i A Brief Historical Tour of

A THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

An its Environs

Bridge and District History Society 2007


 


A Brief Historical Tour

A Brief Historical Tour of

THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

And its Environs

5’  V" '. i I 9:“ .11.

Bridge Street in 1661: Willem Scheflinks
CC) Courrauid Institute

5 Bridge and District History Societ;/2007


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

This brief tour guide to Bridge is based upon a small part of the
considerable amount of archive material that the History Society now
possesses. If in particular it succeeds in stimulating readers to offer
corrections or further information concerning the events and people
mentioned, or on any other topic, or pictures of any of the buildings
described, we shall be most grateful to receive them. In preparing this
booklet, we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible in what we
have selected to record, but we apologise for any inaccuracies which
may have occurred. Sometimes people's recollections of the past vary.

Inevitably, what we have been able to include has been circumscribed
by the space available.

Many of the images we have reproduced come from the Bridge History
Society's archive collection. We would like to thank the Courtauld
Institute of Art Gallery, London for permission to reproduce the view
of Bridge in 1661; Kent Archaeological Trust, for the picture of Bridge
Church before 1860 and the structural drawings of Bridge Farm. The
picture of Bridge Windmill is reproduced by permission of English
Heritage. NMR. We are grateful to all those who have made material
available for our use — written, verbal or photographic.

We are grateful to the Highland Investment Co Ltd for their kind
donation to this project, and in particular would like to thank Mr Bill
Ronan and Cllr Martin Vye for their help in obtaining generous financial
support from Kent County council.

Meiiel Connor
Maurice Rara Ly


A Brief Historical Tour

THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

The village of Bridge lies astride the Nailbourne — when, that is, the ‘bourne’,
an intermittent water course of the Little Stour, is flowing! The river has its
ultimate source at East Brook, near Etchinghill — hardly more than 3 miles
from the channel coast at Hythe, but it only flows continuously from the
spring at Well Chapel, Littlebourne. It dries up, or runs underground,

frequently. When the Wantsum Channel was open to the sea, the Nailbourne: A

which flowed into it, was a faster and wider water course. As late as the
1920s, it is said that trout were to be caught from the river at School Lane,
Bekesbourne. Legends abound of the river in full flow portending national
disaster. As recently as 2000 there was widespread flooding. The Kentish
Travellers’ Companion of 1794 records that ‘the bridge being decayed and
otherwise inconvenient for carriages, a new and more commodious one has
been built by subscription’: this double-arched bridge still survives beneath


sf‘:

\.z

THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

the present road. Cozens’ History of Kent of 1798 states that Bridge ‘is now
but a small village of about 20 houses, situated in a narrow valley’, but the
bridge allowed the easy passage of travellers, and it is because of the road
itself that Bridge has developed into the village it is today.

From Domesday, we learn that the abbot of St Augustine’s Abbey held the
hundred of Bridge. A hundred was an administrative district within an English
shire, with a court house, or meeting—place, usually located centrally within
it, often sited at river crossings or cross roads. Within the hundred, the parish
of Bridge comprised two manors: that of Bereacre, of which no trace remains
in terms of a big house; and the more significant manor of Blackmansbury, in
which a building referred to by l-lasted, the eighteenth century historian of
Kent, as ‘the court lodge’, was situated, probably on the site of the present
Bridge Place. The parish of Bridge, as we think of it today, was regarded
throughout the Middle Ages and beyond as a subsidiary part of Patrixbourne.
Indeed, the proximity of the church to the parish boundary may be taken as
evidence that the parish of Bridge was originally formed by detachment from
Patrixbourne, as the latter was from Bekesbourne.

Archaelogical evidence shows Bridge to have been the site of an lron—Age
settlement, and pottery, fragments of weapons and other artefacts have been
excavated from the Romano—British period. A near—circular hollow, cut into
by the ‘road part way up Bridge Hill, and traditionally known as ‘Old England's
Hole’) may well represent a defensive position, constructed by the ancient
Britons to protect their river crossing after their defeat by Ceasar’s seventh

 


A Brief Historical Tour

legion in 54BC — or it may be just an old chalk quarry. Since the first century
AD, when the Romans first built the road, travellers to and from Europe have
come through Bridge. Harris in his History of Kent of 1719, lists various
encampments on Barham Down at different times, whose occupants would
have had to take the road from Dover to London on their journey between
the coast and Canterbury. Kingjohn, in 1212, assembled on the Down with
'60,000’ men, ready to repel any attempted invasion from France. It is likely
that King Henry V marched down Bridge Hill on his return from Agincourt in
1415, to celebrate his victory in Canterbury Cathedral. In 1450, during Cade’s
Rebellion, ‘john Ysal<e of Patrykesbourne . . . and William atte Wode of Brigge,
smyth, and other men in Brygge hundred . . . gathered together against the
statutes of the realm’ but were ‘granted general pardon at the request of the
queen’. Every three years throughout the 15th century, a huge wax candle,
rolled into a coil, or trindle, was carried on the road through Bridge 4 a gift
from the people of Dover to be used at the cathedral to provide tapers for the
poor and destitute to light at the shrine of St Thomas. This must have been
one of the more unusual items to pass through the village of Bridge, matched
only, perhaps, by the four dromedaries and two camels brought in 1466 by
the lord patriarch of Antioch, as a gift for the king and queen! In 1520, King
Henry VIII must have passed through Bridge with his magnificent retinue on
his way to meet Francis 1 of France injune 1520, to celebrate peace in great
splendour at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. In the 1630’s, during the thirty
years war, Spanish silver was carried in great quantities from Dover on the
road to London to be minted into coin.

In August 1799, at the height of an invasion scare during the Napoleonic
wars, more than 10,000 infantrymen camped on Barham Down to prepare
for invasion. The Kentish Gazette recorded that

The immense train of farmers’ and artillery wagons employed in
conveying the troops and baggage, ammunition, military and other
stores and provisions towards the camp, adding to the numerous
carriages filled with officers and other passengers; these together
have produced a scene of populousness and traffic in this ancient
city [of Canterbury], which has not been beheld by its inhabitants
since the days of St Thomas Becket.

In preparation for this influx, a Dr Wardell, physician to the forces quartered
in Bridge, was looking for a ‘roomy house or other sort of building . . . to be
used for a regimental hospital’.

The hills on either side of the village were once steeper than they are now. In
summer, the passage of traffic over the road surface resulted in clouds of
dust; in winter in muddied ruts. On 26 December 1769, the Kentish Gazette
noted that ‘some public-spirited Gentlemen intend to petition Parliament for

5


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

a Turnpike Act’ for the road from Dover to Canterbury. Substantial roadworks
included the lessening of the gradient of both hills down into the village and
the smoothing out of the slope & though the work was not completed until
1829. Tolls were imposed, and there was to be ‘no parking in the street’ — a
controversial issue even today! The street was not tarred, of course, until the
mid—20th century, and the wide water—splash to one side of the Bridge, used
for watering horses or cooling the metal rims of wheels after the steep descent
into the village, also remained in place until well into the 20th century.

The origins of the village
lie in its dependency on the
road. For centuries, the
buildings flanking its
single street were
principally concerned with
meeting the needs of
travellers and passers by —
premises supplying food
and drink, a blacksmith,
saddler, shoemaker and so
on. Numerous daily coach
services provided a
connection to London. A long-term Bridge resident, Mrs Jack Friend, was
able to recall in I955 how, in her childhood, a four—in—hand coach travelled
daily through the village on its journey from Folkestone to Canterbury and
return, with a post horn to alert passengers of its arrival.

 

In the Great War, troops were once again encamped close to Bridge. One day
in 1914, the roadway up Bridge Hill was thick with chalky dust as over 100
London buses passed through to be used in France as transport for the troops.
The dust became so thick that the drivers complained the enemy had covered
the surface with something to choke them. This story even made the London

newspapers! Probably the drivers were more used to the better constructed
surfaces of London roads.

