Allhallows - Cliffe History

Go to content
Allhallows by Edward Hasted
AD 1797

ALLHALLOWS.

EASTWARD from St. Mary's lies the parish of Allhallows, so   called from the church of it being dedicated to All Saints,   vulgarly called Alhallows.
THE PARISH of Alhallows   lies both low and unhealthy, having the marshes both on the   north and east sides of it, the boundary of the former being   the river Thames, and of the latter the water, called the   North Inlet, which separates it from the isle of Grain; the   soil of it is the same as St. Mary's, last described, but   lying lower is more fertile land. The village, with the   church in it, stands about a quarter of a mile from the   marshes, at the north-east point of the upland, having no   thoroughfare through it, excepting towards the marshes, and   is altogether a most unfrequented and dreary situation.

The PARAMOUNT   MANOR of Hoo claims over   this parish, subordinate to which is the MANOR of WINDHILL ,   which in the time of king Edward I. was part of  the   possessions of the abbot and convent of Reading, (fn. 1)   with whom it remained till its dissolution, in the reign of   king Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's   hands; (fn. 2) who, in his 32d year, granted it in exchange,   to Sir Thomas Wyatt, of Allington, to hold
in capite ,   by the service of the tenth part of one knight's fee; but   he, in the 34th year of that reign, conveyed it back again   to the king. (fn. 3)
The manor of Windhill remained   in the crown till king James I. in the beginning of his   reign, granted it to the city of London, whence it was soon   afterwards conveyed by sale, by the trustees of that   corporation, to Sir William Garway of London, who died   possessed of it in 1625, and left by his wife, Elizabeth,   daughter of Thomas Anderson, seventeen children; of whom   Henry, the second, succeeded him in this manor, and was   afterwards knighted, and lord mayor in 1640; one of his   descendants alienated it, in the reign of king Charles II.   to Richard Head, of Rochester, from whom it descended down   to Sir Francis Head, bart. of the Hermitage, in Higham, who   died possessed of it in 1768. Since which it has descended   down in like manner as that seat and his other estates in   this neighbourhood, to his heirs, viz. one fourth of it to   the daughter of Francis Roper Head, esq. another fourth to   James Roper Head, esq. and the remaining moiety to Mrs.   Elizabeth Campbell Lill, who are now entitled to the see of   it. There is a court baron held for this manor.
ALHALLOWS   HOUSE, is an estate here, the house of which is situated   adjoining to the church yard, and was formerly a seat of   good account, being antiently called Alhallows place ,   and the Place house .   It was once the estate of the eminent family of Pimpe, of   Pimpe's-court, in East Farleigh; one of whom, Sir Philip de   Pimpe, was one of those proprietors of estates, within this   hundred, who in the 11th year of king Edward III. were   assessed to furnish out twelve men at arms, and six   hobelers, for the defence of the seacoast at Yenlade in Hoo;   of which number Sir William de Pimpe was to find two men at   arms. His descendant, Thomas Pimpe, senior, died in the 14th   year of king Edward IV. and was buried in Alhallows church.   He left, as now appears by his will, in the register's   office in this diocese, two sons, William and John, and   three daughters; one of whom, Margery, was prioress of   Malling. Soon after which this estate passed by purchase to   the family of Copinger, (fn. 4) of whom Sir William, son of   Sir Walter Copinger, of Buxall, in Suffolk, was lord mayor   in 1512, in which year he died. They bore for their arms, Or, three bendless   gules, surmounted of a fess azure, charged with three plates.   His descendant, Ralph Copinger, esq. left two daughters his   coheirs; of whom the eldest, Elizabeth, married Sir   Harbottle Grimston, eldest son of Edward Grimston, of   Bradfield, in Essex, who in her right became possessed of   this estate, and was afterwards created a baronet. His   second, but eldest surviving son, Sir Harbottle Grimston,   bart. succeeded him in this estate, and after the death of   king Charles I. was strenuous in his endeavours to promote   the Restoration; of which, as well as of his merits, king   Charles II. at his return, had a just sense. He was a man of   much note, having been elected speaker of the house of   commons at the time of the Restoration, and was afterwards   made privy counsellor, and master of the Rolls. (fn. 5) He   died in 1683, and was succeeded in title and estates by Sir   Samuel Grimstone, bart. his only surviving son, by his first   wife, Mary, daughter of Sir George Cooke, justice of the   common pleas, he alienated this estate soon after his coming   to the possession of it; which, at length, after some   intermediate owners, was sold in 1713, to Mr. Samuel Fasham,   of Deal, from whom it descended to his grand children,   Samuel and Edward Roby, of Deal, and Mr. Bethel Dawes, their   brother in law; Mr. Edward Roby died in 1775, Mr. Dawes in   1776, and Mr. Samuel Roby in 1777. Mr. Dawes devised his   interest in this estate to Mr. Charles Ferne Sawkins for   life, remainder to Mr. Sam. and Edward Roby aforesaid; the   latter of whom dying before the testator, the see of the   reversion of Mr. Dawes's third part, after Mr. Sawkins's   death, is become vested, one part in the testators heirs at   law, and the other in the children of Mr. Samuel Roby, who   died in 1777; the other two thirds of this estate now belong   to the children of Mr. Samuel and Mr. Edw. Roby, of Deal,   brothers, both deceased, aforesaid.
There is mention   in the court rolls of Hoo manor, of the manor of Newhall in   this parish.
CHARITIES.

