L ;m&‘-mMwWwu7/mwmumï¬ K
(mg *9 W M
iém/ébvc {;¢,.,.,,¢, U
f; Dï¬ï¬‚ (»>cM.A<Lm4.YL) ~€0& 4/»r~1Le-~(
Q (7?@ Nb /LL. - , -
[3 "pi: §,€.,,,fl,eQ ! Mo ï¬e 6'7‘/(LA
mcm W 1 vww M an 252;? «M L“ M’
c‘/any 'â€<»«/o‘l~=~«¢7/?ct«7/v(/3‘v‘€"€/“‘â€â€˜A“W'
IQ-6"V\L"7!
. : x ‘ 423/ ¢ N ' l/‘M AWâ€
b Zcvms z"ém.M;w1NE_ (,e9e3~*»~L-~Q . T
7, (§rfé\'oQ(/..(“l A cc. _ l?2_¢\;
2 'I\ °" V jf
2 ('“4â€â€œâ€™w"â€7â€â€™]? &¢;L1:m+~;i
/o \S (em, Ni ‘ZMM A ‘ kl? )
_, , ~« ‘ - . . -é’\L~‘
H Vwu (Ina-s*~—~'L"u ‘ Vaj‘/Q"%*€*(
12/ Wsl <,m\\_‘is’v z~‘»ut3»~$c¢’*’°(-‘(â€â€™â€œâ€˜â€œ
is r=wJza;t£m»¢‘7c/*;L‘~ pi. ,/
W Vv’- W, W?‘ Eu ‘ ~ ‘
13/ $5») â€J†('e‘DC“‘€’a"‘ ' [€074
Ho \/L¢‘)(4¢V9\—\
PH WW“ ‘ -
lg , _ , g 1 V
22, Tu
Leak» W350. ’ '33/3 Wwébflfléwd"
)3’ (-/Q.,...,~——oQ/\ §(.o7
' \’ ‘Pk.-J1 Wick 0�’ . .
W W
.3 L “
37’ “WW m’““°‘L.q"°"’L‘" “(£1 4 7’ ULML
rr "C0,.gC,¢~4Q*"‘ ‘ '97†,ég1 J/sJawL,e4,< /I/kw’ â€
3/2, i3“X"’%\.. '95? *7?
53 C/(a3\/Uf ‘
_3"( \7%"oY) WWJQ
. ' Cw’-/*«—\
3?’ Pg gg) rLe..5‘mJ& » CDMVM3 '
{Q » 1\/ -9. V C .
.337
5‘? Z?L1i-â€*~‘“°°—’ A ‘—. w.A(Z.
Q0 Zévcw/51.03’ X
4: > 'q7q ’ 3% ?/U(f>®_w,,,e®(,( 2's/<Q L/~).\,«D\
la)’ ‘Cu ' "
.53 13% I/uWe,— @a~/a«~‘70“£*â€â€˜Vâ€â€˜;“" '7W"%°‘ Mwwgww’
’b‘{17—oué»~k&*»~ H V K
./ L, _ \,5)_C1 ‘ ww
:2: ‘W 7
4;? (?c@¢wVL {,.A,eM.,1.. ’ L d\,1...I3 ~TuDo~J’<=—> I’<v~*’?*'Ee;;;W
(gfé ’CQ,_L . ]%3(
54 W M555 51,. Alxw
"70 ck 6&3 WP“ W“
7/ w <4JLrrQ 4 0 6 ,
72, WV vULJ/ L~»<1p~ 13 "'
“/3 \q;.";u/}l»(, Mao?
‘X! H
S‘: 9&3“ “Aim P(-¢‘~—€-«.-
~ I"-/V‘€A~/‘€.g.\ T.
{auxp 3 A ,<No'
5%‘! lxui QM./“T 1
Cr um
u:u1Ln.l>-l>-l>-l>-A-l>-in-is-I:-bwwwuwwwwwwmwmwwmwmwIx)»-»—»—-->->-v-av-—>—->-xoooxloxuu4>u.>l\J>-
l\J>—*O\Doo\1O\Uu-l>L»Jt\>-—-AC>\ooo\1O\U14>L»Jt\.>>-*O\Ooo\lO\U1-l>L»3l\>v--O\Ooo\lc\U1-l>UJl\.>>—O
Title
Symonson 1596
Ogilby 1675
Hasted 1790
OS Map 1898
Sketch Map 2000
The Bridge
The Bridge
Under the Bridge
Schellinks 1664
Schellinks Town Hill
The Bridge today
Aerial view: Field House
Vine Map 1887
Aerial View Star Hill
Corner of Hexagon
Saxon (J utish) Graves
Coin of Sept. Severus (ca 200)
Glass Cup
F aussett Cup
Gold Pendant
Jar
Beads
Church 1853
Church today
Church today
Village Hall
Tin Chapel 1894
Mediaeval Cottages
Primrose Alley
Hillside
High Street & Hillside
Hillside & Beechmouint
Bridge Farm 1952
Bridge Farm
White Horse & Farm
Beans Cotts
Neo—Georgian housing l960’s
Cotts Bridge Hill
Symonson Map rep
Windmill
Mill House then
Mill House now
Bridge Place today
A Ocker: Bridge Place ca 1670
A Ocker detail
Bridge Place from same View
Ground Plan
Custom House Dover
Bridge Place Garden
Garden Drawing
J Siberechts: Bifrons ca 1680
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
82
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
l 06
Bifrons Detail
Bifrons ca 1780
Bifrons ca 1900
George III & Lady Conyngham
The Bridge at Bifrons
Higham
Zborowski 27 lit
Zborowski in France
Hihgam today
Racecourse 1786
Bridge Hill House
Rowlandson: Canterbury Races
The Red Lion
The White Horse
The Plough & Harrow
Aerial View of Workhouse
Workhouse
The Close
The School
Schoolchildren ca 1890
Schoolchildren ca 1920
Schoolchildren ca 1940
Excursion 1900
Excursion l 91 0
Wireless Concert 1920s
Excursion 1930s
Excursion 1950s
Fire Brigade
Fire Brigade
Fire Brigade
Jobs: Shooting
Jobs: Orchards
Jobs: Hops
Off License
Price Grocer & PO
Price Grocer
Price Grocer
Golds 1974
Mrs Johnson
Woods Boots
Edwards Butcher
Garage
High St & Phone Box
Parade Shops
Chemist
Baker
Floods
Floods
Lewis Grocer demolished
Bypass 1976
Bypass Celebrated
Hurricane 1987
The Aftermath
A Brief Historical Tour of
THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE
And its Environs
Bridge Street in 1661: Willem Schellincks
© Courtauld Intstitute
-s.
7x.,:l.«-\.J" ‘Q
3
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
running! The
river has its
' ‘ ultimate
‘'‘‘‘’'‘‘r “R MB source at East
Brook, near Etchinghill — hardly more than 3 miles from the channel
coast at I-lythe, but it only runs continuously from the spring at Well
Chapel, Littleboume. It dries up, or runs underground, frequently, but
once, when the Wantsum Channel was open to the sea, it was a faster
and wider water course. As late as the 1920s, it is said that trout were to
be caught in School Lane, Bekesbourne. Legends abound of the river
in ï¬lll flow portending national disaster. As recently as 2000 it caused
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 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 above all, the bridge allowed the easy passage of travellers,
and it is because of the road itself that the Village of Bridge has
developed into the village it is today.
YI(i'5]E‘Y|lloi3Q
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 signiï¬cant manor of Blackmansbury, in which a building,
referred to by I-lasted, the eighteenth century historian of Kent, as ‘the
4
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
Patricksbourne. Indeed, the proximity of the church to the partish
boundary indicates that the parish was originally carved out of
Patrixbourne.
Archaelogical evidence shows Bridge to have been the site of an Iron-
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 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 dilferent
times, whose occupants would have had to take the road on their route
between the coast and Canterbury. King John 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 Ysake
of Patrykesboume...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 15"’ century, a huge wax
candle, rolled into a coil, or trindle, was carried on the road through
Bridge — 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 giï¬ for the king and queen! In 1520, King Henry VIII
must have passed through Bridge with his magniï¬cent retinue on his
5
way France to meet Francois I 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 ï¬lled with oflicers 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 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
until this present time! The street
was not tarred, of course, until
the mid-20"‘ century, and the wide water-splflash to one side of the
Bridge, used for watering horses or coolingmthe metal rims of wheels
after the steep descent into the village, also remained in place until well
into the 20â€â€˜ 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
av:
6
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 1955 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, a canteen was established in Bridge village hall,
to serve the men stationed outside the village. During the latter 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. In January 1962, pensioner George
Smith 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
I — . ' ' 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
V *†~ " I W - ‘A villagers resorted to sitting in
the road! Clearly the spirit of Cade’s Rebellion was not dead! In l972,
a Dover-bound truck drove into Colin Lewis’s grocer’s shop, trapping
"»
i
':
ain-
7
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 traflic for an hour
and causing a Very long tail-back. Eventually, repeated lobbying and
demonstrations 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.
7 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 House,
Bridge Place, Higham and
* ‘ s I 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 of a few cottages in Brewery lane. In
the 19th century, the Workhouse (1835) was built, as were houses in
Dering and Filmer Road (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, of whom
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
expansion of modern housing
C ‘v ‘*5’
.r’‘_. K,» 1:,
1
8
development, resulting in a population in 1971 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 pubs and
inns. Signiï¬cant numbers were engaged in farm labour, much of it
seasonal: hop tying, stone picking, cherrying, hay making, pea and
bean harvesting, ï¬'uit 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.
Jim--the-lustwtahirty years Bridge has lost a number of shops, but it
. remains a thriving community,
boasting a post oï¬ice 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
and hosts many local societies, including such
parish council,
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
mediaeval watermill that surely
once occupied the site. Until Henry
9
VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries, the manor of Blackmansbury was
in the possession the abbey of St Peter, St Paul and St Augustine,
Canterbury, and was let to tenants. With the suppression of the Abbey
in 1540, 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
l970’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.
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 tolls and customs. This fortune he spent in
the building of a fine house in Bridge, and in support of his King. He
lived in Bridge until his death
in 1681. In place of the former
manor house, Bridge Place,
built with hand—made Dutch
bricks, 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 ï¬ne 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 Will~iam 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 Hill.
Another guest writes of being ‘merrily entertained’, at Braems’
‘delightï¬il residence at Bridge, one hour’s walk from Canterbury’. The
,;,~ N
0.9% ‘_
10
company played bowls, and ‘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 estate was burdened with debt. Walter had been much
involved in the Civil War and, at the Restoration, was made
Comptroller of HM Customs at Sandwich, and later at Dover, not least
as a reward for having been the ‘youngest prisoner in England for your
Majesty’s Service’. In 1690, however, he was petitioning for ‘six years
arrears of salary’, and after his death in 1692, his family could no
longer afford to maintain the house. His son inherited, but by 1695 the
estate was sold to John Taylor of Patrixboume, who soon demolished
the greater part of Bridge Place in order to use the bricks in the
building of Bifrons, on his property in Patrixbourne.
What survives of the original Bridge Place is just one wing, but, in the
view of Hasted, ‘the size and stateliness...being of itself full sufficient
for a gentleman’s residence’. An advertisement in the Gazette in June
1791 advertises the house for let as having ‘proper offices for a family:
a coach-house with stabling for seven horses, and eleven acres of very
fine pasture...and a cottage consisting of a brewhouse, laundry and
dairy, with good 1odging—rooms over them’. Since then, the house has
had a succession of owners, and was purchased by Peter Malkin in
1969. In 1976, Bridge Place hosted a party to celebrate the opening of
the A2 by—pass, an achievement long fought for by the villagers. Until
recently it housed a night-club and country club. Little Bridge Place
nearby was almost certainly built at the same time in the 17th century.