In both World Wars, 21 canteen was established in Bridge village hall, to serve
the men stationed outside the village. During the later war, the milestones
up Bridge Hill were taken up and anti—tank emplacements installed at the top
of Bridge Hill to prevent the enemy progressing down the A2. Indeed, one
afternoon in 1981, some of the residents of Bridge Hill were required to
evacuate their houses in response to an alert concerning an unexploded device
found on the Hill! By the middle of the 20th century, the A2 London—Dover
road, including Bridge High Street, became increasingly congested, as heavy
traffic thundered through the village. Injanuary 1962, pensioner George Smith


A Brief Historical Tour

was knocked down and
killed while out shopping.
In 1963, two lorries and a
bus were involved in a
collision in the main street.
Incidents like this became
increasingly frequent and,
by 1964, the villagers had
had enough. They launched
a series of protests in
support of the construction
of a bypass. Initially, these
protests consisted of people
walking in the roadway, to
disrupt the flow of traffic to cause the vehicles to slow down. When this
action failed, the villagers resorted to sitting in the road. Clearly the spirit of
Cade’s Rebellion was not dead! In 1972, a Dover—bou nd truck drove into Colin
Lewis’s grocer’s shop, trapping a young girl and killing the driver. After
this, the sit—down protests increased in frequency until on one occasion a
thousand people staged a sit—in in the High Street, closing the village to all
traffic for an hour and causing a very long tail—back. Eventually, repeated
lobbying and demonst.rations led to victory and a bypass was opened on 29
June 1976 accompanied by great celebration. At last the villagers were able
to enjoy their village in relative peace and comfort.

 


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

The history of Bridge is not that of a characteristic medieval village, radiating
from its centre; nor yet was Bridge part of any great estate, even though in
later years it has been surrounded by great houses, notably Bourne 1-louse,
Bridge Place, Higham and Bifrons — all of whose owners have played their
part in developing the village, though only Bridge Place lies within the parish
boundaries. For most of its existence, the inhabitants of Bridge have numbered
no more than a few hundred. The late 18th century saw the building ofa few
cottages in Brewery Lane. In the 19th century, the Workhouse (1835) was
built, as were houses in Dering and Filmer Roads (1860’s). The later 19th
century saw a gradual extension along the Street towards Canterbury. It is
only since 1962 that there has been any serious expansion, with the
construction of Bridge Down (1962), Western Avenue (1963) and Riverside
Close (1965). In the census for 1801, the population of the entire parish was
325. By 1834 it had reached 543, and in 1841 it was 817, ofwhom 165 were
inmates of the workhouse. In 1871 the population reached 941, declining to
699 in 1921 as agricultural
employment diminished. In
the 1960s, Bridge began to
change irrevocably, with the
demolition of the most
notable building at its centre,
the 14th century Bridge
Farm, and the development
of housing, resulting in a
population in 197] of 1225,
and by the Millennium, of
almost 2000. The village still
boasts more than twenty
houses dating to the 18th
century or before, and others built in the 19th century. Some of the houses in
the Street are older than they look, having received new fronts in the 18th
century.

 

Historically, employment of the villagers of Bridge was provided by a thriving
retail trade and serving the needs of travellers in the public houses and inns.
Significant numbers were engaged in farm labour, much of it seasonal: hop
tying, stone picking, cherrying, hay making, pea and bean harvesting, fruit
picking, hop picking. The hop garden near Flint Cottages has been growing
hops since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and a few hops are still grown.
Local shops, the dental and doctors’ surgery, the care home and the pubs and
restaurant still provide more employment than many villages but most
villagers, of course, now commute elsewhere to work.

In the last thirty years Bridge has lost a number of shops, but it remains a


A Brief Historical Tour

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

thriving community,
boasting a post office and
pharmacy, general store,
bakery, butcher,
hairdresser, photography
studio, school, church,
care home, restaurant and
three pubs. It is served by
a regular bus service to
Canterbury, Dover and
Folkestone. It has an

active parish council, and hosts many
local societies, including such
charitable enterprises as the Fish
scheme.

The most substantial house in the
parish was Bridge Place, built on the
site of what was probably the
medieval Court Lodge in the manor
of Blackmansbury, alias Bridge. Here

Symonson’s map of Kent of 1596
shows a building lying astride the
Nailbourne, a reminder of the
medieval watermill that surely
once occupied the site. Until
Henry VIIl’s dissolution of the
monasteries, the manor of
Blackmansbury was in the
possession of the abbey of St Peter,
 . __ _ .  St Paul and St Augustine,
Canterbury, and was let to tenants. With the suppression of the Abbey in
1538, the manor reverted to the Crown. Henry VIII granted the manor to
John Laurence, whose family retained it until 1576, when it was sold to William
Partheriche, who built a new house on the site. Traces of this house were
revealed in an archaeological excavation in 1964/ 5 and relics of the old house
survived in the basement until the 1970’s. Partheriche was surveyor of the
Ordnance Office under Elizabeth I, and was appointed by the queen in 1582
to undertake extensive works at Dover Harbour. He died in 1598 and was

buried in his chapel in Bridge church. William’s grandson, Edward, sold the
property in 1638 to Arnold Braems.


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

Braems was born in Dover in 1602. His
ancestors were of Flemish descent —
immigrants who had originally settled at
Sandwich in the 16th century. During the
Civil War, he was a loyal supporter of
Charles I. At the Restoration of Charles
11, his loyalty was rewarded with a
knighthood. Braems was a Dover
merchant and, preferring commerce to
politics, he worked to develop Dover as a
successful port, acquiring land on the
seafront, creating vast warehouses for
goods, and making a fortune on harbour

in the building of a fine house in Bridge,
and in support of his King. He lived in
Bridge until his death in 1681. Built on
the site of the former manor house, with hand—rnade Dutch bricks, Bridge
Place, was the largest house in 17th century East Kent, excepting Chilham
Castle. It had a deer park, an extensive garden, an aviary, a bowling green,
woods, a rabbit warren, ‘beautifully well—kept pleasure grounds’ and a fine
avenue of lime trees stretching to the church. Arnold Braems had a reputation
as a generous host, who kept a ‘princely table’. Among his guests was the
artist Willem Schellinks who in 1661 recorded his visit in his journal and
made a number of sketches, including a view of the Street from the bottom of
Bridge I-lill. Another guest writes of being ‘merrily entertained’ at Braems’
‘delightful residence at Bridge, one hour’s walk from Canterbury’. The
company played bowls, and -; ~i     
‘we saw a hart shot with a
crossbow in the deerpark . .
. everybody, especially the
ladies, washed their hands
in the warm blood, to get
white hands. The hart was
immediately gutted and cut
up into quarters’. The
following day, ‘venison pie
and other dishes of the hart
were on the menu’.



       

Walter Breams inherited the
house on his father’s death
in 1681, but by this time the

tolls and customs. This fortune he spent ’


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

materials from Westenhanger Castle, by Dame Elizabeth Aucher, widow of
Sir Henry Aucher, for her son Hewytt, between 1704 and 1707 on the site of
an ancient house known as Hautbourne. (The Haute family, kinsrnen of Edward
IV’s queen Elizabeth Woodville, was prominent in the area in the 15th century.)

In 1756, Stephen Beckingham, who had married an Aucher granddaughter,
inherited the estate. In 1765, Mozart was a guest in the house, and while
staying there, visited the popular 
Barham Downs racecourse. In 1845,
Matthew Bell, a director of
Equitable Life and the owner also
of ‘Oswalds’ in Bishopsbourne,
purchased the house. Bell was
responsible for the construction of
the ornamental lake, and of a
number of buildings in the vicinity,
including estate cottages, the school
in Bishopsbourne and Bridge Lodge
in Bridge. Such buildings are often ~ - -  
distinguished by a stone plaque, showing an intertwined MFB motif, for
Matthew and Fanny Bell, his wife. When the Elham Valley railway was built
at the end of the 19th century, Matthew Bell agreed to its passing through his
land only ifit was hidden by a cut—and-cover tunnel where it ran behind his
house. Memorials to the Auchers and the Bells can be seen in the north
chapel of Bishopsbourne church.

