came to light some twenty or more years ago whilst I was researching the alehouses of Nonington and was therefore not pursued in any great detail and is in note form. The information was obtained in the main part from the Wingham magistrates annual licencing records held at the Kent County archives at County Hall, Maidstone, which is now the Kent Archives and History centre, and from documents held at the now closed KCC archives at Whitfield. I hope this information will be of interest [&hellip;]
- [Gunston or Goodnestone Alehouses](https://nonington.org.uk/gunston-or-goodnestone-alehouses/): +++ The following information about the alehouses of the old parish of Goodnestone, sometime Gunston, came to light some twenty or more years ago whilst I was researching the alehouses of Nonington and was therefore not pursued in any great detail and is in note form. The information was obtained in the main part from the Wingham magistrates annual licencing records held at the Kent County archives at County Hall, Maidstone, which is now the Kent Archives and History centre, and from documents held at the now closed KCC archives at Whitfield. I hope this information will be of interest [&hellip;]
- [Wimlingswold, now Womenswold,  Alehouses &amp; Beer Shops.](https://nonington.org.uk/wimlingswold-alehouses-beer-shops/): +++ WIMLINGSWOLD ALEHOUSES &amp; BEER SHOPS. The following information about the alehouses and beer shops of the old parish of Wimlingswold or Womenswold came to light some twenty or more years ago whilst I was researching the alehouses of Nonington and was therefore not pursued in any great detail and is in note form. The information was obtained in the main part from the Wingham magistrates annual licencing records held at the Kent County archives at County Hall, Maidstone, now the Kent Archives and History centre. I hope this information will be of interest and, hopefully, some help to other [&hellip;]
- [THE PLUMPTRE HOSPITAL IN PLUMPTRE SQUARE, NOTTINGHAM](https://nonington.org.uk/the-plumptre-hospital-in-plumptre-square-nottingham-2/): In 1392 John de Plumptre, a merchant of the staple of Calais who traded mainly in wool and four times mayor of Nottingham, was granted a licence by King Richard II to found and endow a hospital or house of God for two chaplains and thirteen poor widows&nbsp;‘bent by old age and depressed by poverty.’&nbsp;The hospital was more of an almshouse than a hospital and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and was endowed with 13 properties around the town of Nottingham. The priest was instructed to pray for John, his wife Emma, the king, the people of Nottingham, and [&hellip;]
- [BAPTIST CHAPEL IN EASOLE STREET IN NONINGTON-REVISED 20.10.2022](https://nonington.org.uk/baptist-chapel-in-easole-street-in-nonington-revised-20-10-2022/): Please use this link to read about the Baptist Chapel
- [THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLER & BUTTER STREET COTTAGE IN NONINGTON](https://nonington.org.uk/the-knights-of-st-john-and-butter-street-cottage-in-nonington/)
- [BEATING THE NONINGTON PARISH BOUNDS IN 1895](https://nonington.org.uk/beating-the-nonington-parish-bounds-in-1895/): Please use this link to read the article
- [THE VILL’ OF ESSESOLE:-HOUSE PLOTS AND LAND HOLDINGS AS RECORDED IN THE 1501 MANOR OF ESSESOLE RENTAL ROLL.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-vill-of-essesole-house-plots-and-land-holdings-in-the-vill-of-essesole-as-recorded-in-the-1501-manor-of-esole-rental-roll/): House plots and land holdings in the Vill’ of Essesole as recorded in the 1501 Manor of Essesole rental roll.The Lord of the Manor at this time was the Abbot of St. Alban&#8217;s, who also held the adjoining manor recorded as Eswalt in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was around this time that the Abbey&#8217;s two  manorial holdings of Eswalt and Essesole became more commonly jointly known as St. Alban&#8217;s Court. I.The corner of Mill Lane and Sandwich Road towards Sandwich. II.Easole Street from the junction of Mill Lane back towards the present Beachamps Lane junction. III.Easole/Beachamps Lane junction area towards [&hellip;]
- [Anglo- Saxon Nuns and Nonington by Peter Hobbs](https://nonington.org.uk/anglo-saxon-nuns-and-nonington-by-peter-hobbs/): Peter Hobbs is the present owner of the old St. Alban&#8217;s Court manor house in Nonington.  Peter has published numerous articles concerning the extensive, and still ongoing,  archaeological investigations he has undertaken over the past twenty or more years  in and around the old St. Alban&#8217;s Court manor house and on the nearby site of  the now gone Esole, also Easole, manor house. ++++++ Nonington is a rural parish in East Kent about two miles East of the A2 and broadly equidistant from Canterbury, Dover and Sandwich. Formerly some 4000 acres in extent, the mining village of Aylesham and the [&hellip;]
- [Captain Francis Hammond of St. Alban's Court: The Thirty Years War & The Bishops Wars](https://nonington.org.uk/captain-francis-hammond-of-st-albans-court-the-thirty-years-war-the-bishops-wars/): Francis and Robert Hammond&nbsp; were members of Sir Walter Raleigh&#8217;s expedition to Guyana [Guiana], now a part of Venezuela, that left England in June of 1617 in search of El Dorado, the fabled South American city of gold. The expedition was a complete failure and Raleigh was arrested on his return to England in mid-1618 and executed at the Tower of London in October of that year on the orders of King James I for breaching the king&#8217;s instruction that&nbsp; Raleigh&#8217;s expedition must not be involved in any fighting with the Spanish. At present, nothing is known for certain of [&hellip;]
- [Nonington, Kent : a Contribution to its Early History By Dr. Frederick William Hardman, LL.D., F.S.A. with notes by Peter Hobbs of Old St. Alban's Court, Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-kent-a-contribution-to-its-early-history-by-dr-frederick-william-hardman-ll-d-f-s-a-with-notes-by-peter-hobbs-of-old-st-albans-court-nonington/): A verbatim copy of the draught manuscript of an unpublished history of Nonington written by Dr. F. W. Hardman in the early 1930&#8217;s. The page numbers shown are those of the copy, not the original manuscript. Following the manuscript copy is a personal note by Peter Hobbs of Old St. Alban&#8217;s Court on Dr. Hardman&#8217;s unpublished history.  Page 1 Nonington (pronounced Nunnington) lies in the heart of the agricultural part of South- east Kent about equidistant from Canterbury and Dover. It is remote from towns and main roads and has been little influenced by outside events. Its little community has [&hellip;]
- [The founding & development of  Nonington College of Physical Education by Stephen Burke-Part 1:](https://nonington.org.uk/the-founding-development-of-nonington-college-of-physical-education-by-stephen-burke-part-1/): A lady who had sudden and alarming acts of faith  or  How to found a college with no money  By the late 1920s St Alban’s Court was being rented out to Commander Arthur O’Brien and his wife  Marjorie. Carrying on the tradition of the Hammonds, the couple immediately took an active role in  local life, attending and hosting many events, and sitting on various committees, on Armistice Days  the Commander led the parade in the village to the war Memorial. The couple we noted for their  love of horses and riding, and for breeding German Shepherds and other dogs for which [&hellip;]
- [Nonington College during World War II by Stephen Burke, who has kindly allowed me to publish the following article which was originally published on the Nonington College Facebook Page.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-college-during-world-war-ii-by-stephen-burke/): Although the United Kingdom and France both declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, to begin with not a huge amount happened on the western front and the period was dubbed the Phoney War. Gladys and her students must have carried on as normal hopeful that the war would not touch them. To begin with not a lot did change, the Dover Express reported on 10 May that the annual prize-giving of the Nonington (Aylesham) Evening Institute had taken place and that 18 students from the College had passed the First Aid Certificate.  And on Whit Monday 13 May the [&hellip;]
- [The Boys Family of Fredville & Bonnington in the English Civil War of 1642-1651 [revised 03.01.2021]](https://nonington.org.uk/the-boys-family-of-fredville-bonnington-in-the-english-civil-war-of-1642-1651-revised-03-01-2021/): During the English Civil War of 1642 to 1651 close neighbours, friends and even family members frequently  took opposing sides in the conflict between the Royalists and Parliamentarians. These divisions were very obvious in Nonington and the adjoining parish of Goodneston as can be seen in the following article. ~~~~~~ Sir Edward Boys and Major John Boys of Fredville. Sir Edward Boys of Fredville became Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports  and Governor of Dover Castle in 1642 and had initially held the castle for King Charles I, but that same year he went over to the Parliamentarians and continued [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and Cromwell’s Commission in Kent of 1655-57](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-cromwells-commission-in-kent-of-1655-57/): A commission was established by Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth to control and punish anti-Cromwell and anti-Parliament land-owners in Kent. One of the commission’s leading members was Major John Boys of Fredville who had served on earlier Parliamentary Committees for Kent from at least 1643, as had his father, Sir Edward Boys of Fredville. Sir Edward had become Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports  and Governor of Dover Castle from 1642 and had initially held the castle for King Charles I, but that same year he went over to the Parliamentarians and continued to hold the strategically important [&hellip;]
- [Nonington & The Second Boer War, 1899-1902](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-the-second-boer-war-1899-1902/): The Nonington Parish Vestry minutes of 1899 record that at least five volunteers from Nonington were serving in the 3rd Battalion of The Buffs [East Kent Regiment], the regiments volunteer battalion, in what was then known as the South African Campaign but is now known as the Second Boer War [11th  October 1899 – 31st  May 1902]. A sale was held at Nonington School on December 19th, 1901, to raise money for The Soldiers and Sailors Families Association serving in South Africa. The sale was patronized, organized and attended by members of the nobility, gentry, and other prominent citizens from [&hellip;]
- [Easole Corn Mill in Nonington-newspaper articles 1965-70.](https://nonington.org.uk/easole-corn-mill-in-nonington-newspaper-articles/): The following PDF files are of newspaper articles about the Easole Corn Mill which replace the scans of the newspaper articles previously published on the Easole Corn Mill page.  They were kindly sent to me by Malcolm Blackwood. 1965 In the early hours of  Sunday, 9th May, 1965. Easole M Corn ill  was destroyed by fire. Reported in The Dover Express &amp; East Kent News on Friday, 14th May, 1965. Please click on the link below to see the full newspaper article. Dover Express article 14May1965 &nbsp; 1966 SIte of Mill at Nonnington by A. W. May was published in [&hellip;]
- [H.S. Pledge & Sons Ltd., millers & corn merchants of Ashford, Kent-the  Nonington years](https://nonington.org.uk/h-s-pledge-sons-ltd-millers-corn-merchants-of-ashford-kent-the-nonington-years/): The 1871 census records a Henry S. Pledge and family as living in Ratling Street, near to Ratling Court. Henry may have started his apprenticeship at the Easole corn mill but in 1871 he was listed as a miller employing two men and as a farmer employing two labourers and a boy. Henry Sturgess Pledge, miller,  was not a Nonington miller, he was the miller at the ‘Black Mill’ on Barham Downs, some two miles or so from Ratling. By the time of the 1881 census Henry had moved to Kennington, near Ashford, and taken over the running of the Wind, [&hellip;]
- [The Nonington War memorials-further revised 13.10.20.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-nonington-war-memorials-further-revised-13-10-20/): There are two memorials to the Fallen of the Two World Wars in St. Mary&#8217;s Churchyard, a roll of honour in the yew tree by the main entrance to the churchyard and a stone memorial to the Fallen of the Two World Wars set in the west wall of the church.The Parish Magazine for June of 1917 reported the following: &#8220;Roll of Honour. A permanent Roll of Honour has been presented to the Parish by Mrs. Penn, and on Wednesday May 23rd [the eve of Empire Day] it was unveiled and dedicated in the Churchyard. It is placed in position [&hellip;]
- [The Nonington War Memorials-revised 12.10.2020](https://nonington.org.uk/the-nonington-war-memorials-revised-112-10-2020/): There are two memorials to the Fallen of the Two World Wars in St. Mary&#8217;s churchyard, a roll of honour in the yew tree by the main entrance to the churchyard and a stone memorial to the Fallen of the Two World Wars set in the west wall of the church.The Parish Magazine for September of 1917 reported that the Roll of Honour in the yew tree was presented to the parish by Mrs. Penn and was unveiled and dedicated by her after a short&nbsp; service on Wednesday, May 23rd, 1917 [the eve of Empire Day.].&nbsp; The magazine also&nbsp; recorded [&hellip;]
- [Rev. Bryan Faussett: 1758 notes on memorials &amp; inscriptions in St. Mary’s Church](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-in-nonington-monumental-inscriptions-noted-by-the-reverend-bryan-faussett-in-1758/):   The Reverend Bryan Faussett (1720-1776) was a&nbsp; wealthy Kent clergyman who pioneered archaeology in Kent and excavated and recorded scores of sites in parishes in close proximity to Nonington. These excavations were recorded in&nbsp;&#8220;Inventorium Sepulchrale: an Account of Some Antiquities Dug Up at Gilton, Kingston, Sibertswold, Barfriston, Beakesbourne, Chartham, and Crundale, in the County of Kent, from A.D. 1757 to A.D. 1773&#8221;. The following are notes he made in 1758 on the memorials and inscriptions then to be found in St. Mary’s Church, Nonington. Chancell. 30. A Very Handsome Altar Piece. 31. On ye East Wall, on ye North [&hellip;]
- [Nonington: settlement before the Anglo-Saxons](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-settlement-before-the-anglo-saxons/): Aerial photographs of the old parish of Nonington taken in the last half of the 20th century clearly indicate  the sites of several early settlements dating back to the Iron Age [circa 500 BC onwards] and beyond. Accidental finds over the last couple of centuries of worked flints, pottery sherds and pot boilers in fields or gardens uncovered by ploughing or gardening have given strong indications of the locations of  sites of early habitation, and  a handful of organized archaeological excavations from the mid-19th century onwards have provided more definite evidence as to where some of the early inhabitants of [&hellip;]
- [Ralph Colkyn of Esol in Nonington: the massacre of the Jews of Canterbury and the Second Barons War (1264–1267)](https://nonington.org.uk/ralph-colkyn-of-esol-in-nonington-the-massacre-of-the-jews-of-canterbury-and-the-second-barons-war-1264-1267/): &nbsp; When Henry III succeeded to the English throne after the death of his father, King John, in 1216. He initially had the support of the powerful English barons. However,  over the years support for the King ebbed away as he became increasingly unpopular with many of the barons believing Henry to be an ineffective monarch who was influenced by foreign favourites, levied increasingly harsher taxation, and waged expensive foreign wars for his own personal gain. As opposition to Henry’s perceived misrule grew many of the discontented barons looked to Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, for leadership and he [&hellip;]
- [Church Street in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/church-street-in-nonington/): &nbsp; Church Street was once made up of the present Church Street and what is now known as  Pinner&#8217;s Lane.
- [The Fredville "Step Tree" and other chestnuts. Updated 24.4.20](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-step-tree-and-other-chestnuts-24-4-20/): In the 1930&#8217;s Dr. Hardman, a noted East Kent historian recorded the memories of  Richard Jarvis Arnold of of life in Nonington in the 1880’s &amp; 90’s. Mr. Arnold, a blacksmith born in Nonington but who later lived and worked in Walmer, recollected: “The trees of Fredville Park were well known. In addition to the old oak there were some large chestnuts. One was called the ‘Step Tree’ and had some steps affixed to it. In the upper part of the trunk and branches 12 or 20 people could sit”. It was said that members of the Plumptre family often had tea on the [&hellip;]
- [Nonington Parish Charities](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-parish-charities-2/): &nbsp; Thomas Bate of Challock held land in Challock and Nonington with which he made charitable  bequests during the reign of Henry VIII. In Nonington his bequest consisted of:- “Landes given by Thomas Bate to thentent that one priest shulde celebrate masse within the said parishe iij (3) tymes yerelie for ever. Also: rent or  ferme of v rods (5 rods or 1 ¼ acres) of land in the parish of Nonyngton next Harelestrete (Holt Street Buttes, now Butter Street) butts now or late in the tenure of Richard Mockett there, yerely  ijs (2s) (previously owned by the Knights of [&hellip;]
- [Holt Street in Nonington: a photographic guided tour-updated 22.03.2020](https://nonington.org.uk/holt-street-in-nonington-a-photographic-guided-tour/): &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
- [Holt Street Farm in Nonington: the Slave Trade, Caribbean Pirates, and the founding of the British Museum.](https://nonington.org.uk/holt-street-farm-the-slave-trade-caribbean-pirates-and-the-founding-of-the-british-museum/): It is now difficult to believe that the pleasant hamlet of Holt Street, more especially the present Holt Street Farm, had connections to the Atlantic Slave Trade between West Africa and the Caribbean. This was one of the darkest periods in British history which, whilst bringing incredible riches to a few European plantation owners, brought unimaginable misery to thousands of male and female convicts sentenced to transportation by English and Irish courts and millions of forcibly enslaved Africans who laboured and died on these wealth creating Caribbean plantations. The connection is as follows: By the 1660’s the fortunes of Major [&hellip;]
- [Nonnington via Sandwich to London by sea, a weekly service!](https://nonington.org.uk/nonnington-via-sandwich-to-london-by-sea-a-weekly-service/): In the 1830′s Nonington was served by a weekly service to London via the port of Sandwich allowing residents, especially the shop keepers, to have goods brought in from outside of East Kent.  I only became aware of this service when I was fortunate enough to find an original hand-bill for “The first hoy for Sandwich”  at a local boot-fair in 2012. The service departed every Saturday from Chester’s Quay, near the Tower of London and took in “goods and passengers for Sandwich, Walmer, Wingham, Eastry, Mongham, Goodnestone, Deal, Ash, Littlebourn, Tilmanstone, Nonnington, Eythorn”.  Nonington was therefore in much closer contact [&hellip;]
- [The Quadryng family at Fredeuyle and Esol-revised and updated 03.01.2020](https://nonington.org.uk/the-quadryng-family-at-fredeuyle-and-esol-revised-and-updated-03-01-2020/): John Quadryng, a City of London mercer, acquired one half of the Manor of Fredeuyle, as Freydvill’ was by then known, in the opening years of the 15th century and the manor remained with the Quadryng, also Quadring, family for much of that century. It’s not clear when the Quadryngs acquired the Esol house and lands as there are at present no known records of any such property purchases by the Quardryngs. It&#8217;s highly likely that they purchased Esol house and lands from Sir John Harleston at the same time, or possibly before, they acquired the Manor of Fredeuyle. A mercer [&hellip;]
- [The lost Holestrete or Holt Street windmill in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-lost-holestrete-or-holt-street-windmill-in-nonington/): In 1309 John (1), the son of Stephen de Akolte (Acholt) transferred **[see below] to John (2), the son of Thomas de Akholte, and Lucia, his mother, the ownership a windmill [unum molendinum ventifluim] in the parish of Nonington. The mill was recorded as being situated &#8220;in the parish of Nonyngton, near Holestrete [Holt Street] on Freydviles land [the manor of Fredville]&#8221;, and with it came two shillings [10 pence] and two hens annual free rent [duos solidos et duas gallinas de libere redditu] from Thomas le Kete of Holestrete, who was presumably the miller. The Fredvile land in question was almost certainly [&hellip;]
- [Kittington or Kettington manor and farm in Nonington revised 28.11.19](https://nonington.org.uk/kittington-or-kettington-manor-and-farm-in-nonington-revised-28-11-19/): Kittington is on the east boundary of the old parish of Nonington between Easole and Elvington. It was for centuries a part of the Manor of  Wingham held by the Archbishops of Canterbury until Henry VIII’s reign when it was ceded to the Crown. The name Kittington is said to have evolved from the Old English ‘cyte hamtun’ meaning ‘home farm where there are cottages’  via: Kethampton, 1226; Kethamtone; 1304, Ketyntone, 1330; Ketehampton alias Ketynton, 1537; and then Kettingden into Kettington. It is now recorded on maps as Kittington, but pronounced by many  older local born people as  Kittenden. This [&hellip;]
- [Curlswood Park, Nonington. Further revised plus new maps & illustrations 26.11.19](https://nonington.org.uk/curlswood-park-nonington-further-revised-plus-new-maps-illustrations-26-11-19/): The name Curlswood, or Curleswood, evolved over the centuries from its  Old English name: ‘Crudes wudu’, meaning Cruds Wood. Crud was the surname of a tenant family who lived there at the time of Archbishop Pecham&#8217;s survey in the 1280&#8217;s. Over the centuries several variations of the original name were used in documents and on maps with Crudeswod; Curlswood; Curleswood Park: Turleswood Park: Crowds Wood Park, Charles Wood Park and Curleswood Park  being  but a few.  On some maps dating from the early 19th century it is referred to as Nonington Park, but  later in the 19th and early 20th [&hellip;]
- [Curlswood or Curleswood Park: also Cruds Wood, Crudeswood, later Old Park Farm in Nonington-revised 24.11.19](https://nonington.org.uk/curlswood-or-curleswood-park-also-cruds-wood-crudeswood-later-old-park-farm-in-nonington-revised-24-11-19/): The name Curlswood, or Curleswood, evolved over the centuries from its  Old English name: ‘Crudes wudu’, meaning Cruds Wood. Crud was the surname of a tenant family who lived there at the time of Archbishop Pecham&#8217;s survey in the 1280&#8217;s. Over the centuries several variations of the original name were used in documents and on maps with Crudeswod; Curlswood; Curleswood Park: Turleswood Park: Crowds Wood Park, Charles Wood Park and Curleswood Park  being  but a few.  On some maps dating from the early 19th century it is referred to as Nonington Park, but  later in the 19th and early 20th [&hellip;]
- [Fredville and Oxney: what's in a name?](https://nonington.org.uk/fredville-and-oxney-whats-in-a-name/): Sections on the origins of the names of Fredville and Oxney have been revised. Fredville:-Fredville, House and Park: originally a part of the Knight&#8217;s Fee of Essewelle.&nbsp;By 1249 Essewelle appears to have divided into&nbsp;Esol (also Esehole &amp; Eshole) and&nbsp;Freydevill, the spelling used in a 1250 legal document. Over the centuries there were many variations in its spelling; &nbsp;Frydewill, 1338; Fredeuyle, 1396; Fredevyle, 1407; Froydevyle, 1430; ffredvile, 1738. Edward Hasted in the section on Nonington in his &#8220;The History and Topographical Survey of Kent&#8221;, volume IX,&nbsp; published in 1800, states that Fredville&nbsp; derives from the Old French (OF):freide ville, meaning a [&hellip;]
- [Eva  Crofts and Dame Laura Knight: Clarice Cliff and the Newlyn School come to Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/eva-crofts-and-dame-laura-knight-clarice-cliff-and-the-newlyn-school-come-to-nonington/): Dame Laura Knight was never resident in Nonington but often visited Arthur Bates, her uncle, and Evangeline “Sissie&#8221; Crofts, her older sister, who both lived in Easole Street in Nonington. Dame Laura was an English artist who embraced English Impressionism and became one of the most successful and popular painters in Britain. Laura and her husband, Harold Knight, were both members of the Newlyn School of Artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She has an incredibly successful career spanning many decades and Laura paved the way for other women artists to achieve more recognition and higher status [&hellip;]
- [Frogham, a small hamlet in the parish of Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/frogham-a-small-hamlet-in-the-parish-of-nonington/): Frogham, sometimes Frogenham, is a small hamlet now consisting of of two old farm houses and a few smaller houses and cottages in the south-eastern corner of the old parish of Nonington. Frogham was once a  vill’ in its own right. Most of the houses in Frogham were within the Manor of Fredville, while  the farmland to the south and east of the hamlet beyond the Barfreston to Womenswold road was within the Manor of Soles. In Anglo-Saxon England the vill had been the smallest territorial and administrative unit, a geographical subdivision of the hundred and county. The vill’  had [&hellip;]