Once part of a larger estate, Bourne House (in Bishopsbourne)) is
considered to be amongst the finest Queen Anne houses in Kent. It was
built using 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 Hautboume.
(The Haute family, kinsmen 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
ll
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 †' J
construction of the ornamental
lake, and for constructing of a
number of buildings in the
vicinity, including estate
cottages, the school in
Bishopsboume and Bridge
Lodge in Bridge. Such
buildings are often ' . A
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 if it 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 Bishopsboume church.
0 . F.’
Bell’s grandson (also Matthew)
died in 1927, at which time the
house was purchased by Sir John
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 Sir John’s next scheme was to offer the house and
300 acreï¬iestate 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 ï¬xture. 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
12
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 the house and grounds.
Somerset de Chair died in 1995 aged 83. Lady Juliet remarried in
1997, and the work of improving and enhancing the grounds, the house
and its contents has continued.
One of the ï¬rst cricket matches in Kent took place on the ground at
Bourne Park, now sadly defunct, but which in the l8th 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 undwer 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 ï¬rst 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
’ . 7 9 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 travellers, so Bridge church satisï¬ed both these
13
requirements. As the parish of Bridge grew, however, its inhabitants
became increasingly resentful of their subordinate position to
Patrixboume. Indeed, at the time of Archdeacon Harpsï¬eld’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 of Mrs Mary Gregory,
wife if 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
would 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 Rarnesey (vicar 1495-1538), There is also a portrait of a
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 15â€â€˜ 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. N-
of Bifrons for which there is
evidence is that built,
according to Hasted, by John
Bargrave in the early 17th
century. John Bargrave’s
brother, Isaac, became dean of
Canterbury Cathedral. The
family sold the house in 1662
The ï¬rst house built on the site*C:\_\___,p
l4
and there were a number of owners before the house was purchased by
John Taylor in September 1694. His grandson Edward inherited the
property in c.1775, demolished the house and began reconstruction. A
number of drawings survive of this ‘plain building in the classical
style with little architectural embellishment’. In 1802, Edward’s son,
Edward, married Louisa Beckingham of Bourne Place, and Bifrons
was let to tenants. It was sold in 1830 to the first Marquis Conyngham.
Henry Conyngham was » , -3. -. .
created marquis by George IV 7
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) Castle Slane, between Belfast and Dublin. The Marquis 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 conï¬dante of George IV. A favourite at court, she was described
as ‘fat, handsome, kindly, shrewd and extremely fond of jewels’! 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
Quafling 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 Marquis died in 1832. The Marchioness lived to the age of 92, and
died in 1861. During her lifetime, she added considerably to her Kent
estates in Kent. She was active in Patrixboume and Bridge, founding
the school, supporting the free schools’ movement, helping form the
volunteer ï¬re brigade. She and the marquis were founder shareholders
in the Bridge Gas Coke and Coal Company. Considerable alterations
15
were carried out at
Bifrons during the 19â€â€˜
century. When the fourth
marquis inherited, he
decided against living
there; indeed the family
ceased to live in the
house aï¬er 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 at the end of the War was poor, and
the decision was taken to demolish it. A number of the houses in
Patrixboume belonging to the estate were sold, and the land rented out
on long lease, together with the stable block, which was converted into
houses for farmworkers. 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 abandoned.
a convent) since mediaeval times The present building retains a udor
core, but its front was added only in l921’Vby perhaps the most
colourful character to own the
house Count Louis Zborowski,
who designed and built the ï¬rst
aero—engine powered racing car,
which later was immortalised in
the ï¬lm Chitty—Chitty-Bang-Bang.
He also presented Bridge Fire
Brigade with a suitably adapted car
to serve as a ï¬re 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 ï¬re engine of its kind in
the country at the time. For his generosity, Zborowski was made
honorary captain of the brigade.
Higham has been the site of a grand house (and also said to haxgrbeen
16
After Zborowsky’s death in a racing accident the house was bought by
Walter K Whigham, a director of the Bank of England and deputy
chainnan of the London & North Eastern Railway, and after whom one
of their Paciï¬c Class locomotives was named. He servced twice as
High Sheriff of Kent. He for reasons of euphony renamed the property
Highland Court. Duringwhhe 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 it has been
subject to ongoing redevelopment, and has recovered its original
name.
(Brid e Hill House was in the l8th century popularly known as the
-4- A Horse and Groom and seved as the
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 alter 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’! It was
reported that the match was run ‘to the great satisfaction of a vast
concourse of people’,:’Cock/ï¬ghting 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 ï¬ght for Four Guineas a battle’. Once
again, dinner was provided. At election times hustings would take
place here and on the racecourse. E owever the
house was bought by a refugee from the French Revolution, Charles
17
Louis Secondat, Baron 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 hate?) 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 (formerly Hill
Cottage) was built in the later 19th
century as the home of Mrs Fanny
Bell, widow of Matthew Bell of
Boume 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 Frank,
who was a well-known Canterbury estate agent.
Lynton House is ï¬rst mentioned
(though not of course 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 Boume Lodge,
18
it suflfered substantial damage in the storm of 1987. In recent years it
has undergone considerable restoration, including the return of the
front door to its ori inal position.
On the site of the fodge 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
18"‘ 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 ï¬'om 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 ï¬ne lodging inn, with carriage
and stabling facilities’. For a short period at the turn of the 20"‘ century
Bridge ï¬re engine was also housed here, before being transferred to the
rear of the Plough and Harrow. In 2000 the inn suffered serious
damage from floodwater, and not long aï¬er it had undergone
considerable reï¬irbishment it was again severely damaged by ï¬re.
The ï¬rst 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, in part
towards the vicar, and the chapel had been taken over by the Primitive
methodists. Not until 1892 was a Methodist Society was re-formed
with fourteen members to raise funds for the building of a chapel and a
regular schedule of house services was re-established. ’In 1894 the
‘Iron Chapel’ was builtbThe choice of corrugated iron as a building
to
19
material met with thorough disapproval
from the central Chapel Committee in
Manchester, who preferred the idea of a
brick-built structure and were prepared
to oï¬er a loan to assist the ï¬nancing 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
" " u ~ 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. l7s.0 ‘A (1. 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 1858 on a site in Patrixboume road (next to the school!) by
the Marquis and Marchioness of Conyngham and Matthew Bell, of
Bourne Park — chairman of the company. Lamp posts were ï¬tted 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 Patrixboume Road, Brookside,
and was employed making gas and 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. Coke was produced and sold as a by-product.. By 1929,
gas was supplied by East Kent Gas Company and the Bridge company
was wound up in 1932.
The Marchioness Conyngham had established a school for 30 girls at
Bifrons Gate, with smart uniforms of blue serge dresses and red cloaks,
but with the introduction of the National Schools she also established
Bridge School in 1849, on the Patrixboume side of the parish
boundary. By 1861 the school, under Richard Wells, master, and Mrs
20
Sophie Sayer, mistress, had 99
pupils. Mr and Mrs Robert
Wye were appointed as the
first government teachers of
the school in 1871, following
the Education Act.. Mr Wye’s
sister Fanny was appointed
mistress of the infants’ school.
After 44 years at the school
she 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’ (K-entish Gazette, 1
January 1916). 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 three-quarters of
the century of its existence therefore this old primary school had only
two principal teachers!
The 18th century row adjoining Brewery Lane contains a 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 Plough and Harrow was built in
1692, constructed originally as J ._
two dwelling houses and, in »
1703, a shoemaker and a
carpenter occupied the premises.
The building was sold in 1785 to
Thomas Williams, a Maltster,
21
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 1831, 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’ identiï¬ed in the census returns.
In 1873, a headquarters was set up for a voluntary fire brigade, and a
ï¬re engine was purchased. The Marquis of Conyngham, of Bifrons,
ii‘ ’ §’†T I ' "ill, Q was an enthusiast for ï¬re
' ‘ " 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 pump was horse-
drawn. For many years the
engine (including CE 1037,
that donated by Count
Zborowsy) was housed in a
shed behind the Plough and Harrow and kept running through
donations from insurance
companies. The ï¬remen
were mostly local
tradesmen (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 ï¬re at Pett Bottom. The young second engineer of the
ï¬re 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
22
of some 5000 mourners,
who thronged the street and
overflowed into the
surrounding ï¬elds. Aï¬er
WW II the brigade was
absorbed into the national
ï¬re service.
, i V Close to the bridge and
~ " ~ . 1 v ‘ "A 1 3' probably of 17th century
origin, Anne’s House, or Willow Brook house served also as a shop.
Damaged by ï¬re in the early 20th century, it was partly rebuilt. It is
remembered as a tea room, with a ï¬ne garden. In the early 20th century
the building to the right of the 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, clerk 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
fonned and extended Temperance ï¬e/cl, Bridge V T
its influence over the
country in a decade.
In 1853, the UK
Alliance, an
aggressive
organization not
always popular by the
less militant
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.
23
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
medieval core, and an
early 1 6th century
inscription is to be seen on
the ï¬replace 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 ‘
ownershhip probably ‘
remained in the hands of the descendants of Sir Anthony and
subsequent owners of Boume 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 between Dover and 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 too that the first meeting of the workhouse
guardians was held, on 22 April 1835. The census returns show that
the inn oï¬en provided accommodation for lodgers, including in 1881,
Geiorge 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 ï¬ï¬een 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 ï¬ghting,
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 l960’s) the Duck at Pett Bottom.
24
Lime Cottage, built in 15th or 16th century and was formerly the
village forge — 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 of farm
equipment and horse-drawn vehicles.
Before becoming a private house it was
for a period Mrs Turner’s grocer’s shop.
The handsome early 19th century row of
houses known as Albany Terrace is said
to have been built by Trinity House, the
lighthouse e ,_ V. ._
authority for i
the coast of England and Wales, to serve
their employees engaged in work in Dover
and Whitstable. It was erected in the first
place as two more or less symmetrical
detached buidings An additional house
was created a few years later by inï¬lling
between them. A much—loved and stalwart
resident of the terrace was for many years Charles Wills, who ran the
village bakery, following his
father’s death in 1896, He
was an enthusiastic chief
oflicer 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 beneï¬t 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 aged 94 in 1943, and this brief look at his life illustrates how
25
much Bridge village has always been at the centre of the lives of many
of its residents. Illustrated above is Mr Wills with his aunt (aged 100)
and his two sisters. At this date the combined ages of the four 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. Until its
regrettable demolition in 1962,
the farmhouse that stood here
was a typical 15th century
timber—framed Wealden hall
house, originally with a central
hall open to the roof, with
rooms on two levels on either
side, and a jettied overhang. In
the earl’ 17th century, a great
ï¬replace was added, and an upper floor inserted. Another timber-
framed house had stood at the right-hand end of the 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
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 ï¬ne stairway of eight solid oak block 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
Btidge’s riding school, kept some of his horses at the farm. The ï¬elds
behind, now the Western Avenue estate, were the usual venue for
summer fétes and similar village functions.
nu». Ceniuly
Correspondence survives between Lady Conyngham’s solicitor and her
agent, prompted by a villagers’ petition, concerning the purchase, from
26
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 deï¬ned 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 their way home from
services. The vicar, the Reverend
Stevenson, had drawn the Wesleyan
methodists back into the Anglican
fold. When agreement was ï¬nally
reached on the sale the agent statied
that he had been informed that the
‘Wesleyans possess a rnillion’s
worth of property in this
country. . . so they are quite
indifferent about the matter’! Lady
i 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 retrired to a private house
until they were able 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 & I
1951. _ . --——-v ~ = -
The original reading room
and library was enlarged
in 1878 for the beneï¬t of
the villagers, to twice its
size (and including the
additional comfort of a
ï¬replace), to celebrate the _ 4*
coming of age of his heir, ‘ 2
Lord Mount Charles. In the 1st World War, when troops were camped
at the top of Bridge Hill the hall was used as a military canteen In
l952, the hall was given to the villagers by the Conyngham estate on a
50-year lease at a peppercorn rent of 6d per year.