   

Bell’s grandson (also Matthew) died in 1927, at which time the house was
purchased by Sirjohn Prestige, who owned it until his death in 1962. In the
1950s, Sir John proposed that Kent County Council should take over the
house as a museum, but this scheme did not materialise, and by 1957 the
house was empty and in a poor state of repair. Sir john then sought to have
the house demolished, but following a public enquiry, a Preservation Order
was placed on the house, which was eventually Grade One listed. Extensive
restoration work followed, and SirJohn’s next scheme was to offer the house
and 300 acre estate as the site for the new University of Kent, but this too
was turned down.

During the 1960s and 70s, the house changed ownership a number of times,
and various proposals were made for its future. These included a religious
house, a residential retirement club, a private hospital, offices and residential
accommodation and a luxury hotel. The house’s future became assured when
it was purchased in 1983 by Lady Juliet, the only daughter of the 8th Earl
Fitzwilliam, and Mr Somerset de Chair, a conservative MP and noted collector
of art and antiques. Sensitive and expert restoration work was carried out on

12


A Brief His torical Tour

the house and grounds. Somerset de Chair died in 1995 aged 83. Ladyjuliet
remarried in 1997, and the work of improving and enhancing the grounds,
the house and its contents has continued.

One of the first cricket matches in Kent took place on the ground at Bourne
Park, now sadly disused, but which in the 18th century attracted very many
people. In 1767 booths selling food were available on the cricket ground
itself, including one for gentlemen ‘in a tent pitched for that purpose, separate
from all the other booths’. After 1780, publicans from Bridge and Canterbury
were allowed to set up booths operating outside the ‘paddock’. When
Hambledon played England in August 1772 under the patronage of the then
tenant Sir Horace Mann, a grandstand was built to accommodate the huge
crowd. There were said to be 20,000 people present on the first day. Many of
the supporters were ordinary Kentish folk, and a rhyme of 1773 suggests how
far they were willing to travel:

From Marsh and Weald their hay fork left
To Bourne the rustics hied

From Romney, Cranbrook, Tenterden
And Darent’s verdant side

For many centuries Bridge church, built in the late 12th century on the site
of a previous Anglo—Saxon chapel, served as no more than a ‘chapel of ease’
for the church at Patrixbourne, providing for the ‘ease’ of those living at
some distance from the parish church. By tradition, such chapels were often
built at the roadside, and often near river—crossings, for the convenience of

4’)


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

travellers, so Bridge church satisfied both these requirements. As the parish
of Bridge grew, however, its inhabitants became increasingly resentful of their
subordinate position to Patrixbourne. Indeed, at the time of Archdeacon
I-Iarpsfield’s visitation, in 1557, the parishioners submitted a petition requiring

That the said chapel of Bridge may be appointed to be the head
church to Patrixbourne, because as they say, the said chapel standeth
in the midst part of the inhabitants of both parishes, and that
Patrixbourne standeth in the uttermost part of the dwellers of the
two parishes, very far out of the way.

In 1844 WP Griffith surveyed Bridge church.

His report, when compared with its present

appearance, shows the extent to which it was

rebuilt in 1859-61 by the generosity ofMrs Mary
Gregory, wife of the Vicar of Petham, who lived
in Bridge Hill House, and was related to the
Aucher family. She died in 1867, and left a
bequest to the poor of the village, which has only
recently been wound up. The restoration of the
church was achieved, according to the Pevsner
guide, ‘with gross insensitivity’! Some vestiges
remain of the medieval architecture, including

 

two Norman doorways and
various sculpted pieces
inserted in the walls,

including an effigy of Malcolm
Ramesey (vicar 1495-1538).

There is also a portrait of
Robert Bargrave (1584-1649)

by Cornelius Janssen, a
frequent visitor to Bridge

Place. Outside the west door

and rarely noticed is the top

slab of a 15th century table

tomb, once containing several brasses. The churchyard contains a number of
notable memorials to Bridge villagers, not least that of Zebulon Vinson, butler
to Mrs Gregory. The churchyard was closed 31 October 1990.

 

Patrixbourne derives its name from the illustrious Patrick family, who came
to Kent from Normandy at the Conquest. The family was ‘one of the most
ancient and illustrious in Normandy’, who came from La Lande-Patry in the
Calvados region. In 1174, the manor was inherited by lngelram Patrick, whose


A Brief Historical Tour

daughter Maud married Ralph Tesson, sensechal of Normandy. His estates in
England, including Patrixbourne, were awarded to Geoffrey de Say. In the
fifteenth century, a number of manors in the area were held by the Isaac
family.

  

Early in the 17th century, john
Bargrave built a fine house in
Patrixbourne, Bifrons. Uohn
Bargrave’s brother, Isaac, became
dean of Canterbury Cathedral,
1625-43). In 1661 or 1662, the
family sold the house and there
were a number of owners before
the original Bifrons was
purchased by John Taylor in
September 1694. His grandson,
the Rev. Edward Taylor, inherited
the property in c.1767. In 1775
he demolished the house and
began the construction of the new
Bifrons. A drawing survives of
this ‘plain building’ in a classical
style with ‘little architectural
embellishment’. In 1802,
Edwards son, Edward, married
Louisa Beckingham of Bourne
Place. After c.1807 Bifrons was

probably let to tenants. It was
sold in 1830 to the first Marquess Conyngham.

 

Henry Conyngham was created marquess by George IV while he was Prince
Regent. Conyngham married a wealthy heiress, Elizabeth Denison, whose
father was a merchant banker. His rise through the ranks of the peerage was
due to his services in Ireland, and the Conyngham’s Irish country seat was
(and still is) Slane Castle, between Belfast and Dublin. The Marquess was
much at court, and held the post of Lord Steward of the Household until the
king’s death. Lady Conyngham was famed as the companion and confidante
of George IV. A favourite at court, she was described as ‘fat, handsome, kindly,
shrewd and extremely fond ofjewels’! The king heaped presents and money
on her and, when in London, she and her family lived largely at his expense.
Though they never appeared in public together, the king and the marchioness
were often ridiculed by the press, but this did not seem to deter them. A
popular rhyme at the time suggested that Lady Conyngham and George IV
spent time

‘I5


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

Quaffing their claret, then mingling their lips
Or fondling the fat about each others hips

The king once said to her ‘thank you, my dear; you always do what is right.
You cannot please me so much as by doing everything you please, everything
to show that you are mistress here’. However, it seems never to have been
proven that their relationship was other than platonic.

The Marquess died in 1832. The Marchioness lived to the age of91, and died

in 1861. During her lifetime, she added considerably to her estates in Kent.

She was active in Patrixbourne and Bridge, founding a school and supporting

the free schools’ movement. She helped establish the Bridge Gas, Coke and

Coal Company in 1858. Considerable alterations were carried out at Bifrons
during the 19th century. When the fourth marquess inherited, he decided
against living there; indeed the family ceased to live in the house after 1882,
preferring to let the property to a succession of tenants. At the outbreak of
the Second World War, Bifrons was cleared of its contents and taken over for
military purposes. The condition of the house at the end of the War was poor.
The Conyngham family was faced with the need to invest considerable sums
ofmoney both on Bifrons
and on Slane Castle, and
having limited resources,
chose to renovate the
latter. For this reason, it
was decided in 1950 to
demolish Bifrons. A
number of the houses in
Patrixbourne belonging
to the estate were sold,
and the land rented out
on long lease, together with the stable block, which was converted into flats
for farm workers. The Conyngham family continue to take an active interest
in their local property and in the village of Bridge. In 1989, Canterbury
Archaeological Trust undertook an excavation of the Bifrons site, funded by
the Conyngham estate, and reported in Archaeologia Cantiana in 1989. It was
hoped at that time that the house might be reconstructed, but this plan was
subsequently shelved.