- [The Boys family at Fredville-revised 11.10.2019](https://nonington.org.uk/the-boys-family-at-fredville-revised-11-10-2019/): The Boys family, also de Bois &amp; 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 who had been rewarded with gifts of land by the grateful King William. In 1357 John Boys was known to have held Bonnington in Goodnestone parish, part of the Manor of Wingham. In the following decades members of the family acquired land in and around Goodnestone and Nonington parishes. For several centuries  it has been held by Thomas Philpott,  Edward Hasted, and other historians, that a foot [&hellip;]
- [Fredville-where was the original manor house located? The Boys family move in!](https://nonington.org.uk/fredville-where-was-the-original-manor-house-located-the-boys-family-move-in/): William Boys and the Fredville purchase. It has been held for several centuries&nbsp; by Thomas Philpott,&nbsp; Edward Hasted, and other historians, that a feet of fines dating from&nbsp; July of 1484 recorded the purchase by John Nethersole, William Boys, Thomas Butte and Robert Gerveis of : “The manors of Fredeuyle and Beauchamp’ and 2 messuages, 405 acres of land, 3 acres of wood and 76 shillings and 4 pence of rent and a rent of 8 cocks, 30 hens and 1 pair of gloves in Nonyngton’ and Godneston’” from Thomas and Anne Quadryng&#8217;.However, this feet of fines was actually a [&hellip;]
- [The Colkyns of Esol in Nonington-the final years.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-colkyns-of-esol-in-nonington-the-final-years/): The following is the last section of a larger article &#8220;The Knight’s Fee of Essewelle: Wischards, Hotots, and Colkyns at the Manors of Esol and Freydevill’-revised 14.08.19&#8221;, which recently reviewed information and further thought has made it necessary to revise. I have posted these revisions as a self contained post for the benefit of readers. The Colkyns at Essewelle-the final years. John Colkyn (2), held property at Freydvill’, Esol and Nonyngton during the early 1300’s until his death, the exact date which is not known, but it is believed to have been between 1316 and 1326. The Nonyngton property would [&hellip;]
- [The Esole manor dovecote, Nonington-new discoveries with picture gallery-revised 5.8.19](https://nonington.org.uk/the-esole-manor-dovecote-nonington-new-discoveries-with-picture-gallery-revised-5-8-19/): For centuries domestic pigeons were kept in dovecotes, also dovecots, which were often referred to as a columbaria, pigeonnaire, or pigeon house. Domestic pigeons were easy to breed and provided a meat considered to be a delicacy by the wealthy and their manure was considered to be the best fertilizer available. Pigeon dung has a very high nitrogen content and has to be allowed to compost before it can be used otherwise it “burns” plants. The increasing use of gunpowder in warfare after the mid-1300’s also made pigeon dung very valuable due to its high nitrate content as it was [&hellip;]
- [Esole Manor House:-a diary of the archaeological excavation of “The Ruins” at Beauchamps in Nonington-revised 3.8.19.](https://nonington.org.uk/esole-manor-house-a-diary-of-the-archaeological-excavation-of-the-ruins-at-beauchamps-in-nonington-revised-3-8-19/): The following series of articles written by Peter Hobbs of Old St. Alban’s Court in Easole, Nonington, record the progress of the  continuing archaeological  excavation of the site of the old Esol or Esole manor house, situated in pastureland known locally as &#8220;The Ruins&#8221;, from 2010 onwards. These articles were originally published in the Nonington Parish Magazine. Please remember that interpretations of discoveries both archaeological and documentary  may have  changed during the duration of the dig. +++++++ June 2010. Those of you who have walked up there hopefully are impressed with the amount of earth that the Dover Archaeological Group [&hellip;]
- [Esole Manor House:-a diary of the archaeological excavation of “The Ruins” at Beauchamp’s in Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/esole-manor-house-a-diary-of-the-archaeological-excavation-of-the-ruins-at-beauchamps-in-nonington/): The following series of articles written by Peter Hobbs of Old St. Alban’s Court in Easole, Nonington, record the progress of the  continuing archaeological  excavation of the site of the old Esol or Esole manor house, situated in pastureland known locally as &#8220;The Ruins&#8221;, from 2010 onwards. These articles were originally published in the Nonington Parish Magazine. Please remember that interpretations of discoveries both archaeological and documentary  have  changed during the duration of the dig. +++++++ June 2010. Those of you who have walked up there hopefully are impressed with the amount of earth that the Dover Archaeological Group have [&hellip;]
- [Bee boles and bee keeping at Old St. Alban's Court in Nonington by Peter Hobbs, the present owner.](https://nonington.org.uk/bee-boles-and-bee-keeping-at-old-st-albans-court-in-nonington-by-peter-hobbs-the-present-owner/): Bee boles, the recesses in stone or brick walls used to house the skeps of coiled straw or wicker in which most bee keepers kept their bees before the arrival of moveable frame hives in 1862, are not particularly numerous in Kent.  The Kent Archaeological Society has over time assiduously published all the major information relating to those in Kent and this note adds a little only to a comprehensive record.    Old St Albans Court is fortunate in its documentation so we know that in 1556, Sir Thomas Hammond rebuilt a substantial part of his ancient manor house in [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792 to 1814.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-revolutionary-and-napoleonic-wars-1792-to-1814/): Increasing fears of a French invasion caused plans to be made for the defence of England and in August of 1796 “Invasion No. 113”, the first detailed and systematic defence plan, was drawn up in the office of Sir David Dundas, the quarter-master general. One of the assumptions of the plan was that if the invader chose to land on the coast near Sandwich British forces would initially not find a strong defensive position to oppose the invading forces. The plan put forward Nonington or Hougham as preferable places of opposition with a force on the Isle of Thanet threatening [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and the Manor of Wingham](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-wingham-manor/): The Manor of Wingham was given to the Abbey of Christ Church in Canterbury in 836 by Athelstan, King of Kent. The manor covered much of the land in the present parishes of Ash, Goodnestone, Nonington, Wingham, and Womenswold. It is recorded as Winganham in 946, and Wingehame in the Domesday Survey of 1086. In what became the old parish of Nonington the Manor of Wingham held Ackholt; Kittington; Oxenden, later Oxney; North and South Nonington (centred around the present hamlet of Nonington,  Ratling Court, and Old Court); a small part of Soles manor; and the woodland at Crudeswood, later Curleswood Park. The manors of Eswalt, Essewelle, and Soles along with Mounton, were not part of the Manor of [&hellip;]
- [Nonington in The Domesday Survey of 1086-revised 02.03.2019](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-domesday-survey-1086/): Before the Domesday Survey of 1086.The land in the old parish of Nonington, with the exception of the manors of Eswalt, Essewelle, and Soles, along with a small estate at Mounton, was held from the &nbsp;Manor of Wingham which Athelstan, King of Kent, gave to Christ Church in Canterbury in 836. Mounton, also Monkton, was a small estate of some twenty-five acres or so around the present Gooseberry Hall Farm which was part of the Manor of Adisham, another manor held by Christ Church. The remaining land in the old parish of Nonington consisted of: Ackholt; Kittington; Oxenden, later Oxney; [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and The Great War-plans for evacuation in the event of a German invasion](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-great-war-plans-for-evacuation-in-the-event-of-a-german-invasion-2/): As the outbreak of armed conflict between the British Empire and the German Empire became more certain plans were made to evacuate the civilian population of Kent in the event of invasion. The arrangements for the evacuation of Nonington’s inhabitants have recently come to light, and appear to have made shortly before the outbreak of The Great War in August of 1914. Parish council members appear to have made up the committee making and administering the arrangements. H.W. Plumptre, the chairman of  the committee, had served as an officer in the 5th East Kent Rifle Volunteers having joined as a 2nd lieutenant in [&hellip;]
- [Sir John de Beauchamp at  Esole-revised 10.01.19](https://nonington.org.uk/sir-john-de-beauchamp-at-esole-revised-10-01-19/): In 1349 the Abbot of St. Alban’s was the Lord of the Manor of Esol, and his manorial rent rolls for that year show that Sir John de Beauchamp held at Esole:-‘one messuage [now called Beauchamps-my note] with dovecot, 60a arable, 12a pasture at a total annual manorial rental of 52 s.6d payable to the Abbot of St. Alban’s’. John de Beauchamp was born in 1315,  the second and youngest son of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, and Alice de Toeni, a wealthy heiress in her own right and the widow of Sir William Leybourne, who had died [&hellip;]
- [The Reverend Frederick Chalmers and his orphanage at the Nonington Vicarage](https://nonington.org.uk/the-reverend-frederick-chalmers-and-his-orphanage-at-the-nonington-vicarage/): The Reverend Frederick Chalmers, 1860. Captain Frederick Chalmers, an Indian Army officer who had been born in Nova Scotia in what is now Canada, returned to England in 1842 after serving as Superintendent of Mysore in India to take Holy Orders. He was accompanied by his young son whose mother had died when he was an infant. Lieutenant Frederick Chalmers, then the assistant to the Commissioner of Mysore, had married Eliza Smith, the daughter of the Reverend Smith, Chaplain of the Mysore establishment in May of 1834. Frederick  was ordained in 1843 and  shortly afterwards married Matilda Marsh, a clergyman’s [&hellip;]
- [The Knight’s Fee of Essewelle: Wischards, Hotots, and Colkyns at the Manors of Esol and Freydevill’](https://nonington.org.uk/the-knights-fee-of-essewelle-wischards-hotots-and-colkyns-at-the-manors-of-esol-and-freydevill/): New information and a re-interpretation of information already available has shed new light on  the chain of ownership and occupation of Essewelle from around 1215 to the mid-1340&#8217;s. This article supersedes the previous one regarding the tenure of the Colkyns at Essewelle. The Wischards at Essewelle In 1166 King Henry II commanded that persons holding knights fees by barony were required to certify them in the Exchequer. The tenants in chief were instructed to clearly distinguish between fees of old feoffment, a fee in existence before the death of King Henry I in December, 1135, and of new feoffment. A knight’s [&hellip;]
- [The Knight's Fee of Essewelle-from Domesday to the end of the First Barons War-revised 24.12.18](https://nonington.org.uk/the-knights-fee-of-essewelle-from-domesday-to-the-end-of-the-first-barons-war-revised-24-12-18/): Bishop Odo holds Essewelle. The Domesday Survey of 1086 records the manors of Eswalt, Essewelle, and Soles as part of the holdings of Odo, Bishop of Bayeaux,  who was the half-brother of King William I, the Conquerer. Odo was created Earl of Kent in 1067 as reward for his support during William’s invasion and subsequent conquest of England. The earldom gave Odo an annual income of £.3,000 from 184 lordships in Kent and numerous manors in 12 other counties which made him by far the richest tenant-in-chief in England. Essewelle was one of Odo’s many Kent manors and the Domesday [&hellip;]
- [The Boys family of Fredville and the English Civil War-updated](https://nonington.org.uk/the-boys-family-of-fredville-and-the-english-civil-war-updated/): Some information was kindly forwarded to me by Victor Judge regarding Edward Boys, a younger son of Sir Edward Boys of Fredville, and the younger brother of Major John Boys, the last Boys of Fredville. Sir Edward Boys of Fredville served as Lieutenent of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was initially loyal to King Charles I, but in 1642 he went over to the Parliamentarian cause bringing the castle  under Parliament&#8217;s control where it remained until the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Sir Edward died in 1646 and was succeeded as Lieutenent of Dover Castle and Lord [&hellip;]
- [Fredville House School in Nonington-revised and with additional new photographs.](https://nonington.org.uk/fredville-house-school-in-nonington-revised-and-with-additional-new-photographs/): ‘Big Fredville’ House was used as a girls boarding school from the mid-1920′s after the Plumptre family moved to the nearby newly built “Little Fredville” house. Actress Georgette  “Googie” Withers was a pupil there around 1929 to 1930 just prior to beginning her long career. She was educated first at Fredville Park School, and after a year or so moved to the Convent of the Holy Family in Kensington. Her professional training was undertaken with Italia Conti and then with Helena Lehmiski in Birmingham. “Googie” was a successful stage, film  and T.V.  actress  known in the 1940’s as “the best [&hellip;]
- [The lost Holestrete or Holt Street windmill in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/akholte-ackholt-or-acol-windmill-revised/): The windmill appears to have been located just to the north of the site of the old Snowdown Collier  pit baths and car park  on the brow of the hill on the west side of the road up from Holt Street. The site would have been well served by roads to Ackholt, Holt Street in Nonington, and to Womenswold and Woolege Green. As can be seen on the 1859 Poor Law Commisioners map below, the road up from Ackholt which now joins the main road from Holt Street on the south side of Snowdown railway bridge then joined the Holt [&hellip;]
- [Gavelkind, a Kent custom-free socage tenure of land](https://nonington.org.uk/gavelkind-a-kent-custom-free-socage-tenure-of-land/): Gavelkind as a form of free socage tenure and of inheritance is an example of ancient customary law in England. Before gavelkind tenure was abolished by the passing of the Administration of Estates Act of 1925, all land in Kent was presumed to be held by gavelkind until the contrary was proved. Some ancient legal authorities state that all land in England was once held by gavelkind, but after the Norman conquest of 1066 it was then generally superseded in most parts of England by the feudal law of primogeniture with gavelkind continuing, in the main, only in Kent. Gavelkind [&hellip;]
- [Eswalt, later St. Alban's Court: before the Domesday Survey of 1086](https://nonington.org.uk/eswalt-before-the-domesday-survey-of-1086/): The Domesday Survey of 1086 records that during the reign of King Edward the Confessor [1042-1066] Eswalt was held by Alnoth Cild or Cilt, also known as Alnod or Aethelnoth Cild or Cilt. Some 19th century, and later, reference books state that Cild or Cilt refers to royal birth and that Alnoth was a younger brother of Harold Godwinson, briefly king of England before his defeat and death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Other more recent works believe Cild or Cilt, translates as “the young or younger”, or possibly “noble”, and that he was not a brother of Harold. [&hellip;]
- [The Royal Oak in The Drove in Lower Holt Street-revised 2.3.2018](https://nonington.org.uk/royal-oak-drove-lower-holt-street-revised-2-3-2018/): The last of Nonington’s alehouses to be licenced was The Royal Oak&nbsp;in The Drove, Lower Holt Street, Nonington,&nbsp;which was also the last of the old alehouses to carry on business. The pub is sadly closed at present and leaves Nonington without a pub. Hopefully it will re-open in the very near future. William Wanstall junior was licensee of The Hawks Head, formerly The White Horse, next to St. Mary’s church when it closed in March of 1832. The closure was possibly because William Osmund Hammond, the owner, had become opposed to the sale of alcohol because of his religious convictions, [&hellip;]
- [A PULHAM GARDEN REDISCOVERED IN NONINGTON, KENT by Peter Hobbs.](https://nonington.org.uk/pulham-garden-rediscovered-nonington-kent-peter-hobbs/): An edited version of this article by Peter Hobbs, the present owner of Old St. Alban’s Court, was previously published in Archaeologia Cantiana Vol: 138-pages 291-299. Since 1519, the Hammond family had lived at what appears to have always been known locally as St Albans, substantially adding to and changing the original fourteenth century hall house built for their tenants by the Abbey of St Albans in Hertfordshire, owners of the ancient Saxon estate since 1097.(1)    William Oxenden Hammond – see Fig 1 – formerly a soldier and now a successful banker, in 1875 wrote in the diary called ‘MSS Family [&hellip;]
- [The Esole dovecote](https://nonington.org.uk/the-esole-dovecote/): For centuries domestic pigeons were kept in dovecotes, also known as a columbaria; pigeonnaire; or pigeon house. They were easy to breed and provided a meat considered to be a delicacy by the wealthy and their manure was considered to be the best fertilizer available. Pigeon dung has a very high nitrogen content and has to be allowed to compost before it can be used otherwise it “burns” plants. The increasing use of gunpowder in warfare after the mid-1300’s also made pigeon dung very valuable due to its high nitrate content as it was then one of the few sources [&hellip;]
- [Hammond, Plumptre, & Co., the Canterbury bank](https://nonington.org.uk/hammond-plumptre-co-canterbury-bank/): William Osmund Hammond As well as being land-owners, the Hammonds of St. Alban’s Court and the Plumptres of Fredville were also partners in a Canterbury bank.  In 1818, the bank was called Hammond, Plumptre, Furley, Hilton &amp; McMaster, but was more generally known as the Canterbury Bank. However, over the years the bank was also often referred to variously as: Plumptre, Hammond &amp; Co.; Hammond, Plumptre &amp; Co; or simply Hammond &amp; Co. By 1830 the bank’s partners were: William Osmond Hammond, John Pembleton Plumptre, Deane John Parker and John Furley. Fifteen years later the Bankers Magazine recorded that the [&hellip;]
- [Acol, or Ackholt, in the old parish of Nonington-revised 11.01.2018](https://nonington.org.uk/acol-ackholt-old-parish-nonington-revised-11-01-2018/): Ackholt, Acholt or Acol, Nonington. Also:1283 Ackholt; 1469 Akholte; 1626 Acholt. Ackholt is now in the Parish of Aylesham and lies just the other side of the railway-line where the Nonington to Womenswold bridle way crosses the Snowdown to Aylesham road on the southern boundary of the old parish of Nonington. Pronouced Acol (Aye-kul) with a long a and the t dropped as is usual in the old East Kent dialect, the name derives from the Old English (O.E.): ac; oak &amp; holt ; thicket, literally meaning an oak thicket or wood. To the east of Ackholt  is the hamlet of Holt Street, [&hellip;]

## Pages

- [Fredville Ghosts and Legends.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/fredville-ghosts-and-legends/): Fredville Ghosts and Legends.In &#8221; Under Thirty-Seven Kings&#8221;, Mrs. Boys Behrens mentions the ‘well known’ legend of the White Horse which was said to appear, and must still do so, in a wooded part of the estate on wild and stormy nights frantically galloping around in search for shelter. This legend may possibly be the origin of the name of the ale-house next to St. Mary’s Church. Mrs. Boys Behrens also records another more poignant legend of the faithful and much loved hound of a daughter of the house which sadly died and was buried in the wood near the [&hellip;]
- [Fredville Park gate keepers lodges](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/fredville-park-gate-keepers-lodges/): The 18th century Fredville mansion was surrounded by parkland and could only be reached by a coach road with entrances in lower Holt Street and at Frogham. Each entrance had a gate lodge for a gate-keeper to live in and these gate-keepers were often the widows of estate workers and their employment as gate-keepers was a form of pension.During the 1930’s shop premises were added to the Holt Street lodge, initially to sell produce grown in the Fredville walled garden by the Woodruffe family. Over the years the shop expanded but finally closed in the early 1990’s and the shop [&hellip;]
- [The Fredville House in Nonington Picture Gallery](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-views/a-fredville-picture-gallery/): &nbsp;
- [Fredville House School](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/fredville-school/): After the Plumptre family moved to the nearby newly built “Little Fredville” house in the mid-1920&#8217;s&nbsp; ‘Big Fredville’ House became a girls boarding school. Actress Georgette&nbsp; “Googie” Withers was a pupil there around 1929 to 1930 just prior to beginning her long career. She was educated first at Fredville Park School, and after a year or so moved to the Convent of the Holy Family in Kensington. Her professional training was undertaken with Italia Conti and then with Helena Lehmiski in Birmingham. Actress Googie Withers was a pupil at the Fredville School around 1929 before going to the Italia Conti [&hellip;]
- [Memories of the thatched cottages in Church Street kindly given to me by Mrs. Kath Smith, née Harrison.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-nonington-poor-houses-in-church-street-and-easole-street/some-memories-of-the-thatched-cottages-in-church-street-of-mrs-kath-smith-nee-harrison/): &nbsp; The back of the old Church Street Poor House cottages seen from the street. &#8220;Between the doors were three windows, the centre window being the wash-house shared between two families, those on either side were the kitchen windows of each cottage.&nbsp; There was a door in the kitchen leading into the wash-house where there was a copper boiler for both families to use but no water laid on, there was a tap outside for all the row to use.&nbsp; Also in the kitchen was the staircase leading upstairs to the two bedrooms.&nbsp;For years the toilets were in a block [&hellip;]
- [Emigration of poor parishioners from Nonington to Adelaide in South Australia in 1849](https://nonington.org.uk/the-nonington-poor-houses-in-church-street-and-easole-street/emigration-of-poor-parishioners-from-nonington-to-adelaide-australia-in-1849/): An 1840 plan of the city of Adelaide At a meeting in May 1849 the Parish Vestry (Parish Council) agreed to request permission from the treasurer of the Eastry Union, of which Nonington became a part in 1834, to grant money to ‘facilitate the emigration’ to Adelaide, Australia, of some poor parishioners. The parish clerk, Mr. Henry Spanton, on receipt of Colonial and Land Unification Office licences nos. 16141 and 16157 accordingly advanced the sum of £2 each for this purpose to labourers William and George Coombes, aged 28 and 20 respectively. The Union was asked permission to assist others [&hellip;]
- [Industry and Commerce in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/industry-and-commerce/): Before the arrival of the railway in 1861 Nonington had, like many other parishes in Kent, butchers, bakers, cobblers and cordwainers, grocers and tailors and an assortment of other trades supplying the needs of the local people. In the 1830&#8217;s Nonington residents, especially the shop keepers, could have goods brought from London by a regular service sea via Sandwich. I was fortunate to recently find a copy of a hand-bill for&#8220;The first hoy for Sandwich&#8221; which advertises a service departing every Saturday from Chester&#8217;s Quay, near the Tower of London which took in &#8220;goods and passengers for Sandwich, Walmer, Wingham, Eastry, Mongham, [&hellip;]
- [Fredville](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/): &nbsp; Fredville Park is still famous for its trees, the &#8220;Majesty Oak&#8221; is the largest maiden oak in England and is said by some to be a thousand or more years old. It is now unfortunately suffering from the ravages of time and has recently undergone some minor tree surgery. The once noted avenues of chestnut trees planted in the 18th century are now somewhat reduced in number, but the &#8220;Step Tree&#8221; still stands with some assistance. Fredville House Picture Gallery The origins of the Manor of Fredville, owned since the middle of the 18th century by the Plumptre family, [&hellip;]
- [Nonington's Shops and Small Businesses](https://nonington.org.uk/industry-and-commerce/noningtons-shops/): The Tailors. The&nbsp; Church Street Poor House accounts show many payments to tailors and dress makers for clothing for the poor, and the various 19th century censuses record several dress makers and&nbsp; tailors in various parts of Nonington parish. The coming of the railways in 1861 and the subsequent ready availability of cheap mass-produced clothing gradually forced them out of business by the later part of the 1800&#8217;s. Most appear to have been small concerns working from home with one exception, the Holtums.Payments to John Holtum are recorded in the Poor House accounts of the 1820’s and 30’s, other Holtums [&hellip;]
