Old St. Alban’s Court House picture slide show

  • 1814 St. Alban’s Court estate map
  • Easole Street & St. Alban’s Court from the 1859 Poor Law Commissioners map of Nonington
  • Colonel Francis Hammond, born 1584. He reputedly fought 14 single combats during his service in the German Wars [The Thirty Years War] & and commanded the forlorn hope at the English Civil War battle of Edgehill
  • Colonel Robert Hammond. Served with the Royalist forces in the English Civil War and was shot on the order of Oliver Cromwell while fighting in Ireland The portrait hangs in the old Beaney Institute, now the Canterbury Royal Museum and Art Gallery.
  • William Oxenden Hammond, born in 1817, died in 1903. A land-owner, banker and magistrate. This 1883 portrait hangs in the Beaney Institute, Canterbury.
  • The Canterbury Bank,on the corner of St. Margaret’s Street and the High Street, now the Lloyd’s Bank building.
  • W. Oxenden Hammond bequeathed a collection of some 500 or so British birds and mammals made by himself and his father, W. Osmund Hammond, to the Beaney Institute in Canterbury, now The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, which was just across the road from the Hammond Bank. Some of William senior’s taxidermy specimens were very early and rare examples. One of the exhibits is a rook in a red coat put on the bird by local boys which always fascinated me when I was a boy.
  • 1895 Hammond to Plumptre School letter
    1895 A letter from the bank to Mr. Plumptre concerning Nonington School.
  • St. Alban’s Court, the old house picture slide show
  • A similar view of the old house from “The Epitomy of the History of Kent”, 1838
  • In 1869 W.O. Hammond commissioned prominent country house architect George Devey, to build a stable block and a home farm to the south-west of St. Alban’s Court House house. the stable yard arch has an inscribed stone tablet above it. The inscription reads: “My horse, my love, my horse” The farm granary is to the left of the arch, the rest of the farm is out of picture to the left.
  • Old St. Alban’s Court house taken in the 1870’s.
  • Old St Alban's Court house in the 1870's
    Old St Alban’s Court house in the 1870’s. Much larger than the present old house, much of it was demolished after the new house was built
  • Old St. Alban’s House painted in 1893 by W.O. Hammond, the owner of St. Alban’s Court and a talented amateur water-colourist.
  • St Alban’s Court, the new house picture slide show
  • The NE side and gardens, 1930’s
  • The north side and gardens with the arch through to the court-yard
  • A close up of the house and bell-tower
  • The arch leading from the court-yard to the gardens
  • The house viewed from the court-yard on the south-western side of the house. On the left of the house there is a sundial set just below the pointed stepped gable.
  • The sun dial and pointed stepped gable
  • Miss Gladys Wright, founder and first principle of Nonington College & co-founder of the English Gymnastic Society (EGS) for use as both head-quarters and a training centre for women who wished to teach gymnastics The college was opened on 23rd July, 1938 by Cosmo Gordon Lang, the then Archbishop of Canterbury In the June of 1939 the Duke of Kent visited Nonington, Snowdown Colliery and Aylesham. He was shown around Nonington College by the Principal and Vice-Principal and watched some displays by the students.
  • The Duke of Kent paid a visit to the recently opened Nonington College in June of 1939. The Duke was accompanied by Miss Wright and her deputy, Miss Kruger. The flag carrier was the senior student, Miss Jessie Bennett.
  • Here the Duke and Miss Wright are entering the old house gardens,
  • The Duke met with staff and students in the court-yard of the old house,
  • Staff and students in the stable-yard wave goodbye to the Duke of Kent at the end of his visit


6 Comments

  • Stephen Burke

    11 January 2021 at 20:57

    Dear Sir

    I am doing some research on the history of Nonington College for our alumni forum on Facebook. Your website contains some fascinating information and photos relating to the history of the College which clearly would be of great interest to our members. Would you be willing to allow me to quote from your site and use some of your photographs? Obviously I will acknowledge anything that we use.

    Best regards

    Stephen Burke

  • admin

    20 July 2017 at 08:01

    Dear Dr. Buján, thank you for contacting me. Please use any pictures or information on my website that you feel will be of use to you. I have sent your email address to the gentleman who owns old St. Alban’s Court. He has done a lot of research on George Devey’s work at St. Alban’s Court and has published articles about the house and gardens in various Kent Archaeological Society publications so he may be able to help you with further information.

  • Jorge F. Buján

    19 July 2017 at 22:09

    Dear Sir
    I would like to know if I can include the photo “The NE side and gardens, 1930´s” in my book “The Architecture of the British Community in Quilmes (1872-1930)”. The book will be published by the National Univerisity of La Plata, Buenos Aires. Argentina. It is an academic proyect with no comercial purpose. Some of the English architects who worked in Argentina showed the influence of architect George Devey and St.Alban´s Court is a very good example of his best production.
    Yours truly

    Dr. (architect) Jorge F. Buján
    La Plata National University.

  • elizabeth smith

    21 April 2016 at 18:29

    hi your pictures are not showing. I will be visiting Chilhamchase/400 may 20-22 and hopefully petham. looking for Anne Digges 1610-1664 married Anthony Hammond 2nd marriage George Juxon burial place and others from Hammond family. cheers from canada

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