 

Higham has been the site of a grand house (also said to have been a convent)
since mediaeval times The present building retains a Tudor core, but its front
was added only in 1921 by perhaps the most colourful character to own the
house, Count Louis Zborowski, who designed and built the first of several
aero—engine powered racing cars, one of which later was immortalised in the
film ChittyeChitty-Bang-Bang. He also presented Bridge Fire Brigade with a

18


A Brief Historical Tour

suitably adapted car to serve as a fire engine to accommodate ten men and a
mile of hose. With a rating of 75 horse power, and a maximum speed of 60
miles per hour, this was probably the fastest fire engine of its kind in the
country at the time. For his generosity, Zborowski was made honorary captain
of the brigade.

After Zborowski’s death in a racing accident the house was bought by Walter
K Whigham, a director of the Bank of England and deputy chairman of the
London & North Eastern Railway, after whom one of their Pacific Class
locomotives was named. He served twice as High Sheriff of Kent. Whigham,
for reasons of euphony, renamed the property Highland Court. He shared
Zborowski’s interest in the fire brigade, and is also believed to have supplied
for it a new fire engine and helmets for the men.‘ During the second World
War the house served as a hospital, and
it continued in this role until the 1980s,
when it was Closed and the estate fell
into a state of neglect. Since 1995,
restoration and redevelopment has
continued, and Higham has recovered
its original name.

(Bridge) Hill House was in the 18th
century popularly known as the Horse
and Groom and served as the

 

‘ More recon tly, Harry Hawlcins a prominent village tradcsnian, was captain of the {ire brigade, and his son Eric

still possesses a helmet.
1 7


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

headquarters of those involved with Canterbury Races. One of the two stands
overlooking the course was sited in the woodland opposite. A painting by
Thomas Rowlandson, in the Beaney Institute in Canterbury, shows both this
house and the two stands during a lively race meeting, in about 1804. Races
on Barham Down began (officially at least) in 1678. A century later the races
were attracting vast crowds, including the fashionable gentry, and in 1774 a
‘new stand’ was built, to supplement the original. There was a racing stable
in Union Road, not far from the old windmill. The official race week was in
August, but there was also a meeting at Easter and at various other times. In
1773, a race was run ‘over the New Round Course on Barham Downs, one
four—miles heat, for one hundred Guineas, between two Gentlemen’s horses
. . . to start exactly at Twelve o’clock. Dinner will be ready at Bridge-Hill after
the race is over’. Racing was not limited to horses! In June 1770, there was a
‘match of running between twenty~four of the Chilham Club and Twenty-
four Gentlemen of East Kent’. In July the previous year was held ‘A match of
Running by Maids. To Strip at Five o’clock’l It was reported that the match
was run ‘to the great satisfaction of a vast concourse of people’. Cock fighting
took place here, as at the White Horse in the village, too. In March 1773,
Bridge met Deal ‘to shew eleven cocks on each side and fight for Four Guineas
a battle’. Once again, dinner was provided. At election times hustings would
take place here and on the racecourse. In 1794, however, the house was bought
by a refugee from the French Revolution, Charles Louis Secondat, Baton de
Montesquieu (1749-1824), grandson of the political philosopher. He lived
there until his death, when it was bought by the Revd Edward Gregory, vicar
of Petham, whose wife Mary ensured the restoration of Bridge church.

  

East Bridge House dates to the early 19th
century. More recently it was turned into
three flats, until restored to a single house
(and guesthouse) during the l980s.To the
rear of the house, where formerly the
kitchens were to be found, is now a separate
house with a doorway which was imported
from Bifrons in Patrixbourne, when it was
demolished.

Bourne Lodge was built in the later 19th
century and was the home of Mrs Fanny Bell,
widow of Matthew Bell of Bourne Park. In
1926, Mr F Cowderoy left it to his son and
daughter, the Rev C C Cowderoy (later
Roman Catholic archbishop of Southwark)
and Mrs C Berry. Mrs Berry lived in the
house for many years with her husband

 

18


A Brief Historical Tour

Frank, who was a well-known Canterbury estate agent. Their son, John
Berry, subsequently lived there, with his family, until 1981.

Lynton House is first mentioned (though
not by that name) in 1674, as the property
of William Cheston, yeoman of Bridge, who
was assessed in the parish rate for 12 acres
of land. It subsequently came into the hands
of the Crosoer family who in 1764 owned
the house, barn, stable, garden, orchard and
24 acres. It later came into the hands of John
Lansberry (d.1849) and for the rest of the
century became known as Lansberry Cottage.
From 1930-1940, the house belonged to a
coal merchant, Albert Taylor, whose proud
advertisement stayed on the south wall of the
house until the late 20th century. Like Bourne Lodge, it suffered substantial
damage in the storm of 1987. In recent years it has undergone considerable
restoration, including the return of the front door to its original position.

 

On the site of the lodge house opposite, Ogilby’s map of 1675 marks, rather
mysteriously, The Grayhound. Below Lynton House were formerly six small
cottages, with Church Cottage, formerly Park House, opposite.

The Red Lion is first mentioned in 1593 as a dwelling house. It has a central
hearth core of the period, but has been much altered since. It now has a late
18th century facade. By 1632, Jacob Jarvis, ‘victualler of Canterbury’, was
granted a licence for the sale of ale on the premises, ‘at the sign of the Red
Lion’. It subsequently became a registered inn, with stabling facilities, serving
the needs of travellers using the road from Canterbury to Dover. There were
in addition three wheelwrights, two blacksmiths and two saddlers in the
village, quite apart
from the ‘livery and
bait’ facilities offered
here. On race days
facilities were much in
demand, both for
horses and racegoers.
By 1850 the landlord,
Joseph Eyre, was
advertising the Red
Lion as ‘a fine lodging
inn, with carriage and
stabling facilities’. For

 

19


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

a short period at the turn of the 20th century Bridge fire engine was also
housed here, before being transferred to the rear of the Plough and Harrow in
1907. In 2000 the inn suffered serious damage from floodwater, and not long

after it had undergone considerable refurbishment it was again severely
damaged by fire in 2006.

The first mention of Methodism in Bridge occurs in 1823, authorising William
Fordred to ‘rent a house for Methodist meetings at no more than two shillings
and sixpence per week’. A site was found in the High Street (for £50) and a
chapel built (what is now the front portion of the village hall) but by 1851 the
congregation had deserted, a number of them to the parish church, and the
chapel had been taken over by the Primitive Methodists. Not until 1892 was
a Methodist Society re—formed, with fourteen members, to raise funds for the
building of a chapel and a regular schedule of services was re-established. In
1894 the ‘Iron Chapel’ was built The choice of corrugated iron as a building
material met with thorough disapproval from the central Chapel Committee
in Manchester, who preferred the idea of a B A
brick—bui1t structure and were prepared to
offer a loan to assist the financing of such a
chapel. The Trustees for the Bridge venture
were dedicated to the idea of their Iron Chapel,
and a determined fund—raising effort and much
hard work resulted in the erection of the
chapel, free of debt. The cost of the building,
including seating, hymn books, mats and oil
lamps, amounted to a grand total of
£139.17s.O '/4d. During the Second World
War, a baby clinic operated from the chapel,
and this continued until 1987.

 

The Bridge Gas, Coke and Coal Company was established in September 1.858
on a site in Patrixbourne road (next to the school) to supply both villages,
and Matthew Bell of Bourne Park became chairman of the company. Lamp
posts were fitted and tested on 10 December 1858. Edward Dadds, the gasman,
was provided with a cottage. A Memorandum of Agreement was made 7
January 1896 between Bridge Gas, Coke and Coal Company and the new
Bridge Parish Council, that the company was to ‘keep in repair and light . . .
the Eleven existing Lamps for the sum of Five Pounds and Ten Shillings for
each Lamp per annum. The Lamps to be lighted one hour after sunset and
extinguished at 10.30 pm except for three months in the summer . . . ’ A
further exception was made ‘for five nights of every full Moon at which time
the Lamps will not be required’. From 1906, general street lighting was
installed, maintained by James Wonfer until 1928. Wonfer lived in the only
house in Patrixbourne Road, Brookside, and was employed making gas and

20


A Brief Historical Tour

installing it into houses in the village. He worked seven days a week, and
was responsible for seeing that the street lights were lit in the village at
dusk and extinguished after dawn. The coal depot for the gasworks was
behind the Methodist chapel. Coke was produced and sold as a by—product.
By 1929, gas was being supplied by East Kent Gas Company and the Bridge
company was wound up in 1932.

