Stoke - Cliffe History

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Stoke by Edward Hasted
 
1797 AD

STOKE

THE last parish   undescribed in this hundred, lies the next southward from   that of Alhallows. A small part of it is within the hundred   of Shamel. This place, as appears by the Textus Roffensis,   was called Andscohesham in the time   of the Saxons. In Domesday it is called Estoches and Stoches ;   and in later deeds by its present name of Stoke.



EADBERHT, king of Kent, gave part of his land for the good   of his soul, and the remission of his sins, to the bishopric   of St. Andrew, in Rochester, and Ealdulf, bishop of it, in   the district called Hohg, at a place there called   Andscohesham, containing, by estimation, ten ploughlands,   together with all things belonging to it, in fields, woods,   meadows, fisheries, saltpans, &c. according to the known and   established bounds of it; which gift was confirmed by   archbishop Nothelm and king Æthelberht, in the   metropolitical city, in 738. This estate was afterwards   wrested from the church of Rochester during the troublesome   times of the Danish wars, and was afterwards purchased by   earl Godwin of two men, who held it of the bishop of   Rochester, and sold it without the bishop's knowledge. The   earl was succeeded in it by his eldest son, earl Harold,   afterwards king of England, after whose death, William the   Conqueror attaining the crown, seised on all the late king's   estates, and gave this manor, together with other land at   Stoke, among other premises, to Odo, bishop of Baieux, his   half brother. But Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury,   recovered the manor of Stoke from him, in the solemn   assembly held at Pinenden-heath, in 1076, and afterwards   restored it, with its church, to Gundulph, bishop of   Rochester, and the church of St. Andrew, (fn. 1) which gift   was confirmed by archbishop Anselm, and by several of his   successors, archbishops of Canterbury.
The manor of   Stoke is thus described in the general survey of Domesday,   taken about four years afterwards, under the general title   of the bishop of Rochester's lands.
In How hundred. The same   bishop (of Rochester) holds Estoches. In the   time of king Edward the Confessor, it was taxed at five   sulings, and now at three. The arable land is five   carucates. In demesne there are two carucates, and 10 villeins, with five   borderers, having 4 carucates. There is a   church, and 4 servants, and 4 acres of meadow. In   the time of king Edward, and afterwards, and now it was, and   is worth eight pounds and 20 pence, and yet he   who holds it pays 13
pounds and 20 pence. This manor was, and is   belonging to the bishopric of Rochester; but earl Godwin, in   the time of king Edward, bought it of two men, who held it   of the bishop, and this sale was made without his knowledge. But after that,   William being king, Lanfranc the archbishop recovered it   against the bishop of Baieux, and from thence the church of   Rochester is now seised of it.
Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, having divided the revenues   of his church between himself and his convent, allotted this   manor to the share of the monks,
ad victum ,   that is, to the use of their refectory; (fn. 2) and the same   was confirmed to them, by several of the succeeding kings,   archbishops, and bishops of Rochester. (fn. 3)
On   bishop Gilbert de Glanvill's coming to the see of Rochester   in 1185, he found it much impoverished, by the gifts of   several of the best estates belonging to it made by bishop   Gundulph, to the monks of his priory. This occasioned a   dispute between them, the bishop claiming this manor, among   others, as having belonged to the maintenance of his table.   In consequence of which, though he wrested the church of   Stoke from them, yet they continued in possession of this   manor, with its appendages, till the dissolution of the   priory in the reign of king Henry VIII.
In the 7th   year of king Edward I. the bishop of Rochester claimed   certain liberties, by the grant of king Henry I. in all his   lands and fees, and others by antient custom, in the lands   of his priory in Stoke, and other lands belonging to his   church; (fn. 4) which were allowed by the jury, as they were   again in the 21st year of that reign, upon a Quo warranto ;   and again in the 7th year of king Edward II. and they were   confirmed by letters of inspeximus ,   granted by king Edward III. in his 30th year. In the 21st   year of king Edward I. on another Quo warranto ,   the prior of Rochester claimed that he and his predecessors   had, in the manors of Stoke, &c. view of frank-pledge ,   from beyond memory, which was allowed by the jury. He also   claimed free-warren, by grant from Henry I. but the jury   found that neither he nor his predecessors had used it,   therefore it was determined, that they should remain without   that liberty, but king Edward I. by his charter, in his 23d   year, granted that liberty to the prior and convent in all   their demesne lands of this manor, among others; so that no   one should enter on them, either to hunt, or to take any   thing which belonged to warren, without their licence, on   the forfeiture of ten pounds. In the 15th year of king   Edward I. the manor of Stoke was valued at nine pounds.
