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The list is in the back of c ther-bound vellum book — t first of em Records of Baptism, Marriage and Funeral services h in . Peter's Church, Bekesbourne. A. & J. Purchese Limited, Canterbury. The Church in the Garden The interior of St. Peter's, following the restoration work of the late 19th century. Gus lighting followed the oil lamps, and electricity replaced that in the 1960's, when the screen was moved to the west end of the church providing the view now as on page 1. Son-et-Lumiere was suggested to the PCC when it was decided to have the church records examined prior to their being deposited in the Cathedral archives. It was appropriate because a great variety of voices could be used, speakers having a special connection with St. Peter’s church. Because of the success of this entertainment it was proposed to issue the script in this form as a guide to the history of the building, using many of the church records as illustrations. Ledger stone to Nicholas Batteley, Vicar, who died May 19th, 1704 at the age of 55. His wife Anne has cx ledger stone of her own nearby. Research.‘ Anne Purchese Script: John Purchese Cover illustration by: Kitty Wass Text drawings by: Pleasance Kirk 16 The Church of ST. PETER’S, Bekesbourne Its history as told in a Son-et-Lumiere held in September 1974 SON-ET-LUMIERE 1\'** The soundtrack starts with a fanfare, the lights dim, and the Prologue by the Archbishop is heard. This is followed by complete silence, and blackness. Then — Commentator: The bells of St. Peter’s Church, sounding out across the lanes and fields of Bekesbourne — sounding out across the years with their joy and their praise. The bells we hear now have hung in the tower but a century, but bells were there before, sounding back across time, before the Reformation; and before that Christian voices right to Roman times and Saint Augustine. How did Bekesbourne begin, and why the name “Bekesbourne”. Bourne was the name of the river, and each of the settlements on it; Bishopsbourne, Patrixbourne and Bekesbourne, were named after the head men of each community. The village was still just Bourne when the Domesday Book was compiled in 1080. We can visualise the King’s Commissioner and his clerk on horseback riding down towards the village from the city of Canterbury. We hear horses approach. Commissioner: Whoa! So — we are coming to the settlement of Bourne. Can you tell me master Clerk what returns have been made there? Clerk: it is a village of some size my Lord. There are two and twenty five villeins listed, farming nearly thirty acres each. There are four borderers or smallholders as well; and they say six slaves — if none has been sold in the market. Commissioner: A goodly place. I see the river ahead is broad. Do they have many boats? ‘ Clerk: Yes, my Lord. They are rated half a fishery as they are close to the sea and can sail across the channel to Thanet Isle. To your right you can see the river has been used for a water mill to grind the corn._ They also have a saltpit since the sea has been drained from part of their lands. Commissioner: Indeed! They will pay a fair tax. What is that wooden building up the hillside beyond the house? Clerk: A chapel, my Lord. Commissioner: And well may they use it for their Saxon orisons master Clerk, with the Bishop of Bayeux their landlord, to stripe their backs if the work is not up to satisfaction. Come, let us ride down to the river. They ride away. _ Commentator: After much other work, at the age of 73, Dr. Beke left England again to search for the true site of Mount Sinai. This, he established to his satisfaction, to be Mount Barghir in Arabia. On his return to Kent, he died the following year — suddenly —— and was buried near the West Door of St. Peter's, Bekesbourne; a coming home he would not have regretted. A passing bell tolls. During the 19th century the church suffered badly from neglect and badly needed repair. In 1881 the Annual Vestry reported . . . Secretary: June 23rd. At a meeting of the Building Committee, as appointed in the year 1877, it was resolved that the said committee be dissolved, and that the funds standing in the name of the said committee should be transferred to the Vicar for the time being. Commentator: Luckily the Vicar who was inducted into the living later that year was the Reverend H. J . Wardell, who set about restoring the church with Dunbounded energy and loving care. The altar was raised to its original level, the roof replaced, choir stalls built and six bells hung in the tower. The work was continued until an Archdeacon’s Visitation could report . . . Archdeacon: July 27th, 1898. Visited Bekesbourne Church this day and found everything in good condition. An inventory of church goods and furniture ought to be kept. Signed: James'H. Carr, Archdeacon. Piano interlude music. Commentator: The 19th and early 20th century brought the outside world sharply into focus at Bekesbourne. In the mid 19th century the London Chatham and Dover Railway had driven its lines through the village street and across the valley on a great embankment, on which many navvies toiled with spade and panniered donkey. A number of the railwaymen stayed to live in the area. Churchwarden: December 16th, 1860. Anne, the daughter of William and Anne Tinsley of