During the 19th century, a number of schools existed in Bridge and the
surrounding area. In the 1840s, the Marchioness of Conyngham established
a school for 30 girls ‘at Bifrons Gate’, as well as a ‘National School’ for the
remaining parish children in ‘Soothouse Meadow’. It is said that the girls
wore smart uniforms of blue serge dresses and red cloaks, presumably paid
for by the Marchioness. It was quite common for philanthropic ladies to
found such schools, not least to provide girls with an education suitable for
their probable future career in domestic service. They were taught basic
numeracy and literacy, but also sewing and other domestic arts. It is known
that by 1859, Richard Wells was master of the ‘National School’, with Mrs
Sophie Sayer as mistress, and that the school had 99 pupils, both boys and
girls. By 1871 (following the 1870 Education Act), Mr and Mrs R Wye were
in place as ‘government teachers’, and Miss Fanny Wye, Mrs Wye’s sister,
was employed from ljanuary 1872 as an infant mistress. The school was
enlarged in 1881 — Miss Fanny Wye records, on 4 November of that year, that
they ‘removed into the new school [which was] much more convenient than
the old one’. This school building is that on Patrixbourne Road, the Bridge
School of the photograph. Fanny Wye, after 44 years at the school, was
presented on her retirement with a purse of gold. Government inspectors
praised her skill as a teacher to the ‘little ones, to whom she had been a
second mother’. She died in 1944, aged 94. Just four years later Miss Olive
Seath (Mrs Knight) was
appointed headmistress.
She retired in 1971. The
school house has been a
private residence since the
opening of the new school
in Conyngham Lane in
1971: for two—thirds of the
century of its existence
therefore this old primary
school had only two
principal teachers! There
were other Dame schools    . ~ = .  --

in the village - small, private elementary schools run by women, the usual fee
being 3d or 4d per week. These largely disappeared after the 1870 Education

'-':.

 

21


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

Act, though the school in Alexandra House survived until

the first World War.

The l8th century row adjoining Brewery Lane containsa
baker’s shop which has existed on the site for at least 150
years. At the other end of the row was the chemist’s, before
it was removed to the Post Office at the other end of the
Village. In between was one of the more notable businesses
to grace Bridge, again for over a century, that of the watch

and clockmakers William Nash and Samuel and William Hardeman.

The l_’lough and Harrow was built in 1692, constructed originally as two
dwelling houses and, in I703, a shoemaker and a carpenter occupied the

  

premises. The building was
sold in 1785 to Thomas
Williams, a Maltster, who
established a malthouse.
Malting was a specialized
process used in the making
of ale. Following the terms
of the Beer Act of 1830,
Thomas Williams’ son
William acquired a licence
to sell beer from his
dwelling in I831,
whereupon it was known
as ‘the Beer House at

Bridge’. In 1858 Joseph Burch, an ale and porter brewer, bought the premises,

and in 1863 it became known as the Plough and Harrow. In 1877, the pub was
sold to Shepherd Neame as a ‘beerhouse with brewhouse and outbuildings’
for £410. By 1878, a new lessee was granted a licence for wine and spirits,
and it became a registered tavern. Not until 1861 is ‘Brewhouse Lane’ identified

in the census returns. In 1873,
a headquarters was set up for a
voluntary fire brigade, and a
fire engine was purchased. The
Marquess of Conyngham, of
Bifrons, was an enthusiast for
fire apparatus and became
Captain of the local crew. By
1878, his son and heir, Earl
Mount Charles, had become
captain. In the early days the

 

9?

 


A Brief Historical Tour

pump was horse—drawn. For many
years the engine (including CE 1037,
donated by Count Zborowsi) was
housed in a shed behind the Plough
and Harrow and kept running through
donations from insurance companies.
The firemen were mostly local
tradesmen (at the time of the photo,
two grocers, the cycle agent, a
publican, the draper, two gardeners,
the coal merchant and the
blacksmith) who were summoned to
service with a maroon flare. On 31
March 1910, the brigade was called
to a fire at Pett Bottom. The young
second engineer of the fire brigade,
John Fenn, had the job of preparing
the flare. In lighting the match, two
simultaneous explosions occurred,
causing Mr Fenn terrible injuries. He

died just twenty minutes after the explosion. His funeral, on April 3, was

probably unique in Bridge, attracting a crowd of some 5000 mourners, who
thronged the street and overflowed into the surrounding fields.

During the 19403, the f1remen’s uniforms were supplied by the captain, and
were passed on from one volunteer to another, regardless of size. A villager
recalls how Harold De Cent, a small man known for his funny sayings, had
considerable difficulty managing his over—large coat as he scrambled up the
ladder! Another character, ‘Hatcher Downs’, the owner of the cycle shop,
had a tendency to enter buildings by breaking
down the door with his hatchet! After WW II the
brigade was absorbed into the national fire service.

Close to the bridge and probably of 17th century
origin, Anne’s House, or Willowbrook once
served also as a fish and chip shop. Damaged by
Fire in the 1920s, it has been in large part rebuilt.
It is more recently remembered as a tea room,
with a fine garden. The building to the right of
these premises once served as a motor repair and
spares shop and, more recently, a printer’s studio.

Built around 1780, River House was once owned
by T L Collard, auctioneer and Valuer, and clerk

 


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

Alliance, a militant
organization not always
popular with the less forthright
temperance societies, aimed to
persuade politicians into a
policy of prohibition, but this
did not succeed. A temperance
hotel would have provided a
pleasing alternative to those
who did not wish to stay in
accommodation with licensed
premises.

 

to the Board of Guardians of
the workhouse. In 1904, the
house was put up for auction,
but failed to reach the reserve
price of £390! It subsequently
became a temperance hotel.
The Temperance Movement
originated in England in the
1820s. In 1831, the British and
Foreign Temperance Society
was formed and extended its
influence over the country in
a decade. In 1853, the UK

TEMPERANCE HOTEL 

 

The sign of The White Horse is a thoroughly Kentish one, and this pub is
probably the oldest surviving in Bridge. The building has a late mediaeval
core, and an early 16th century inscription is to be seen on the fireplace
lintel. An indenture of 1 June 1668 refers to the sale of the property by Sir

 

Arnold Braems to Sir Anthony
Aucher, and the tenant at that
time seems to have been
William Ford. The ownership
probably remained in the
hands of the descendants of Sir
Anthony and subsequent
owners of Bourne Place until
it was sold at the end of the
18th century. The pub was the
posting house (hence also post
office), though Bridge was only
a half—stage away from


A Brief Historical Tour

Canterbury — necessary because of the hills on either side. Mail coaches were
drawn by teams of four horses in stages of 7-10 miles, according to gradients
and the condition of the road. The fastest mail—coaches ran at about 10 miles
per hour. It was here that the first meeting of the workhouse guardians was
held, on 22 April 1835. The census returns show that the inn often provided
accommodation for lodgers including, in 1881, George Webb, aged 23, a
professional cricketer. Like other public houses, the inn was used for property
sales and auctions. The White Horse was host to meetings of gardening
enthusiasts and to gardening shows. In April 1774, there was an ‘Auricula
Feast’ held, with a prize for the first flower of fifteen shillings. Exhibitors at
the show were expected to attend the dinner, ‘or have no Right to shew his
Flower’! Less sympathetic to today’s readers’ taste would be the cock fighting,
advertised in June 1772 ‘to show Twenty—one Cocks on each side . . . for four
guineas a battle and ten the odd battle’. Finally, in the sporting line, the census
returns of 1851 show that the licensee was ‘a trainer of racehorses’.

One other public house within the parish might be mentioned here for
completeness: the Woodman’s Arms, built as a farm (Woodlands) in 1623,
licenced to sell ales, groceries and provisions in 1849 and renamed, now
(since the 1960’s) the Duck at Pett Bottom.