On the dissolution of the priory of Rochester in the 32d   year of king Henry VIII. this manor was surrendered, with   the other possessions of it, into the king's hands, who   presently after, in his 33d year, settled it, on his   new-founded dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom the   inheritance of it continues at this time.
There is a   court-leet and court-baron held for this manor.
In   1720, Jacob Sawbridge, one of the South-Sea directors,   purchased the lease of the manor-farm of Stoke, under the   yearly rent of twenty eight pounds, clear of all taxes, the   rack rent of which, was ninety pounds per annum. The present   lessee is the Right Hon. John, earl of Darnley.
TUDERS ,   formerly spelt Teuders ,   is a manor in this parish, which antiently was held of the   bishop of Rochester, as of his manor of Stoke.
In the   12th year of king John, this estate was held by Hugo de   Stokes, as half a knight's fee, of the bishop of Rochester,   by knight's service. (fn. 5) His descendant, Theodore de   Stokes, afterwards possessed it, (fn. 6) and ingrafted his   name on it; for from that time this manor was called Theodores,   and for shortness, Tudors; and Philipott   says, he had seen an antient roll of Kentish arms, wherein   Tudor of Stoke bore the same coat armour with Owen Theodore,   vulgarly called Tuder, being Azure, a chevron   between four helmets argent.
After this name was extinct here, this manor came into   that of Woodward; one of whom, Edward Woodward, possessed it   at the latter end of Henry VIII's reign. His descendant, in   the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, conveyed it   to John Wilkins gent. of Stoke parsonage, who died in the   19th year of that reign, and was succeeded in it by his   kinsman and heir, George Wilkins, gent. who married   Elizabeth, one of the daughters of Mr. John Copinger, of   Alhallows, by whom he left no issue. He lies buried in this   church. His arms were, Gules, on a chevron argent, a   demi lion between two martlets sable, between three welk   shells or ; one of whose   descendants, about the beginning of king Charles I's reign,   alienated it to Bright, and Edward Bright, clerk, died   possessed of it in the year 1670, on which this estate, by   virtue of a mortgage term, passed into the possession of   William Norcliffe, esq. of the Temple, London, whose widow   possessed it after his decease, and since her death it is   become the property of the Rev. Mr. Henry Southwell, of   Wisbeach, in the Isle of Ely, who is the present owner of   it.
Hugo de Stokes, owner of this manor in the reign   of king Stephen, gave the tithes of it to the monks of St.   Andrew's, in Rochester, to whom it was confirmed by   archbishop Theobald, and the prior and convent of   Canterbury, (fn. 7) and by several bishops of Rochester.   (fn. 8)
At the dissolution of the priory, in the 32d   year of king Henry VIII. this portion of tithes, together   with the rest of the possessions of the monastery, was   surrendered into the king's hands, who settled it next year,   on his new-erected dean and chapter of Rochester, where it   now remains.
This portion of tithes, called Tudor's portion ,   was surveyed soon after the death of king Charles I. in   1649, when it was returned, that the same arose out of the   tenement of Tudors, and several other tenements, called   Bartons, in the parish of Stoke, with six fields, containing   by estimation, fifty-three acres; the improved value of   which premises was five pounds per annum, all which were let   by the late dean and chapter, anno 3 king Charles I. to   Sarah Wilkins, at 6s. and 8d. per annum.
The present   lessee is Baldwin Duppa Duppa, of Hollingborne, in this   county.
MALMAYNES is a manor in   this parish, now commonly known by the name of Maamans Hall ,   which was given, as well as that of Stoke, by the Conqueror,   at his accession to the crown, to his half-brother, Odo, as   has been already mentioned; and when archbishop Lanfranc   recovered the latter from the bishop, at the noted assembly   of the county at Pinenden, as having before belonged to the   church of Rochester, this manor was then likewise in his   possession. Accordingly it is thus entered in the survey of   Domesday, under the general title of that prelate's lands:
The   same Ansgotus (de Rochester) holds of the bishop (of Baieux) Stoches. It was taxed   at two sulings. The arable land is two carucates, and there   are in demesne . . . with seven borderers. There is one   fishery of two shillings. In the time of king Edward, and   afterwards, it was worth one hundred shillings, now one   hundred and ten shillings. Anschil held it of king Edward.