- [Snippets from the Parish Vestry Minutes.](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-miscelanea/from-the-parish-vestry-minutes/): The following items are are to be found in the minutes of the Nonington Parish Vestry meetings which date back to the beginning of the 1700&#8217;s and are held in Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Parish vestries were the predecessors of parish councils. Nonington vestry meetings were originally held in the church vestry, hence the name,&nbsp; then moved to the more convivial venue of The White Horse, next to St. Mary&#8217;s Church, and after The White Horse closed in 1832 the meetings were held at The Royal Oak in The Drove, Lower Holt Street. 3rd June 1819. An&nbsp; Act of Parliament of [&hellip;]
- [Witchcraft in Nonington and nearby East Kent parishes.](https://nonington.org.uk/witchcraft-in-nonington-and-nearby-east-kent-parishes/): Witches, a woodcut from The History of Witches and Wizards, 1720 Ecclesiastical laws condemning witchcraft in this country were first issued in the seventh century by Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, but the fear of witchcraft reached its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries with Kent second only to Essex in indictments. Witchcraft Acts were passed by the English Parliament under Henry VIII in 1542,&nbsp; Elizabeth I in 1562 and 1563, and James I in 1604. In 1590 King James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, became convinced that he and Queen Anne, his Danish wife, had been [&hellip;]
- [Nonington's Various Windmills](https://nonington.org.uk/the-windmills/): The Domesday Book recorded two water-mills in the Manor of Wingham which were situated in the present village of Wingham, where there was, and still is, running water. The Manor of Wingham was owned by the Archbishop of Canterbury and his tenants in and around Nonington would have been obliged to use his mills to grind their corn, probably paying from one tenth to one sixteenth of their grain for the privilege. Wind mills began to appear England from the 12th century  probably introduced by Crusaders returning from the Holy Land.  Illustrated medieval manuscripts, carvings, and stained glass show something of [&hellip;]
- [The Church Street and Frogham forges in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/industry-and-commerce/the-forges/): The Church Street forge in Nonington. Early inns and alehouses often had a smithy adjoining or nearby and the old&nbsp; White Horse alehouse&nbsp; buildings, now Church House next to St. Mary&#8217;s Church in Church Street (now Pinner&#8217;s Lane),&nbsp; probably date back to the mid to late 1500&#8217;s or earlier and occupied a central position in the old parish of Nonington next to the church and on an important cross-roads. The village black smith played a vital part in village life, in addition to shoeing horses the smith made the metal items needed for everyday living and working. &nbsp;James Knott, smith [&hellip;]
- [The Brickfields and Brick Making in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/industry-and-commerce/the-brickfields/): Before the railway came through Nonington in the early 1860’s items such as bricks were very difficult and expensive to move by road and were therefore usually made locally when required. 15th century Flemish brick makers. The process changed little until the mechanisation in the mid-1800&#8217;s Early brickmaking was hard work in a harsh environment and partly seasonal. In winter the clay was dug by hand and built into piles known as Kerfs about 3ft. high and 20ft. square. Chalk and cinders along with other rubbish were then mixed in and the pile left to weather. In the spring the [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and The East Kent Volunteers](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-east-kent-volunteers/): East Kent Militia uniforms of the 19th &amp; early 20th century County militias were raised by the Lord Lieutenant of each county and could be called out for local police actions, to keep the peace, and in the event of a national emergency such as the threat of invasion and were funded by taxation on property owners. This was not popular and the militias had fallen into decline and become ineffective during the early part of the 18th&nbsp;century.As a response to the threat of a French invasion during the Seven Years’ War of 1756 to 1763 various Militia Acts were [&hellip;]
- [Nonington during the English Civil War-families, neighbours &amp; country divided](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-english-civil-war/): During the English Civil War of 1642 to 1651 close neighbours, friends and even family members frequently&nbsp; took opposing sides in the conflict between the Royalists and Parliamentarians. These divisions were very obvious in Nonington and the adjoining parishes of Goodneston and Knolton as can be seen in the following article. ~~~~~~ The Boys Families of Fredville &amp; Bonnington~ Sir Edward Boys &amp; Major John Boys of Fredville Sir Edward Boys of Fredville became Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports&nbsp; and Governor of Dover Castle in 1642 and had initially held the castle for King Charles I, but that same [&hellip;]
- [The Denehole in Church Lane in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/denehole-in-church-lane-nonington/): Notes made by  Dr. F. W. Hardman concerning the discovery of a denehole atChurch Lane, Nonington, in May of 1939. Dr William Hardman&#8217;s Researches of Nonington and other Parishes are held in the archives of the Kent Archaeological Society at Maidstone Museum. Deneholes-further information. Discovered in the last week of May 1939 in the grounds of Mr. F. G. Garlinge of Church Lane (now The Haven in the present Vicarage Lane), Nonington. Mr. Garlinge has recently built a bungalow on the right hand side of the road leading from The Royal Oak Inn to the church (now The Haven). He is a [&hellip;]
- [The indictment of Edward and Sarah Lawrence for the murder of George and Catharine Andrewes on 8th March, 1677](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-miscelanea/the-murder-of-george-and-catharine-andrewes-in-1677/): A coroner holding an inquest circa 1660&#8217;s. On&nbsp; 16th March, 1677, a coroners jury found Edward Lawrence, a labourer living in&nbsp; Nonington, and Sarah Lawrence, his wife, both guilty of assaulting Catharine Andrewes in the yard of her husband&#8217;s house in the parish of Nonington and jointly kicking and punching her to death. This deadly assault took place on 8th March, 1677,&nbsp; and Catharine Andrewes died later the same day. Edward and Sarah Lawrence were also charged with the murder of George Andrewes. It was charged that the Lawrences had attacked George Andrewes at the same place and on the [&hellip;]
- [The  Reverend Frederick Chalmers and his orphanage at the Nonington Vicarage](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/the-orphanage/): The Reverend Frederick Chalmers Captain Frederick Chalmers was an Indian Army officer who had been born in Nova Scotia in what is now Canada. Accompanied by his young son, whose mother had died when he was an infant,&nbsp;he returned to England in 1842&nbsp;to take Holy Orders&nbsp;after serving as Superintendent of Mysore in India.&nbsp;Lieutenant Frederick Chalmers had married Eliza Smith, the daughter of the Reverend Smith, Chaplain of the Mysore establishment in May of 1834,&nbsp;when he was the assistant to the Commissioner of Mysore.Frederick &nbsp;was ordained in 1843 and &nbsp;shortly afterwards married Matilda Marsh, a clergyman’s daughter and sister to Catharine [&hellip;]
- [Nonington in Villare Cantianum: or, Kent surveyed and illustrated  by Thos Philpott, 1659.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-historical-sources/nonington-in-villare-cantianum-or-kent-surveyed-and-illustrated-by-thos-philpott-1659/): NONINGTON, in the hundred of Wingham and Eastry, hath diverse places in it of considerable repute. Nonington and its surrounds, from “This new map of Kent…” by Philip Lea, circa 1690 The first is Fredville, called in old deeds Froidville, from its bleak and eminent situation. Times of an elder inscription, represent it to have been the possession of Colkin, vulgarly called Cokin, who it is probable erected the ancient fabrick, and brought it into the shape and order of an habitation; this family was originally extracted from Canterbury, where they had a lane which bore their name, being called [&hellip;]
- [A Topographie or Survey of the County of Kent. By Richard Kilburne of Hawkhurst, Esquire. Published in 1659.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-historical-sources/a-topographie-or-survey-of-the-county-of-kent-by-richard-kilburne-of-hawkhurst-esquire-published-in-1659/): Nonnington:- Lieth about the middle of the East part of the County, about five miles (towards the southwest) distant from Sandwich, in the Bailiwick of Eastry, Lath of St. Augustine, East Division of the County, and division of Justices to that Lath. Part thereof in the Hundred of Eastry, and the residue in the Hundred of Wingham. The liberties of the late Archbishop of&nbsp;Canterbury&nbsp;and&nbsp;St. Augustine&nbsp;claim there, and the liberty of the late Dean of&nbsp;Canterbury&nbsp;claimeth over so much thereof as is within the Mannour of Eastry. It was all in the Deanery of Bridge and Diocess of&nbsp;Canterbury.The Church standeth in the [&hellip;]
- [Nonington historical sources](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-historical-sources/): Over the centuries Nonington has appeared in various county histories. VILLARE CANTIANUM: OR, KENT SURVEYED AND ILLUSTRATED BY THOS PHILPOTT, 1659. A TOPOGRAPHIE OR SURVEY OF THE COUNTY OF KENT. BY RICHARD KILBURNE OF HAWKHURST, ESQUIRE. PUBLISHED IN 1659. NONINGTON BY WILLIAM HASTED, PUBLISHED IN 1800. NONINGTON BY W.H.IRELAND, PUBLISHED IN 1829 &nbsp;
- [The Manor of Solys,  now Soles Court Farm](https://nonington.org.uk/solys-now-soles-court/): Soles Court Farm is located near the hamlet of Frogham on the southern edge of the parish of Nonington. It is one of the oldest settlement sites in Nonington and was recorded as a separate manor in the Domesday Book of 1086. &nbsp;The old Soles farmhouse, pictured below, probably dated from the late 17th century, but was abandoned in the late 1950′s and fell &nbsp;into a state of disrepair and was demolished in the 1980′s, now just a few outbuildings remain. Upper and Lower Soles Woods, respectively to the west and east of the house site, &nbsp;have extensive banks and [&hellip;]
- [The Knight's Fee of Retlyng, now Ratling near Aylesham](https://nonington.org.uk/the-manor-of-wingham/retlyng-now-ratling-court-near-aylesham/): Ratling Court is a manor house that evolved over the centuries and contains elements of several periods. The centre of the house is the oldest part, originally the open hall of an aisled house dating from the early 14th century,or possibly before whilst the north wing was rebuilt with an upper floor in the mid-15th century. William Cowper rebuilt the southern wing, &nbsp;which is&nbsp;dated 1637, and&nbsp;also added the great fire place and the upper floor in the old hall. A century or so later a Georgian room was built at the rear of the house along with the brew house [&hellip;]
- [The vill' of Oxenden, later Oxney](https://nonington.org.uk/the-manor-of-wingham/oxenden-or-oxney-manor/): Oxney Wood is now in  Aylesham and  Womenswold parishes, but for centuries Oxenden, as Oxney was originally known,  formed part of old Nonington’s southern boundary with Womenswold parish.Oxinden, 1278; Oxenden 1535; Oxenden, Oxney’s original name, most likely comes from the Old English: Oxena denn; woodland pasture for oxen [cattle].  As can be seen from its description in Archbishop Pecham’s 1280’s survey of the Manor of Wingham, Oxinden was heavily wooded in the 12th and 13th centuries. The present Oxney Wood is a densely wooded remnant of this medieval woodland vill’, much of which now lies beneath the old Snowdown Colliery [&hellip;]
- [The vill's of North and South Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-manor-of-wingham/north-and-south-nonington/): The parish of Nonnington was one of four formed in 1282 from&nbsp; the Archbishop of Canterbury&#8217;s Manor of Wingham, and St. Mary&#8217;s Church, previously a&nbsp; chapel of ease to Wingham,&nbsp;became a church in it&#8217;s own right.&nbsp; New parish churches were usually situated either close to the house of the lord of the manor or, as in the case of&nbsp; St. Mary&#8217;s church, in the centre of the new parish. The word hamlet is used in the survey of the Manor of Wingham to represent a small settlement and the land surrounding it which was either not part of a knight&#8217;s [&hellip;]
- [Kittington or Kettington manor and farm in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/kittington/): &nbsp; Kittington Farm from a 1920&#8217;s OS map Kittington is on the east boundary of the old parish of Nonington between Easole and Elvington. It was for centuries a part of the Manor of &nbsp;Wingham held by the Archbishops of Canterbury until Henry VIII’s reign when it was ceded to the Crown. The name Kittington is said to have evolved from the Old English ‘cyte hamtun’ meaning ‘home farm where there are cottages’&nbsp; via: Kethampton, 1226; Kethamtone; 1304, Ketyntone, 1330; Ketehampton alias Ketynton, 1537; and then Kettingden into Kettington. It is now recorded on maps as Kittington, but pronounced by [&hellip;]
- [Monkton,  now Gooseberry Hall Farm.](https://nonington.org.uk/monkton-now-gooseberry-hall/): The old Gooseberry Hall Farm and the surrounding land&nbsp; appears to have been part of an ancient estate called Monkton, meaning the monks homestead or farm, and spelt variously through the years as: Monkton, Moneketon, Monckton, and Mounton. This last spelling may have evolved into “Mount Ephraim”, the name&nbsp; given to the present house, and its predecessor, further up Cherry Garden Lane. The original &#8220;Mount Ephraim&#8221; appears to have been a once much larger&nbsp; tumuli, or mound, which is now embedded in the shave bordering the lane just to the west of the present Mount Ephraim House. The remains of [&hellip;]
- [Curleswood or Curlswood Park: originally Crudes Wood](https://nonington.org.uk/the-manor-of-wingham/curleswood-park-farm-also-park-farm/): The village of Aylesham now covers most of Curleswood or Curlswood Park. Once an old deer park belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury, it later constituted a large part of the six hundred acres of farmland acquired in 1924&nbsp; from Henry FitzWalter Plumptre of Goodnestone by Pearson &amp; Dorman Long for the building of houses for miners then working at the nearby Snowdown Colliery and a proposed new mine at Adisham, which was never developed. The name Curlswood, or Curleswood, evolved over the centuries from its&nbsp; Anglo-Saxon name: ‘Crudes silva’, meaning Cruda&#8217;s Wood, with Cruda appearing in possessive form as [&hellip;]
- [Nonington Parish Charities](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-charities/): &nbsp; &nbsp; Thomas Bate of Challock held land in Challock and Nonington with which he made charitable&nbsp; bequests during the reign of Henry VIII.In Nonington his bequest consisted of:- “Landes given by Thomas Bate to thentent that one priest shulde celebrate masse within the said parishe iij (3) tymes yerelie for ever. Also: rent or&nbsp; ferme of v rods (5 rods or 1 ¼ acres) of land in the parish of Nonyngton next Harelestrete&nbsp;(Holt Street Buttes, now Butter Street)&nbsp;butts now or late in the tenure of Richard Mockett there, yerely&nbsp; ijs (2s)&nbsp;(previously owned by the Knights of St. John and [&hellip;]
- [The Royal Oak in The Drove in Lower Holt Street in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ale-houses/royal-oak-nonington/): The last of Nonington’s alehouses to be licenced was The Royal Oak in The Drove in Lower Holt Street in Nonington The Oak is the last of&nbsp; the old ale-houses still in business as licenced premises, although it is closed at present. William Wanstall junior was licensee of The Hawks Head, formerly The White Horse, next to St. Mary’s church when it closed in March of 1832. The closure was possibly because William Osmund Hammond, the owner, had become opposed to the sale of alcohol because of his religious convictions, but more likely it was due to his concerns about [&hellip;]
- [The Walnut Tree in Holt Street, Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ale-houses/the-walnut-tree-holt-street/): John Wood the Younger held the licence for “The Rose and Crown”, now “The Two Sawyers”, at Woolege Green in Womenswold parish from 1820 to 1824. During this short tenure he was convicted and fined for poaching partridges in the parish and shortly after his conviction John left “The Rose and Crown”.&nbsp; At this time a first conviction for poaching usually incurred a fine of £5, a considerable sum at a time when agricultural labourers earned 12/- (60 pence) for a six day week, and on conviction half of the fine went to the person who reported the poacher.&nbsp; John [&hellip;]
- [The Redd Lyon, later The Phoenix, at Frogham](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ale-houses/the-redd-lyon-later-the-phoenix-at-frogham/): The second oldest alehouse in the old parish of Nonington was “The Redd Lyon”, later “The Red Lyon&#8221; and “The Red Lion”, at Frogham, a hamlet some &nbsp;mile and a half or so as the crow flies to the south of St. Mary’s Church in Nonington.Some of the old alehouse out-buildings still stand on the north side of the Barfreston to Womenswold road about one hundred yards to the west of the junction with Frogham Street. The aerial photograph below, taken around 1940, shows the ale-house was built at a near right angle to the road and the brick out-buildings [&hellip;]
- [The White Horse, later The Hawks Head, in Church Street, Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ale-houses/the-white-horse-in-church-street/): From 1522 the licencing of alehouses became mandatory by law and alehouse proprietors had to apply for a licence from the Quarter or Petty Sessions. At the Canterbury Petty Sessions on April 15th, 1599, Edward Willsfred of Nonington, victualler, was bound over for £5 not to victual, with sureties from Thomas Cocks of Christ Church, Canterbury, gentleman and William Willsfred of Sandwich, surgeon. As he was recorded as being a victualler he must have originally had a licence and not renewed it at the licencing sessions, usually held in September, or he had taken over an ale-house without having the [&hellip;]
- [The Ale Houses of Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ale-houses/): Now bring us in good ale, good ale,&nbsp;&nbsp;and bring us in good ale .For our blessed Lady&#8217;s sake,&nbsp; bring us in good ale.— 15th century carol. One old rhyme declared &#8220;Turkey-cocks, heresy, hops, and beer, came into England all in one year&#8220; A 17th-century variation of the rhyme proposed that &#8220;Hops, Reformation, bays and beer came to England all in one year&#8221; The year in question was thought to have been in the 1520&#8217;s. ~~~ The earliest of Nonington’s four known ale-houses was&nbsp;” The White Horse”&nbsp;(now Church House) next to St. Mary’s Church which dated back to at least the [&hellip;]
- [Ackholt, commonly Acol,  in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-manor-of-wingham/ackholt-in-nonington/): Ackholt, Acholt or Acol, Nonington.&nbsp;Also:1283 Ackholt; 1469 Akholte; 1626 Acholt. Ackholt-from the 1859 Poor Law Commissioners map of Nonington Ackholt is now in the Parish of Aylesham and lies just the other side of the&nbsp;railway-line where the Nonington to Womenswold bridle way crosses the Snowdown to Aylesham road on the southern boundary of the old parish of Nonington. Pronouced Acol (Aye-kul) with a long a and the t dropped as is usual in the old East Kent dialect, the name derives from the Old English (O.E.): ac; oak &amp; holt ; thicket, literally meaning an oak thicket or wood. To [&hellip;]
- [Nonington's Vicarages & Parsonage](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/le-parsonage-and-le-vicaredge/): &#8216;Le Parsonage&#8217; and &#8216;Le Vicaredge&#8217;. The use of the terms ‘Le Parsonage’ and ‘Le Vicaredge’ need some clarification to avoid confusion in the following text.‘Le Parsonage’ refers to the old the glebe land at the junction of the present Church Street and Oak Hill (Vicarage Lane) which was the site of an old barn which was believed to have been a seventeenth century tithe barn, the partial remains of which were demolished in the mid-1950’s to make way for the bungalows which now occupy the land.&nbsp; From Church Street up to the brow of the hill was once known as [&hellip;]
- [The Light Lands and other bequests to the Church.](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/church-lands-and-charities/): By the late 1400’s some Nonington villagers had acquired considerable land-holdings and were very wealthy by contemporary standards and subsequently chose to donate some of their wealth to the church. They did this in part to show their wealth and also to ensure that they and members of their immediate family were remembered in masses or prayers in church by either the parish priest or Church Brotherhoods, by the work on the church fabric or the church vestments paid for by their bequests, or by the simple burning of various lights or devotional candles. In late medieval times the most [&hellip;]
- [The Nonington War Memorials](https://nonington.org.uk/the-nonington-war-memorials/): There are two memorials to the Fallen of the Two World Wars in St. Mary&#8217;s Churchyard, a roll of honour in the yew tree by the main entrance to the churchyard and a stone memorial to the Fallen of the Two World Wars set in the west wall of the church.The Parish Magazine for June of 1917 reported the following: &#8220;Roll of Honour. A permanent Roll of Honour has been presented to the Parish by Mrs. Penn, and on Wednesday May 23rd [the eve of Empire Day] it was unveiled and dedicated in the Churchyard. It is placed in position [&hellip;]
- [St. Mary' Church in Nonington: the Reverend Roger Bulstrode's 1938 church guide with supplementary information and illustrations](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/1938-guide-and-more/): Much of the following information is taken from from a booklet published in 1938 by the then vicar, the Reverend Roger Bulstrode. When compiling the booklet the Reverend Bulstrode used information from his immediate predecessors at St. Mary&#8217;s, namely research undertaken by the Reverend Wilfred Powell and the Reverend Sidney Sargent’s ‘Brief Notes’ of 1912. On the history of St. Mary’s Church the booklet says:- “The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, has been the centre of faith and worship for more than 700 years. Nonington was originally a Chapelry of Wingham. On the foundation of Archbishop Peckham’s College at [&hellip;]
- [St. Mary's  Church gallery](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/gallery/): St. Mary&#8217;s Church is situated in the hamlet of Nonington from which the old parish took its name. &nbsp;
- [Nonington from:  The County of Kent by W.H.Ireland, volume 1, published in 1829.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-historical-sources/nonington-by-w-h-ireland/): The next parish adjoining&nbsp;(Goodnestone, the previous parish recorded in vol. 1)&nbsp;is Nonington, that portion within the borough of Kettington and Nonington, otherwise Ratling, being in this hundred of Wingham, and the residue, comprising the boroughs of Esole and Frogham, in the lower half of the hundred of Eastry.The soil and situation of this parish is much the same as that of Goodnestone, being a fine, open champaign country, extremely dry and salubrious. It is three miles across either way, the village called Church-street, with its church, being nearly in the centre of the parish, situated in a valley, having at [&hellip;]
- [Nonington from:- The History and Topographical Survey of Kent, volume IX, by Edward Hasted, published in 1800.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-historical-sources/nonington-from-the-history-and-topographical-survey-of-kent-volume-ix-by-edward-hasted-published-in-1800/): The next parish eastward&nbsp;(from Goodnestone),&nbsp;is Nonington, which lies partly, that is, so much as is within the borough of Kettington&nbsp;(Kittington),&nbsp;and of Nonington, alias Ratling, in this hundred of Wingham; and the remainder, containing the boroughs of Esole, and Frogham, in the lower half of the hundred of Eastry.THIS PARISH is, as to soil and situation, much the same as that of Goodnestone last described, being in a fine open champaign country, exceedingly dry and healthy; it is about three miles across each way, the village called Church-street, with&nbsp;the church in it,&nbsp;is nearly in the middle of the parish, in a [&hellip;]
- [Nonington Miscellanea-the Parish Vestry, Murder, and More](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-miscellanea/)
- [Nonington as recorded in Kent county histories](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-historical-sources-2/)
- [The Old Parish of Nonington's Smaller Farms and Hamlets](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-smaller-farms-hamlets/)