THE   CHURCH WARDENS of Alhallows pay a see farm to the crown, for   a tenement near the Stocks in Hoo.
ALHALLOWS is   within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese and deanry of Rochester. The church is dedicated to All Saints,   commonly called Alhallows.
In the church are the   following monuments and inscriptions: In the chancel ,   a brass for Stephen Cheraton, vicar, obt. 1518. In the north chancel ,   one for Wm. son of Henry Copinger, obt. 1594, leaving Martha   his wife, great with his only child, William Posthumous. His   monument was fixed against the north wall, but the chancel   becoming ruinous, and the communication to it from the   church being stopped up, the monument was destroyed, but the   plate, with the inscription, was put up again within the   church, as near as could be, in a like position, against the   wall; on the monument was a shield, with three bendlets   surmounted, of a fess charged with three rundles, within a   bordure. On the south   wall , a monument, almost   defaced, the arms of Copinger, with twelve quarterings, for   Tho. Copinger, of Buxall, eldest son of Henry Copinger, esq.   and Agnes, daughter of Sir Thomas Germin, put up by William   Copinger, esq. his son and heir, by Francis, the only   offspring of William Brooke lord Cobham, by Dorothy,   daughter of Geo. Neville, lord Abergavenny, in 1587.
This church was antiently esteemed but as a chapel to the   church of St. Warburgh of Hoo, as has been before fully   recited.
Laurence, bishop of Rochester, in 1252,   appropriated the church of St. Warburgh of Hoo, with this   chapel of All Saints, to the prior and convent of Rochester,   to the use of their almonry, they being the real patrons of   it, provided that this church was served by a proper vicar,   to be presented to him and his successors, by them and their   successors, who should in no wise neglect the cure of souls   in it. (fn. 6)
The vicarage of this church had no   endowment for many years afterwards; but in 1327, a dispute   having arisen between the prior and chapter of Rochester, to   whom it was appropriated, and Sir William de Oxford,   concerning certain profits and incumbrances belonging to it,   they mutually submitted the merits of it to Hamo, bishop of   Rochester, their diocesan, who decreed, that all the tithes   of sheaves, as well of lands dug with the foot as those   cultivated by the plough, as also of wool and hay,   whencesoever arising in the parish of this church, should in   future belong to the religious, to whom the church was   appropriated; and that they should receive the tithes, as   above men tioned, for their portion, and that the burthen of   procuration to the archdeacon of Rochester, as well as the   providing ornaments, vestments, and books, which did not   belong to the parishioners to provide, and the amending   them, so that it did not exceed the sum of two shillings in   any one year, and the building and repairing the chancel of   the church, should belong to the religious, who should in   future undergo the said burthens; and he decreed, that the   tithes of lambs, calves, pigs, geese, pidgeons, mills,   fisheries, rushes, herbage, cheese, milk, flax, hemp, and   all other small tithes, oblations, and obventions to this   church, in any way belonging, or arising, and not above   assigned to the religious, and the burthen of repairing and   maintaining the buildings and mansion of the vicarage   wholly, and of the books, vestments, and ornaments   aforesaid, the repairing and maintaining of which books,   vestments, and ornaments, so that it did not exceed two   shillings in any one year, belonged to the religious to   provide; and also the burthen of providing bread and wine,   of processional tapers, and other lights belonging to the   church, and the rest of the necessaries for divine worship,   which did not belong to the parishioners to provide, and   were not above specifically noted, should in future belong   to the vicar and his successors, and that Sir William, vicar   as aforesaid, and his successors in this c
hurch, should in   future take the said tithes, oblations, and obventions, with   which being content, he and they should undergo and   acknowledge the before mentioned burthens; but all other   burthens, as well ordinary as extraordinary, not specified   above, if any should happen, he decreed, should belong to   the religious, &c.
In the 31st year of king Edward I.   Henry de Grey and Hugh Poinz claimed the presentation to the   vicarage of this church, then vacant, against the prior of   Rochester, but in consideration of the prior's giving them   one hundred shillings, they released all the right and title   they had in it, to him and his successors for ever; and on   an assize then had, the jurors found, that the advowson was   the prior's right, and that he and his convent had possessed   it to their own proper use for forty years and upwards. On   the dissolution of the priory of Rochester, this church and   advowson were, together with the rest of the possessions of   it, surrendered in the 32d year of king Henry VIII. into the   king's hands, who the next year settled them by his dotation   charter on his new erected dean and chapter of Rochester,   where they now remain.
The vicarage of this church is   a discharged living in the king's books, of the clear yearly   certified value of 30l. the yearly tenths being 16s. 9½d.
In the survey of the ecclesiastical livings in this   diocese, taken in 1650, it was returned, that here was a   parsonage, parcel of the possessions of the late dean and   chapter; that the scite of the house, yards, barns, &c.   contained eleven acres, and were then let at eight pounds   yearly, improved rent. The whole was let by Walter   Balcanqual, dean, and the chapter of Rochester, anno 10   Charles I. for twenty-one years, to Francis Butler, at the   yearly rent of 10l. 13s. 4d. but was worth, over and above   that rent, 67l. 6s. 8d. the lessee being bound to maintain   the chancel in good repair. That the tenants of it then   were, John and Christopher Whyting, and George Elcock, of   Croydon; that the vicarage was worth thirty-eight pounds per   annum, the incumbent being Mr. Hugh Whyting. (fn. 7)
Back to content