Bekesbourne, he being Superintendent of Railway Labourers, was baptised. August 4th, 1861. Adams Charles, the son of Joseph and Caroline Foster of Bekesbourne, he being a Railway Engine Fireman, was baptised. Commentator: Having fast and efficent access to Canterbury and further afield made a great difference to the lives of those in Bekesbourne. The Great War came home in a particular way to the village, for besides all the menfolk enlisting and the countryside stripped of labour for the harvest; in June 1916 the Air Force formed 50 Squadron which was based at a hurriedly constructed airfield beyond Chalkpit Farm on the level downs. The airmen, flying small twin-seater biplanes, patrolled the coastline of Kent, and were so successful in destroying enemy attackers that the Germans bombed Bekesbourne repeatedly on their longer journeys at attack London with aircraft and zeppelins. 13 Commentator: The 19th century dawned bright and promising in Bekesbourne. The industrial development of the Midlands was a world away. For the quiet farming lands beside the Nailbourne life was steady and rewarding. Writing her grandmother’s memories, E. M. Almedingen quotes Ellen Southee as a girl at Cobham Court. Ellen: Although the house sprawled and had a high sounding name, its flowers were those to be seen round any cottage in Bekesbourne: china roses, hollyhocks, nasturtiums, moon daisies, sweet William, love-in-the-mist. The paths were mossy and twisted most enchantingly. Its orchard of plum, apple, cherry and pear stood right at the back and sloped down to a lane reached by crossing a brook. The orchard and the grounds were cared for by Sam. Sam came from Sturry, a short man with a weatherbeaten face who had lost one arm at Trafalgar. ' Commentator: War was distant in those times, but the unrest among the farm labourers of the 1830’s came close to home. Ellen: Well do I remember the last Sunday in August 1830. Parson Eden had the bells rung but nobody ventured out of doors that day. Two barns had been set on fire at Bridge, and a farmer at Wingham had had some of ‘the dratted machines’ broken up. Farm labourers and others held a meeting at Patrixbourne. At Cobham Court my father ordered all the shutters to be closed, and he and his men were on guard at the gates. But the day went on. Men, sent by my father to Patrixbourne, brought back a reassuring report; all was quiet there. Indeed, the story of burned down barns at Bridge proved to be a false tale concocted by a nephew of Mrs. Mercer’s chiefly, so we all thought, to satisfy his aunt’s passion for the horrific. Commentator: The agricultural unrest died down; and soon afterwards there came to live in Bekesbourne, in the Gatehouse of the Old Palace, the controversial author and traveller, Doctor Charles Tilstone Beke. He came of the ancient Kentish family which had given its name to the village six hundred years before. In 1840, Dr. Beke set out on a journey to Abyssinia to do three things he hoped; open up commercial trading, abolish the slave trade and discover the sources of the Nile. As a result of this venture, in 1846 . . . President: Dr. Beke, your journey has resulted in making known for the first time the true physical structure of Abyssinia and eastern Africa generally. You fixed by astronomical observations the latitude of more than seventy stations, Sir, and mapped upwards of fourteen languages and dialects spoken in that country. This was magnificent work! And I have much pleasure in awarding you the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society. Applause. Commentator: He journeyed further and later wrote . . . Beke: I can confirm the truth of my previous contention respecting the interior of Africa as that of Captain Burton and the other travellers, that the dark continent possesses fertile and genial regions, large rivers and lakes, and an immense population which —— if not civilised — is yet endowed with kindly, humane and industrious habits. I therefore press upon the British merchant, as well as the Christian missionary, the necessity of opening up the continent of Africa and civilising its inhabitants. 12 Commentator: A thriving community, but one with a chapel; only a small wooden building erected by the Saxons. It was the work of the invaders, the Normans, which began the stone structure we know today. In the year 1180, a hundred years after Domesday Book, the chapel was called St. Peter de Bourne. It had become an important place with a Rector, the first we know about —— called Michael — and Eustace de Bourne, the Lord of the Manor, consulted him before passing over the administration of the church to the Canons of St. Gregory in Canterbury. The church remained in their control until the Reformation. You must remember that this was a Catholic religion, the liturgy in Latin. What would have been sung in those days we know. Men ’s voices are heard singing plainsong "Gaudeamus omnes . . . Commentator: In 1314 James de Bourne founded a chantry where masses were said for the dead. The chantry priests were given a house, twenty four acres of land to farm and a rent of six shillings and eightpence per annum. In return they said mass for the souls of the dead. But the funds for this fell so low that in 1362 Batholomew de Bourne joined the chantry to East Bridge Hospital in Canterbury, so