- [Nonington as a part of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Manor of Wingham](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-as-part-of-the-archbishop-of-canterburys-manor-of-wingham/)
- [St. Alban’s Court in Nonington: from the Eswalt in the Domesday Survey to the Abbey of St. Alban’s,  the Hammonds of St. Alban's Court, and Nonington College of Physical Education.](https://nonington.org.uk/st-albans-court-domesday-st-albans-abbey-the-hammonds/)
- [Industry and Commerce in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/industry-and-commerce-in-nonington/)
- [Nonington In The Wars-from the English Civil War to World War II](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-in-the-wars-from-the-english-civil-war-to-world-war-ii/)
- [Ale Houses in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/ale-houses-in-nonington/): The Ale Houses of Nonington The White Horse, later The Hawks Head, in Church Street, Nonington The Redd Lyon, later The Phoenix, at Frogham Constable assaulted at The Phoenix, 1872 The Walnut Tree in Holt Street, Nonington The Royal Oak in Holt Street, Nonington Hops and Malt in Nonington EARLY ROMAN EVIDENCE FOR INTENSIVE CULTIVATION AND MALTING OF SPELT WHEAT AT NONINGTON by Richard Helm and Wendy Carruthers. Published in Archaeologia Cantiana &#8211; Vol. 131, 2011
- [The Knight's Fee of Essewelle & its constituent Manors of Esole & Fredville. Also that part of Esole known as Bechams or Beauchamps.](https://nonington.org.uk/fredville-nonington/)
- [Ships & Trains to Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/ships-trains-to-nonington/)
- [The Windmills of Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-windmills-of-nonington/)
- [Manorial services, tenures, and assorted measurements](https://nonington.org.uk/manorial-services-tenures-ancient-measurements/)
- [St. Mary's Church in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-in-nonington/)
- [Holt Street Farm in Nonington: the Slave Trade, Caribbean Pirates, and the founding of the British Museum](https://nonington.org.uk/holt-street-slave-trade-caribbean-pirates-the-british-museum/): It is now difficult to believe that the pleasant hamlet of Holt Street, more especially the present Holt Street Farm, had connections to the Atlantic Slave Trade between West Africa and the Caribbean. This was one of the darkest periods in British history which, whilst bringing incredible riches to a few European plantation owners, brought unimaginable misery to thousands of male and female convicts sentenced to transportation by English and Irish courts and millions of forcibly enslaved Africans who laboured and died on these wealth creating Caribbean plantations. The connection is as follows. By the 1660’s the fortunes of Major [&hellip;]
- [Nonnington via Sandwich to London by sea, a weekly service!](https://nonington.org.uk/nonnington-via-sandwich-to-london-by-sea-a-weekly-service/): An original handbill advertising the weekly service by sea aboard &#8220;The Fortune&#8221; from Chester&#8217;s Quay near the Tower of London to Sandwich. The service carried “goods and passengers for Sandwich, Walmer, Wingham, Eastry, Mongham, Goodnestone, Deal, Ash, Littlebourn, Tilmanstone, Nonnington, Eythorn”. In the 1830′s Nonington was served by a weekly service to London via the port of Sandwich allowing residents, especially the shop keepers, to have goods brought in from outside of East Kent. &nbsp;I only became aware of this service when I was fortunate enough to find an original hand-bill for&nbsp;“The first hoy for Sandwich” &nbsp;at a local boot-fair [&hellip;]
- [Knowlton, also Knolton and anciently Chenoltone or Cnoltone,  on the north east border of Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/knowlton-knolton-chenoltone-cnoltone/): Although not a part of the old parish of Nonington the small adjoining parish of Knowlton has had close connections to Nonington over the centuries. Since the 1670’s the Knowlton estate has included Kittington, a manor and estate adjoining Knowlton parish in the north-eastern corner of Nonington. Knowlton, often written as Knolton in the past but I will use the modern spelling, was once an ecclesiastical and civil parish in its own right. The former was abolished in 1940 and the latter in 1935 and the hamlet is now part of the civil parish of Goodnestone-next-Wingham. St Clement&#8217;s Church&nbsp; adjoins [&hellip;]
- [The vills of the Manor of Wingham within the old parish of Nonington as recorded in Archbishop Pecham’s survey of his Kent manors, 1283-85](https://nonington.org.uk/a-survey-of-archbishop-pechams-kentish-manors-1283-85/): The majority of the following information has been taken from: A survey of Archbishop Pecham’s Kentish Manors 1283-85, published by Kent Archaeological Society in 2000 &amp;Archaeologia Cantiana, Vol XXXI, page 169: Visitations. ~~~There is also some additional information added by the author from other sources.~~~ In 1283 Archbishop Packham initiated as survey of the manors he held in his capacity as Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop’s Manor of Wingham held manorial rights over much of the land in various vills, also vill’s, within old parish of Nonington for which the free hold land owners&nbsp; owed manorial rents [duties and services [&hellip;]
- [Eva  Crofts and Dame Laura Knight: Clarice Cliff and the Newlyn School come to Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/eva-croft-and-dame-laura-knight-clarice-cliff-and-the-newlyn-school-come-to-nonington/): Flying the kite over Newlyn by Laura Knight, 1910 Dame Laura was an English artist who embraced English Impressionism and became one of the most successful and popular painters in Britain. Laura and her husband, Harold Knight, were both members of the Newlyn School of Artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She has an incredibly successful career spanning many decades and Laura paved the way for other women artists to achieve more recognition and higher status in the overwhelmingly male-dominated British art establishment.Although Dame Laura Knight&nbsp;was never resident in Nonington she often visited Arthur Bates, her uncle, [&hellip;]
- [Frogham, a small hamlet in the parish of Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/frogham-nonington/): Frogham, sometimes Frogenham, is a small hamlet now consisting of of two old farm houses and a few smaller houses and cottages in the south-eastern corner of the old parish of Nonington. Frogham was once a  vill’ in its own right. Most of the houses in Frogham were within the Manor of Fredville, while  the farmland to the south and east of the hamlet beyond the Barfreston to Womenswold road was within the Manor of Soles. In Anglo-Saxon England the vill had been the smallest territorial and administrative unit, a geographical subdivision of the hundred and county. The vill’  had [&hellip;]
- [~RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE OLD PARISH OF NONINGTON](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-kent-history-posts/)
- [Fredville: where was the original manor house located when the  Boys family move in?](https://nonington.org.uk/fredville-original-manor-house-before-boys-family/): William Boys and the Fredville purchase. It has been held for several centuries&nbsp; by Thomas Philpott,&nbsp; Edward Hasted, and other historians, that a feet of fines dating from&nbsp; July of 1484 recorded the purchase by John Nethersole, William Boys, Thomas Butte and Robert Gerveis of : “The manors of Fredeuyle and Beauchamp’ and 2 messuages, 405 acres of land, 3 acres of wood and 76 shillings and 4 pence of rent and a rent of 8 cocks, 30 hens and 1 pair of gloves in Nonyngton’ and Godneston’” from Thomas and Anne Quadryng&#8217;.However, this feet of fines was actually a [&hellip;]
- [Sir Henry Beaufitz-a brief biography](https://nonington.org.uk/sir-henry-beaufitz-a-brief-biography/): Henry Beaufitz, [also recorded as Beaufis, Beaufiz, Beaufuiz, Byaufiz], was born on his father’s estate on the manor of Brankenthwaite in Yorkshire in the early 1270’s, but &nbsp;little more is known of his early life.&nbsp;Around 1295 Henry married Cecily de Plumpton, the daughter of William de Plumpton and the widow of Sir Hugh de Swillington of Yorkshire. Cecily was heiress to her father and wealthy in her own right with inherited property in the Yorkshire manors of Plumpton, Follyfoot, Braham, Kirby, and Little Ribston. Henry and Cecily had one daughter, Alice, who was born in 1296 or 1297. There is [&hellip;]
- [The Esole manor dovecote: with notes by Peter Hobbs on the archaeological excavation of the dovecote](https://nonington.org.uk/dovecote-esole-archaeology/): For centuries domestic pigeons were kept in dovecotes, also dovecots, which were often referred to as a columbaria, pigeonnaire, or pigeon house. Domestic pigeons were easy to breed and provided a meat considered to be a delicacy by the wealthy and their manure was considered to be the best fertilizer available. Pigeon dung has a very high nitrogen content and has to be allowed to compost before it can be used otherwise it “burns” plants.The increasing use of gunpowder in warfare after the mid-1300’s also made pigeon dung very valuable due to its high nitrate content as it was then [&hellip;]
- [Esole Manor House:-a diary of the archaeological excavation of “The Ruins” at Beauchamps in Nonington by Peter Hobbs of Old St. Alban's Court, Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/esole-manor-house-archaeology-diary/): The following series of articles written by Peter Hobbs of Old St. Alban’s Court in Easole, Nonington, record the progress of the&nbsp; continuing archaeological&nbsp; excavation of the site of the old Esol or Esole manor house, situated in pastureland known locally as &#8220;The Ruins&#8221;, from 2010 onwards. These articles were originally published in the Nonington Parish Magazine.Please remember that interpretations of discoveries both archaeological and documentary&nbsp; may have&nbsp; changed during the duration of the dig. +++++++ June 2010.Those of you who have walked up there hopefully are impressed with the amount of earth that the Dover Archaeological Group have shifted [&hellip;]
- [Bee boles and bee keeping at Old St. Alban's Court in Nonington by Peter Hobbs, the present owner.](https://nonington.org.uk/bee-boles-and-bee-keeping-at-old-st-albans-court-at-nonington-by-peter-hobbs-the-present-owner/): Medieval plaited straw bee skeps &nbsp; Bee boles, the recesses in stone or brick walls used to house the skeps of coiled straw or wicker in which most bee keepers kept their bees before the arrival of moveable frame hives in 1862, are not particularly numerous in Kent.&nbsp; The Kent Archaeological Society has over time assiduously published all the major information relating to those in Kent and this note adds a little only to a comprehensive record. &nbsp; &nbsp;Old St Albans Court is fortunate in its documentation so we know that in 1556, Sir Thomas Hammond rebuilt a substantial part [&hellip;]
- [Nonington: the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Wars, 1792 to 1814.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-revolutionary-and-napoleonic-wars-1792-to-1814/): &nbsp; Increasing fears of a French invasion caused plans to be made for the defence of England and in August of 1796 “Invasion No. 113”, the first detailed and systematic defence plan, was drawn up in the office of Sir David Dundas, the quarter-master general. One of the assumptions of the plan was that if the invader chose to land on the coast near Sandwich British forces would initially not find a strong defensive position to oppose the invading forces. The plan put forward Nonington or Hougham as preferable places of opposition with a force on the Isle of Thanet [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and the Manor of Wingham](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-wingham-manor/): The Manor of Wingham was given to the Abbey of Christ Church in Canterbury in 836 by Athelstan, King of Kent. The manor covered much of the land in the present parishes of Ash, Goodnestone, Nonington, Wingham, and Womenswold. It is recorded as Winganham in 946, and Wingehame in the Domesday Survey of 1086. In what became the old parish of Nonington the Manor of Wingham held the hamlets of Ackholt;&nbsp;Kittington;&nbsp;Oxenden, later Oxney;&nbsp;North and South Nonington; a small acreage near the&nbsp; Manor of Soles; and the woodland at&nbsp;Crudeswood, later Curleswood Park. The manors of&nbsp;Eswalt,&nbsp;Essewelle,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Soles&nbsp;along with&nbsp;Mounton,&nbsp;were not part of the Manor [&hellip;]
- [Nonington in The Domesday Survey of 1086](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-domesday-1086/): Before the Domesday Survey of 1086. The manors of Eswalt, Essewelle, and Soles along with Mounton, were not part of the Manor of Wingham.  Mounton, also  Monkton, was a small estate of some twenty-five acres or so around the present Gooseberry Hall Farm which was part of the Manor of Adisham, another manor held by Christ Church. Christ Church lost possession of many of its holdings during the troubles of the Heptarchy in the ninth and tenth centuries. Some restitution was made in 941 when Edmund I, the Magnificent,&nbsp; the king of a then unified England, “restored to the Church of Christ, which is in Canterbury, those lands [&hellip;]
- [The Canterbury Bank. Plumptre, Hammond & Co.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-canterbury-bank/): As well as being land-owners, the Hammonds of St. Alban’s Court and the Plumptres of Fredville were also partners in a Canterbury bank.  In 1818, the bank was called Hammond, Plumptre, Furley, Hilton &amp; McMaster, but was more generally known as The Canterbury Bank, but over the years the bank was also often referred to as Plumptre, Hammond &amp; Co., or simply Hammond &amp; Co. By 1830 the bank’s partners were: William Osmond Hammond, John Pembleton Plumptree, Deane John Parker and John Furley. In 1845- The Bankers Magazine recorded that  that the partners were:-William Osmund Hammond, of St. Alban’s Court, [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and The Great War-plans for evacuation in the event of a German invasion](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-great-war/): As the outbreak of armed conflict between the British Empire and the German Empire became more certain plans were made to evacuate the civilian population of Kent in the event of invasion. The arrangements for the evacuation of Nonington’s inhabitants have recently come to light, and appear to have made shortly before the outbreak of The Great War in August of 1914. Parish council members appear to have made up the committee making and administering the arrangements.H.W. Plumptre, the chairman of &nbsp;the committee, had served as an officer in the&nbsp;5th East Kent Rifle Volunteers&nbsp;having joined&nbsp;as a 2nd lieutenant in 1887 [&hellip;]
- [The Knight’s Fee of Essewelle: Wischards, Hotots, and Colkyns at the Manors of Esol and Freydevill’-revised 27.12.18](https://nonington.org.uk/the-knights-fee-of-essewelle/): The Wischards at Essewelle In 1166 King Henry II commanded that persons holding knights fees by barony were required to certify them in the Exchequer. The tenants in chief were instructed to clearly distinguish between fees of old feoffment, a fee in existence before the death of King Henry I in December, 1135, and of new feoffment. A knight’s fee was a fiscal unit of land value held by a knight from an over-lord in return for specified military service, usually forty days a year After the Norman Conquest all land was owned by the King, who then allocated land [&hellip;]
- [Gavelkind, a Kent custom of free socage tenure of land](https://nonington.org.uk/gavelkind-a-kent-custom/): East Kent from John Speed&#8217;s map of Kent circa 1611 Gavelkind as a form of free socage tenure and of inheritance is an example of ancient customary law in England. Before gavelkind tenure was abolished by the passing of the Administration of Estates Act of 1925, all land in Kent was presumed to be held by gavelkind until the contrary was proved. Some ancient legal authorities state that all land in England was once held by gavelkind, but after the Norman conquest of 1066 it was then generally superseded in most parts of England by the feudal law of primogeniture [&hellip;]
- [St. Alban's Court in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/st-albans-court-in-nonington/): St. Alban&#8217;s Court in Nonington was the home of the Hammond family for over four hundred years, and before their long tenure it belonged to the Abbey and Convent of St. Alban&#8217;s. The estate was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as Eswalt, which is believed to have once been a part of a much older Saxon estate known as Oesewalum, also written as Oesewalum and Oseuualun. Physical evidence has been found of early Saxon settlers, but even they were late comers when compared to the Bronze age and earlier inhabitants who left their mark.  St. Alban&#8217;s Court: the [&hellip;]
- [Eswalt, later St. Alban's Court, in Nonington: before the Domesday Survey of 1086](https://nonington.org.uk/eswalt-later-st-albans-court-nonington/eswalt-nonington-before-domesday/): The Domesday Survey of 1086 records that during the reign of King Edward the Confessor [1042-1066] Eswalt was held by Alnoth Cild or Cilt. Variations on his name in older histories include Alnod or Aethelnoth Cild or Cilt, Alnoth or Alnod of Kent, but some modern histories now refer to him as Aethelnoth Cild of Canterbury. It&#8217;s thought that Cild or Cilt, translates as “the young or younger”, or possibly “noble”.At the time of the Norman invasion of England in 1066 Aethelnoth Cild of Canterbury was a major landholder in the South of England with his extensive estates in Kent, Surrey, [&hellip;]
- [A PULHAM GARDEN REDISCOVERED IN NONINGTON, KENT by Peter Hobbs.](https://nonington.org.uk/eswalt-later-st-albans-court-nonington/pulham-garden-rediscovered-nonington-kent-peter-hobbs/): &nbsp; An edited version of this article by Peter Hobbs, the present owner of Old St. Alban&#8217;s Court, was previously published in 2017 in Archaeologia Cantiana Vol: 138-pages 291-299. Since 1519, the Hammond family had lived at what appears to have always been known locally as St Albans, substantially adding to and changing the original fourteenth century hall house built for their tenants by the Abbey of St Albans in Hertfordshire, owners of the ancient Saxon estate since 1097.(1) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;William Oxenden Hammond&nbsp;– see Fig 1 – formerly a soldier and now a successful banker, in 1875 wrote in the diary [&hellip;]
- [The Esole manor dovecote](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/sir-john-de-beauchamp-2/the-esole-dovecote/): For centuries domestic pigeons were kept in dovecotes, also known as a columbaria; pigeonnaire; or pigeon house. They were easy to breed and provided a meat considered to be a delicacy by the wealthy and their manure was considered to be the best fertilizer available. Pigeon dung has a very high nitrogen content and has to be allowed to compost before it can be used otherwise it “burns” plants. The increasing use of gunpowder in warfare after the mid-1300’s also made pigeon dung very valuable due to its high nitrate content as it was then one of the few sources [&hellip;]
- [Hammond, Plumptre, & Co., the Canterbury bank](https://nonington.org.uk/industry-and-commerce/hammond-plumptre-co-canterbury-bank/): Hammond &amp; Company brass plate, now in the entrance lobby to Lloyd&#8217;s Bank on Canterbury High Street.. As well as being land-owners, the Hammonds of St. Alban’s Court&nbsp;and the Plumptres of Fredville were also partners in a Canterbury bank. The first Hammond became a partner in the Canterbury Bank&nbsp; on the death of Henry Gipps&nbsp;in 1800, and by 1818 the bank was called Hammond, Plumptre, Furley, Hilton &amp; McMaster, but generally known as the Canterbury Bank. However, over the years the bank was also&nbsp;variously&nbsp;referred to as: Plumptre, Hammond &amp; Co.; Hammond, Plumptre &amp; Co; or simply Hammond &amp; Co. By [&hellip;]
- [Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, at Esole](https://nonington.org.uk/thomas-de-beauchamp-11th-earl-warwick-esole/): When Sir John Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Warwick, died from plague at Calais on 2nd December of 1360 he left no legitimate children so his title became extinct. His various properties&nbsp; passed to family members, with Esole and the other property in and around Nonington going to his elder brother, Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick. Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, the father of Thomas and John de Beauchamp,  had been a staunch supporter of Edward I and one of the leading opponents of Edward II’s misrule.  He died in 1315 when Thomas, his eldest son [&hellip;]
- [1705 Nonington Boroughs Tax Roll](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-miscelanea/1705-nonington-boroughs-tax-roll/): Originally transcribed for Kent Online Parish Clerks  by Kris Ellis. The 2nd October, 1705, miscellaneous taxes rolls for Nonington parish’s various boroughs, and Chillenden and Knowlton parishes. Easoleborough 2 Oct 1705Parish count of all ye names of all ye inhabitants withinthis borough(Column Headings. 2 May 1705: Dutis on Burials, Dutis onBirths, Dutis on Marriage, Dutis on Bachelors, Dutis on Widowers) William Hamond Esqr and his lady and 4 children.Mrs Jane Dearden(Next are listed his servants)Charles Elles, Richard Bray, Stephen ????, Richard Long,James Elve, Robert Austin, Austin Paine,Thomas Duning, Mrs ????, Mrs Mary Collar, Ann Collar,Ben Hoon, Sarah ???ells. Thomas Franks and his [&hellip;]
- [The de Retlyngs at Esole in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/de-retlyngs-esol/): The de Retlyng, also spelt de Ritling &amp; de Ratling, family took their name from the Manor of Ratling which they had held since 1093 when Godfrey de Retlyng is recorded as holding a knight’s fee of the Archbishop as part of the Manor of Wingham. However, the Richard de Retlyng holding Esol should not to be confused with Sir Richard de Retlyn(g) of Retlyng/Ratling Manor, a close relative but not directly connected to the following events. Richard de Retlyng the Elder &nbsp;was a trusted servant of the Crown and served Edward II and Edward III from the 1320’s until [&hellip;]
- [Sir John Harleston at Esol and Freydvill' in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/sir-john-harleston-esol-freydvill/): The 1377 St. Alban’s Abbey manorial rental rolls for Esol record that the house, buildings and land previously held by Sir John de Beauchamp was then owned Sir John Harleston, who also had a life interest in the Manor of Freydvill’. Sir John Harleston, sometimes spelt Harlestone or Herliston, had much in common with Sir John de Beauchamp, his predecessor at Esol. Sir John was a knight from a land-owning Essex family who had fought in the Hundred Years War with some distinction on behalf of the English Crown and as a captain in the Free Companies. John Harleston was [&hellip;]
- [Richard Jarvis Arnold: Recollections of  life in the village of Nonington fifty years ago written down by Dr.  F.  W.  Hardman in July of 1936.](https://nonington.org.uk/industry-and-commerce/the-forges/richard-jarvis-arnold/): &nbsp; The following is a transcription of some hand written notes taken down in July 1936 by Dr.&nbsp; F.&nbsp; W.&nbsp; Hardman of Walmer, a well known local historian who took a great interest in the history of the Parish of Nonington and was a leading member of the Kent Archaeological Society&nbsp; in whose archives the original document is held.&nbsp; +++ Recollections of the life of the village of Nonington fifty years ago by Richard Jarvis Arnold who has the forge at Walmer +++Italics in the following are to provide additional information and are not contained in the original account+++ Richard [&hellip;]
- [Nonington In The Wars!](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-in-the-wars/): Over the centuries the inhabitants of Nonington have been caught up in various conflicts, both national and international. Nonington during the English Civil War-families, neighbours &amp; country divided Nonington: the Kentish Rebellion &#038; the Second English Civil War of 1648 Nonington and The East Kent Volunteers Nonington men who served in the Armed Forces during The Great War The Nonington War Memorials Nonington during WW2
- [Nonington Parish Council: the minutes from its inauguration in December, 1894](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-miscelanea/nonington-parish-meeting-minutes-inauguration-december-1894/): The following pages 1-33 are copies taken from the minute book of the Nonington Parish Meeting, or Parish Council, which replaced the parish Vestry after the passing of the Local Government Act of 1894. Pages 27-31 are missing. Although various forms of local government existed in Saxon and Medieval times, the kind of local government in existence today really began to evolve in the 19th century. &nbsp;The Local Government Act of 1894 transferred from the Quarter Sessions (local courts) to the county councils the administrative and financial business of their counties. This included maintenance of roads, bridges and county buildings, [&hellip;]
- [Parish Miscelanea](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-miscelanea/): Some items of interest are hard to classify, so I have put them under the general heading of miscelanea.