27
The leï¬â€”hand house of the early 19'“ century pair adjacent to Union
Road may justifiably called the ‘doctor’s house’ Originally
symmetrical with the other, this house has been extended twice, to
accommodate the requirements of the village doctors, ï¬ve of whom
lived here in turn for a period of over 130 years. The earliest record we
have of a doctor in Bridge is of Amelius Sicard, born in Blackheath 12
June 1809, the son of reï¬igee 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 years.
Sicard’s tombstone claims him to have been a beloved physician to
rich and poor, and his friends
paid for a wall tablet and the J
glazing of the west window in 9 S
the church. Charles Schon '
followed Sicard, a British subject
born in the Grand Duchy of
Baden. He died in 1899, to he
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 Irishman’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 graduste 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’
paptients entered at the rear via the garden door which until the l990’s
bore the legend ‘surgery’. Until recently too 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
hung in the traditional manner on timber laths, whereas the lower ones
are ï¬xed 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
28
assumed by Dr Mark Jones, who was instrumental in establishing the
new Health Centre in Patrixbourne Road. It is remarkable that the
village has had no more than six doctors in over 170 years.
The late 18â€â€˜ 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 from
the fact that here was the yard
belonging to Frederick
Colegate (1790-1877), a
prominent local builder, who in all probability erected Alexandra
House (next to Rogers Garage) for his retirement. Here his daughter
Jane and granddaughter Elizabeth Williams ran a private school until
the early 20"‘ century.
11‘
Next to Alexandra House stands
one of the oldest buildings
remaining in Bridge: a late 15â€â€˜
or early 16"‘ century structure,
timber-framed and jettied,
according to one theory an old
hall house and inn known as the
‘ship’, but in fact at least since
1841 a row of four labourers’
cottages known a ‘Primrose
Alley’, a pretty name belying the
lowly character of its early inhabitants, and proclaimed until the 1990’s
by a board aï¬ixed to the side of the house. The building attached to the
side is a double oast. The brick inï¬ll between the timbers of the house
(‘hogging’) is probably a later replacement of the wattle and daub of
the original. It may be noted that the house beside the Ford in Mill
Lane, erected as a row of three cottages in the early 19â€â€˜ century, was
collectively known as ‘Bricknoggin’.
29
The 18â€â€˜ century cottage now known as ‘Sunnyside’ once stood level
with the road. As a result of the turnpike roadworks, it found itself
overlooked by a new embankment. Consequently the descent into
Dering Road, once no more than a footpath, became steep. The cottage
was once perhaps ‘Aunt Betsy’s’ tearooms though the fact that No. 2
†Rose Cottages immediately
opposite was for long a ‘beer
house’, popular among the
soldiery during WWI as
‘Prickett’s off-licence’
suggests the presence of a
euphemism. The Prickett
family subsequently took over
the village shop, an early 19“
‘I, C i ' century inï¬ll structure next to
‘ the village hall, later converted
to equestrian supplies.
The fact that the gateway opposite
Dering Road stands level with the
main road suggests that it postdates
the grading works of the 18205. It
bears a striking stylistic similarity
to the entry to Patrixboume Old
Vicarage. This is a relic of a large
19â€â€™ century house. known as
‘Hillside’. Further evidence of its
existence may be glimpsed in the
garden behind the door, where the tiled floor of a glazed passageway to
the house proper still survives. ‘Hillside’ replaced a much earlier
buiding, the now vanished ‘Oliver’s Court’. The present house, beyond
the gateway, was once no more than the gardener’s cottage and
outbuildings of ‘Hillside’.
,..-......
Dering Road and Filmer
Road (named aï¬er two
prominent Kentish
families) form the bulk of
an early estate
development in Bridge
from 1853 onwards, when
30
the ï¬eld forming the gap between the Union Workhouse and the High
Street was sold off by the Marchioness Conyngham as indivudual
plots. 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
Cholmoley Dering, younger brother of Sir Edward Dering, 7th baronet
of Surrenden Dering, Pluckley. Dering raised and commanded the
Duke of York’s Own New Romney Fencible Cavalry, in 1794. He
served with the regment in Ireland for three years, winning the thanks
of the Lord Lieutenant of the county, and both houses of parliament for
services in the rebellion of 1798. The regiment disbanded in 1800 on
return from Ireland. Cholmoley Dering bought Howletts from the
builder (Isaac Baugh) in 1799, and lived in the house. On becoming the
guardian of his nephew, the infant son of his elder brother, he moved to
Pluckley, selling Howletts in c.1816 to George Gipps, son and heir to
one of the founders of the Canterbury Bank.
The Poor Law Union
workhouse in Bridge was
erected in 1835, at a cost of
£4,376 by Thomas Finch
Cozens, one of the original
trustees of the Methodist
chapel, following the
passing of the Poor Law
Amendment Act 1834, 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-otï¬cio guardians, surgeons, a relieving officer and a
clerk. The parishes included were Adisham, Barham, Bekesbourne
Bishopsbourne, Bridge, Chartham, Fordwich, Harbledown, Upper
Hardres, Lower Hardres, Ickham, Kingston, Littlebourne, Nackington,
Patrixbourne, Petham, Stodmarsh, Thanington, Waltham, Westgate—
31
Without, Wickhambreaux and Womenswold. The ï¬rst 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 of indoor paupers by 1847 was .3s.4d (17p).. Tramps were
accommodated in a separate building nest to the main workhouse (now
demolished) where the sleeping accommodation was basic: a line
stretched across the room, over which the tramps were invited to hang
.. There was also a mortuary. In 1840, one family was given £4 to
assist them to emigrate. Unmarried women ‘lying in’ were admitted,
but punished if it was to be their second child. Clothing grants were
issued and medical aid given. Children received education, and boys
were oï¬en 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 inï¬rm, and young women with
children. The Union building was well-constructed, on the quandrangle
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 as giving ‘an appearance of
cheerfulness, while the garden plots on either side of the entrance are
generally a blaze of flowers.’ (A Saunter Yhrough Kent). The evidence
indicates that the Guardians of the Bridge Union, while careful over
ï¬nancial 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..
The Domesday survey of 1086 refers to a total of six mills within the
parish of Patrixboume (which in effect included Bridge). These were
almost certainly water-mills, one of which was probably sited where
Bridge Place now stands: the present artiï¬cial course of the Nailbourne
indicates this. At a much later date (ï¬rst recorded on Symondson’s
map of 1596) a post-mill was erected on the brow of Biidgedown
within Patrixboume parish. Milling was a high value but also high risk
business: many were the mills that burned down, due to the easily
combustible nature of flour dust. The Kentish Gazette in 1808 records
a different risk:
32
“MILL ROBBED. . . in the night of the 30th November, the Mill
belonging to John Fagg, on Bridge Hill, was broke open by forcing the
hinges of the door. . . and a Quantity of flour with TWO SACKS
marked ‘J .Fagg, Bridge Mill’ »
were stolen thereout and traced ‘
for about half a mile across the
ï¬elds. . .â€
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.
For secirity purposes, no doubt
not only to watch for robbers but also to keep an eye on the working of
the mill, the miller’s house stood at right angles to the road a few yards
down the hill (now 41 Union Road). Thomas Johnson was the miller
from 1832 until his death in 1856, and ‘the fugure of the dusty miller
was 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’ (Folkestone Herald, March 1933). The Johnsons later went
on to run Barton Mill in Canterbury. The miller from 1859 to 1879 was
Goerge 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 Mainwaring 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 a liquid ï¬ael depot. The
remains of the mill (still containing most of the gear) were ï¬nally
demolished on Friday 15th October 1954. If it had survived perhaps
another 15 years it might have beneï¬ted 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.
33
53:34: 924.
‘rd yflifi
s-(«an
{_ uoag-£:;»;:§
THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE
The Village of
Bridge stradles
the Nai1bou‘r’ne
— when, that is,
the ‘boume’,
or intermittent
water course
of the Little
Stour, is
nmning! The
' ' river has its
source at East
"'—— ' In‘Bï¬d'9eY Brook, near
Etchinghill — hardly more than 3 miles from the channel coast at
Hythe(?) It dries up, or runs underground, frequently, but once, when
the Wantsum Channel was open to the sea, it was a faster and wider
water course. As late as the l920s, it is said that trout were to be caught
in School Lane, Bekesboume. Legends abound of the river in full flow
portending national disaster. 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’. Cozens’ History of Kent of 1798 states that
Bridge ‘is now but a small village of about 20 houses, situated in a
narrow valley’. Above all, the bridge allowed the passage of travellers,
and it is because of the road itself that the village of Bridge has
developed into the village it is today.
Â¥
I
iuge
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 signiï¬cant manor of Blackmansbury, in which a building,
referred to by Hasted, 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
chalk-bedded’ ‘
Pages:
(Contents: Acknowledgements, etc) B & W
map (colour)
colour
4 B&W
5 B&W
Colour
Colour
B&W
B&W
Colour
Colour
B&W
B&W
Colour
Colour
B&W
B&W
Colour
Colour
B&W
B&W
Colour
Colour
B&W
B&W
Colour
Colour
B&W
B&W
Colour
Colour
B&W Na-.2 =
‘:<333'Cé%BREKBBBEE§S5C.‘E$B:S‘°°°“°“"“"""“
throughout the middle ages and beyond as a subsidiary part of
Patricksboume.
Archaelogical evidence shows Bridge to have been the site of an Iron-
Age settlement and pottery, fragments of weapons and other artefacts
have been excavated from the Romano-British period. A near-circular
hollow,gclose to the road, part way up Bridge Hill, may well represent
a defensive position, constructed by the ancient Britons to protect their
river crossing after their defeat by Ceasar’s A l V’, I ' I
seventh legion in 54AD. 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 through Bridge on their route
between the coast and Canterbury. King
John in I212, 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 Ysake 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 15â€â€˜
century, a huge wax candle, rolled into a coil, or trindle, was trundled
on the road through Bridge — 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
Hem'y VIII must have passed through Bridge with his magniï¬cent
retinue on his way France to meet Francois I at the Field of the Cloth
of Gold. And in May 1660, King Charles II must have returned this
way in some splendour from his exile in France to regain the throne.
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 ï¬lled with ofï¬cers 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 trafï¬c 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 a Turnpike Act’ for the road from Dover to
Canterbury. Substantial roadworks included the lessening of the incline
§‘. of both hills down into the
. C" village and the smoothing out of,
the slope. Tolls were imposed,
and there was to be no parking in
the street’ — a controversial issue
until this present time! The street
was not tarred, of course, until
the mid—20"' century, and the
wide water-splash to one side of
the Bridge, used for watering horses or cooling the metal rims of
wheels alter the steep descent into the village, also remained in place
until the 20"‘ 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. A daily
coach service provided a
connection to London, and a “ = -
long—term Bridge resident, Mrs Jack Friend, was able to recall in 1955
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. The coach was driven by a
Mr Scott, who eventually died in a tragic accident, when his coach
overturned as it went through Barham.
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 the second World War, a canteen was established in Bridge village
hall, to serve the men stationed on Town Hill[?]. During the 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 Bridge 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. In January 1962, pensioner George
Smith 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 trafï¬c 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 truck drove into a shop, trapping a young girl
and killing the driver. Aï¬er 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 demonstrations
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.