On   the disgrace of the bishop of Baieux in 1083, this, among   the rest of his estates, was confilcated to the crown. After   which it became part of the possessions of the family of   Malmaines, a branch of which resided here, and fixed their   name on it. John de Malmaines, son of Henry, died possessed   of it in the 10th year of king Edward II. In the 20th year   of king Edward III. the heirs of Thomas de Malmayns, of Hoo,   paid aid for three quarters of a knight's fee, which John   Malmayns before held here of the king.
Richard Filiot   seems soon afterwards to have been in possession of this   manor, which passed from him into the family of Carew, and   Nicholas Carew, of Bedington, in Surry, died possessed of it   in the 14th year of king Richard II. His son, Nicholas de   Careu, armiger, de Bedington, as he wrote himself, (fn. 9)   in the 9th year of king Henry V. conveyed this manor by sale   to Iden; from which name it passed, in the latter end of   king Henry VIII's reign, to John Parker, whose arms were, Sable, on a fess   ingrailed argent, between three hinds tripping or, three   torteauxes, each charged with a pheon of the second,   which coat is now quartered by lord Teynham. (fn. 10) His   sole daughter and heir, Elizabeth, carried it in marriage to   John Roper, esq. of Linsted, who was first knighted, and   afterwards created baron of Teynham, in this county. His   son, Christopher, lord Teynham, died in 1622, and by his   will devised this manor to his second son, William Roper,   esq. who alienated it, in the reign of king Charles I. to   Jones, in whose descendants it continued till the reign of   king George I. when it passed by sale from them to Baldwin   Duppa, esq. who died in 1737, and his son, Baldwin Duppa,   esq. of Hollingborne-hill, possessed it at his death in   1764, since which it has continued in the same family the   present owner, being Baldwin Duppa Duppa, esq. of that   place.
Sir John Malmeyns, of this parish, in 1303,   made his petition to Robert, abbot, and the convent of   Boxley, appropriators of this church; that as he was, on   account of his house being situated at such a distance from   the parish church, often prevented from attending divine   service there, he might be enabled to build an oratory, for   himself and his family, on his own estate, and might have a   priest to celebrate divine services in it. To which the   abbot and convent assented, provided, as far as might be, no   prejudice might by it accrue to the mother church,   themselves, or the vicars of it, which licence was confirmed   by Thomas, bishop of Rochester, that year.
RALPH MALESMÆINS,   about the reign of king Henry I. became a monk of the priory   of St. Andrew, in Rochester, and on that account granted to   the monks there his   tithes of Stoches ; and   after his death Robert Malesmæins, his son, confirmed it, as   did Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, Ralph, prior and the   convent of Canterbury, and several of the succeeding bishops   of Rochester.
At the dissolution of the priory of   Rochester, in the 32d year of king Henry VIII. this portion   of tithes was surrendered into the king's hands, who granted   it the nextyear, by his dotation charter, to his new-erected   dean and chapter of Rochester, where the inheritance of it   now remains.
The present lessee, under the dean and   chapter, is Baldwin Duppa Duppa, esq. of Hollingborne-hill.
Reginald de Cobham, son of John de Cobham, possessed   lands in this parish, and in the 14th year of king Edward   III. procured free-warren in all his demesne lands in Stoke.
King Henry VIII. in his 32d year, granted to George   Brooke, lord Cobham, a marsh, called Coleman's, alias   Bridge-marsh, lying in Oysterland, alias Eastland, in Stoke;   and other premises, parcel of the priory of Christ-church,   to hold in capite,   by knights service.
CHARITIES.
RICHARD   WHITE, of Chalk, gave by will in 1722, an annual sum of   money to the poor of this parish not receiving alms, vested   in Mr. John Prebble, and of the yearly product of ten   shillings.
STOKE is within the ECCLESIASTICAL   JURISDICTION of the diocese and deanry of Rochester. The church, is dedicated to St. Peter. In the chancel are these brasses: one for John Wilkins, gentleman, born in   this parish, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Coppinger,   esq. of Alhallows, obt. s. p .   1575, arms, Wilkins impaling Coppinger, and other coats, one   for William Cardiff, B. D. vicar, obt. 1415; another for   Frances Grimestone, daughter of Ralph Coppinger, esq. and   wife of Henry Grimestone, esq. obt. 1608.
This church   was antiently an appendage to the manor of Stoke.