that a priest would take special services on the festivals of St. Michael and St. Peter, Christmas and Whitsun. Writing of this time a Vicar of Bekesbourne five hundred years later said: Pyper: Picture someone coming to church on a Festival. He comes in by the old Norman door, stops at the Holy Water stoup to cross himself, and then goes up the church into a blaze of light — lights on the altar —— lights on the screen before the Holy Cross — lights before St. Mary, St. Peter and St. Nicholas. The Priest at the altar wears a costly and beautiful vestment, and the altar is furnished with treasures which are kept in the two aumbries, or cupboards, behind the altar, which are a marked feature of the church. This is not an imaginary story; it is based on old wills, eight of which have been noted. 1! The plainsong ends. Commentator: Outside church life Bekesbourne was a busy settlement. The broad river led down to the sea which cut off Thanet as a virtual island. We can imagine a boat setting off from Bekesbourne at this time. Father: Come boy, cast off that rope and lend a hand to the oars until we are clear of the woods by Littlebourne. They start rowing. Son: Father, will they punish Thomas Edwards‘? Father: He that killed the sow? Son: Yes Father — will he be taken to Canterbury and hanged? Father: Nay, he will be taken to our court at Hastings and may be drowned for his sins in West Port there. Son: Why Hastings, then?‘ Father: Lord bless the boy! We are a limb of the Confederacy at Bekes- 5 PLEASANCE KIRK 4! re A bourne, you must know that. Part of the Cinque Ports we are. That is why this boat can be used for His Majesty. All the Confederacy of the Cinque Ports are this way set aside from common justice. The King lets us settle our own affairs as long as we keep the sea safe for fishing and the shore lands safe for farmers. Why, Bekesbourne has a deputy Mayor of Hastings every year. If my Lord were not away with the King _it would be he that sentences Tom Edwards. Son: Will they drown him, Father? Father: Killing a man’s beast is serious. He says the sow wandered on to his strip, and in driving it off his crop he killed it. May be they will let him go lightly and only draw him in the tumbrel. Son: And let us throw all that muck at him! Father: Aye; that or pilloried. Son: That would be rare fun, Father, pelting him! Father: Look you to your stroke and be quiet boy! We must work hard for our fish today ~ if the wind moves us to the sea by Stourmouth we shall be u put to it on our return. Lay you to your oars, son. They row on. Commentator: The highest office connected with the Cinque Ports was that of Lord Warden. Two Bekesbourne men held the post, which was a Crown appointment. In 1559 Queen Elizabeth preferred William Lord Cobham to this office which he held for thirty—eight years. He was succeeded by his son, Henry Lord Cobham in 1597, who held the position until the reign of King James. This Lord Warden brought about an event which must have been remembered for many years in the village, for when he took his oath on his appointment he had a Court of Shepway called for the purpose in Bekesbourne. The Court of Shepway was the highest of all the Cinque Port Courts and was normally held in the open air at Shepway Cross near Lympne. This breach of tradition caused a good deal of stir in the Confederacy, but for Bekesbourne it must have been a red-letter day to have all the great men in their rich costume assembled at Cobham Court, the house which had beenin the Cobham family since the time of King Edward III. The position of Bekesbourne as a limb of the Cinque Ports continued until 1794 when King George III revoked the privileges. The Manor House, which had been in the Beke family for more than two hundred years, was bought in the 15th century by one John Brown, Plumber to Canterbury Cathedral. This position was greater than it sounds, for plumbum meaning lead, he was responsible for the roof of the Cathedral and many other weather fittings. John Brown left the Manor at Bekesboume to the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury, to secure their prayers for his soul and that of his wife. Harpsichord interlude music. The estate remained in the hands of Christ Church until the suppression of the monasteries under Henry VIII. Thomas Colepeper was given the property and he exchanged it with Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Cranmer had been made Archbishop by Henry —— brought from the obscurity of university life, because by a twist of fate the King had heard of a dinne conversation in a house in Essex in the summer of 1529 . . . ‘ Wine is heard, poured out. DEEDS OI lVJE1l'X'lagC DCLWCEU of Paril N°23 /L/I ‘I41//1' AQ B31’-*i=Q=I I104./l..1l / //I/1 7 / I /C-—‘ Qvere Married _in th 11.. 11/ by . A .'14.’ I» r — this Day of I11‘, - ‘.14 . in the Ye r I e Thufand Seven I~Iu by mg .//I/ g’. Z114. ‘ 14/ ’ I ' . This Marriage was olemnized between Us{ X / In the Prefencc of . . l’7’”¢l</.2’/«K ’/ '/3 >~5,‘§»~. 3‘ ‘)4/2:}! 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Q/Igfdal//J://rt/I/n‘ C"IIllIJ /1 .. - -. -. -. 95:‘ Z/ray;/.« nJ 9/27*...»//.1 1 Paid Frances Denne’s expenses for licence for her marriage, one Pound, twelve and six; paid for a ring, six Shillings; paid for dinner and beer, six Shillings and a half Penny.