- [Nonington and the Manor of Wingham](https://nonington.org.uk/the-manor-of-wingham/): The formation of the manor in Anglo-Saxon times The manor of Wingham, originally Wigingaham, was given to Christ Church Priory in Canterbury by Athelstan, King of Kent, in 836. The manor extended over much of the present parishes of Ash, Goodnestone,  Nonington, Wingham, and Womenswold.  Wingham was later recorded as Winganham in 946 and Wingehame in the Domesday Survey of 1086. Within the bounds of the old parish of Nonington the Manor of Wingham held Ackholt;  Kittington; Oxenden, later Oxney; North and South Nonington (centred around the present hamlet of Nonington,  Ratling Court, and Old Court); a small part of Soles manor; and the woodland at Crudeswood, later Curleswood Park. Other [&hellip;]
- [John Harvey (Nonington) Ltd-some notes by L.E. Fox written in 1974 & 1979](https://nonington.org.uk/industry-and-commerce/john-harvey-nonington-ltd-some-notes-by-l-e-fox-written-in-1974-1979/): The late Mr. Leonard E. Fox was Company Secretary of John Harvey (Nonington) Ltd. for many years,and the &nbsp;following are &nbsp;copies of some notes he made on the company in 1974 with a revision written in 1979.
- [The Ash Path &amp; other old Holt Street footpaths](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-miscelanea/the-ash-path/): The origin of the name &#8220;The Ash Path&#8221; is to be found in the minutes of a Nonington Vestry meeting of 1883. From the Nonington Parish Vestry minutes:-March 13th 1883: &#8220;Mr. Plumptre proposes to give a public footpath from Hanging Hill gate (at the southern end of Nonington Cricket Ground opposite the entrance to the Ash Path, see map below) to the North Corner of North field which shall be continued across Parsonage Field to Nonington School&nbsp;(the present Ash Path-KCC public right of way ref: EE314),&nbsp;doing away with the present footpath over Parsonage Field&nbsp;( which ran from the garden of [&hellip;]
- [John Harvey (Nonington) Ltd-some notes by L.E. Fox written in 1974 & 1979](https://nonington.org.uk/the-windmills/the-easole-pug-or-feed-mill/john-harvey-nonington-ltd-some-notes-by-l-e-fox-written-in-1974-1979/): The late Mr. Leonard E. Fox was Company Secretary of John Harvey (Nonington) Ltd. for many years, and the  following are  copies of some notes he made on the company in 1974 with a revision written in 1979.
- [Nonington: the Kentish Rebellion & the Second English Civil War of 1648](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-the-english-civil-war/nonington-and-the-kentish-rebellion-and-second-english-civil-war-of-1648/): The Kent Rebellion was a precursor to the short lived Second English Civil War of 1648 and  had its origins in part in the Canterbury  Christmas Day riots of 1647 which were triggered when the Puritan Mayor and officials of Canterbury tried to ban traditional Christmas celebrations. In May of 1648 members of the land-owning gentry and other prominent Kent citizens, amongst whom were Colonel Robert Hammond and Anthony Hammond, his nephew, of St. Alban’s Court in Nonington, and Sir Thomas Peyton of neighbouring Knolton Court,  petitioned Parliament and when Parliament rejected the petition a rebellion was raised in support [&hellip;]
- [1873 inquest on Barnett Samuel Wood, aged two. Accidental death at Holt Street farmhouse](https://nonington.org.uk/holt-street/1873-inquest-on-barnett-samuel-wood-aged-two/): The fatal accident took place in the Holt Street Farm house [shown above], then the residence of  Harry Steed, the tenant farmer. Louisa Brown, the servant girl referred to in the newspaper article, was about nineteen years of age at the time of the tragedy.
- [Rev. Frederick S. C. Chalmers](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/frederick-s-c-chalmers/): &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The following is taken from &nbsp; &nbsp;
- [1912 "Brief Notes on Its Church and History" by the Rev. Sidney Sargent](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/1912-nonington-history-notes-by-the-rev-sidney-sargent/): In 1912 a booklet of quotations from eminent Nonington parishioners was published. In the front was a brief history of Nonington. It contained some &#8220;Brief Notes on Its Church and History&#8221; written by the Rev. Sidney Sargent, the then vicar of Nonington. Unfortunately the pictures of the &nbsp;quotations section are not of a good enough quality to reproduce here.
- [Nonington during WW2](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-views/nonington-in-ww-pictures/)
- [East Stoole Farm in Esole.](https://nonington.org.uk/east-stoole-farm-in-esole/): The thatched cottage at the junction of Mill Lane and Easole Street was once a yeoman’s house probably dating &nbsp;from the mid-15th century although the farm itself was much older. It was part of the Manor of Esole which belonged to the Convent and Abbey of St. Alban’s which had been granted the adjoining Manor of Eswalt in the early 1100’s. East Stoole Farm house The 1501 Essole manorial roll recorded that: “Thomas Derbi holds half an acre of land in his messuage between the land of Joan Taylor twds the E &amp; N and the Common Way (Mill Lane) [&hellip;]
- [Esole Farm, now White House Farm](https://nonington.org.uk/esole-farm-now-white-house-farm/): White House Farm was previously known as Esole Farm until the early 1900’s. The present farmhouse appears to be a mid to late 15th century hall type house which was later extended, probably in the late 16th century, to give it its present appearance and size. The farm was part of the Manor of Essesole and can be identified in the manorial roll of 1501, unfortunately there is as yet no definite identification of the farm from other older documentary sources. The 1501 roll records the farm as follows: &#8220;The heirs of John Castell hold half an acre in their [&hellip;]
- [Nonington men who served in the Armed Forces during The Great War](https://nonington.org.uk/the-nonington-war-memorials/nonington-men-who-served-in-the-armed-forces-during-the-great-war/): Above: a record of&nbsp; Nonington men who served in the Armed Forces during The Great War. Believed to have been published after the war had ended. &nbsp; Second Lieutenant Douglas William Hammond, 2nd Battalion, the Buffs.(East Kent Regiment).  Son of Egerton &amp; Ina Hammond of St. Alban&#8217;s Court, Nonington. Killed in action aged 18, 24th May, 1915, in the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium. Commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.  The photographs above are of three officers with connections to St. Alban&#8217;s Court in Nonington. All three were killed between February and October of 1915.Two of the names on [&hellip;]
- [Molly and Tommy Smith, cave-dwellers](https://nonington.org.uk/the-nonington-poor-houses-in-church-street-and-easole-street/molly-and-tommy-smith-cave-dwellers/): The Kentish Gazette&nbsp;of the 30th November, 1886, &nbsp;reported:&#8220;The death has occurred at the Eastry Union of ‘Molly’, who for half a century or more has lived in a cave at Womenswold. ‘Molly’ or Mary Anny Smith, as her real name was, was about 70 years old and lived with her son Tommy, who earns his living as a chimney sweep. Mrs. Smith was found ill on the road some weeks ago and was taken to the Eastry Union, where she has since died&#8221;. Molly may have had some family or well-wishers in Nonington as another (unfortunately&nbsp;unknown)&nbsp;local paper reported that she [&hellip;]
- [The Plumptre Hospital in Nottingham](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/the-plumptre-hospital-in-plumptre-square-nottingham/): &#8216;QUITE AN ORNAMENT TO THAT PART OF THE TOWN .. . light, airy, and comfortable&#8217;.Edward Staveley’s new Plumptre Hospital of 1823, as depicted in the &#8216;Stranger&#8217;s Guide.&#8217; In 1392 John de Plumptre, a merchant of the staple of Calais who traded mainly in wool and was four times mayor of Nottingham, was granted a licence by King Richard II to found and endow a hospital or house of God for two chaplains and thirteen poor widows &#8216;bent by old age and depressed by poverty.&#8217; The hospital was more of an almshouse than a hospital and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and [&hellip;]
- [The Nonington Poor Houses in Church Street and Easole Street](https://nonington.org.uk/the-nonington-poor-houses-in-church-street-and-easole-street/): The system of poor relief in post-Reformation England had its origins early in the reign of Elizabeth I when consolidating Acts of Parliament of 1597 and 1601 established the civil parish as the administrators of the Poor Law. Every Parish Vestry&nbsp; was ordered to hold annual elections, usually at Easter, to elect an overseer of the poor who was empowered to raise revenue from local rates, known as ‘assessments’, and was answerable to the Parish Vestry and the local Justices of the Peace [J.P.’s]. The overseer was in office for one year and the position was unpaid. Vestry members were [&hellip;]
- [Beating the Nonington Parish Bounds in 1895](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-miscelanea/beating-the-nonington-parish-bounds-in-1895/): &#8220;Beating the Bounds&#8221; is an ancient custom believed to date back to Anglo-Saxon times and is still observed in many English parishes. &nbsp;In pre-Reformation England it was a annual ceremonial affair attended by lords of the manor or their manorial stewards and bailiffs, well-to-do freeholders and other local dignitaries, and ordinary parishioners. In a time before maps and written title deeds a knowledge of the physical boundaries of property was very important and the custom of walking the boundaries evolved with stops to strike boundary stones to ‘mark&#8217; the bounds. &nbsp;Beating the bounds usually took place on or near “Rogation [&hellip;]
- [Health care in Nonington, 1898](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-miscelanea/health-care-in-nonington-1898/): &nbsp; From the Nonington parish magazine of December, 1898. &nbsp;
- [The fire at Kittington Farm in February of 1898](https://nonington.org.uk/kittington/farm-fire-february-1898/): As reported in the Nonington parish magazine of March of that year.
- [The Reverend Sir Algernon Coote: premier baronet of Ireland, first-class cricketer, & clergyman](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/the-rev-sir-algernon-coote-1899-obituary/): Sir Algernon Coote, 11th Baronet (29th September 1817 – 20th November 1899) was the premier Irish baronet,&nbsp; first-class cricketer,&nbsp; and clergyman. The son of Sir Charles Coote and Caroline Elizabeth Whaley, he was born at Ballyfin in Ireland and was later educated at Eton College, before going up to Brasenose College, Oxford. During his time at Oxford he played first-class cricket for the University against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Oxford in 1837. In the same season Algernon also played for the Gentlemen in the Gentlemen v Players fixture at Lord&#8217;s, and he appeared for Oxford on nine further [&hellip;]
- [Sir John de Beauchamp at  Esole](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/sir-john-de-beauchamp-2/): In 1349 the Abbot of St. Alban’s was the Lord of the Manor of Esol, and his manorial rent rolls for that year show that Sir John de Beauchamp held at Esole:-‘one messuage [now called Beauchamps-my note] with dovecot, 60a arable, 12a pasture at a total annual manorial rental of 52 s.6d payable to the Abbot of St. Alban’s’.John de Beauchamp was born in 1315,  the second and youngest son of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, and Alice de Toeni, a wealthy heiress in her own right and the widow of Sir William Leybourne, who had died in 1307.  Juliana [&hellip;]
- [The Vill' of Essesole:-house plots and land holdings as recorded in the 1501 Manor of Essesole rental roll.](https://nonington.org.uk/eswalt-later-st-albans-court-nonington/essesole-hamlet-in-1501/): Lord of the Manor at this time was the Abbot of St. Alban&#8217;s, who also held the adjoining manor recorded as Eswalt in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was around this time that the Abbey&#8217;s two&nbsp; manorial holdings of Eswalt and Essesole became more commonly jointly known as St. Alban&#8217;s Court. I.The corner of Mill Lane and Sandwich Road towards Sandwich.II.Easole Street from the junction of Mill Lane back towards the present Beachamps Lane junction.III.Easole/Beachamps Lane junction area towards Holt Street.IV.Becham land held by William Boys from St Albans Abbey.V.Roads and tracks shown on the 1501 map. The descriptions [&hellip;]
- [The marriage settlement of John, eldest son of Sir Edward Boys the Younger of Fredville, & Margaret, daughter of John Miller, 1626.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/the-boys-family-at-fredville/boys-marriage-settlement-1626/): Boys Marriage settlement&nbsp; of 1626. The following information is from a 1667 copy of a marriage settlement of 3rd&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;day of April in the second year of Charles I. (1626) between: Sir Edward Boys the Elder of ffredvile ( the first party). Sir Edward Boys the Younger of ffredvile( the second party), son and heir apparent to the above. Nicholas Miller of Wrotham (the third party). John Boys, Esq., eldest son&nbsp; and heir of Sir Ed. Boys the Younger of ffredvile (the fourth party). The marriage was between John Boys and Margaret, daughter of John Miller and the following is regarding [&hellip;]
- [An inventory from 1560 of the goods of Richard Creake, yeoman, of Kettingden (Kittington) in Nonington, Kent.](https://nonington.org.uk/kittington/1560-richard-creake-yeoman-inventory/): The Kreke, Creke ect. family were what become known as yeoman. These were well-to-do farmers and small land-owners often owning land in their own right and often renting additional land from larger land-owners as well as small plots from &nbsp;neighbours in their home and nearby parishes. &nbsp; The yeoman of Kent were thought to be especially prosperous, and this prosperity was referred to in a popular rhyme of the late 16th century:- &#8220;A Knight of Cales, And a Gentleman of Wales,&nbsp;&nbsp; And a Laird of the North Country, A Yeoman of Kent with his yearly rent Will buy them out [&hellip;]
- [The Hammonds of St. Alban's Court](https://nonington.org.uk/eswalt-later-st-albans-court-nonington/the-hammonds-at-st-albans-court/): The original St. Alban&#8217;s Court mansion. An illustration from &#8220;The Epitomy of the History of Kent&#8221;, 1838 The 1555 purchase by John Hammond began an ownership of the St. Alban&#8217;s estate by the Hammond family which continued until the late 1930&#8217;s, during which time the family continued to acquire additional land and property in Nonington and in neighbouring parishes.  By the time the St. Alban’s Court estate was sold off in 1938 it amounted to just over 1,000 acres in Nonington and Chillenden parishes. John Hammond was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward, and he in turn by his eldest [&hellip;]
- [A Charter of King Stephen confirming the grant the manor of Estwala to the Church and Monks of St. Albans](https://nonington.org.uk/eswalt-later-st-albans-court-nonington/king-stephens-charter-confirming-the-grant-of-estwala/): Stephen, Count of Blois, claimant to the throne of England. Stephen, King of England to the Archbishop of the Kentish people, Justices, Sheriffs, Barons and to all his ministers and faithful, French and English, of Kent greetings. Know that I have conceded and confirmed in perpetual alms to God and to the Church of St. Albans and the monks serving God therein those donations which Nigel de Albineo made to them in alms for the salvation of his soul of the manor of Estwala.&nbsp; Wherefore I will and firmly decree the aforesaid church and monks may hold this manor well [&hellip;]
- [From the Duke of Newcastle to the Plumptres of Fredville](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/from-denzil-lord-holles-to-the-plumptres/): &nbsp;Thomas Pelham was born in London on 21st July, &nbsp;1693, and was the eldest son of Thomas Pelham, 1st Baron Pelham, a moderate Whig politician, and his second wife, the former Lady Grace Holles. His mother was the younger sister of John Holles, 4th Earl of Clare and 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a Whig politician and supporter of William of Orange and Queen Mary. The young Thomas was a pupil &nbsp;at Westminster School and later admitted as a fellow commoner at Clare College, Cambridge, in 1710.Both his father and his maternal uncle, John Holles, were prominent Whig politicians. . The [&hellip;]
- [The Will of Werhard the Priest-AD 830 [BCS 402]](https://nonington.org.uk/the-will-of-werhard-the-priest/): Archbishop&nbsp;Wulfred&nbsp;left his extensive property holdings to his kinsman,&nbsp;Werhard, with the specific instructions that&nbsp;Werhard&nbsp;should continue to endow the charities that Wulfred&nbsp; had founded and that in his turn Werhard should leave the inherited property to Christ Church, Canterbury. Some sources refer to Werhard as a nephew of the Archbishop, and he appears to have benefited greatly from this kinship, as did some other members of the family. His rise through the hierarchy of Christ Church was quite rapid: he was a deacon in 824, a junior priest in 825, and by the mid-830’s he was presiding over the Christ Church community [&hellip;]
- [The Knight’s Fee of Essewelle: Wischards, Hotots, and Colkyns at the Manors of Esol and Freydevill’ in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/the-colkin-also-calkin-colkin-colekin-kalkyn-family-of-fredville/): The Wischards at Essewelle. In 1166 King Henry II commanded that persons holding knights fees by barony were required to certify them in the Exchequer. The tenants in chief were instructed to clearly distinguish between fees of old feoffment, a fee in existence before the death of King Henry I in December, 1135, and of new feoffment. After the certification of knights fees by the Exchequer the Barony of Maminot became one of eight baronies owing duty of Castleguard to Dover Castle with the Barony of Maminot duty bound to provide three knights for four week periods of service.&nbsp; This [&hellip;]
- [New St Alban's Court House & Old Court House in Nonington picture  gallery](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-views/st-albans-court-the-new-house-gallery/)
- [Estriteling, later Old Court Farm](https://nonington.org.uk/the-manor-of-wingham/estriteling-later-old-court-farm/): A few hundred yards further east of Ratling Court is the presumed site of Estratling manor house, the present Old Court Farm. There are still records of the manorial courts that were held into the 19th. &nbsp;The windows of the present Old Court farmhouse and some brick work with blue headers indicate a date of construction of about 1700, but there are indications of much earlier foundations. Some older flint ground walls are visible and the south end has the lower part of a wide fireplace and chimney built of wide jointed two inch brickwork which appears to date from [&hellip;]
- [Nonington and the coming of the railways](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-the-coming-of-the-railway/): &nbsp; The London, Chatham &amp; Dover Railway [LCDR] After almost a decade of planning the Canterbury to Dover extension of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) was finally opened to traffic on 22nd. July, 1861. At least two railway companies were initially involved in planning the construction of the line, the South Eastern Railway (SER) and the East Kent Railway (EKR), which transformed into the LCDR during construction. The War Office had expressed an interest for strategic military purposes, but this interest did not extend to the Government investing any money. The London, Chatham and Dover Railway, c1865 Several [&hellip;]
- [Jane Austen's visits to Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/jane-austen-and-nonington/): In the early 1800′s Jane Austen was a frequent visitor to Fredville Park&nbsp;. She often stayed with her brother Edward and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Brooke Bridges of Goodnestone Park, at Rowling House on the Bridges estate in neighbouring Goodnestone parish. &nbsp; In 1797 Edward inherited Godmersham Park from some childless relatives who had adopted him as their heir, as part of the adoption Edward changed his surname&nbsp;from&nbsp;Austen to Knight, and he left Rolling House and moved to Godmersham. After her brother’s move to Godmersham&nbsp;Jane continued to visit Goodnestone and frequently wrote to Cassandra, her only sister, [&hellip;]