’.
(5; lat-‘
The history of Bridge is not that of a characteristic medieval village,
radiating ï¬'om its centre; not yet was Bridge part of any great estate,
even though in later years it has been surrounded by great houses,
notably Boume House, Bridge Place, Higham and Biï¬'ons - 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 of a few cottages in
Brewery lane. In the 19th century, the Union Mas built, as were houses
in Dering and Filmer Road. 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,
g the population of the entire parish was
325. By 1834, it reached 5 3, and in 1841 it was 817, of whom 165
were inmates of the workhouse. In 1871, the population reached 941,
declining to 699 in 1921 as agricultural ,5-.1? -
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 expansion of
modern housing development, resulting
in a population in 1971 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. Sadly this small
publication is not able to feature them all.
Historically, employment of the villagers of Bridge was provided by a
thriving retail trade and serving the needs of travellers in the pubs and
inns. Signiï¬cant 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 villges but most villagers, of course, now leave
the village to work.
Today Bridge is a thriving community, boasting a post office and
pharmacy, a general store, a bakery, a butcher, a hairdresser, a
photography studio, a school, a church, a care home, a restaurant and
three pubs. It is served by a regular bus service to Canterbury, Dover
and Folkestone. It has an active parish council, a Fish Scheme
(providing a coffee drop-in club for the elderly and others, and a
driving service for those in need of such), a horticultural society, a
history society, a Women’s Institute, and a number of other community
groups. For the young, there is a youth club, scouts, guides, cubs,
brownies and beavers (???),
Bridge and its environs provide a wonderful place to live!
Bridge Place
Bridge Place is 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
Nailboume. Until I-lem'y Vlll’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, the
manor of Blackmansbury was in the possession the abbey of St Peter,
St Paul and St Augustine, Canterbury, and was let to tenants. With the
suppression of the Abbey in 1540,
the manor reverted to the Crown.
Hemy 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
which took place in 1964/5.
Partheriche was surveyor of the Ordnance Office under Elizabeth 1,
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.
3:5’: ‘N
Braems was born in Dover in 1602. His ancestors were of Flemish
descent — immigrants who had originally settled at Sandwich in the
early 17th century. During the Civil War, he was a loyal supporter of
Charles I. At the Restoration of Charles II, Braems’ loyalty was
rewarded with a knighthood. Braems was a Dover merchant and,
preferring commerce to politics, he worked to develop Dover as a
SllCC€SSï¬1l port, acquiring land on the seafront, creating vast
warehouses for goods, and making a fortune on harbour tolls and
customs. This fortune he overspent in the building of a ï¬ne house in
Bridge, and here he lived until his death in l68l. In place of the former
manor house, Breams had constructed a magniï¬cent mansion which he
called Bridge Place. It was made of hand—made Dutch bricks, and 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, ‘beautiï¬illy well-kept pleasure grounds’ and a
ï¬ne avenue of lime trees stretching to the church. Arnold Braems had a
reputation as a wonderful host, who kept a ‘princely table’. One of his
guests was the artist William
Schellinks in the 166]. Sellink
recorded his visit in his journal
and made a number of
sketches, including a view of
the Street from the bottom of
Bridge Hill. Another guest in
1661 writes of being ‘merrily
~.._, entertained’, at Braems’
4' 3 - i 5' ‘delightful residence at
' A W Bridge, one hour’s walk from
Canterbury’. The company played bowls, and ‘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 estate was burdened with debt. Walter had been much
involved in the Civil War and, at the Restoration, was made
Comptroller of HM Customs at Sandwich, and later at Dover, not least
as a reward for having been the ‘youngest prisoner in England for your
Majesty’s Service’. In 1690, however, he was petitioning for ‘six years
arrears of salary’, and after his death in 1692, his family could no
longer afford to maintain the house. His son inherited, but by 1695 the
estate was sold to John Taylor of Patrixboume, who soon demolished
the greater part of Bridge Place in order to use the bricks in the
building of Bifrons, on his property in Patrixboume.
What survives of the original Bridge Place is just one wing, but, in the
view of Hasted, ‘the size and stateliness...being of itself full sufficient
for a gentleman’s residence’. An advertisement in the Gazette in June
1791 advertises the house for let as having ‘proper offices for a family:
a coach-house with stabling for seven horses, and eleven acres of very
ï¬ne pasture...and a cottage consisting of a brewhouse, laundry and
dairy, with good lodging-rooms over them’. Since then, the house has
had a succession of owners, and was purchased by Peter Malkin in
1969. In 1976, Bridge Plce hosted a party to celebrate the opening of
the A2 by-pass, an achievement long fought for by the villagers. Most
recently, it has housed a night-club and country club and, for one week
only, a restaurant! It was sold in 2005?? To whom???
Bourne Park
Once part of the larger estate, Bourne House is considered to be
amongst the finest Queen Anne houses in Kent. It was built by Dame
Elizabeth (Hewyï¬) Aucher, widow of Sir Henry Aucher, between 1704
and 1707 on the site of an ancient house known as Hautboume. (The
Hautf family, kinsmen of Edward IV’s queen Elizabeth Woodville,
was prominent in the area in the 15th century). More can be discovered
about the Auchers in The Aucher Family of the Bourne Estate,
Bishopsbourne, Kent (Ian D Taylor) in the Archives of Canterbury
Cathedral.
In 1756, Stephen Beckingham,
who had married an Aucher
daughter, 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 /purchased
the house,‘ the owner also of
‘Oswards’ ‘in Bishopsbourne.
\â€YD
Q“; A
Bell was responsible for the construction of the ornamental lake, and
for constructing of a number of buildings in the vicinity. including the
school in Bishopsbomne/and Bridge Lodge in Bridge. Such buildings
are oï¬en distinguishedrby a «J 4; A :’t* ‘ °
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 if it was hidden ‘ ‘J .« — e«
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
Bishopsboume church.
i- -~L-1
The last Bell owner died in 1927, at which time the house was
purchased by Sir John Prestige. who owned it until his death in 1962.
In the 19505, 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
Sir John’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, ofï¬ces
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 the house and grounds.
Somerset de Chair died in 1995 aged 83. Lady Juliet remarried in
1997, and the work of improving and enhancing the grounds, the house
and its contents has continued to this day.
One of the first cricket matches in Kent took place on the ground at
Boume Park, which in the 18th century, attracted numerous people.
3/
Initially, spectators would go to the Horse and Groom on Bridge Hill, ,
but by 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, a
grandstand was built to accommodate the huge crowd. There were said
to be 20,000 people present on the ï¬rst 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 Boume the mstics hied
From Romney, Cranbrook, Tenterden
And Durent’s verdant side
St Peter’s Church, Bridge
Until the 19th century(?}, Bridge
church served as no more than a
chapel of ease for the church at
Patrixboume, A chapel of ease
provided for the ‘ease’ of those
living at some distance from a
parish church, and was
subordinate to it. By tradition,
- t such chapels were often built at
the roadside, oï¬en near river-crossings, for the convenience of
travellers, so Bridge church satisï¬ed both these requirements.
As the parish of Bridge grew, its inhabitants became increasingly
resentful of their subordinate position to Patrixbourne. Indeed, at the
time of Archdeacon Harpsï¬eld’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 Patrixboume, 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.
'2 I
_ In 1846, S R F lynne described Bridge church in his Churches 0fKent.
However, being seen as in need of extensive repair, it was largely
rebuilt in 1859-61, owing to the
generosity of Mrs Mary Gregory, 4.
who lived in Bridge Hill House, -
and was related to the Aucher
family. She died in 1867, and leï¬
a bequest to the poor of the
village which is still in existence.
The restoration of the church was
achieved, according to the
Pevsner guide, ‘with gross t
insensitivity’! Some vestiges remain of the medieval architecture,
including a relief of the Three Persons of the Trinity, surrounded by the
symbols of the Evangelists. There is also a 17th century portrait by
Cornelius Johnson, who was a frequent visitor to Bridge Place.
Bifrons and the Conynghams
The first house built on the site of Bifrons for which there is evidence
is that built, according to Hasted, by John Bargrave in the early 17th
century. John Bargrave’s brother, Isaac, became dean of Canterbury
Cathedral. The family sold the house in 1662 and there were a number
of owners before the house was purchased by John Taylor in
September 1694. In 1695 Taylor also bought Bridge Place,
demolishing the greater part of the house to use the bricks in the
— - rebuilding of his
Patrixboume house. His
grandson Edward
inherited the property in
c.1775, demolished the
house and began
reconstruction (again??).
A number of drawings
survive of this ‘plain
~ ’ ’ P ' building in the classical
style with little architectural embellishment’. In 1802, Edward’s son,
Edward, married Louisa Beckingham of Boume Place, and Bifrons
was let to tenants. It was sold in 1830 to the first Marquis Conyngham.
""" 1 we-'§~1: 3:
.—= 'x«‘ _ -—-:‘.‘*—~ - 1' {mi
Henry Conyngham was created marquis 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) Castle Slane,‘
between Belfast and Dublin. The Marquis 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 conï¬dante of George
IV. A favourite at court, she was described as ‘fat, handsome, kindly,
shrewd and extremely fond of jewels’! 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
Quafï¬n g 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 Marquis died in 1832. The Marchioness lived to the age of 92, and
died in 1861. During her lifetime, she added considerably to her Kent
estates in Kent. She was active in Patrixboume and Bridge, founding
the school, supporting the free schools’ movement, helping form the
volunteer ï¬re brigade. She and the marquis were founder shareholders
in the Bridge Gas Coke and Coal Company (see p. ?) Considerable
alterations were carried out at Bifrons during the 19â€â€˜ century. When
the fourth marquis 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, Biï¬ons was cleared of its contents and taken over for
military purposes. The condition of at the end of the War was poor, and
the decision was taken to demolish it. A number of the houses in
Patrixboume belonging to the estate were sold, and the land rented out
on long lease, together with the stable block, which was converted into
houses for farmworkers. In 1945, the Conyngham estate engaged Sir
Edwin Savill as land and estate agent to manage their properties in
Kent, and Savills still act as the estate’s agents. 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 abandoned.
Higham
Higham has been the site of a grand house since 1320, when it was
ceded to the de Hegham family by Edward II. The present building
dates from 1768, with a later front addition built in about 1805.
Perhaps the most colourful
character to own the house was
Count Louis Vorrow Zborowski,
who designed and built the ï¬rst
aero—engine powered racing car,
which later was immortalised in
the ï¬lm Chitty—Chitty-Bang-Bang.
In 1920, Bridge Fire Brigade was
concerned at the inadquacy of its
horse—drawn ï¬re appliance, which
was unable to reach fires in outlying districts in time to be effective.
The Count, hearing of this, presented them with a car to serve as a ï¬re
engine, adapted the body of the vehicle and made it of a suitable size 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 fastesi ï¬re engine of its kind in the country at the time. For his
generosity, Zborowski was made honorary captain of the brigade!
..., H... -J '2 'UIw :-‘j. hk‘ (‘Vet ‘»
the second World War the house served as a hospital, and it
continued in this role in various guises until the 1980s, when it was
closed and the estate fell into a state of neglect. In 1995, it was
purchased by Patricia Gibb and Amanda Harris—Deans, who devoted
themselves to restoring the house and gardens to their former glory,
and opened the gardens to the public. In 2005 ('2) the estate was sold
once more, and continues now as a private residence.
