>3
PROCEEDING
MONDAY, r4 juur 1969
PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH (TR 189; 52). BY S. E. Rxooro
St Mary’s, Patrixbourne, is the most mature of a local group of enriched romanesque
buildings, incorporating remains of the narrow nave of an earlier church, presumably that
known to have existed in Odo’s time. john de Préaux, a companion-in-arms of Richard I,
gave his share of the vill to the Augustinians of Beaulieu in Préaux, near Rouen, to found a
cell, which the Augustinians of Merton, Surrey, subsequently took over. Beaulieu was only
founded in the i19o’s and the refashioning of Patrixbourne can hardly be earlier. Though the
knapped flint surface is largely a restoration enough remains to attest its use by r. IZOO, in
contrast to the raw coursed flint of the nave. Dr C. A. Ralegh Radford judges that the new
ornate chancel was suliicient quire for the tiny cell and that no more conventual-looking
church should be sought beside the present one, which is essentially a normal, two-compart-
ment parish church, with the addition of a lateral tower, set in a narrow aisle and forming a
porch of honour, an arrangement most exceptional in England but not unusual in Normandy.
The pediment over the grand door is also a fairly common Norman and Breton feature, found
occasionally in England, as in the (P royal) north door of Portchester; evidently somebody
(dc Préaux, or his wife, the heiress of Patrhbourne?) thought they merited such a ‘state’.
If the other afiinities are strictly Norman, the sculpture of the group, beginning with the west
door of Rochester, has long been recognized as being rather Poitevin. There is no known local
major building to inspire Patrixbourne, but there are very late elements in the strictly radial
motifs of the great door - undercut foliage and a variety of dog-tooth, in the finest Caen stone.
The Agnus Dei (associated with the Baptist) on the pediment and the apocalyptic vision, with

the ‘Tneologos’, on the tympanum may inllitaltc tlrf ['rc‘=.\nx’s name saints. The chancel, with 
wheel-window over three lights and quite unlnte pi'iest’s door, is substantially urialtersd.
It has a plain collar-rafter roof and the piscina has an elegant geometric gables, heath rather
later. The crown—post roof of the nave is one of several late medieval mmllliczatlons, inrluding
the conversion of the eastern part of the aisle into a chapel For the resitluary liifliitifiliriuse of
Bifrons, containing a late gothic tomb, and perhaps the brealcing—tlu:nugh of the West sail of
the tower. Bifrons was acquired by the Marquess Conyngham, who, together with his wife,
exercised great influence over George IV. Their son, Lord Albert, afterwards Lord Loneisss
borough, presided over our first Canterbury meeting in I844, as President of the yet undivided
Association and an antiquary in his own right. The Marchioness, his mother, ‘irnprnyezli the
church at various times in the earlier 19th century. She made her chapel into a rmntortalsls 
with a fireplace and a clear oversight of the north aisle which she added for her tenants, iielijle‘
preserving the plain romanesque north door. She also inserted an interesting toiletries of
Swiss mannerist glass. There are monuments to the Conyngharns and their prerleeessogs the
Taylors: a neo-classic Faith wears a liturgical stole over an Ionian chiton.
WALMER CASTLE (TR 378501) BY A, D. SAUNDERS ;‘
To the north and south of Deal Castle were the other two castles which pioteeteel the
Downs anchorage: Walmer and Sandown. They were part of the same defensive sgglieme and
their early history is closely linked. They were all built by Henry VIII in Ii 39 sgfl.
Walmer and Sandown shared a similar plan. They were not as large as ‘tliegreat sessile’ in
the Downs. There were just four large, rounded bastions in the outer curtai;r(vl1irh Elifnniflglezi
a circular keep rising from the centre. A narrow courtyard separated thzflreep {min the rmféjr
curtain. The defensive principles remained the same, although there/were tlilleienres in the
shape and size of the gunports from those at Deal. There were thgeeimain tiers of guns, two in
the bastions and more guns mounted on top of the keep. A continuous gallery below tlle nuts:
curtain connected hand-gunports which defended the bottonfof the moat. The keep is similar
to Deal in its internal arrangements and served as the principal accommodation for the garrison.
Sandown has been almost totally eroded by thezsea and although Waltxier survives, it
has been vastly changed in character by its adoptioh as the oflicial residence for the Lords
Warden of the Cinque Ports. By the 17th centurly/its military usefulness had greatly declined
because of its obsolete design. From the early years of the 1 8th century its uses were principally
domestic. At the present time, the currentfLord Warden, Sir Robert Menzies, retains a Hat
over the gatehouse for use during his occasional visits to England.
Of the various Lords Warden,,WiHiam Pitt, Lord Liverpool, the Duke of Wellington
and Lord Granville made Walmer adiome. To the Duke of Wellington it was ‘the most cliamr
ing marine residence he had ever’ seen’. The first resident Lord Warden, the first Unite of
Dorset (1708-13) built a suitzefof rooms out from the keep onto the North llastimia. In the
186o’s the castle was further altered by Lord Granville (1865—9I), who built thirteen extra
rooms above the Gatehouse. Lord Granville’s successor, W. H. Smith (1891), irlstitutetl the
collection of heirloomsfwhich has safeguarded relics of previous Lords Wartleii. The interior
today is chiefly remiriiscent of the Duke of Wellington (1829-5 z), and of the summer holiday
spent at the ctafifle‘ by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and two of their eldest children in H141.
WALMER LD MANOR HOUSE (TR 367504) Br S. E. Rrooto
W er formed part of the Honour of Folkestone, which had two minor castles at
vario dates and was, in turn, held by castle—guard of Dover. The sub—tenants, probably by
th » I 3o’s, were the Auhevilles, who had many scattered holdings in and out of Kent, some