- [The lost Holestrete or Holt Street windmill in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-windmills/holestrete-or-holt-street-windmill-in-nonington-in-east-kent/): A King&#8217;s Lynn, Norfolk, funeral brass of 1349 showing a contemporary post mill. In 1309 John (1), the son of Stephen de Akolte (Acholt) transferred to John (2), the son of Thomas de Akholte, and Lucia, his mother, the ownership a windmill [unum molendinum ventifluim] in the parish of Nonington: “Charter of John, son of Stephen de Akolte, granting to John, son of Thomas de Akholte and Lucy, the mother of the same, one wind mill in the parish of Nonyngton, near Holestrete [Holt Street] on Freydviles land [the manor of Fredville], and two shillings and two hens free rent, annually from Thomas le Kete [&hellip;]
- [Aylesham: a brief historical  record of Aegel's Farm  in the old parish of Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-manor-of-wingham/aylesham-in-nonington/): The present village of Aylesham was built on land was once a hunting park for the Archbishops of Canterbury. The village was established &nbsp;in 1926 and designed and built by Dorman, &nbsp;Long &amp; Co. to house the workers at the company’s nearby Snowdown Colliery who came from all parts of the UK seeking better wages and safer conditions. The history of Aylesham has been very well recorded is readily available on the internet on sites such as the Aylesham Heritage Centre. Although the village of Aylesham is only a hundred years or so old the name Aylesham has its origins [&hellip;]
- [The Boys family at Fredville](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/the-boys-family-at-fredville/): The Boys family, also de Bois &amp; 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 who had been rewarded with gifts of land by the grateful King William. In 1357 John Boys was known to have held Bonnington in Goodnestone parish, part of the Manor of Wingham. In the following decades members of the family acquired land in and around Goodnestone and Nonington parishes. For several centuries&nbsp; it has been held by Thomas Philpott,&nbsp; Edward Hasted, and other historians, that a foot [&hellip;]
- [The Knight's Fee of Essewelle: from Domesday to the end of the First Barons War in 1217](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/essewelle-manor/): Bishop Odo holds Essewelle. The Domesday Survey of 1086 records the manors of Eswalt, Essewelle, and Soles as part of the holdings of Odo, Bishop of Bayeaux,&nbsp; who was the half-brother of King William I, the Conquerer. Odo was created Earl of Kent in 1067 as reward for his support during William’s invasion and subsequent conquest of England. The earldom gave Odo an annual income of £.3,000 from 184 lordships in Kent and numerous manors in 12 other counties which made him by far the richest tenant-in-chief in England. Essewelle was one of Odo’s many Kent manors and the Domesday [&hellip;]
- [The Quadryng family at Fredeuyle and Esol](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/the-quadryng-family-at-fredeuyle-and-beauchamp/): A wealthy City of London mercer John Quadryng, also spelt Quadring, acquired one half of the Manor of Fredeuyle, as Freydvill’ was by then known, in the opening years of the 15th century and the manor remained with this family for much of that century. It’s not clear when the Quadryngs acquired the Esol house and lands as there are at present no known records of any such property purchases.&nbsp;It’s therefore very likely that they purchased Esol house and lands from Sir John Harleston at the same time, or possibly before, they acquired the Manor of Fredeuyle. John Quadryng may [&hellip;]
- [Old St. Alban's Court House picture slide show](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-views/st-albans-court-old-house-gallery/)
- [Easole Street in Nonington, a photographic tour](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-views/easole-street-gallery/)
- [A brief history of Nonington College of Physical Education](https://nonington.org.uk/eswalt-later-st-albans-court-nonington/a-brief-history-of-nonington-college-of-physical-education/): The main entrance to the college on Sandwich Road, there was a letter-box just inside the gate. Mrs. Ina Hammond, the widow of Captain Egerton Hammond, put the St. Alban’s Court estate up for sale in late 1937, the estate was divided into more than eighty individual lots to be sold by auction by John D. Wood and Co. of 23, Berkely Square, London, who published a catalogue of the property and land to be sold. The new St. Alban’s Court house built in the 1870’s plus two “Tudor&nbsp;cottages” that had previously been the old St. Alban’s Court house and [&hellip;]
- [Assault on a Constable at The Phoenix in Frogham, 1872](https://nonington.org.uk/the-ale-houses/the-redd-lyon-later-the-phoenix-at-frogham/assault-on-a-constable-at-the-phoenix-1872/): From the Dover Express and East Kent Intelligencer, 16 February, 1872. Price 1d. ASSAULT ON A CONSTABLE AT THE PHOENIX, FROGHAM.An agricultural labourer, answering to the name of Smith, who described himself as an &#8220;Essex thrower,&#8221; was charged with assaulting Richard Bowden, a county constable, at Frogham, near Nonington, on the 22nd ult., while in the execution of his duty. Mr. Minter appeared to prosecute, and, in opening the case, he stated that the complainant had been on duty at a sale which took place at the &#8220;Phoenix,&#8221; Frogham, on the 22nd ult. The defendant was also there, in company [&hellip;]
- [St. Mary's Church: Monumental inscriptions](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/monumental-inscriptions-recorded-1892/): Some Monumental Inscriptions of Nonington Church,Noted by Bax &amp; Rice, Monday, 9th May, 1892. The John Payn memorial stands just inside the gate of the new burial ground opposite the church ++++++ 1. Names in churchyard – Silvester, Maxted (numerous) Atwood, Hambrook, Young, Barville (3), Reader, Sole, Whitewood, Masey, Morgan, Crittenden, Ayers, Nash (2), Bailey, Castle (2), Wanstall, Pepper (3), Sutton (5), Chandler, Ashenden (yeoman 3), Knott, Holtham, Larkins, Pain, Critch, Spain, Steed, Finn, Belsey (4). 2. HS W of church Here lyeth the body of Sarah ye wife of Thomas RYE and daughter of Henry and Susanna Johnson who [&hellip;]
- [St. Mary's Church: Monumental Inscriptions in the Church of Nonington in Kent from "The Topographer", 1791.](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-historical-notes__trashed/monumental-inscriptions-recorded-in-1790/): +++ The oldest head stone in the churchyard dated “January the 9th day 1690″[1691]. An old photograph from the early 1900’s. The headstone is still in the old burial ground, but is now very weathered Nonington Church July 19, 1790. The only remains of painted glass are, in a window in the north aile, a figure kneeling with two children behind —and in the east window of the Fredville Chancel, a coat of arms &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; a bordure G. femè of fleurs de lis O. impaling G. a chevr. erm. betw. 3 griffins pass. A. &nbsp;&nbsp; Monuments. &nbsp; [&hellip;]
- [Holt Street in Nonington: a photographic guided tour](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-views/holt-street-in-nonington-photo-gallery/)
- [Parish picture galleries](https://nonington.org.uk/parish-views/): Pictorial and photographic views of Nonington parish over the years. Easole Street, Fredville, Holt Street,  Old St. Alban&#8217;s Court, New St Alban&#8217;s Court, St. Mary&#8217;s Church. If you want a better view, click on the picture to enlarge it.
- [The hamlet of Holt Street and the Holt Street Estate and Farm](https://nonington.org.uk/holt-street/): The hamlet of Holt Street, sometimes called Old Street, lies some half of a mile or so to the south-east of Nonington church and derives its name from holt, the Old English (OE) name for a thicket or wood. Holt Street was part of the Fredville sub-division of the knight&#8217;s fee and manor of Essewelle, which was divided into the manors of&nbsp; Esole and&nbsp; Fredville. The Holt Street area was once heavily wooded, adjoining Holt Street to the south-west is Acol or Ackholt, meaning an oak thicket or wood; to the south is Oxenden, or Oxney,&nbsp; Wood; and to the [&hellip;]
- [Oasts and malt houses](https://nonington.org.uk/industry-and-commerce/oast-and-malt-houses/): Brewing in rural areas was an important local industry in the days before safe drinking water was readily available to everyone. The water used to produce beer and ale is heated, so making it safe to drink. When cheap tea became&nbsp; widely available in the 19th century, the boiled water used to make it made tea a safe beverage to drink as it killed water-borne diseases like dysentery, cholera, and typhoid.&nbsp; Some scholars suggest that the drinking of tea made for a healthy workforce that help drive the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. The earliest known examples [&hellip;]
- [The Barson or Barfreston mills.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-windmills/the-barson-or-barfreston-mills/): The location of the oldest recorded mill in the old parish of&nbsp; Nonington was most probably on the site occupied by two wind mills in the late 18th and early 19th centuries&nbsp; just inside the&nbsp; parish of Nonington right on its eastern boundary with the parish of Barfreston near the&nbsp; Barfreston crossroads. There are references to a windmill on the manor of Soles in a 1227 settlement&nbsp; between William de Soles and&nbsp; Cecily de Dovre over ownership of the single knight’s fee of Soles, and the 1349 Post Mortem Inquisition of Richard de Retlyng&#8217;, whose property included Esol, has a [&hellip;]
- [The Easole Pug or Feed Mill.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-windmills/the-easole-pug-or-feed-mill/): A hundred yards or so down the track running from the top of Mill Lane past the old corn mill site then onward to Kittington are the circular foundations that are now all that remain of the once thriving Easole pug mill. The mill first appeared in the parish tax register in the 1770’s and by 1819 was described therein as a seed and clover mill. The mill came into the ownership of the Pain family in 1826, and with the malt house and seed store in Easole Street formed the nucleus of a prosperous business. In the 1850′s Vincent [&hellip;]
- [The Easole  Corn Mill](https://nonington.org.uk/the-windmills/the-easole-corn-mill/): Windmill in Stained Glass, King&#8217;s College, Cambridge, 16th Century Written records show that there has been a windmill at the top of Mill Lane in Nonington from at least the end of the 15th century, the 1501 Essesole Manor Rolls have a reference to a “Milbarogh” (mill barrow) in this area. It is not certain whether the “Milbarogh” was a re-used ancient burial mound or a mound specifically built for the mill to stand on.In his will of 1548 William Boys of nearby Fredville allowed his mother to take half the profits of the wind mill, at this date a [&hellip;]
- [Archaeological finds at St. Alban's Court](https://nonington.org.uk/eswalt-later-st-albans-court-nonington/archaeological-finds-at-st-albans-court/): Pre-historic St. Alban&#8217;s Court discoveries During a watching brief at St. Alban’s Court in 1997 the Thanet Trust for Archaeology discovered possible Late Bronze Age, 1000-701 BC.,&nbsp; hut circles and enclosure during the construction of an access road which is now the main entrance to the property.The watching brief produced possible remains of pre-historic hut sites, floors and drip trench and enclosure. There was a lack of datable materials (burn daub and one pre-historic pot sherd) but hut sites reminiscent in form and state of preservation to Late Bronze Age hut circles encountered by excavator at Monkton and Ebbsfleet. Thin [&hellip;]
- [Eswalt, later St. Alban's Court, Nonington: from Domesday to the Dissolution of the Monasteries](https://nonington.org.uk/eswalt-later-st-albans-court-nonington/): After William I died the newly crowned William II, called Rufus, returned the Earldom of Kent to his uncle and in 1088 Odo showed his gratitude by organizing a rebellion to overthrow William II and replace him with Robert, Duke of Normandy, another son of the Conqueror. When the rebellion failed William II took back Odo’s newly restored earldom and lands and distributed some of the confiscated estates to various barons.&nbsp; Odo was allowed to go to Normandy where he took service with Duke Robert, dying in 1097 at Palermo in Sicily whilst en route to Palestine with Duke Robert [&hellip;]
- [The  Baptist Chapel in Easole Street, Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-baptist-chapel/): &nbsp; Religious non-conformity has a long history in Nonington Dating back to the 17th century. In 1676 the parish was recorded as having nine non-Conformists consisting of: two Anabaptists [a radical Protestant movement founded in the early to mid 16th century which advocated the baptism and church membership of adult believers only, nonresistance, and the separation of church and state], two Browns, three Quakers, and two Independents.  Brownist was a common designation for early separatists from the Church of England before 1620 with Brownist, Independents and Separatist all used somewhat interchangeably for those non-conformists who broke with the Church of [&hellip;]
- [Old units of measurement,  feudal dues & customs](https://nonington.org.uk/old-measurement-feudal-customs/): Modern pre-metrification units.For Measuring Area.1 acre = 4840 square yards (sq.yds).1 rod or rood = ¼ acre = 1210 sq.yds.1 square perch or pole = 30 ¼ sq.yds x 40 = 1 rod x 4 = 1 acre. For Linear Measurement.1 furlong =220 linear yards (8 furlongs = I mile).1 chain = 22 linear yards x 10.1 pole or perch = ¼ chain or 5 ½ yds.( 1 furlong x 1 chain = 1 acre). Ancient units of measurement.1 virgate = ¼ acre = 1210 sq.yds.1 rod or rood = ¼ acre = 1210 sq.yds.1 day work = 1/10 virgate [&hellip;]
- [The Noted Trees of Fredville Park](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-estate/the-trees-of-fredville-park/): Please note: the Fredville Oaks are on private property with no rights of public access. Please do not go knocking on the doors of the nearby cottages regarding access as they are occupied by residents with no connection to the land-owner.Enquiries regarding&nbsp; the Fredville Oaks should be made in writing to:Mr. J.&nbsp; Plumptre,Little Fredville,Frogham,Nonington,Kent.CT15 4JF.Communications sent by email will not be acknowledged. The Fredville Oaks Fredville Park has been renowned since the late 18th century for magnificent trees, especially its oaks and chestnuts. William Hasted wrote in his :‘History and topographical survey of the County of Kent’, in the late [&hellip;]
- [Nonington in East Kent, the Old English origins of the name](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-in-kent-the-old-english-origins-of-the-name/): I have previously proposed that the name Nonington, applicable to the settlement around the village church,  had its origins due  the location of the settlement  on four aratra [sulungs or hides] of land “aet [at, by or next to] Oesewalum” owned jointly in the late 700&#8217;s and early 800&#8217;s  by Aldberht, an earldorman, and Selethryth, his sister and the abbess of the convents of Minster-in-Thanet and Lyminge. During the early 820’s possession of these four aratra of land was disputed between Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Cwoenthryth, the abbess of Minster-in-Thanet and daughter of  Coenwulf, the king of Mercia. Eventually [&hellip;]
- [Oesewalum: a re-evaluation of its location as having been near Harrow in Middlesex and not in the old parish of Nonington in East Kent!](https://nonington.org.uk/oesewalum-a-re-assessment-of-its-location/): Long and careful consideration of information brought to light in recent research and a subsequent re-appraisal of existing documentary evidence led me to conclude that an estate known as &nbsp;Oesewalum was not actually situated in what became the old parish of Nonington in East Kent, but was in fact located near Harrow in the modern county of Middlesex. &nbsp;The direct consequence of this conclusion is that the posts and articles I have written over the last couple of decades placing Oesewalum in the old parish of Nonington now have no relevance and I have therefore removed from this website any [&hellip;]
- [The Old Parish of Nonington: the Manors, Hamlets &amp; Farms](https://nonington.org.uk/the-old-parish-of-nonington-the-manors-hamlets-farms/)
- [The Old Parish of Nonington from Pre-History to the Norman Invasion of 1066](https://nonington.org.uk/the-old-parish-of-nonington-before-the-norman-invasion-of-1066/)
- [1940: An Embarrassing Injury, and an Embarrassing Mistake! Some of the misadventures of Nonington’s own “Dad’s Army”](https://nonington.org.uk/1940-nonington-home-guard/): The Real ‘Dad’s Army’ From the Imperial War Museum website: The Home Guard was set up in May 1940 as Britain’s ‘last line of defence’ against German invasion. Members of this ‘Dad’s Army’ were usually men above or below the age of conscription and those unfit or ineligible for front line military service. On 14 May 1940, Secretary of State for War Anthony Eden made a broadcast calling for men between the ages of 17 and 65 to enrol in a new force, the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV). By July, nearly 1.5 million men had enrolled and the name of [&hellip;]
- [Redd Lyon Curios of Nonington: Antique Maps](https://nonington.org.uk/antique-maps-for-sale/): Assorted Framed British County Maps: 17th century onwards The West Riding of Yorkshire &#8211; John SpeedAn antique map of &#8216;The West Riding of Yorkshire with the most famous and fayre Citie Yorke described&#8217;. Originally from &#8220;Theatre of Great Britaine&#8221; by John Speed, published by J. Sudbury and George Humbell at the White Horse in Pope’s Head Alley, London. This copy is marked 1628 in the bottom left hand corner and is hand-coloured. The frame measures 21 ½ x 16 ½ inches and is glazed with safety glass.+++£395.00+++ Unframed original county maps by Robert Morden Assorted Unframed British County Maps European [&hellip;]
- [Search](https://nonington.org.uk/search/)
- [User Bookmark Dashboard](https://nonington.org.uk/user-bookmark-dashboard/)
- [Some Historical Notes and Musings on the origins of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/some-historical-notes-and-musings-on-the-church-of-st-mary-the-virgin-at-nonington/): A list of mother churches and their subsidiary churches drawn up for Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury soon after his ordination in 1070 recorded a &#8220;chapel of ease&#8221; at “Nunningitun” that was a subsidiary church&nbsp;“Ad Wingeham”&nbsp;(to Wingham) . “Nunningitun” was then the name of the small hamlet where the chapel was located and not the name of the parish which only came into existence in 1282. This record of a place of worship at “Nunningitun” in 1070 would appear to confirm that it was in use at the time of the Norman invasion in 1066 and, most likely, for many decades [&hellip;]
- [Easole Mill Fire from The Dover Express, 14th May, 1965](https://nonington.org.uk/easole-mill-fire-from-the-dover-express-14th-may-1965/)
- [SITE OF MILL AT NONINGTON BY  A. W. MAY. EAST KENT MERCURY, DECEMBER 1ST, 1966](https://nonington.org.uk/site-of-mill-at-nonington-by-a-w-may-east-kent-mercury-december-1st-1966/)
- [Memories of a kind old miller](https://nonington.org.uk/memories-of-a-kind-old-miller/)
- [My Bookmarks](https://nonington.org.uk/mybookmarks/)
- [Articles written by  the late Peter Hobbs of Old St. Albans Court in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/articles-by-peter-hobbs-of-old-st-albans-court-in-nonington/): Sadly, Peter Hobbs passed away in the early hours of Monday, 10th March, 2025. Peter was a published local historian with a great interest in the history of Old St. Albans House and its associated estate in Nonington. He was a great friend and supporter of this website and Peter&#8217;s invaluable knowledge, advice and encouragement will be greatly missed. Peter bought Old St. Albans Court House in Nonington in the 1990&#8217;s and spent a lot of time and effort restoring the house. Extensive archaeological excavations were undertaken in conjunction with the Dover Archaeological Group [DAG] in and around the house [&hellip;]