The Horse and Groom (Bridge Hill House)
The Horse and Groom was the
licensed premises for the local
sporting fraternity in the 18th and
early 19th century, particularly for
the devotees of horse racing. Races
on Barham Down began (ofï¬cially
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 rim ‘over the New Round Course on Barham
Downs, one four-miles heat, for one hundred Guineas, between two
Gentlemen’s h0rses...to start exactly at Twelve o’cl0ck. 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’!i! It was reported that the match was played ‘to
the great satisfaction of a vast concourse of people’, but prersumably
streaking was not a part of it! Cock ï¬ghting took place at the Horse
and Groom too. In March 1773, Bridge met Deal ‘to shew eleven
cocks on each side and ï¬ght for Four Guineas a battle’. Once again,
dinner was provided at the hostellery. Before 1767 especially, cicket
enthusiasts also patronised the Horse and Groomvuring the cricket
season at Bishopsboume Paddock. The Horse and Groom was also,
like the other village licensed premises, a venue for auctions.
East Bridge House
This building dates to the early 19th
century. More recently it was turned
into three flats, until restored to a
single house 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 Patrixboume, when it was demolished.
Bourne Lodge
fa Boume Lodge was built in the later
19th century, possibly on the site of
W an earlier dwelling known as Hill
. ‘ ‘J House. In 1898 It became the home
' . of Mrs Fanny Bell, widow of
- 9 Matthew Bell of Boume Park. In
_ . _ I A the 20th century, the house was for
I__A_—_“l V fl many years owned by a single
‘ ' family. In 1926, Mr F Cowderoy
leï¬ 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 Frank, who was a well-
known Canterbury estate agent. His son John and his wife owned the
house from 1967, until it was sold in 1981 and again in 2003.
Lynton House
At the core of Linton House is a 17th
century house, once ovmed by
William Cheston, yeoman, and given
to his son on his marriage. In 1743, a
Bridge clock-maker of considerable
repute, John Nash, rented the house
from Richard Barham (father of the
author of the Ingoldsby Legends ??), _
who was administrator to the will of
William Ford. Ford was a member of
the ‘Congregation of Baptists’ in 1706, and leï¬ in his will ten pounds
for the poor of that congregation in his will. In 1822, the house
belonged to James Delmare, linen weaver. From 1930-1940, the house
belonged to a coal merchant, Albert Taylor, whose advertisement once
appeared on thefwall of the house. (I??)’ In recent years it has undergone
considerable restoration, including the return of the front door to its
original position.
? Church Cottage
Lu-A- .4.-._4......._.. . 1...“ jl“1A.l. u...‘. | u,\.x;—_Lu_n:.;; ua.u nu I.I1(l|;_L_. 1| 1 ununuv
The Red Lion [black and white page]
First mention of this establishment occurs in 1593. Considerable
reconstruction took place in the later 18th century, and again in the
Victorian period. The original building was a dwelling house with
stables and outbuildings, situated in a signiï¬cant tract of land. By
1632, Jacob Jarvis, ‘victualler of Canterbury’, was granted a licence for
the sale of ale on the premises. By 1640, the Red Lion had become a
registered inn, with stabling facilities. After Jac0b’s death, his widow
continued to run the inn until 1672, when she sold the licensed
premises to Martyn Bradstowe, former landlord of the Black Grifï¬n in
St Peter’s Street, Canterbury. Bradstowe’s wife conducted her trade as
a harness maker from the premises — a suitable occupation for a
resident of Bridge, sewing 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 by the Red Lion. The licence subsequently
passed to the Knight family, and in 1768 to Thomas Fagge, a member
of a prominent Bridge family in the 18th century, which provided the
village with a baker, a miller, a blacksmith and a carpenter.
The improvements of the London to Dover highway in the 1760s
meant an increased flow of traffic. The Red Lion provided a resting
6 ‘f place for private coaches, for
the hire of horses and for
transfer to local transport.
Joseph Moss, the landlord in
1804, was an equine dealer in
addition. By 1850, the
landlord Joseph Eyre was
advertising the Red Lion as ‘a
, £5 ï¬ne lodging inn, with carriage
~ ‘ V "=~ .- and stabling facilities’.By
1886, the premises were owned by the Frederick Flint Brewery of St
Dunstan’s, Canterbury, and later to the Beer and Rigden Brewery. In
the 1940s Whitbread’s bought the pub, and then Bass Charlngton. All
these brewerys run the establishment through tenant landlords.
43:35» “$9 '4 ,2‘
\»~.
In recent years the Red Lion has continued to serve the community
until a fire inflicted serious damage to the building in~——February[?]
2006.
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
ï¬ve 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
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. Coke was produced and
sold as a by—product.. The coal store wasbeliind (house on Patrixbn rd)
By 1929, gas was supplied by East Kent Gas Company and the Bridge
company was wound up in 1932.
Bridge School
The school was founded by Lady Elizabeth, Marchioness of
Conyngham in 1849. At that time, the school stood within the
Patrixboume parish boundary. girls, were educated at the
expense of the Marquis. They wore uniforms of blue serge dresses and
red cloaks, and wore sailor hats
with blue ribbons. This uniform
was worn by the girls until 1885.
The education the girls received
gave them a basic knowledge of
reading and writing, and
provided them with the skills that
they would need. Many of them
would expect to be employed in
domestic service.
Mr and Mrs Robert Wye were appointed as the ï¬rst government
teachers of the school in 1871, following the Education Act. They lived
in Weston Villas, now 1 High Street. Mr Wye’s sister was appointed
headmistress of the infants’ school in 1871. After forty years at the
school she was presented 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’ (Kentish Gazette, 11-January 1916). The school house
has been a private residence since the opening of Bridge Church of
England Primaryscheel in .?~? The new school in Conyngham Lane
was opened in ??? and now has approximately 360 pupils. Bridge
primary school is popular and highly regarded .
The Plough and Harrow
The Plough and Harrow was built in l692,constructed originally as two
dwelling houses and. in 1703, a shoemaker and a carpenter occupied
the premises. The building was
sold in 1785 to Thomas .
Williams, a Maltster, who A
established a malthouse. Malting p’ *
was a specialized process used in 4
the making of ale. In 1833;â€
Thomas Williams acquired a .
licence to sell beer from his V
dwelling l»8v3’l;» It was known as
‘the Beer House at Bridge’. In 1858 Joseph Burch, an ale and porte
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. A tavern was licensed to sell wine as well as ale and
beer.
In 1873, a headquarters was
set up by the residents of
Bridge for the voluntary ï¬re
brigade, and a ï¬re engine was
purchased, and kept at the
Plough and Harrow (?I. The
Marquis of Conyngham, of
’ Bifrons, was an enthusiast for
ï¬re 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
pump was horse-drawn. In 1929, the brigade acquired its own motor
pump, and a Rolls Royce chassis was converted into a fre-engine. In
1938, a new ï¬re-engine was supplied by Count Zprovsky of Higham
House (see Higham). The ï¬remen were mostly local tradesmen, who
were summoned to service with a maroon flare. On 31 March 1910, the
brigade was called to a ï¬re at Pett Bottom. The young second engineer
of the ï¬re 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
is-1937
, 1»
crowd or some 5000 mourners, who throngcd the street and overtlowed
into the surrounding ï¬elds (see p.» ).
Recent publicans of the Red Lion, James Crowhurst and, I‘or~—the'past
ten;E?1 years, Chris Maclean, have run a popular and lively village pub,
much appreciated by local patrons, and the present landlords ‘[,‘2']’
continue in this tradition.
? Church House
Anne’s House/Willow Brook
This 19th century photograph
shows this cottage, on the
right, close to the bridge.
Probably of 17th century
origine, the house served also
as a shop. Damaged by ï¬re in
the early 20th century, it was
partly rebuilt. It is remembered as a tea room, with a ï¬ne garden. In the
early 20th century the building to the right of the premises, once served
as a motor repair and spares shop and, more recently, a printer’s studio.
River House
Built around 1780, River House
was once owned by T L Collard,
auctioneer and Valuer, clerk 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 Alliance, an aggressive
organization not always popular by the less militant 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.
The White Horse
The sign of The White Horse is a thoroughly Kentish one, and this pub
is probably the oldest in Bridge. The building has a late medieval core,
and an early 16th century V A _ — . ~
inscription is to be seen on V T
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
ownershhip probably .
remained in the hands of -» A A V
the descendants of Sir Anthony and subsequent owners of Boume
Place until it was sold at the end of the 18th century. The pub was once
a posting house, though Bridge was only a half-stage between Dover
and Canterbury — necessary because of the hills. 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. The White Horse served also as the village
post office, with the publican serving as post-master. It was here too
that the first meeting of the workhouse guardians was held, on 22 April
1835. The census returns show that the inn oï¬en provided
accommodation for lodgers, including in 1881, Geiorge Webb, aged
23, a professional cricketer. Like other public houses, the inn, was used
for property sales and auctions.The Stables for the White Horse were
‘ once to be found as a single—storey building opposite (Sebastapol
Terrace), later a laundry and cottages (true?). 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 ï¬rst
flower of ï¬fteen shillings! Exhibitors at the show were expected to
attend the dimer, ‘or have no Right to shew his Flower’! Less
sympathetic to today’s readers" taste would be the cock lighting,
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’ .
The Old Forge
Lime Cottage, built in 15th or 16th
century and was formerly the village
forge ~ 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 of farm
equipment and horse—drawn vehicles.
Albany Terrace
This handsome early 19th century row of houses was built by Trinity
House. the lighthouse authority for the coast of England and Wales, to
serve their employees engaged in work on thglollroad between Dover
and London‘?? A much-loved later ~
resident of the terrace was Charles Wills,
who ran the village bakery, following his
father’s death in 1896. 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. His 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 nm in the village Reading Room (now the village
hall) for the benefit of the troops stationed at Boume 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 aged 94 in 1943, and a brief look at his life
illustrates how much Bridge village has always been at the centre of
the lives of many of its residents.
Bridge Farm (known as ‘Daddy F agge’s Farm’)
At the centre of Bridge village
was the home farm of
Blackmansbury, before the
Dissolution of the
Monasteries, part of the land
holdings of St Augustine’s
Abbey. Until its demolition in
1962, the farmhouse that stood
here was a typical 15th
A * «~... ~ < A century timber-framed
Wealden hall house, originally with a central hall open to the roof, with
rooms on two levels on either side, and a jettied overhang. In the early
17th century, a great
ï¬replace was added, and an
upper floor inserted.
Another timber-framed
house had stood at the
right-hand end of the
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 must have
presented a very attractive
appearance, and was a
prestigious building with
the style of vertical timbers
known as close studding. It ,,_ if: A _
had a fine stairway of eight 1: p 1, g; ° _ [1 ‘E§E:;__gV____
solid oak block 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. Diana
Cairns, Dr Hunter’s daughter, can remember well riding with the
Captain, and the family kept their ponies in the ï¬elds where the
Western Avenue estate now is.
The Village Hall
Correspondence survives between Lady Conyngham’s solicitor and her
agent concerning the purchase, from the Canterbury Wesleyan
Trustees, of a house, garden and methodist chapel at Bridge for £270.
The sale involved difï¬cult negotiations regarding the tenants’ rights.
A sect called the Ranters rented the chapel at £4 per annum. Ranters
were 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!
The vicar, the Reverend Stevenson, had drawn the Wesleyan
methodists back into the Anglican fold, and agreement was ï¬nally
reached on the sale. The agent statied that he had been informed that
the ‘Wesleyans possess a million’s worth of property in this
country...so they are quite indiï¬:"erent about the matter’! Lady
Conynghama wanted to ‘turn the chapel into a lecture room or a village
literary institution, for the improvements of the rising generation’.