Lime Cottage, built i_n the 15th or 16th
century was formerly the village forge
— the blacksmith and wheel—wright was
much in demand when numerous horse
drawn vehicles came regularly through
the village, and the White Horse, next
door, was the staging post. It was no
doubt used also for the mending offarm
equipment and other vehicles. Before
becoming a private house it was for a
period in the 1970’s Norman and Elsie Turner's "shop, which had its own
market garden and small—holding behind, extending over some of the land
currently occupied by the buildings of
Riverside Close. From here customers
could obtain freshly harvested produce,
as well as new—laid free—range eggs,
poultry and pork.

 

The handsome early 19th century row
of houses known as Albany Terrace is
said to have been built by Trinity House,
the lighthouse authority for the coast
of England and Wales, to serve their

 

25


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

pilots as a half—way-house at which
to break their overland journey
between Dover and Whitstable.
Originally there were two more or
less symmetrical detached buildings
on the site. An additional house was
created a few years later by infilling
between them. A much—loved and
stalwart resident of the terrace was
for many years Charles Wills, who
ran the village bakery for much of
the early 20th century from 1896 , in succession to his father Richard (1818-
l908). He was an enthusiastic chief officer of Bridge Fire Brigade for over 30
years, as well as serving on the parish council from its inception. He served
on the old Bridge Blean Rural District Council, the Board of Guardians of the
workhouse, and was secretary to the Bridge Gas, Coal and Coke Company.
During the first World War, he was nightly on duty at the canteen run in the
village Reading Room (now the village hall) for the benefit of the troops
stationed at Bourne Park. Mr Wills was described as ‘a man of charming
manners and genial disposition’, who was also a keen cricketer and a long-
serving member of St Peter’s Church choir. He died in 1944, two months
before his 96th birthday. This brief look at his life illustrates how much Bridge
village has always been at the centre of the lives of many of its residents. The
illustration shows Mr Wills with his aunt (aged 100) and his two sisters. At
this date the combined ages of the four in this long—lived family was 335
years.

 

Opposite the White Horse, on the site of the
present neo-Georgian houses was a row of four
tiny board cottages attached to Albert Terrace,
known as Bean or Bean’s Cottages, and
adjacent to Bridge Farm. This, (known
latterly, after the last owner, as ‘Daddy Fagge’s
Farm’) was the home farm of Blackmansbury
and, before the Dissolution of the Monasteries,
part of the land holdings of St Augustine’s
Abbey. At one time it was in the ownership of
the Rev. R.H.Barham, author of the Ingoldsby
Legends. Until its regrettable demolition in
1962, the farmhouse that stood here was a  .. ., .
typical 15th century timber—framed Wealden     it
hall house, originally with a central hall open   ' ' ' t " 
to the roof, rooms on two levels on either 3  i

  

9R


A Brief Historical Tour

side and a jettied overhang. In the early 17th century, a great fireplace was
added, and an upper floor inserted. Another timber—framed house had stood
at the right—hand end ofthe building, but was demolished in the 18th century
when the wagon entrance was blocked and the entrance to the yard was
moved to the right. The house itself (clearly visible, along with the White
Horse, in Schellincks’ 1661 drawing) must have presented a very attractive
appearance, and was a prestigious building with the style of vertical timbers
known as close studding. It had a fine stairway of eight solid oak blocks of
medieval date. At the rear was a medieval barn and cowsheds, probably also
dating to the 15th century. In the mid 20th century, Captain Maslin, of
Bridge’s riding school, kept some of his horses at the farm. The fields behind,
now the Western Avenue estate, were the -
usual venue for summer fétes and similar
village functions.

One of the oldest buildings remaining in
Bridge is the late 15th or early 16th century
timber—framed and jettied house which,
according to a document of 1622 was
perhaps an inn, or, from its outward
appearance, ‘commonly known as the
“Ship”’. In the 18th century it was divided
into two dwellings, and by the early 19th
century it had become a row of four
labourers’ cottages known as ‘Primrose
Alley’, a pretty name belying the lowly
character of its inhabitants, and proclaimed
until the 1990’s by a board affixed to the side of the house. The building
attached to the side was a double oast, though by 1887 it had ceased to
function as such. The brick infill between the timbers of the house (‘nogging’)
is probably a later replacement of the wattle and daub of the original. The
house was reconverted to two dwellings in 1969. It may be noted in this
regard that the house beside the Ford in Mill Lane, Bridgeford House, erected
as a row of three cottages in the early 19th century, was collectively known as
‘Bricknoggin’.

Correspondence survives between Lady Conyngham’s solicitor and her agent,
prompted by a villagers’ petition, concerning the purchase, from the
Canterbury Wesleyan Trustees, of a house, garden and Methodist chapel at
Bridge for £270. The sale involved difficult negotiations regarding the tenants’
rights. A group of Primitive Methodists (or ‘Ranters’) rented the chapel at
£4 per annum. These may be defined as a ‘people of a joyous and evangelical
disposition’, rather than rowdy, but they apparently ‘disturbed the whole
neighbourhood’, as they were accustomed to sing through the streets on

'37


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

their way home from services. The vicar, the
Rev. Stevenson, had drawn the Wesleyan
Methodists back into the Anglican fold. When
agreement was finally reached on the sale, the
agent stated that he had been informed that
the ‘Wesleyans possess a million’s worth of
property in this country . . . so they are quite
indifferent about the matter’! Lady Conyngham
agreed to a more sober use of the erstwhile
chapel as ‘a lecture room or a village literary
institution, for the improvements of the rising
generation’. This is now the village hall. The Primitive Methodists retired to
a private house until they were able 8 I
to erect their own chapel in Dering
Road in 1868, which they used until
the first decade of the 20th century. It
then became a private house, and was
demolished in 1951.

 

The reading room and library was
enlarged in 1878 for the benefit of the
villagers, to twice its size (and
including the additional comfort of a fireplace), to celebrate the coming of
age of Marquess Conyngham’s heir, Lord Mount Charles- In the lst World
War, when troops were camped at the top of Bridge Hill, the hall was used as
a military canteen. In 1952, the hall was given to the villagers by the
Conyngham estate on a 50-year lease at a peppercorn rent of 6d per year, and
was eventually bought from the Conyngham Estate in 1982.

 

The left—hand house of the early 19th century pair adjacent to Union Road
may justifiably be called the ‘doctor's house’. Originally symmetrical with
the other, this house has been extended twice, to accommodate the
requirements of the village doctors, five of whom lived here in turn for a
period of over 130 years. The
earliest record we have of a doctor
in Bridge is ofAmelius Sicard, born
in Blackheath 12]une 1809, the son
of a refugee from revolutionary
France, and of the dynasty of
Lautrec, who was ‘major-domo’ in
the household of Princess Caroline
of Brunswick. Amelius took on the
practice in Bridge in 1832, aged 23,
and was the village doctor for 48

 

'39


A Brief Historical Tour

years. Sicard’s tombstone in St Peter’s churchyard claims him to have been
a ‘beloved physician to rich and poor’, and his friends paid for a wall tablet
and the glazing of the west window in the church. Charles Schon, a British
subject born in the Grand Duchy of Baden, followed Sicard. He died in 1899,
to be succeeded by Robert Moorhead, from London, and then in 1906 by
Arthur Wilson, born in Dublin, and described as ‘a small man with a big
heart, an lrishman’s sense of humour and a characteristic laugh’. He was
also said, perhaps more unfortunately, to have been unable to restrain a
nervous giggle, even in the gravest circumstances.

Dr Roger Hunter was also a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, and came to
the village with his wife in 1937. They bought the house and practice, together
with the carriage house and stables. Private patients entered by the front
door and waited in the dining room. ‘Panel’ patients entered at the rear via
the garden door which until the 1990’s bore the legend ‘surgery’. Until recently,
the old butler’s pantry survived, as did the wine and apple store. In the 1970s,
restoration work took place and the pediment was removed. The house is
hung with mathematical tiles, which were renovated in 1999. The upper tiles
are hung in the traditional manner on timber laths, whereas the lower ones
are fixed in plaster. Dr Hunter’s generosity allowed for the building of an
extension to the village hall. He died in 1988, and his widow remained in the
house until her death.