- [Brick Building in Kent: The Evidence from Old St Albans Court, Nonington by Gareth Daws and Peter Hobbs](https://nonington.org.uk/brick-building-in-kent-the-evidence-from-old-st-albans-court-nonington-by-gareth-daws-and-peter-hobbs/): First published in BRITISH BRICK SOCIETY INFORMATION 133MAY 2016 Our particular interest is in endeavouring to provide a better but cheap means of utilising brick as an historical dating medium at least in our local area. We cannot afford extensive laboratory work but what can be done inexpensively is to amass information and to process it. It is with this objective in mind that we sought to categorise the bricks at Old St Albans Court, a Tudor Manor with documented seventeenth-, eighteenth- and nineteenth century changes, and make the information available for a wider benefit. Old St Albans Court is [&hellip;]
- [The Boys family at Fredville](https://nonington.org.uk/the-boys-family-at-fredville-in-nonington/): The Boys family, also de Bois &amp; 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 who had been rewarded with gifts of land by the grateful King William. In 1357 John Boys was known to have held Bonnington in Goodnestone parish, part of the Manor of Wingham. In the following decades members of the family acquired land in and around Goodnestone and Nonington parishes. The Boys coat of arms For several centuries&nbsp; it has been held by Thomas Philpott,&nbsp; Edward Hasted, and [&hellip;]
- [Richard Jarvis Arnold &amp; wife working at  the Walmer Forge](https://nonington.org.uk/richard-jarvis-arnold-wife-working-at-the-walmer-forge/)
- [A Hurricane and a Doodlebug visit Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/a-hurricane-and-a-doodlebug-land-in-nonington/): 9th September, 1940-a Hurricane lands in Nonington The Battle of Britain was a major air campaign fought largely over southern England in the summer and autumn of 1940. After the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk and the Fall of France in June of 1940, Germany planned to gain air superiority in preparation for an invasion of Great Britain. From the following July heavily outnumbered R.A.F Fighter Command pilots of many nationalities flew &nbsp;Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft against daily waves of German Luftwaffe aircraft. The R.A.F pilots inflicted heavy casualties on the Luftwaffe and in October of 1940 [&hellip;]
- [A BRASS AT  NONINGTON CHURCH IN KENT BY RALPH GRIFFIN, F.S.A.](https://nonington.org.uk/a-brass-in-nonington-church-kent/): A Brass at Nonington, Kent. An original article published in The Archaeologia Cantiana: Transactions of The Kent Archaeological Society, by Ralph Griffin in 1936.Please click on the picture below to read the article:-
- [Essole Street house plots &amp; road ways in 1501](https://nonington.org.uk/essole-street-in-nonington-in-1501/): The name Essole or Esole Street, now Easole Street, refers to the original settlement or Vill&#8217; of Essole, not the roadway. Ancient strip settlements with house plots on either side of a road or track way were called &#8220;street&#8221;. Holt Street and Frogham Street are also very good examples of a strip or &#8220;street&#8221; settlement.The vill&#8217; was the smallest territorial and administrative unit and continued as such after the Norman conquest and into the late Medieval era. The vill&#8217; had judicial and policing functions, including frankenpledge, as well as responsibility for taxation, roads and bridges. The rental rolls full descriptive [&hellip;]
- [A Luftwaffe view of Nonington in 1940 &amp; 1942](https://nonington.org.uk/a-luftwaffe-view-of-nonington-in-1940-1942/): The following photographs of Nonington and the surrounding area were taken by German Luftwaffe aerial photo reconnaissance planes in 1940 and 1942. They are in identical pairs, the first one is the untouched original and the second one has been annotated by myself to help to identify some of the places in the photos. 17.8.1940: a view from over Fredville Park looking south towards Shepherds Well 2.9.1940: an overhead view of Fredville Park and Nonington 2.9.1940: the eastern boundary of Nonington from over Eythorne looking towards Nonington 3.9.1940: an overhead view from Rolling looking looking south over Nonington towards Eythorne [&hellip;]
- [Canadian soldiers at Fredville Park &amp; St. Alban's Downs in Nonington during WW2](https://nonington.org.uk/canadian-soldiers-at-fredville-park-st-albans-downs-in-nonington-during-ww2/): The photographic view below is an overhead view of Fredville Park looking west towards Aylesham and beyond. It was taken by a German Luftwaffe photographic reconnaissance plane on the 2nd September of 1940 during the Battle of Britain. The newly built mining village of Aylesham, then only some fourteen or so years old, is in the top left corner. The white crosses in the top centre to the west and east of Aylesham [those to the east have Chapman&#8217;s Hill to the south, Palm Tree Lane to the west, and Pinner&#8217;s Lane to the north] are anti-glider ditches. During the [&hellip;]
- [Thomas Cromwell, Sir Christopher Hales &amp; Saint Alban's Court in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/thomas-cromwell-sir-christopher-hales-saint-albans-court/): Along with millions of other viewers I recently enjoyed watching the BBC’s series “Wolf Hall”&nbsp; which, according to the BBC iPlayer, follows “The irresistible rise of Thomas Cromwell &#8211; who defied and defined an era. Mark Rylance leads the acclaimed adaptation of Hilary Mantel&#8217;s tales from the dark heart of Tudor history”. Thomas Cromwell’s “irresistible rise” to a position of great power and influence in the court and government of King Henry VIII can be largely credited to the likely mentoring and ongoing friendship of a prominent lawyer and &nbsp;politician with a connection to St. Alban’s Court in Nonington, namely [&hellip;]
- [Redd Lyon Curios of Nonington @ The Shop In The Shed-antique maps &amp; books and useful junk &amp; curiosities](https://nonington.org.uk/redd-lyon-curios-of-nonington-the-shop-in-the-shed/): Redd Lyon Curios of Nonington @ The Shop In The Shed supports The Old Parish of Nonington website and helps with its finances. RLC is located in Holt Street in Nonington and is a mainly online business that has been selling antiques, useful junk &amp; curiosities and second time around items of assorted kinds since 1988. There are no business premises open on a daily basis, but appointments can be made to come and look at the ever changing wide variety of items in stock. Some of those items are shown below with the prices included. More items can be [&hellip;]
- [Welcome to The Old Parish of Nonington in East Kent](https://nonington.org.uk/): Nonington and its surrounds, from &#8220;This new map of Kent&#8230;&#8221; by Philip Lea, circa 1690 Nonington, often spelt Nonnington, is a rural parish in East Kent. It lies some two miles or so to the north-east of the A2 approximately mid-way between Dover and Canterbury. Sandwich is some seven miles to the north-east and Deal is about ten miles or so to the east. The old parish of Nonington measured roughly three miles by three miles, some 4,000 acres in all, but was divided into the separate parishes of Nonington and Aylesham in 1951. This website is mainly concerned with [&hellip;]
- [The lost manor of Shrynkelyng' in Nonington &amp; Eastry](https://nonington.org.uk/the-lost-manor-of-shrynkelyng-in-nonington-eastry/): The &nbsp;north-eastern corner of the parish of the present parish of Nonington is separated from the parish of Eastry by Thornton Road and across the road just inside the parish of Eastry is Shingleton Farm. Just to the north of the farm house is an area of woodland known as Shingleton Wood which contains the remains of the ancient manor house and accompanying buildings of the “lost” Manor of Shrynkelyng&#8217;, also recorded as Shrinkling, Shrynkelyng&#8217;, Scringling&#8217;, Schrinkling&#8217;, Shrynklyng and Shrinkling. These &nbsp;manorial buildings were once quite extensive but have long since gone to ruin and there is now little visible [&hellip;]
- [Mount Ephraim in Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/mount-ephraim-in-nonington/): In its extreme northern corner the old parish of Nonington was bounded by the parish of Goodnestone to the west and to the east by the parish of Chillenden, which was absorbed into&nbsp; the parish of Goodnestone in 1935. This corner is still a part of the present parish of Nonington and here, in the shave adjacent to the ancient trackway known for the last four hundred or more years as Cherry Garden Lane, &nbsp;is to be found a mound of earth or tumulus known as Mount Ephraim. Cherry Garden Lane derives its name from the cherry gardens or orchards [&hellip;]
- [1863 & 1873 Diversion of footpaths at St. Alban’s Court in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/1863-1873-diversion-of-footpaths-at-st-albans-court-in-nonington/): Parish vestries were the predecessors of parish councils but had much more authority over parish affairs and finances. Nonington Parish Council held its inaugural meeting on 4th December, 1894.At a Nonington Vestry meeting in early 1863 Mr William Oxenden Hammond of St. Alban&#8217;s Court in the parish of Nonington requested: “to divert a certain footpath in Nonnington [sic] aforesaid leading out of Sandwich Road through a gate into the enclosure of St. Alban&#8217;s Court and opposite the kitchen Garden of the same towards Chillenden, that is to say, to a point where a style is placed midway between the mansion [&hellip;]
- [The Jews in England.](https://nonington.org.uk/the-jews-in-england/): The Jews were legally the personal property of the King and enjoyed royal protection, and as wards of the crown they had the freedom of the King’s highways and could hold property directly from the King. At this time Jews were barred from virtually all professions and Christians were prohibited from the business of usury, the charging of interest on loans, so usury was left to Jewish merchants whose financial acumen as bankers soon made the loaning of money a very profitable business. Their legal status left Jews open to the seizure of taxation [tallage] by the King, and this [&hellip;]
- [The “lost” Manor of Hartanger, also Hertanger, Hartange or Hartangre, in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-lost-manor-of-hartanger-also-hertanger-hartange-or-hartangre-in-nonington/): For many years it has been generally held that&nbsp; the old parish of Nonington had within its bounds the greater parts of, if not all, of the Domesday listed manors of Eswalt, Essewelle and Soles running roughly north to south through its centre with substantial holdings of the Manor of Wingham on its western and eastern sides. These Wingham holdings consisted of parts of Oxenden [Oxney] and Acol [Acholt] manors, Curleswood Park, Ratling, Old Court, and Nonington North and South to the west and&nbsp; Kittington to the east.However, over the last year or so it has become more obvious to [&hellip;]
- [The Knight’s Fee of Essewelle: Wischards, Hotots, and Colkyns at the Manors of Esol and Freydevill’ in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-knights-fee-of-essewelle-wischards-hotots-and-colkyns-at-the-manors-of-esol-and-freydevill-in-nonington/): The Wischards at Essewelle In 1166 King Henry II commanded that persons holding knights fees by barony were required to certify them in the Exchequer. The tenants in chief were instructed to clearly distinguish between fees of old feoffment, a fee in existence before the death of King Henry I in December, 1135, and of new feoffment. A knight’s fee was a fiscal unit of land value held by a knight from an over-lord in return for specified military service, usually forty days a year After the Norman Conquest all land was owned by the King, who then allocated land [&hellip;]
- [The Knight's Fee of Essewelle: from Domesday to the end of the First Barons War in 1217](https://nonington.org.uk/the-knights-fee-of-essewelle-from-domesday-to-the-end-of-the-first-barons-war-in-1217/): Bishop Odo holds Essewelle. The Domesday Survey of 1086 records the manors of Eswalt, Essewelle, and Soles as part of the holdings of Odo, Bishop of Bayeaux,  who was the half-brother of King William I, the Conquerer. Odo was created Earl of Kent in 1067 as reward for his support during William’s invasion and subsequent conquest of England. The earldom gave Odo an annual income of £.3,000 from 184 lordships in Kent and numerous manors in 12 other counties which made him by far the richest tenant-in-chief in England. Essewelle was one of Odo’s many Kent manors and the Domesday [&hellip;]
- [Baptists, Quakers & Other Nonconformists in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/baptists-quakers-other-nonconformists-in-nonington/)
- [William Penn &amp; the Quakers of Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-quakers-in-nonington/): William Penn, an early leading Quaker &amp; the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania in the British American Colonies The  Religious Society of Friends, better known as “Quakers”, were founded in the North of England in the mid-17th century by George Fox, their name possibly originates from Fox telling a magistrate he was appearing before “to tremble (or &#8216;quake&#8217;) at the name of God”.During the Commonwealth under the leadership of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and his son, who succeeded him in 1658, the Quakers were allowed to worship freely. However, after the restoration of King Charles II in 1660 the [&hellip;]
- [Copyright to The Old Parish of Nonington website](https://nonington.org.uk/copyright-to-the-old-parish-of-nonington-website/): ©Clive Martin Webb and The Old Parish of Nonington, 2026. Copyright for content of The Old Parish of Nonington website is held by Clive Martin Webb as the author and owner of The Old Parish of Nonington website.Excerpts of the contents of The Old Parish of Nonington website and links to The Old Parish of Nonington website  may be used on the condition  that full and clear credit is given to Clive Martin Webb and The Old Parish of Nonington with appropriate and specific direction to the source of any content used and on the condition that any such excepts [&hellip;]
- [Fulke Rose of Holt Street Farm in Nonington, Kent: the Slave Trade, Caribbean Pirates, and the founding of the British Museum.](https://nonington.org.uk/holt-street-farm-also-nonnington-farm-in-nonington-kent-the-slave-trade-caribbean-pirates-and-the-founding-of-the-british-museum/): The British Museum from “The World’s Metropolis, or Mighty London, Illustrated by a Series of Views Beautifully Engraved on Steel” (London : 1851-1855). It is now difficult to believe that the pleasant hamlet of Holt Street, more especially the present Holt Street Farm, had connections to the Atlantic Slave Trade between West Africa and the Caribbean. This was one of the darkest periods in British history which, whilst bringing incredible riches to a few European plantation owners, brought unimaginable misery to thousands of male and female convicts sentenced to transportation by English and Irish courts and millions of forcibly enslaved [&hellip;]
- [The Modern Parishes of Aylesham & Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/the-modern-parishes-of-aylesham-nonington/)
- [Nonington Windmills picture slide show](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-windmills-picture-slide-show/)
- [Nonington's Alehouses, Beer Shops and Pubs](https://nonington.org.uk/noningtons-alehouses-beer-shops-and-pubs/)
- [Frogham Street & Soles Court Picture Slide Show](https://nonington.org.uk/frogham-street-soles-court-picture-slide-show/)
- [Archaeology in the Old Parish of Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/archaeology-in-nonington/)
- [From The Dover Archaeological Group News Letter Of December, 2020.](https://nonington.org.uk/dover-archaeological-group-news-letter-december-2020/): The Beauchamps Dig at Nonington Find of the year?In late August we were (again) cleaning up the sunken road and in the process cleaning the clay it sits on, Leslie then spotted a flint lying partly on the surface. After a quick clean to all our delight was a complete barbed and tang arrowhead! &nbsp; Leslie gingerly holding her prize find! Dating to the Neolithic it dates between 2200-2000BC. The final stages of the big clean, We are blessed with such a large site allowing socially distancing cleaning! Though having diggers in the shot accentuates the break of slope away [&hellip;]
- [Archaeological excavations at  Easole Manor House and Beauchamps Wood in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/archaeological-excavations-at-the-easol-manor-house-at-beauchamps-in-nonington/): The land between Beauchamps Wood and the old St. Alban&#8217;s Court House has for many years been known to generations of Nonington&#8217;s inhabitants as &#8220;The Ruins&#8221; because of the prominent ancient remains of a once large building. Some wall sections stood above ground until their demolition in the 1950&#8217;s and the outline of foundations and some small piles of rubble were also clearly to be seen until the site was cleared by the then land-owner in the 1980&#8217;s. For some centuries the ruins were believed by many historians to be those of a nunnery or chapel but after the archaeological [&hellip;]
- [2021: THE BIG DIG – NONINGTON STYLE](https://nonington.org.uk/the-big-dig-nonington-style-2021/): &nbsp; The last report was published in March 2020. Covid has had a substantial impact on the progress of our work&nbsp; and although individual archaeologists came up on their own to labour, group working was only resumed when Covid restrictions were lifted. Since then, massive amounts of soil and clay have been shifted, trenches galore litter Beauchamps Wood but the knowledge gained is…..enigmatic….. at best. &nbsp;&nbsp; The last report concluded with the extension of excavations at the edge of the wood at the side of what we supposed to be the roadway coming into the site from the West.&nbsp; A [&hellip;]
- [CHURCH STREET IN NONINGTON, ORIGINALLY THE PRESENT CHURCH STREET AND THE PRESENT  PINNER’S LANE.](https://nonington.org.uk/church-street-in-nonington-originally-the-present-church-street-and-what-is-now-known-as-pinners-lane/)
- [HOLT STREET IN NONINGTON: A PHOTOGRAPHIC SLIDESHOW GUIDED TOUR](https://nonington.org.uk/holt-street-in-nonington-a-photographic-slideshow-guided-tour/): HOLT STREET IN NONINGTON: A PHOTOGRAPHIC SLIDESHOW GUIDED TOUR
- [2023-THE BIG DIG AT BEAUCHAMPS](https://nonington.org.uk/2023-the-big-dig-at-beauchamps/): A report of the archaeological excavations over the last year by Peter Hobbs of Old St. Alban&#8217;s Court, Nonington The very title at the head of this piece just shows our age. The Dover Archaeological Group began digging at Old St Albans Court about 1996 and having excavated there, proceeded onto two Anglo Saxon burial grounds, a C17 th brick making site, a C14 th manor house and its environs and an Anglo-Saxon chalk quarry. History is not something Nonington is short of and that is admirably conveyed on Clive Webb’s website in a multiplicity of articles. But was the [&hellip;]
- [The Trees of Fredville Park slide show](https://nonington.org.uk/the-trees-of-fredville-park-slide-show/): For more detailed information please follow the link The Trees of Fredville Park website page
- [FREDVILLE PARK GATE KEEPERS LODGES SLIDE SHOW](https://nonington.org.uk/fredville-park-gate-keepers-lodges-slide-show/): The 18th century Fredville mansion was surrounded by parkland and could only be reached by a coach road with entrances in lower Holt Street and at Frogham. Each entrance had a gate lodge for a gate-keeper to live in and these gate-keepers were often the widows of estate workers and their employment as gate-keepers was a form of pension.During the 1930’s shop premises were added to the Holt Street lodge, initially to sell produce grown in the Fredville walled garden by the Woodruffe family. Over the years the shop expanded but finally closed in the early 1990’s and the shop [&hellip;]
- [The Fredville House  Picture Slide Show](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-house-picture-slide-show/): Additional information, the descriptions on some the pictures have had to be abbreviated. The full descriptions can be found below:- Plumptre House, Nottingham, from Deering’s History of Nottingham 1751. It was described by Deering, who had financial assistance from John Plumptre, in his 1750 history of Nottingham as exhibiting Italian taste on the exterior but English taste inside. Plumptre House was the first recorded instance of an architect of national standing being employed on a private building in Nottingham. Plumptre House was a Georgian mansion in Stoney Street, next to St. Mary’s Church, built in 1707 it was re-designed by [&hellip;]
- [St. Mary’s Church in Nonington Picture Slide Show](https://nonington.org.uk/st-marys-church-in-nonington-picture-slide-show/): St. Mary’s Church is situated in the hamlet of Nonington from which the old parish took its name.