The original
reading room
and library
were enlarged
in 1878, when
the marquis of
Conyngham
presented the
hall to the
village on the
coming of age
of his heir,
_; _ _ Lord Mount
' 1 Charles. In the
W‘ ?i.**&_. ’, 1st World War,
when troops were camped avthe top of Bridgev’sâ€Twoawn i=ï¬llE?], the hall
was used as a military canteen. In 1894, the Local Government Act
established parish councils, and it was then that Bridge acquired its
parish council. The parish council meets monthly in the Village Hall.
In l952, the hall was given to the villagers by the Conyngham estate
on a 50-year lease at 6d per year (and now??) The hall is used for
numerous village activities.
The ‘Doctors’ House’ (24 High Street)
The earliest record of a doctor in Bridge is of Amelius Sicard, born in
Blackheath 12 June 1809, the son of reï¬igee from revolutionary
France, who would-~seem to have 2-..~—= K
held an important position ‘in the ‘ ' W‘
household of Princess Caroline
of Brunswick. Amelius took on
the practice in Bridge in 1832,
aged 23, and was the village
doctor for 48 years. Sicard’s
tombstone 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 followed Sicard, a British subject born in the Grand Duchy of
Baden. 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’. Wilson resided in Bridge Place,
using the house in the High Street as his surgery. '
Dr Roger Hunter graduated at 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’ paptients entered
at the rear. 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 were hung in the
traditional manner on timber lathes, whereas the lower ones were ï¬xed
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, when the house was sold to the current
occupents. It served as a doctor’s house for 130 years, and one of the
current owners was, until recently, in the medical profession.
Dr William Russell, who succeeded Dr Hunter, set up his practice in
Green Court Today the modern, purpose-built surgery serves
the area from Patrixboume Road. 1... r 2 ; L 1 V K -
Lisa "_
‘Sunnyside’
Olivers’ Court
This 18â€â€˜ century cottage once
stood level with the road. As a
result of the turnpike roadworks,
Sunnyside found itself overlooked
by a new embankment ;—as a result
of the descent into Dering Road,
once no more than a footpath, had
to be made steep. The cottage once
served as Aunt Betsey’s tearooms.
'\
iii‘
The gateway once served as the entry to a house, now demolished,
once known as Olivers’ Court.’The
house belonged to the Cobb family.
The present house, beyond the
gateway, was once the gardener’s
cottage, and outbuildings, with a
saddle room at the back. The
original -house is said to have
resembled the old Vicarage at
Patrixboume.
Day’s house
And/or post office
The ‘Old Ship’ (...High Street)
This timber—framed house dates to the 15th centmy. Between the
timbers is an inï¬ll of patterned brickwork, known as ‘nogging’ which,
in the late 17th or 18th century,
replaced the original lath and
plaster or wattle and daub of an
earlier date. Despite its popular
name, there seems to be no
evidence that the building was
ever an inn. By 1918 the house
had been divided into 4
labourers cottages, one of which
was the home of the Sole family,
who moved in as lodgers to what
was to be the first of three
houses they occupied in Bridge following the 1st World War. The
cottage was accessed from Primrose Alley, and the door opened
Dering Road (Aunt Betsy’s Hill)
This short road is named aï¬er the Dering family — in particular Colonel
Cholmoley Dering, younger brother of Sir Edward Dering, 7th baronet
of Surrenden Dering, Pluckley. Dering raised and commanded the
Duke of York’s Own New Romney ' * “ '
Fencible Cavalry, in 1794. He served with
the regment in Ireland for three years,
winning the thanks of the Lord Lieutenant
of the county, and both houses of
parliament for services in the rebellion of
1798. The regiment disbanded in 1800 on ' ‘
return from Ireland. Cholmoley Dering bough Howletts from the
builder (Isaac Baugh) in 1799, and lived in the house. On becoming the
guardian of his nephew, the infant son of his elder brother, he moved to
Pluckley, selling Howletts in c.1816 to George Gipps, son and heir to
one of the founders of the Canterbury Bank. Howletts remained in the
Gipps family until the 1950s or 60s.
\
buiidiiig were described as giving ‘an appearance oi checrlulness,
while the garden plots on either side of the entrance are generally a
blaze 01 flowers.’ (A saunter Hzroug/1 Kent). lhe evidence indicates
that the Guardians of the Bridge Union, while careful over ï¬nancial
matters, were conscientious in executing their duties and not unduly
harsh. The buildings later became a home for the elderly and nursing
home (lhe Close), belore being converted into housing in the nineteen
eighties, when the New Close was built in Conyngham Lane.p.3l
Bridge Windmill, Union Road
lhe name Mill Lane indicates the area where once stood a smock mill,
used for grinding corn for local farmers to make flour for bread. The
miller in the early nineteenth century, lhomas Johnson, ottered a
personal service to his customers by delivering sacks of flour carried
on the back of a donkey. The mill is shown on an Ordnance Survey
map dated 1819, but had
probably existed for some years.
This mill must have been
preceeded by an earlier one, as a
county map of 1719 is shown at
the same spot. A map of 1596
shows that there was once an old
post mill also, to the east of
Bridge Church. The smock mill
was last operated by wind power
in 1907 and by the 1930s, it was
in poor condition. By l933, the
site was in use as a coal
merchant’s yard, but the mill
survived the war years, before
being finally demolished in
October 1954. One of the oil storge tanks in Corrall’s yard now rests
on the old brick base of the mill.
Close to the mill stands the Old Mill House (41 Union Road), built
c.1730, and for many years one of few houses in the street. This was
once the miller’s house, and is set at right angles to the road so that the
miller could keep and eye of his mill
A Brief Historical Tour of
THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE
And its Environs
Bridge Street in 1661: Willem Schellincks
© Courtauld Intstitute
1
1
A Brief Historical Tour of
THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE .
And its Environs
Bridge Street in 1661: Willem Schellincks
© Courtauld Intstitute
A Brief Historical Tour of
THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE
And its Environs
Bridge Street in 1661: Willem Schellincks
© Courtauld Intstitute
A Brief Historical Tour of
THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE
And its Environs
Bridge Street in 1661: Willem Schellincks
© Courtauld Intstitute
Bifrons
, «' "Parish Botlmlury
-Hillside
I ,Wcs10n Villas
'1 I,‘ 7 Scllon Villas
/Albany ‘I emcc
Priclxclfs O11‘ Liccngc: '(' wage
\
P 011‘ “ ’/
osl 1CC \ I
\\ 4/ /
"llxc l)0cl0r‘s H«)\1sc\\ / ,' mwr HUM;
V ‘ V / /I / r’! « . l
L'haI)e1%\~, ‘ ,-’ /’ /« //\\‘1llm\Br0ol;
.\lilllmu;'? “ ’ /I / ,
\ I ' f ' /V’ //
\1ill ‘ l «/ ‘ / x / /
* ~.\ \'1llag<:IlzIll \ / /
\ ,
O B1'idg<:l"am1 "'—‘
/Forge
/'/While Horse
/ \(}as\\‘0rks
Plough & llntrowxx
4 K « \
Cflocklnakerfl \ \S,«1.0o1
/; ' lron Chapel
fl . l,,yntonllo1Ls:
/ '
Vhufch Roumc l-louse
Bridge $
/Place '
'1
Old linglands llolc:
East Bridge llouse
.\§ailh0L1mc
Stream
Bridge Hill House
Boumc House &
Crickcl Ground
l3ifrqns
, l’zm'sl1 Boundary ‘
,llillside
V I ;\\/cslon Villas
I ‘,7’ .Sel1&)n Villas
V _:Albany 'l‘cn‘:Icc
,(f.'ol(agc.'
/,
l’riL-kct1's OIT l ,icL:nL:c
Post ()ll'1cc . "Forge
- _ I , \\’l1i1cllm"su
llw l')oct<>r‘s Housc ‘~ "
Primitive Chapel
'i N
Worklxousc \ :/ K / ,
Millhousc ‘ ‘ _ /’ I
/ .
W‘ M ‘ Village Hall
, l{i\'<;1‘l'l0u.sc
V . \VillowBrook
Red Lion
5 Bridge Farm '
Plough & llanvw KN v '_
(‘.locl<n1:1ke,. _ \( , ,
\ Claswnrks
K School
l‘ l ‘ Iron Chapel
l..ynlon I louse
Boumc House
East Bridge House
.\ ai Ibo ume
Stream]
Hlghum
Bridge Hill llomlc
Bournc House &
(,'ricl<c1 Ground
Biï¬_1__>ns
’ Parish Bnundary /l
fliillsidc
' I,-Weston Villas
,senun Villas
"V ;Albnny Terrace
l’rickeu‘s Off I.iwI\¢{e I ,:’Cmmg°
Post Otlice /P °'g"
~ / ’ White Horse
V I ’Rivcr House
/ Willow Brook‘
', 4/
The Doctor's House ‘
Primitive Chapel
Workhouse‘
Mnllhousc , Red Iiigi‘ '
. . ‘- "V / '
“"1, ‘,3 Village Hall I ,’
\ K" (iusworks
Bridge Farm
Plough & Hamaw-~..
Jookmakcr
East Bridge House
Bridge
§M/ Plnc:
;
~,..-.1
Nailholmw
Strcam
1‘
f
1
4
I
;.
Higham
Boumc I-louse &
Crickul Ground
(4) The Bridge in about 1900
(5) Colin Lewie‘ grocer's
shop
(2) Bridge Village ca 1912
(1) Willem Schellincks,
Bridge Street in 1661
(10) Garage and tobacconist
"“ any-uni ‘M!
v
(11) Bridge Place (12) Adriaen Ocker, Old (13) Bourne House (15) Boume Park Cricket
Bridge Place Ground
. 1 F“ _ ,... flsf-.
(17) WF Saunders, Bridge (18) Jan Siberechts, Old (19) Bifrons, ‘a plain building‘ (20) Bifrons, ca 1900
Church, 1853 Bifrons
(21) Higham (22) Bridge Hill House
(27) The "0" Chapel (23’)'Hardeman clock
I‘.
1) J
(31) Fire Brigade (32) CE 1037 (33) Funeral ofFlreman (34) R1VHoue
Fenn, 1910 ’
(35) Temperance Ladies
K; ./“
(39)‘Wills family 4* " £40)Coniectured
(36) The White Horse gr (3 development of Bridge Farm
‘fl?
pr; (43)“"The Doctor's House’ (45) Primrose Alley
3; Chapel “‘ ‘R’ Yard) j,J .= ‘J
ll:
($63 Prickett's Off Licence (4vT)"Doorway to ‘Hillside’ (48 ‘Hi|lsie' (49)“l' he Old Close, formerly (50) Windmill « -
' i ' ‘ - " ' .3- the Union Workhouse -. , ’ '
. I ’~l ‘
"J! ‘*1! . » g.
£52)’ Captain Mflaslin cottages, 15tl; or early 16th Mill House Sunnyside
5; .‘ can ury _ ‘
>9... Va 1-’ ï¬r
.9 4.’-A‘?
3 . \“ . _ rm-
Two cottages, 1693 Weston Villas
.4 1’ I,
- -_o»..««~..-..«}‘ .,« ,«
_ ‘WM 95 . 9.“
..I*~'*5:‘—‘:~.:x’v
K
/
,, 7': 6% trisvseuytxzg.
mm
The shape of Bridge Parish 1894-1984
MILL ROBBED. . . in the night of the 30th November. the
Mill belonging to John Fagg, on Bridge Hill, was broke open
by forcing the hinges of the door. . . and a Quantity of flour
with TWO SACKS marked ‘J.Fagg, Bridge Mill’ were stolen
thereout and traced for about halfa mile across the ï¬elds. . .
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. For security purposes, no
doubt not only to watch for robbers but also to keep an eye on the
working of the mill. the miller’s house stood at right angles to the road
a few yards down the hill (now 41 Union Road). Thomas Johnson was
the miller from 1832 until his death in 1856, and the Folkeslone Herald
of March 1933 describes ‘the figure of the dusty miller was 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.