Dr William Russell, who succeeded Dr Hunter, set up his practice in Green
Court, and on his sudden death in 1988 the practice was assumed by Dr

Mark Jones, who was instrumental in establishing the new Health Centre in
Patrixbourne Road. It is

remarkable that the village
has until recently had no
more than six doctors in over
170 years.

The late 18th century pair of ’
cottages now "used as the Post
Office are known from earlier
documents as occupying
‘Chapel Yard’. This name
appears to be derived from
the fact that the building -- - -

backs on to the site of the Primitive Methodist chapel, and that it comprised
the yard belonging to Frederick Colegate (1790-1877), a prominent local
builder, who in all probability erected Alexandra House (next to Rogers Garage,
with workshops salvaged from South Canterbury Station on the Elham Valley
Railway line). This house is listed in 1891 as ‘High Streetjunior School’ and

 

')Cl


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

again in 1901 as a ‘Private School’. The school survived
until at least 1913, with Elizabeth Williams (Colegate’s
granddaughter) as the principal. In 1918, Miss M Bedingfield
is listed as offering ‘apartments’ in the house, and by 1940,
Alfred Hunt was running a laundry. A.W. Rogers Garage
was built in 1924 on the site ofa woodyard, belonging to G.
Cowell. On the other side of the garage are two late 17th
century cottages
(?1693), while opposite is a pair
of cottages (now one) which may
well lay claim to being the oldest
in the village, adjacent to BelleVue
Terrace (late 19th century).

 

Beyond Albany Terrace lie Vine
Cottages (mid 19th century), and
then the semi-detached Victorian
houses opposite the current post
office, built on land bought in 1879 9 r  9
by Thomas Sargent, who is listed as a builder in the 1881 census. The houses
were called respectively Weston and Sefton Villas. The Maslin family lived
at 7 I-Iigh Street (Sefton villas) for many years in the 20th century. The engaging
Captain Maslin is remembered by many, and it is said that he ‘could charm
the birds from the trees’. He ran the local stables, and taught numerous
children in the area to ride. There was a paddock behind Sefton Villas, where
some ofhis horses were grazed. During the second World War, 1 High Street
(Weston Villas) was requisitioned by the army, and after the war was used for
some time as offices by Bridge and Blean
Rural District Council.

 

  

 

The fact that the gateway opposite Dering Road and th elegant Portland
Terrace stands level with the main road suggests that it postdates the grading

73.0


A Brief Historical Tour

works of the 1820's. It bears a
striking stylistic similarity to the
entry to Patrixbourne Old
Vicarage. This gateway is a relic of
a large 19th century house. known
as ‘Hillside’. Further evidence of
its existence may be glimpsed in
the garden behind the door, where
parts of the tiled floor of a glazed
passageway to the house proper
still survives. ‘Hillside’ replaced a
much earlier building, the now

vanished ‘Oliver’s Court’. The
present house, beyond the gateway
(Beechmount), was once no more
than the gardener’s cottage and
outbuildings of ‘Hillside’.

The 18th century cottage now
known as ‘Sunnyside’, once stood
level with the road, and was for a
while a teashop. As a result of the
turnpike roadworks, the cottage
found itself overlooked by a new embankment. Consequently the descent
into Dering Road, once no more than a footpath, became steep. No. 2 Rose
Cottages, down ‘Aunt Betsy’s  -
Hill’, was for long a ‘beer house’,
popular among the soldiery
during the first World War as
‘Prickett’s off—licence’. The
Prickett family subsequently took
over the village shop, an early 19th
century infill structure next to the
village hall, later converted to
equestrian supplies.

 

jag"

Dering Road and Filmer Road
(named after two prominent Kentish families) form the bulk of an early estate
development in Bridge dating from the l860’s, when the field forming the
gap between the Union Workhouse and the High Street was sold off as
individual plots after the Marchioness Conyngham’s death. Not all were built
on at the time: some were incorporated into the gardens of pre—existing
properties (notably, for instance, the ‘doctor’s’). Dering Road in particular
probably commemorates Colonel Cholmley Dering, younger brother of Sir

31


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

Edward Dering, 7th baronet of Surrenden Dering, Pluckley. Dering raised
and commanded the Duke of York’s Own New Romney Fencible Cavalry in
1794, and served with the regiment in Ireland, winning the thanks of the
Lord Lieutenant of the county and both houses of parliament. Cholmley Dering
bought Howletts from the builder (Isaac Baugh) in 1799, but on the death of
his brother Edward, became the guardian of his brother’s infant son and
moved to Pluckley. He sold I-lowletts in c.1816 to George Gipps, son and heir
to one of the founders of the Canterbury Bank.

The Union workhouse in Bridge was erected in 1835 following the passing
of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, at a cost of £4,3 76 by Thomas Finch
Cozens, one of the original
trustees of the Methodist
chapel. This Act abolished
outdoor relief to the able-
bodied poor who, on
applying for aid, were to be
offered maintenance in a
workhouse. To deter people
from seeking relief, life was
to be made as unpleasant as
possible. Married couples
were separated and children
taken from their parents.
The only contact allowed
was in the chapel or refectory, and then infrequently. Responsibility for the
poor law passed into the hands of three Poor Law Commissioners. The country
was divided into Poor Law Unions, each with a Board of Guardians, and
composed of several parishes. Bridge Poor Law Union had 22 parishes under
the authority of 22 guardians, four ex—officio guardians, surgeons, a relieving
officer and a clerk. The parishes included were Aclisham, Barham, Bekesbourne,
Bishopsbourne, Bridge, Chartham, Fordwich, Harbledown, Upper Hardres,
Lower Hardres, Ickham, Kingston, Littlebourne, Nackington, Patrixbourne,
Petham, Stodmarsh, Thanington, Waltham, Westgate-Without,
Wickhambreaux and Womenswolcl. The first meeting of the Bridge Union
Board of Guardians was held on 22 April 1835 at the White Horse Inn. The
master was known as the Governor and his wife the Governess. They were
paid a joint salary of £80. The average weekly cost ofindoor paupers by 1847
was 3s.4d (17p). Tramps were accommodated in a separate buildingrnext to
the main workhouse (now demolished) where the sleeping accommodation
was basic. There was also a mortuary. In 1840, one family was given £4 to
assist them to emigrate, a practice not uncommon at the time. Unmarried
women ‘lying in’ were admitted, but punished if it was to be their second

 

'1’)


A Brief Historical Tour

child. Clothing grants were issued and medical aid given. Children received
education, and boys were often apprenticed as sweeps, brick—layers, hop
growers, etc. A survey of census returns for Bridge shows that the workhouse
population was about 15-20% of the total, and consisted predominantly of
the aged and infirm, and young women with children. The Union building
was well—constructed, on the quadrangle pattern of most contemporary
workhouses, with an entrance gate and offices, a chapel in the centre, a porter’s
lodge, cook’s house and exercise yard, together with three acres of garden.
The red bricks of the Union building were described in vol IX of Igglesden’s
Saunters Through Kent as giving ‘an appearance of cheerfulness, while the garden
plots on either side of the entrance are generally a blaze of flowers’. The
evidence indicates that the Guardians of the Bridge Union, while careful over
financial matters, were conscientious in executing their duties and not unduly
harsh. The buildings later became a home for the elderly and nursing home
(The Close), before being converted into housing in the nineteen eighties,

when the New Close was built in Conyngham Lane in the grounds of the new
school.

Six mills are mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086 within the parish of
Patrixbourne (which in effect included Bridge). These were certainly water-
mills, one of which was probably sited where Bridge Place now stands: the
present artificial course of the Nailbourne indicates this. At a much later date
(first recorded on Symondson’s map of 1596) a post—mill was erected on the
brow of Bridgedownfwithin Patrixbourne parish. Milling was a high value but

33


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

also high risk business: many were the mills that burned down, due to the
easily combustible nature of flour dust. The Ken tish Gazette in 1808 records a
different risk:

MILL ROBBED . . . in the night of the 30th November, the Mill
belonging tojohn Fagg, on Bridge Hill, was broke open by forcing
the hinges of the door. . . and a Quantity offlour with TWO SACKS
marked ‘].Fagg, Bridge Mill’ were stolen thereout and traced for
about halfa mile across the fields . . .