- [NONINGTON DURING WW2](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-during-ww2/)
- [New St Alban's Court House & Old Court House in Nonington, a picture slide show](https://nonington.org.uk/new-st-albans-court-house-old-court-house-in-nonington-a-picture-slide-show/)
- [Old St. Alban's Court picture gallery](https://nonington.org.uk/old-st-albans-court-not-a-slide-show/): Additional information:1-Plumtre, Hammond &amp; Co.,Canterbury Bank.As well as being land-owners, the Hammonds of St. Alban’s Court&nbsp; and the Plumptres of Fredville were partners in Plumtre, Hammond &amp; Co., a Canterbury bank, from at least 1824. By 1830 the bank had become Hammond &amp; Co., the&nbsp; partners then being: William Osmond Hammond, John Plumptree, Deane John Parker and John Furley ……Glyn &amp; Co.In 1845- The Bankers Magazine recorded that&nbsp; Hammond &amp; Company’s partners were:-William Osmund Hammond, of St. Alban’s Court,Nonington,Kent;&nbsp; John Pemberton Plumptre, of Fredville, Nonington, and M.P. for Kent; John Furley, of Canterbury, who had replaced the late William Foord [&hellip;]
- [Old St Alban's Picture Gallery-not a slide show](https://nonington.org.uk/old-st-albans-picture-gallery-not-a-slide-show/)
- [SLide show test 1](https://nonington.org.uk/slide-show-test-1/)
- [Frogham's listed building.](https://nonington.org.uk/froghams-listed-building/): Frogham Farmhouse in Frpgham: A Grade II Listed Building in Nonington, Kent The following information has been taken from the British Listed Buildings website: https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101070272-frogham-farmhouse-nonington#.Y7gD2nbP3IU TR 25 SE GV II House. C15 altered and extended C16 to early C19, clad C18. Timber framed and rendered with applied frame to right and clad elsewhere with red brick and some flint. Extended with red brick to left. Plain tiled roof. Two storeys on flint plinth with end jetty to right. Portions of flintwork on ground floor to centre left. Hipped roof with stacks to left and clustered to centre right. One wooden [&hellip;]
- [Froggenham or Frogham, a small hamlet in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/froggenham-or-frogham-in-nonington/): Frogham most likely derives from the Old English: “Frocgena ham: the place of the frogs, meaning the place with a lot of frogs&#8221; . from Frocga, frog, and ham, which can mean variously enclosure, homestead, village, manor, estate. Some Medieval documents refer to Frogenham, not greatly different to “Frocgena ham”. Another possibility is that the name derives from &#8220;Frogga&#8221;, or similar Anglo-Saxon first name, and &#8220;ham&#8221;.The place with a lot of frogs has much to recommend it as adjoining Frogham to the south-west is the ancient manor of Soles, originally Solys, which&nbsp; derives its name from the O.E. sol: meaning [&hellip;]
- [Nonington's Butchers Shops & Premises](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-butchers-shops-premises/): There is an early mention of a Nonington butcher in Nonington in a sale document of &nbsp;1659 relating to the sale of &nbsp; The White Horse alehouse in Church Street by Henry Pingle of Nonington, a butcher by trade, and his brothers. The Pingle family appear in Nonington church records throughout the 17th century and into the early 18th century. The Easole Street butcher&#8217;s In the 19th and 20th centuries the principle butcher&#8217;s premises were in&nbsp;Easole Street and are now called Southdown House. The name almost certainly derives from one of the butchers, &#8220;Charlie&#8221; Smith, who specialised in fattening and [&hellip;]
- [Nonington & The Kentish Rebellion &  Second English Civil War of 1648](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-the-kent-rebellion-of-1648-the-second-english-civil-war/): The following is intended to be a record of the participation in the Kentish Rebellion and the Second English Civil War of 1648 of people with connections to the old parish of Nonington and not a history of those conflicts. It&#8217;s a revised and updated version of a previous article on the same subject. ~~~ The Kentish Rebellion had its origins in part in the Canterbury&nbsp; Christmas Day riots of 1647 when civil disturbances broke out in Canterbury after &nbsp;Parliament attempted to suppress traditional Christmas celebrations by issuing an ordinance, or order, &nbsp;in June in that year declaring that the [&hellip;]
- [Beauchamps Wood, Nonington, Kent,  by Peter Hobbs.](https://nonington.org.uk/beauchamps-wood-nonington-kent-by-peter-hobbs/): “ There be of them, that have left a name behind them…”&nbsp;Ecclesiasticus XLIV&nbsp; 8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Fig. 1 Beauchamps Wood from the South. Photo; Damian Birch Alan Everitt in Continuity and colonization : the evolution of Kentish settlement[i] contends that woodland is one of the dominating characteristics of the community of Kent and the modern&nbsp; map shows the consequence of a tract of forest eaten away piecemeal by clearance and assarting. Oak and chestnut predominate although there is a rich&nbsp; variety of other species. Woodland, he suggests, survives either as boundary markers or because the land it is on is inhospitable to [&hellip;]
- [NONINGTON VOTERS IN THE 1754 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-voters-in-the-1754-parliamentary-elections-2/): During the Middle Ages the Knights of the Shire were the most prominent members in the House of Commons with &nbsp;two knights elected for each of the 37 counties under Royal jurisdiction. Elections for Knights of the Shire were conducted by county sheriffs at county courts and in the early days of Parliament all freemen, even those who did not own property, could vote in these county elections. This caused resentment among those who did own land and in 1429 Parliament restricted the right to vote in elections for knights of the shire to those freemen who owned freehold land [&hellip;]
- [ALE HOUSES IN NONINGTON, with notes on alehouses in adjoining parishes](https://nonington.org.uk/ale-houses-in-nonington-2/)
- [Nonington from pre-history to the Domesday Survey of 1086](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-from-anglo-saxon-times-to-the-domesday-survey-of-1086/)
- [NONINGTON, KENT : A CONTRIBUTION TO ITS EARLY HISTORY BY DR. FREDERICK WILLIAM HARDMAN, LL.D., F.S.A. WITH NOTES BY PETER HOBBS OF OLD ST. ALBAN’S COURT, NONINGTON.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-history-manuscript-by-dr-f-w-hardman/): The following is a verbatim copy of the draught manuscript of an unpublished history of Nonington written by Dr. F. W. Hardman in the early 1930’s. The page numbers are those of the copy, not the original manuscript. The manuscript is a record of Dr. Hardman&#8217;s personal interpretation of the history of Nonington, some of which is at variance with later research. The original manuscript is part of  Dr. William Hardman&#8217;s Researches on Nonington &amp; other Parishes collection  held in the archives of the Kent Archaeological Society at Maidstone Museum. Personal footnotes have been added by Peter Hobbs, the present owner [&hellip;]
- [Some Nonington Place Names](https://nonington.org.uk/some-nonington-place-names/): 1920&#8217;s Ordnance Survey map of Nonington and the surrounding parishes. Ackholt&nbsp;is now in the Parish of Aylesham and lies just the other side of the&nbsp;railway-line where the Nonington to Womenswold bridle way crosses the Snowdown to Aylesham road on the southern boundary of the old parish of Nonington.Pronounced Acol (Aye-kul) with a long a and the t dropped as is usual in the old East Kent dialect, the name derives from the Old English (O.E.): ac; oak &amp; holt ; ’, meaning a wood, grove or thicket, so literally meaning an oak thicket or wood. To the east of Ackholt&nbsp;&nbsp;is [&hellip;]
- [Old Cooky's Farm in Upper Holt Street](https://nonington.org.uk/old-cookys-farm-in-upper-holt-street/): The Cooky&#8217;s farm house was for many years known as Holt Street Cottage, but has now returned to it original appellation. It stands  just above the Holt Street cross-roads, and the accompanying land seems to have originally been some 14 or so acres to the rear of the house,  and some 14 or more acres of the large field across the Snowdown Road, which is still called Cooks Hill. In the early 1600’s a brick house was built, which probably replaced an earlier medieval timber and lathe house, and as a farmhouse for a small-holding until the end of the [&hellip;]
- [Holt Street estate, farm, and hamlet](https://nonington.org.uk/holt-street-estate-farm-and-hamlet/)
- [THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLER & BUTTER STREET COTTAGE IN NONINGTON](https://nonington.org.uk/knights-hospitaller-in-nonington/): In 1540 King Henry VIII surpressed The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Latin: Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), this &nbsp;Catholic military order had been founded in 1113 and was more commonly known as The Knights Hospitaller.&nbsp; Henry VIII seized the Hospitallers&nbsp; extensive English land holdings&nbsp; &nbsp;along with those of&nbsp;religious orders and institutions and had a written record made of these seizures. numerous other There had been a Knights Hospitaller preceptory, &nbsp;a subordinate house or community, at Swingfield since the early 12th century and the king&#8217;s record listed&nbsp; rents payable to the Swingfield preceptory [&hellip;]
- [THE BAPTIST CHAPEL IN EASOLE STREET IN NONINGTON](https://nonington.org.uk/the-baptist-chapel-in-easole-street-in-nonington/): Nonington Baptist Chapel in Easole Street as it was in the 1930&#8217;s Strict Protestantism and religious non-conformity has a long association with Nonington which dates back to the time of Edward Boys of Fredville and the Marion Exiles of the 1550&#8217;s and beyond.In 1676 the parish was recorded as having nine non-Conformists amongst whom were two Anabaptists , two Browns, three Quakers, and two Independents.The Anabaptists were a radical Protestant movement founded in the early to mid 16th century which advocated the baptism and church membership of adult believers only, non-resistance, and the separation of church and state. Brownist was [&hellip;]
- [WITCHCRAFT IN NONINGTON AND NEARBY EAST KENT PARISHES.](https://nonington.org.uk/witchcraft-in-nonington-and-nearby-east-kent-parishes-2/): Witches, a woodcut from The History of Witches and Wizards, 1720 Ecclesiastical laws condemning witchcraft in England were first issued in the seventh century by Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, but the belief in and fear of witchcraft reached its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries with Kent second only to Essex in indictments for witchcraft. Witchcraft Acts were passed by the English Parliament under Henry VIII in 1542,&nbsp; Elizabeth I in 1562 and 1563, and James I in 1604.In 1590 King James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, became convinced that he and Queen Anne, his Danish [&hellip;]
- [WELCOME TO THE OLD PARISH OF NONINGTON, A SMALL PLACE IN EAST KENT HISTORY!](https://nonington.org.uk/welcome-to-the-old-parish-of-nonington-a-small-place-in-east-kent-history-2/): Nonington, often spelt Nonnington, is a rural parish in East Kent. It lies some two miles or so to the north-east of the A2 approximately mid-way between Dover and Canterbury. Sandwich is some seven miles to the north-east and Deal is about ten miles or so to the east. The old parish measured roughly three miles by three miles, some 4,000 acres in all, but was divided into the separate parishes of Nonington and Aylesham in 1951. This website is mainly concerned with the original parish before its division, and with events in what became the present parish of Nonington [&hellip;]
- [The origins of the old Parish of Nonington in East Kent](https://nonington.org.uk/the-origins-of-the-old-parish-of-nonington/): Nonington, an extract from Philip Lea&#8217;s &#8220;New Map of Kent&#8221;, c 1690 The old parish of Nonington was some three miles across in each direction with St. Mary’s Church roughly at its centre with the hamlet of Nonington proper surrounding the church. A survey made for Archbishop Lanfranc in the early 1070’s refers to &#8220;Nunningitun&#8221; church as a subsidiary of “the mother church” at Wingham, this appears to be the earliest reference to Nonington.   The settlement evolved on a cross-roads formed by a direct route to Christ Church in Canterbury via Ratling, Adisham, Bekesbourne and St. Martin’s Hill, and the [&hellip;]
- [Anglo-Saxon Nuns and Nonington by Peter Hobbs](https://nonington.org.uk/anglo-saxon-nuns-and-nonington-by-peter-hobbs/): Peter Hobbs is the present owner of the old St. Alban&#8217;s Court manor house in Nonington and has published numerous articles concerning the extensive and still ongoing archaeological investigations he has undertaken over the past twenty or more years  in and around the old St. Alban&#8217;s Court manor house and on the nearby site of  the now long demolished Esole manor house. ++++++ Nonington is a rural parish in East Kent about two miles East of the A2 and broadly equidistant from Canterbury, Dover and Sandwich. Formerly some 4000 acres in extent, the mining village of Aylesham and the site [&hellip;]
- [AN OPPORTUNITY FOR AN HISTORIAN - it could be YOU! A Master's Degree By Research At Canterbury Christ Church University](https://nonington.org.uk/an-opportunity-for-an-historian-it-could-be-you-a-masters-degree-by-research-at-christ-church-university-canterbury/): Suitable for a Masters by Research, either full-time or part-time, we at the Centre for Kent History and Heritage at Canterbury Christ Church University have some funding for a historical landscape project based on East Kent. Are you interested in Kent’s early medieval history? Have you ever wondered how the different estates in the countryside came into being during the time of the Kingdom of Kent and beyond, and how they developed either side of the Norman Conquest as the pressure of the Norman presence came to bear on the Kentish countryside? If so, then this project may be just [&hellip;]
- [DONATIONS TO HELP FUND THE PUBLISHING OF NONINGTON, A SMALL PLACE IN HISTORY](https://nonington.org.uk/donations-to-help-fund-the-site/)
- [Francis & Robert Hammond of St. Alban's Court,  Brothers-in-Arms: The Thirty Years War & The Bishops Wars](https://nonington.org.uk/captain-francis-hammond-the-thirty-years-war-the-bishops-wars/): Francis Hammond: The Thirty Years War Francis and Robert Hammond&nbsp; were members of Sir Walter Raleigh&#8217;s expedition to Guyana [Guiana], now a part of Venezuela, that left England in June of 1617 in search of El Dorado, the fabled South American city of gold. The expedition was a complete failure and Raleigh was arrested on his return to England in mid-1618 and executed at the Tower of London in October of that year on the orders of King James I for breaching the king&#8217;s instruction that&nbsp; Raleigh&#8217;s expedition must not be involved in any fighting with the Spanish. At present, [&hellip;]
- [Nonington, Kent : a Contribution to its Early History By Dr. Frederick William Hardman, LL.D., F.S.A. with notes by Peter Hobbs of Old St. Alban's Court, Nonington.](https://nonington.org.uk/hardman-history-of-nonington-manuscript-copy/): A verbatim copy of the draught manuscript of an unpublished history of Nonington written by Dr. F. W. Hardman in the early 1930&#8217;s. The page numbers shown are those of the copy, not the original manuscript.Following the manuscript copy is a personal note by Peter Hobbs of Old St. Alban&#8217;s Court on Dr. Hardman&#8217;s unpublished history.&nbsp; Page 1 Nonington (pronounced Nunnington) lies in the heart of the agricultural part of South- east Kent about equidistant from Canterbury and Dover. It is remote from towns and main roads and has been little influenced by outside events. Its little community has been [&hellip;]
- ["The Village People” by John Hansell and the third year boys of NCPE](https://nonington.org.uk/the-village-people-by-john-hansell-and-the-third-year-boys-of-ncpe/): The following item was kindly contributed to this website by John Hansell and the third year boys of NCPE Today’s Self Isolation Character is “V” and the topic is :-“The Village People.” Nonington College was essentially a village in itself, where small was beautiful most of the time, and where everyone was a character who seemed to know everyone else; a bit like a sports version of “The Archers, an everyday story of sweaty folk.” Nonington village also had characters of its own, many of them with blood lines that were probably mentioned in the Doomsday book. The Plumtre’s, the [&hellip;]
- [Captain Maximillian Montague Hammond, 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade. Killed in the assault on the Great Redan at Sevastolpol in the Crimea on 8th September, 1855.](https://nonington.org.uk/captain-maximillian-montague-hammond-2nd-battalion-the-rifle-brigade-killed-at-the-assault-on-the-great-redan-at-sevastolpol-in-the-crimea-on-8th-september-1855/): The Hammond family of St. Alban&#8217;s Court in Nonington, Kent, erected a plaque in memory of Maximillian Montague Hammond in St. Mary’s Church in Nonington which can still be seen to this day Maximillian Montague Hammond&nbsp; was born on 6th May, 1824, the third son of William Osmund Hammond, Esq.,&nbsp; of St. Alban&#8217;s Court in Nonington and Mary Graham, eldest daughter of Sir Henry Oxenden of Broome Park near Denton. His older brothers were William Oxenden Hammond, born in 1817, his father&#8217;s heir, and Egerton Douglas Hammond, who became a clergyman and was the editor of  “Memoir of Captain M.M. [&hellip;]
- [The founding & development of  Nonington College of Physical Education by Stephen Burke-Part 1:](https://nonington.org.uk/part-1-nonington-college-stephen-burke/): Miss Gladys Wright, founder and first principle of Nonington College &amp; co-founder of the English Gymnastic Society (EGS) A lady who had sudden and alarming acts of faith&nbsp; or&nbsp; How to found a college with no money!&nbsp; By the late 1920s St Alban’s Court was being rented out to Commander Arthur O’Brien and his wife  Marjorie. Carrying on the tradition of the Hammonds, the couple immediately took an active role in  local life, attending and hosting many events, and sitting on various committees, on Armistice Days  the Commander led the parade in the village to the war Memorial. The couple [&hellip;]
- [Nonington College of Physical Education](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-college-of-physical-education/)
- [Nonington College during World War II by Stephen Burke, who has kindly allowed me to publish the following article which was originally published on the Nonington College Facebook Page.](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-college-during-world-war-11-by-stephen-burke/): Nonington College during WW2, students help with the harvest Although the United Kingdom and France both declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, to begin with not a huge amount happened on the western front and the period was dubbed the Phoney War. Gladys and her students must have carried on as normal hopeful that the war would not touch them. To begin with not a lot did change, the Dover Express reported on 10 May that the annual prize-giving of the Nonington (Aylesham) Evening Institute had taken place and that 18 students from the College had passed the [&hellip;]
- [The Fredville House & Park in Nonington  Picture Galleries](https://nonington.org.uk/the-fredville-house-park-in-nonington-picture-galleries/)
- [Nonington & the English Civil War of 1642-1651](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-the-english-civil-wars/)
- [Nonington &amp; Cromwell’s Commission in Kent of 1655-57](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-and-cromwells-commission-in-kent-of-1655-57/): A commission was established&nbsp;by Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth to control and punish anti-Cromwell and anti-Parliament land-owners in Kent. One of the commission’s leading members was Major John Boys of Fredville who had served on earlier Parliamentary Committees for Kent from at least 1643, as had his father, Sir Edward Boys of Fredville. Sir Edward had become Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports &nbsp;and Governor of Dover Castle from 1642 and had initially held the castle for King Charles I, but that same year he went over to the Parliamentarians and continued to hold the strategically important [&hellip;]
- [Welcome to Nonington, a small place in East Kent history](https://nonington.org.uk/home-page/): Nonington, often spelt Nonnington, is a rural parish in East Kent. It lies some two miles or so to the north-east of the A2 approximately mid-way between Dover and Canterbury. Sandwich is some seven miles to the north-east and Deal is about ten miles or so to the east. The old parish measured roughly three miles by three miles, some 4,000 acres in all, but was divided into the separate parishes of Nonington and Aylesham in 1951. This website is mainly concerned with the original parish before its division, and with events in what became the present parish of Nonington [&hellip;]
- [Nonington's Parish Charities, Poor Houses, & the Care of the Poor](https://nonington.org.uk/noningtons-parish-charities-poor-houses-the-care-of-the-poor/)
- [Kittington, also Kettington, manor and farm in Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/kittington-also-kettington-manor-and-farm-in-nonington/)
- [The Holt Street Estate on the Manor of Fredville](https://nonington.org.uk/the-holt-street-estate-on-the-manor-of-fredville/)
- [H.S. Pledge & Sons Ltd., millers & corn merchants of Ashford, Kent-the  Nonington years](https://nonington.org.uk/h-s-pledge-sons-ltd-millers-corn-merchants/): &nbsp; The 1871 census records a Henry S. Pledge and family as living in Ratling Street, near to Ratling Court. Henry may have started his apprenticeship at the Easole corn mill but in 1871 he was listed as a miller employing two men and as a farmer employing two labourers and a boy. Henry Sturgess Pledge,&nbsp;miller,&nbsp; was not a Nonington miller, he was the miller at the ‘Black Mill’ on Barham Downs, some two miles or so from Ratling. By the time of the 1881 census Henry had moved to Kennington, near Ashford, and taken over the running of the [&hellip;]
- [Captain Eric Frank Penn of The  Grenadier Guards & Second Lieutenant Geoffrey Mark Penn of the The Rifle Brigade-The Nonington Roll of Honour](https://nonington.org.uk/captain-eric-frank-penn-grenadier-guards-and-2nd-lt-geoffrey-mark-penn-the-rifle-brigade/): &nbsp; Two of the names on the Roll of Honour in the yew tree at the entrance to St. Mary&#8217;s Churchyard in Nonington are those of Captain Eric Penn and Second Lieutenant Geoffrey Mark Penn, brothers who were both killed in action during 1915. The Roll of Honour was presented  by Mrs. Gladys Penn,  the widow of  Captain Penn, on 23rd May, 1917.   William and Constance Penn, the parents of the two brothers, were at that time the  tenants at St. Alban&#8217;s Court, Nonington, which was  owned by Captain Egerton Hammond. The Penn family business had been John Penn and [&hellip;]
- [St. Mary's Church in Nonington: monumental inscriptions noted  by the Reverend  Bryan Faussett in 1758](https://nonington.org.uk/1758-nonington-church-monumental-inscriptions-faussett/): The Reverend Bryan Faussett (1720-1776) was a&nbsp; wealthy Kent clergyman who pioneered archaeology in Kent and excavated and recorded scores of sites in East Kent in the mid-18th century. In 1758 the Rev. Faussett made the the following notes on the memorials and inscriptions then to be found in St. Mary&#8217;s Church, Nonington Chancell. 30. A Very Handsome Altar Piece. 31. On ye East Wall, on ye North Side of the Communion Table is the following Inscription, &amp; Coat, on a Large Brass Plate. (G.note: WILFORD)&nbsp;[Gu. a chevn. engrailed betw. 3 leopards’ heads or. imp.&nbsp;(G.note SIMPSON)&nbsp;¼ly: 1&amp;4). Per bend sa. [&hellip;]
- [NONINGTON: SOME NOTES ON THE OLD PARISH THROUGH THE CENTURIES](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-kent-history-contents/): ~~~ The old parish of Nonington measured roughly three miles by three miles, some 4,000 acres in all, but was divided into the separate parishes of Nonington and Aylesham in 1951. This website is mainly concerned with the original parish of Nonington before its division, and with events in what became the present parish of Nonington after this separation. ~~~ Some notes on the Old Parish of Nonington Explore the Old Parish of Nonington on foot or by bicycle ~~~
- [Nonington before the Anglo-Saxons](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-settlement-before-the-anglo-saxons/): Aerial photographs of the old parish of Nonington taken in the last half of the 20th century clearly indicate&nbsp; the sites of several early settlements dating back to the Iron Age [circa 500 BC onwards] and beyond. Accidental finds over the last couple of centuries of worked flints, pottery sherds and pot boilers in fields or gardens uncovered by ploughing or gardening have given strong indications of the locations of&nbsp; sites of early habitation, and&nbsp; a handful of organized archaeological excavations from the mid-19th century onwards have provided more definite evidence as to where some of the early inhabitants of [&hellip;]
- [Donations to The Old Parish of Nonington website.](https://nonington.org.uk/donations-to-the-old-parish-of-nonington-website/): Many thanks for your kind donation to help with the publishing of The Old Parish of Nonington website. This site is self-funded and every little helps!
- [Church Street in Nonington, originally the present Church Street and what is now known as  Pinner's Lane.](https://nonington.org.uk/church-street-picture-gallery/)
- [Nonington Picture Galleries](https://nonington.org.uk/nonington-picture-galleries/)
- [Jane Austen, Eva Crofts and Dame Laura Knight-Literature and Art Visit Nonington](https://nonington.org.uk/famous-visitors-to-nonington/)
- [Nonington's Poor Houses and the Care of the Poor](https://nonington.org.uk/noningtons-poor-houses-and-the-care-of-the-poor/): The Nonington Poor Houses in Church Street and Easole Street Memories of the thatched cottages in Church Street kindly given to me by Mrs. Kath Smith, née Harrison. Health care in Nonington, 1898 Emigration of poor parishioners from Nonington to Adelaide, Australia in 1849. Molly and Tommy Smith, cave-dwellers

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