The miller from 1859 to 1879 was George Fryer, who was succeeded
by William White. By the l890’s industrial milling was fast overtaking
the traditional method. Mr White installed a steam engine, and his
successor William Mainwaring 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 ï¬nally 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.
Wickhambreaux and Womenswold. 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 of indoor paupers by 1847 was 3s.4d (17p). Tramps were
accommodated in a separate building next 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 ifit was to be their second 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 ofthe
Union building were described in A Sazmter 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 ï¬nancial
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 ofthe new school.
Six mills are mentioned in the Domesday survey of lO86 within the
parish of Patrixbourne (which in effect included Bridge). These were
almost certainly water-mills, one of which was probably sited where
Bridge Place now stands: the present artiï¬cial course ofthe Nailbourne
indicates this. At a much later date (ï¬rst recorded on Symondson’s
map of 1596) a post-mill was erected on the brow of Bridgedown
within Patrixbourne parish. Milling was a high value but also high risk
business: many were the mills that burned down, due to the easily
combustible nature of flour dust. The Kentish Gazette in 1808 records
a different risk:
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 19"‘ century inï¬ll
structure next to the village hall, later converted to equestrian supplies.
Dering Road and Filmer Road (named after two prominent Kentish
families) form the bulk of an early estate development in Bridge from
l853 onwards, when the field forming the gap between the Union
Workhouse and the High Street was sold off by the Marchioness
Conyngham as individual plots. 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
Edward Dering, 7th baronet of Surrenden Dering, Pluckley. Dering
raised and commanded the Duke of York’s Own New Romney
Fencible Cavalry in l794. and served with the regiment in Ireland,
winning the thanks of the Lord Lieutenant of the county and both
houses of parliament. Cholmoley 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 Howletts in c.1816 to George Gipps, son and heir to one ofthe
founders of the Canterbury Bank.
The Poor Law Union workhouse in Bridge was erected in l835, at a
cost of £4,376 by Thomas Finch Cozens, one ofthe original trustees of
the Methodist chapel, following the passing of the Poor Law
Amendment Act 1834. 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-ofï¬cio
guardians. surgeons, a relieving officer and a clerk. The parishes
included were Adisham, Barham, Bekesbourne, Bishopsbourne,
Bridge, Chartham, Fordwich, Harbledown, Upper Hardres, Lower
Hardres, lckham, Kingston. Littlebourne, Nackington. Patrixbourne,
Petham, Stodmarsh, Thanington, Waltham, Westgate-Without,
new Health Centre in Patrixbourne Road. It is remarkable that the
village has had no more than six doctors in over 170 years.
The late 18"‘ 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 from the fact that here was
the yard belonging to Frederick Colegate (1790-1877), a prominent
local builder, who in all probability erected Alexandra House (next to
Rogers Garage) for his retirement. Here his daughter Jane and
granddaughter Elizabeth Williams ran a private school until the early
20"‘ century.
The semi—detached Victorian houses opposite the post office were built
on land bought in 1879 by Thomas Sergeant, a builder of Bridge. The
houses erected were called respectively Weston and Sefton Villas.
The Maslin family lived at 7 High 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 Seï¬on Villas, where some of his horses
were grazed. During World War II, 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 stands level with the
main road suggests that it postdates the grading works of the l820’s. It
bears a striking stylistic similarity to the entry to Patrixbourne Old
Vicarage. This is a relic of a large 19"‘ century house. known as
‘Hillside’. Further evidence of its existence may be glimpsed in the
garden behind the door, where the tiled floor ofa 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 18"‘ century cottage now known as ‘Sunnyside’, once stood level
with the road, and was for a while a teashop. As a result ofthe 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 Betsey’s
The left—hand house of the early 19"‘ century pair adjacent to Union
Road may justiï¬ably 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 ofa doctor in Bridge is of Amelius Sicard, born in Blackheath 12
June 1809, the son of 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 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 ofthe west window in the church. Charles Schon
followed Sicard, a British subject born in the Grand Duchy of Baden.
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
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
‘Primrose Alley’, a pretty name belying the lowly character of its
early inhabitants, and proclaimed until the 19905 by a board afï¬xed to
the side ofthe house. The building attached to the side is a double oast.
The brick inï¬ll between the timbers of the house (‘nogging’) is
probably a later replacement of the wattle and daub ofthe original. It
may be noted that the house beside the Ford in Mill Lane, Bridgeford
House, erected as a row of three cottages in the early 19"‘ 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 difï¬cult negotiations
regarding the tenants’ rights. A group of Primitive Methodists (or
‘Ranters’) rented the chapel at £4 per annum. These may be deï¬ned 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 their way home from
services. The vicar, the Rev. Stevenson, had drawn the Wesleyan
Methodists back into the Anglican fold. When agreement was ï¬nally
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 to erect their own chapel
in Dering Road in 1868, which they used until the first decade of the
20th century. lt then became a private house, and was demolished in
1951.
The original reading room and library was enlarged in 1878 for the
beneï¬t of the villagers, to twice its size (and including the additional
comfort of a ï¬replace), to celebrate the coming of age of Marquis
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
yeah
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 beneï¬t 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 aged 94 in i943, and 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. Illustrated
above is Mr Wills with his aunt (aged 100) and his two sisters. At this
date the combined ages ofthe four 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. Until its regrettable demolition in l962, the
farmhouse that stood here was a typical 15th century timber-framed
Wealden hall house, originally with a central hall open to the roof,
rooms on two levels on either side and ajettied overhang. In the early
17th century, a great ï¬replace was added, and an upper floor inserted.
Another timber-framed house had stood at the right-hand end of the
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 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: a late 15â€â€˜ or early
16"‘ century hall house, timber—framed and jettied, which according to
one theory was an inn known as the ‘Ship’. By 1841, the house had
been converted into a row of four labourers’ cottages known as
and the condition ofthe road. The fastest mail—coaches ran at about 10
miles per hour. It was here too that the first meeting of the workhouse
guardians was held, on 22 April l835. The census returns show that
the inn often provided accommodation for lodgers including, in I881,
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 ï¬ghting,
advertised in June l772 ‘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 l85l 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 (Wood/ands) in
1623, licenced to sell ales, groceries and provisions in 1849 and
renamed, now (since the l960’s) the Duck at Pett Bottom.
Lime Cottage, built in l5th or 16th century was formerly the village
forge — 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 of farm
equipment and horse-drawn vehicles. Before becoming a private house
it was for a period in the 19705 Norman and Elsie Turner’s shop,
which had its own market garden and small—holding behind, extending
over some ofthe 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 l9th 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 pilots
engaged in work in Dover and Whitstable. It was erected in the first
place as two more or less symmetrical detached buildings. 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, following his father’s
death in 1896. He was an enthusiastic chief officer of Bridge Fire
During the l940s, the ï¬remen’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 difï¬culty 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 house served also as a shop. Damaged by fire in the
early 20th century, it was partly rebuilt. It is remembered as a tea
room, with a ï¬ne garden. In the early 20th century the building to the
right of the 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 to the Board of Guardians of the
workhouse. ln l904, 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
l853, the UK 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.
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 ofthe
property by Sir Arnold Braems to Sir Anthony Aucher, and the tenant
at that time seems to have been William Ford. The ownershhip
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 between Dover and 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
The 18th century row adjoining Brewery Lane contains a 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 ofthe village. In between was one ofthe more notable
businesses to grace Bridge again for over a century, that ofthe watch
and clockmakers William Nash and Samuel and William Hardeman.
The Plough and Harrow was built in 1692, constructed originally as
two dwelling houses and, in 1703, 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 I830, Thomas Williams’ son William acquired a
licence to sell beer from his dwelling in 1831. whereupon it was known
as ‘the Beer House at Bridge’. ln I858 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 I873. a headquarters was set up for a voluntary fire
brigade. and a tire engine was purchased. The Marquis of
Conyngham, of Bifrons. was an enthusiast for ï¬re 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 pump was
horse-drawn. For many years the engine (including CE 1037, that
donated by Count Zborowsi) was housed in a shed behind the Plough
and Harrow and kept running through donations from insurance
companies. The ï¬remen 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 ï¬re at Pett Bottom. The young second engineer of the ï¬re
brigade, John Fenn, had the job of preparing the flare. ln 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 ï¬elds.
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 ï¬ve 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 Patrixboume
Road, Brookside. and was employed making gas and 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. Coke was produced and sold as a
by—product. By 1929, gas was 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. The
Marchioness Conyngham established a school for 30 girls at Bifrons
Gate. It is said that the pupils wore smart uniforms of blue serge
dresses and red cloaks. 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.
There remains some confusion as to whether this school, founded by
Lady Conyngham, was the same school as that on Patrixboume Road,
the Bridge School of the photograph. By 1861 Bridge School, under
Richard Wells. master, and Mrs Sophie Sayer, mistress. had 99 pupils.
Mr and Mrs Robert Wye were appointed as the first government
teachers of the school in 1871, following the Education Act of 1870.
Mr Wye’s sister Fanny was appointed mistress of the infants’ school.
After 44 years at the school she 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 three-quarters of the century of its
existence therefore this old primary school had only two principal
teachers! There were other Dame schools in the village, one of which
was held in Alexander House. Dame schools, were small, private
elementary schools run by women, the usual fee being 3d or 4d per
week. These largely disappeared after the 1870 Education Act.
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 a short period at the turn ofthe 20"‘
century Bridge fire engine was also housed here, before being
transferred to the rear of the Plough and Harrow. 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, in part
towards the vicar, and the chapel had been taken over by the Primitive
methodists. Not until I892 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 brick-built 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 oftheir lron
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£l39.l7s.0 '/a d. During the Second World War, a
baby clinic operated from the Chapel, and this continued until I987.
The Bridge Gas Coke and Coal Company was established in
September 1858 on a site in Patrixbourne road (next to the school!) by
the Marquis and Marchioness of Conyngham and Matthew Bell, of
Bourne Park ~ chairman of the company. Lamp posts were ï¬tted and
tested on l0 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
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 1980s.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 (formerly Hill Cottage) 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 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 of course 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 Gray/vozmd. 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 18"‘ 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,
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 Paciï¬c Class locomotives was named. He served twice as High
Sheriff of Kent. Whigham, for reasons of euphony, renamed the
property Highland Court. During the second World War the house
served as a hospital. and it continued in this role until the I980s, when
it was closed and the estate fell into a state of neglect. Since I995,
restoration and redevelopment has continued, and Higham has
recovered its original name.
(Bridge) Hill House was in the I8th century popularly known as the
Horse and Groom and seved as the headquarters ofthose 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 I804. 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’! 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 I773, 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. Early in the 19th century, however, the house was bought
by a refugee from the French Revolution, Charles Louis Secondat,
Baron de Montesquieu (I749-1824), 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.
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 Marquis died in 1832. The Marchioness lived to the age of 92, and
died in 1861. During her lifetime, she added considerably to her
estates in Kent. She was active in Patrixbourne and Bridge, founding
the school, supporting the free schools’ movement, helping form the
volunteer fire brigade. She and the marquis were founder shareholders
in the Bridge Gas Coke and Coal Company. Considerable alterations
were carried out at Bifrons during the l9"‘ century. When the fourth
marquis 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,
and the decision was taken to demolish it. 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
houses for farmworkers. The Conyngham family continue to take an
active interest in their local property and in the village of Bridge. ln
1989, Canterbury Archaeological Trust undertook an excavation of the
Bifrons site. funded by the Conyngham estate, and reported in
Archaeologia Ccmtiuna in 1989. It was hoped at that time that the
house might be reconstructed, but this plan was abandoned.