This mill was dismantled
in about 1818 and soon
after another was erected
in ‘Three Corner
Meadow’ at the junction
of what were to become
Mill Lane and Union Road
on a spot now occupied by
a large oil tank. This was
by now probably a smock
mill, built by James
Ashenden, to process
corn for local farmers. The
miller’s house stood at
right angles to the road so
that the miller could not only look out for robbers, but also keep an eye on
the working of the mill. Thomas Johnson was the miller from 1832 until his
death in 1856, and the Folkestone Herald of March 1933 describes ‘the figure
of the dusty miller’ as ‘a familiar sight in the village, for his practice was to
deliver flour for his customers personally, his method of transport being the
back of a donkey’. The johnsons later went on to run Barton Mill in
Canterbury. From 1859 to 1879 the miller was George Fryer, who was
succeeded by William White. By the 1890’s industrial milling was fast
overtaking the traditional method. Mr White installed a steam engine, and
his successor William M.ainwaring an oil engine, but the inevitable could not
be put off. Wind power was abandoned in 1907, and the sweeps were removed.
Flour production by whatever means was given up during the first world war,
and the body of the mill began slowly to decay. By 1933 the site was being
used as a coal yard, which then was taken over as an oil depot. The remains
of the mill (still containing most of the gear) were finally demolished on
Friday 15th October 1954. If it had survived perhaps another 15 years it
might have benefited from the revival of the heritage industry. But an age
which had allowed the destruction of Bridge Farm had no time for an old
windmill.

 


A Brief Historical Tour

To ( 'anTm'b111y
4 .1 iii" To Pa‘mxbnun1e

   
  

 

  

 

T0 l\-yV'l"I'i[E‘   
_ _ H ouse
 *  Bridge Hill
' ‘ To Dover
. Middle Pen ‘~ _ = 
\ N ailboume Stream
\,
V-: \
 Line ol‘[JIll1mn
  Vhlley Railway
L"mr,x'lcy Vfiooil
( Wcnod111a11's  The ]_)ucL;
Anus) V,

The shape of Bridge Parish prior to I 984

‘IR


THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE

Bifimxs
— —' ' Parish Bound:-1r_\-'

‘-"Hillside
§ '  _\\»'cs10n Vill:-1s
 _."  ,.Scl't0n Yillaa
‘K F’ ’  41
   * .--\ll"a:m)' Icrracn:
Pri.c1\'etl's ('_)fl‘[,iccI1"’\Lk‘ fa / 3 If ./rlvmtagc

» °\
\ ’°- ‘
Post ()1‘11c.; ’\“‘**°3‘~«

    
   
  
 
  
 
  
  
    
   
    
  

‘F0136

/Wllite Horse
The l)out0:-'5 House /
}’1‘i1niti\:L: Chapel
V\"'0rk]10usc

K    ' d ) / Willow Brook K
M1lIho11s.e  it?   I‘ 1 Redllfilon
7.‘ /

Plough & 1'I€1l‘l'(‘r\V'

_~ Riven‘ Housc

(

 

‘“Gas\\-01‘l\' S

“°%1:*;».,§(,"__;l:ackr11 akor  ..¢.««c;Chm,1
"N-, ,-
“*~3’f:*;v-..,..,,,,_ajW

“‘"‘v~..V._“_h“'“‘—«.,

L

Iron Cllapcl

l,,_v11l0n H0119:

E . Bournc I_ud;;_c
5’: Fast Bridge House

 

 45- Bridge; 5;!
/Place E)’

  

3‘

/ ~~.‘_‘'~.
,« W.‘
X
l-\ - ‘
2
\
K
\

‘a.
K.
‘N.
. at
- - E

\\ %

. '”"’é // Bridge Hill House
Boume House &
(‘lrickcl Ground

Sl1‘L:an'1

é,.,..........q...., V-1»

\ Z 37 /
_ _ 3 :1 I Old Iinglunds 1101::
1\imlI30u111c % »

High am

Sketch map of the locations referred to in the tour ofBn'dge

OE


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS:

Page
Bridge Street in 1661 Frontispiece
The Bridge 3
Old England’s Hole 4
The water—splash 6
The groCer’s demolished 7
By—pass celebrations 7
Bridge Farm 8
Price’s grocers 9
Edwards butcher 9
Tobacconist 82; Hairdresser 9
Bridge Place today 10
A.Ocl<er: Bridge Place c. 1670 10
Bou1's/e House 11
Matthew & Fanny Bell motif 13
Bourne Park cricket ground 13
Bridge Church today 14
Bridge Church before 1860 14
Bifrons c. 1710 15
Bifrons c. 1.800 15
Bifrons c. 1900 16
Higharn 17
Bridge Hill House 17
East Bridge House 18
Bourne Lodge 18
Lynton House 19
The Red Lion 19
The Iron (Wesleyan) Chapel 20
The School 21

Clock by Hardernan

The Plough and Harrow

The early fire—brigade

Fire engine CE 1037

Fireman Fenn’s Funeral 1910
Fire—damaged fish shop

River House

Temperance Hotel garden
The White Horse

The old forge

Albany Terrace

Charles Wills & family
Bridge Farm structural drawing
Primrose Alley (‘The Ship’)
Village Hall

Primitive Methodist Chapel
‘The cloctor’s house’

The Post office

Frederick Colegate gravestone
Cottages, perhaps late 15th c.
Weston & Sefton Villas
Captain Maslin

Entrance to Hill House

Hill House

Pricl<ett’s Off—licence

The Union Workhouse

The Windmill

The Mill house

Page

22
22
22
23
23
23
24
24
24
25
25
26
26
27
28
28
28
29
30
30
30
30
31
31
31
32
33
34


 

Printed by MICKLE PRINT (Canterbury) Ltd.


1of2

Subject: A Brief Historical Tour

From: Mickle Print (sales@mick|eprint.com)
To: mmraraty@btinternet.com;
Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2014, 13:04
Hi Maurice,

Re: Bridge & District History Society Publication
Good to speak to you yesterday when you collected the proofs of the booklet.

I have had a look at the costings and am pleased to provide some figures for your consideration as follows:—

Based on the previous specifications i.e.

36 page plus cover A5 booklet

Pages — comprising 16 pages of colour and 20 page black only (i.e. 8 x 2 page spreads of colour) on l20gsm quality
digital silk

Covers — printed colour outside, black inside on 200gsm quality digital silk.

collated, staple stitched in spine & trimmed to finished size

500 @ £1285.00 (vat zero rated)

Option 2
As above plus layout based on the proof supplied (i.e. with 11 x 2 page spreads of colour)
ADD £292.50 for 500

Option 3

Allowing for 4 extra pages for a 500 run
ADD £50.00 for black & white

or £195.00 for colour

Artwork / Preparation

We would normally charge £8 per page to page set a publication of this type. We obviously have the original artwork
prepared for the first edition to work from, which has saved some time, but obviously the new text and pictures did
mean that the actual page layout required complete re-setting. The cost of this will be £145.00

I hope this all makes sense but should you require anything further please do not hesitate to contact me.

Very best wishes,
Tim

MICKLE PRINT [Canterbury] Limited
Simmonds Road, Wincheap Estate, Canterbury, Kent CT1 3RA

Tel: 01227 780001

wwwmicklcpri nt.com

Registered Office: Delandale House, 37 Old Dover Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 3.lF. England Registered in England 5076432

If you are not the correct recipient of this email and have received it in error you should delete the email and any attachment from your systems and notify Mickle
Print (Canterbury) Ltd immediately at sales@rnickleprinI.corr|

This email has been scanned for viruses, but no responsibility is accepted by Mickie Print (Canterbury) Ltd for loss or damage arising in anyway from its receipt
thereof. This email and any attached files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual(s) or entity to whom they are
addressed,

26/05/2014 23:26