King Henry I. gave his tithe of Stoke to the church of St.   Andrew, and Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, and when he   allotted the manor of Stoke to the share of the monks of his   convent, the church passed as an appendage to it, and it   continued with them, till bishop Gilbert de Glanvill took   this church, among other premises, from them, and annexed it   again to his see, where it remained till Richard, bishop of   Rochester, with the consent of his chapter, granted the   appropriation of it to the abbot and convent of Boxley for   ever; saving the portions of tithes, which the prior and   convent used to take, from the demesnes of Sir Henry   Malmeyns, and those arising from the free tenement of   Theodore de Stokes, and the portion of four sacks of wheat   due to the almoner of Rochester, and of four sacks of wheat   due to the lessees of St. Bartholomew, which they used to   take by the hands of the rector of the church, and which for   the future they should receive by the hands of the abbot and   convent, saving also all episcopal right, and a competent   vicarage to be assessed by him, which instrument was dated   in 1244. Soon after which, the bishop endowed this vicarage   as follows:
First, he decreed, that the perpetual   vicar of it should have all the altarage, with all small   tithes, excepting hay, which should remain to the parson;   and that he should have the chapel, and the cemetery of it,   and the crost adjoining, and one mark of silver yearly, at   the hand of the parson of Stoke, and that the vicar should   sustain all burthens due and accustomed, and contribute a   third part to the repair and amendment of the chancel,   books, vestments, and other ornaments.
Richard,   bishop of Rochester, in 1280, at the instance of the prior   and convent of Rochester, made enquiry in what manner the   monks used antiently to retain their tithes in their manors,   and in what manner they used to impart them to the parish   churches of the same, when it was certified, that in the   manor of Stoke, the parish church took the whole tithes of   sheaves only, but of other small tithes, as well as of mills   and hay, it did not, nor used to take any thing; and he   decreed, that the parish church of Stoke should be content   with the tenths of the sheaves of all kind of corn only. All   which was confirmed to them by John, archbishop of   Canterbury, by his let of inspeximus ,   in the year 1281.
In 1315 the abbot and convent of   Boxley, as appropriators of the church of Stoke, claimed an   exemption of tithes for a mill newly erected by them in the   parish of Halstow, for the herbage of their marsh of   Horsemershe, and for the rushes increasing, and the lambs   feeding in it, before Walter, archbishop of Canterbury, and   his commissaries, then visiting this diocese, as   metropolitan, which claim was allowed by the decree of the   archbishop, &c. that year.
On the dissolution of the   abbey of Boxley, in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. the   church and vicarage of Stoke, together with the rest of the   possessions of that monastery, were surrendered into the   king's hands.
Soon after which, this rectory, with   the advowson of the vicarage, was granted by the king to   William Goodwyn, to hold in capite by knights service, and he, in the 36th year of that reign,   alienated it with the king's licence, to John Parke, whose   only daughter, Elizabeth, carried these premises in marriage   to John Roper, esq. of Linsted, afterwards created lord   Teynham; who in the 9th year of queen Elizabeth, alienated   them to John Wilkins, gent. (fn. 11) who levied a fine of   them in Easter term, anno 17 of that reign, and died   possessed of them in the 19th year of it. He was succeeded   in this parsonage and advowson by his kinsman and heir,   George Wilkins, one of whose descendants, in the beginning   of king Charles I's reign, alienated them to Bright, from   which name they were sold to Baldwin Duppa, esq. since which   they have passed in like manner as Malmains-hall, before   described, to Baldwin Duppa Duppa, esq. the present   proprietor of the parsonage and advowson of the vicarage of   Stoke. The rectory of Stoke pays a fee farm to the church of   ten shillings and eight-pence per annum.
The vicarage   of Stoke is a discharged living in the king's books, of the   clear yearly certified value of thirty pounds, the yearly   tenths being 17s. 2d.
In 1650, this vicarage, on the   survey then taken of it, was valued at forty pounds, (fn.   12) Mr. Thomas Miller, then incumbent.
NICHOLAS DE   CARREU, senior, lord of the manor of Malmeynes, in this   parish, with the licence of king Edward III. which was   afterwards further renewed and confirmed by king Richard II.   in the 12th year of that reign, anno 1388, founded A CHANTRY   for two priests in this church of Stoke; and he then, by his   deed, endowed it with one messuage and one acre of land, in   this parish, for their habitation and their maintenance, an   annual rent of twenty-four marcs out of his manor, called   Malemeynesemanere, which was confirmed by William, bishop of   Rochester, who with the consent of his convent, made rules   and orders for their presentation and admission, from time   to time, and for the good order and celebration of divine   rites in it, to which instrument the bishop, the prior and   convent of Rochester, Nicholas de Carreu, and John Maister,   and John Buset, chantry priests, severally set their seals.

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