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 aero-engine powered racing car, which later
was immortalised in the ï¬lm Chitty-Chitty—Bang-Bang. He also
presented Bridge Fire Brigade with a 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.
notable memorials to Bridge villagers, not least that of Zebulon
Vinson, butler to Mrs Gregory.
Patrixbourne derives its name from the illustrious Patrick family, who
came to Kent from Normandy at the Conquest. In 1174, the manor was
inherited by Ingelram Patrick, whose daughter Maud married Ralph
Tesson, sensechal of Normandy. His estates in England, including
Patrixbourne, were awarded to Geoffrey de Say. In the ï¬ï¬‚eenth
century, a number of manors in the area were held by the lsaac family.
By the early 17th century, according to Hasted, John Bargrave built a
house in Patrixbourne, Bifrons, presumably on the site of the old
manor house. John Bargrave’s brother, Isaac, became dean of
Canterbury Cathedral. The family sold the house in 1662 and there
were a number of owners before the house was purchased by John
Taylor in September 1694. His grandson Edward inherited the property
in c.1775, demolished the house and began reconstruction. A number
of drawings survive of this ‘plain building’ in the classical style with
little architectural embellishment’. In 1802, Edwards son, Edward,
married Louisa Beckingham of Bourne Place, and Bifrons was let to
tenants. It was sold in I830 to the first Marquis Conyngham.
Henry Conyngham was created marquis 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 lreland, and the
Conynghain’s lrish country seat was (and still is) Castle Slane,
between Belfast and Dublin. The Marquis was much at court, and held
the post of Lord Steward ofthe Household until the king’s death. Lady
Conyngham was famed as the companion and conï¬dante of George
IV. A favourite at court, she was described as ‘fat, handsome, kindly,
shrewd and extremely fond of jewels’! 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
Quafï¬ng their claret, then mingling their lips
Or fondling the fat about each others hips
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 travellers. so Bridge church satisï¬ed
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 Harpsï¬eld’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 ofthe 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 of Mrs Mary Gregory, wife ifthe
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 15"‘ century table tomb,
once containing several brasses. The churchyard contains a number of
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 if it 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.
Bel1’s grandson (also Matthew) died in 1927, at which time the house
was purchased by Sir John 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 Sir John’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 houses 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 the house and grounds.
Somerset de Chair died in 1995 aged 83. Lady Juliet 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 defunct, 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
Walter Breains inherited the house on his father’s death in 1681, but by
this time the estate was burdened with debt. Walter had been much
involved in the Civil War and, at the Restoration, was made
Comptroller of HM Customs at Sandwich, and later at Dover, not least
as a reward for having been the ‘youngest prisoner in England for your
Majesty’s Service’. In 1690, however, he was petitioning for ‘six years
arrears of salary’, and after his death in 1692, his family could no
longer afford to maintain the house. His son inherited, but by 1695 the
estate was sold to John Taylor of Patrixbourne, who soon demolished
the greater part of Bridge Place in order to use the bricks in the
building ofBifrons. on his property in Patrixbourne.
What survives ofthe original Bridge Place is just one wing but, in the
view of Hasted, ‘the size and stateliness...being of itself full sufficient
for a gentleman’s residence’. An advertisement in the Gazette in June
1791 advertises the house for let as having ‘proper ofï¬ces for a family:
a coach—house with stabling for seven horses, and eleven acres of very
fine pasture...and a cottage consisting of a brewhouse, laundry and
dairy. with good lodging—rooms over them’. Since then, the house has
had a succession of owners, and was purchased by Peter Malkin in
1969. In 1976, Bridge Place hosted a party to celebrate the opening of
the A2 by-pass, an achievement long fought for by the villagers. Until
recently it housed a night-club and country club. Little Bridge Place
nearby was almost certainly built at the same time in the 17th century.
Once part of a larger estate, Bourne House (in Bishopsbourne) is
considered to be amongst the ï¬nest Queen Anne houses in Kent. It was
built using materials from Westenhanger Castle by Dame Elizabeth
Aucher, widow of Sir Henry Aucher, for her son Hewytt, between
1704 and l707 on the site of an ancient house known as Hautbourne.
(The Haute family, kinsmen of Edward lV’s queen Elizabeth
Woodville. was prominent in the area in the 15th century).
In l756, 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. ln 1845, Matthew Bell, a director of Equitable Lif and the
owner also of ‘Oswalds’ in Bishopsbourne, purchased the house. Bell
was responsible for the construction of the ornamental lake, and for
constructing a number of buildings in the vicinity, including estate
medieval watermill that surely once occupied the site. Until Henry
V1ll’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 1540. the manor reverted to the Crown. Henry V111 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 1, 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. Wi1liam’s grandson, Edward, sold the
property in 1638 to Arnold Braems.
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 1. 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 tolls and customs. This fortune he spent in
the building of a fine house in Bridge, and in support of his King. He
lived in Bridge until his death in 1681. In place of the former manor
house, Bridge Place, built with hand-made Dutch bricks, 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 William 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 Hill. Another guest writes of being
‘merrily entertained’ at Braems’ ‘delightful residence at Bridge. one
hour’s walk from Canterbury’. The company played bowls, and ‘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".
Brewery Lane. In the 19th century, the Workhouse (1835) was built, as
were houses in Dering and Filmer Roads (l860’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). ln the census for 1801, the population of the
entire parish was 325. By 1834 it had reached 543, and in 1841 it was
817, of whom 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 1971 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. Signiï¬cant 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 1, 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 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
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. a 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 ofthe 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. In January I962, pensioner George
Smith 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 I972, a Dover-bound 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 demonstrations 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 history of Bridge is not that of a characteristic medieval village,
radiating ï¬â€˜om 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 House. 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 of a few cottages in
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 ï¬lled 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 oftrafï¬c over the road surface resulted in
clouds of dust; in winter in inuddied ruts. On 26 December 1769, the
Kentish Gazette noted that ‘some public—spirited Gentlemen intend to
petition Parliament for 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-
20m century, and the wide water-splash to one side ofthe 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 20"‘
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 1955 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
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 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 Qf Kent of l7l9, lists various
encainpments 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. King John, 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 l4l5, to
celebrate his victory in Canterbury Cathedral. In 1450, during Cade’s
Rebellion, ‘John Ysake 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 15"‘
century, a huge wax candle, rolled into a coil, or trindle, was carried on
the road through Bridge — 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 magniï¬cent
retinue on his way to meet Francis 1 of France in June 1520, to
celebrate peace in great splendour at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. In
the l630’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. And at the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II
returned amidst great rejoicing to regain his throne, making his way
from the coast to break his journey in Canterbury, where he was
presented with a copy of William Somner’s Antiquities of Canterbury.
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 VILLAGE OF BRIDGE
The village of Bridge lies astricle 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. lt
dries up, or runs underground, frequently. When the Wantsum Channel
was open to the sea, the Nailbourne, 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 the present road. Cozens’ History ofKem 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 the 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 signiï¬cant 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 Iron-
Age settlement, and pottery, fragments of weapons and other artefacts
This brieftour guide to Bridge is based upon a small part ofthe
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 ofthe 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 archive collection. We would like to thank the Courtauld
Institute for permission to reproduce the view of Bridge in 1661; Kent
Archaeological Trust, for the picture of Bridge Church before 1860 and
the structural drawing of Bridge Farm; the National Monuments
Record, Swindon, for the picture of Bridge Windmill. We are grateful
to all those who have made material available for our use — written,
verbal or photographic.
We would like to thank Messr sxxx , and in particular to Cllr Martin
Vye and the generosity of Kent County Council for financial support
for this publication.
Meriel Connor
Maurice Raraty
A Brief Historical Tour of
THE VILLAGE OF BRIDGE
And its Environs
Bridge Street in 1661: Willem Schellincks
© Courtauld Intstitute
Bridge and District History Society 2007
Page 1 of 2
mmraraty
From: "Hayes, Emma" <emma.hayes@courtauld.ac.uk>
To: "mmraraty" <mmraraty@btinternet.com>
Sent: 27 November 2006 11:39
Attach: CIA Terms print.doc
Subject: RFP20906
SCT ENTERPRISES LTD
Courtauld Institute Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, LONDON WC2R ORN
Tel +44 (0)20 7848 2879 Fax +44 (0)20 7848 2589 Email galleryimages@courtauld.ac.uk
VAT Registration no. 672007652, Company Registered in England no. 3137515
Dr Maurice M Raraty
41 Bridge Down Date: 27/11/2006
Bridge Account No. CLI3587
Canterbury Client Email: mmraraty@btinternet.com
CT4 SBA
Request for Immediate Payment N0. RF P20906
USAGE: To illustrate a booklet on the history of Bridge, Kent to be published by the Kent History
Federation for their conference in 2007. Print run of up to 1000 copies.
RIGHTS: One time. non-exclusive use. English language. UK rights. Reproduction in colour.
D.l952.RW.4207 Schellinks, Willem (1627-1678): View ofbridges, Kent
28.9 cm x 17.8 cm, graphite & pen and ink (brown) on paper
CREDIT LINE: Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London
Photography/Imaging Fee 20.00
Handling Fee 5.00
Subtotal 25.00
VAT at 17.5% 4.38
TOTAL FEE 29.38
I have read and agree to the Courtauld Institute of Art's Terms and Conditions attached herewith:
NAME: SIGNATURE: DATE:
All amounts are in Pounds Sterling. Payment Terms: Images cannot be sent out until payment is
received IN FULL. Reproduction rights are licensed subject to full payment, and strictly in
accordance with the usage and rights outlined. Our curators request that you send us a courtesy copy
of your publication in which our image appears. Transparencies are normally loaned for THREE
MONTHS. You will be charged an additional fee of£15 PER MONTH for each extra month of the
loan; alternatively, we can negotiate a flat fee for a longer loan period if you let us know in advance.
Images MUST NOT be cropped, overprinted or manipulated in any way without prior permission.
Payment may be made by cheque in Pounds Sterling (or in Euros), made payable to SCT
ENTERPRISES LIMITED and sent for the attention of the Rights and Reproductions Manager at the
address above. We also accept VISA and MASTERCARD credit cards. For international bank
22/01/2007
Page 2 of 2
transfers, please quote the following IBAN/SWIF T numbers for the appropriate currency: Pounds
Sterling IBAN: GB07 NWBK 6080 0754 1482 35, Euro IBAN: GB91 NWBK 6072 1406 5830 83,
SWIFT: NWBK GB 2L. NatWest Bank, PO Box 83, Tavistock House, Tavistock Square, LONDON
WCl H 9XA; account number 54148235, sort code 60-80-07.
You must acknowledge that you agree to the Courtauld Institute of Art Terms and Conditions
by returning a copy of this document, signed and dated, by fax or post, to the Rights and
Reproductions Manager at the address above, with your full payment. Please quote this
document reference RFP20906 in all correspondence.
This e-mail, including any attachments, is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for
the use of
the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. Any unauthorised dissemination or copying of this e-mail or its
attachments and
any reliance on or use or disclosure of any information contained in them is strictly prohibited and may be
illegal. If you have
received this e—mail in error please notify us by return of e—mail [or by telephone +44 (0) 20 7848 1272] and
then delete it
from your system
This message has been scanned for viruses by BlackSpider MailControl
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.430 / Virus Database: 268.1414/547 - Release Date: 22/11/2006 17:41
22/01/2007
Page 1 of 3
mmmmw
From: "galleryimages" <ga||eryimages@courtauld.ac.uk>
To: "mmraraty" <mmraraty@btinternet.com>
Sent: 23 November 2006 16:48
Subject: RE: Schellincks
Dear Maurice,
I am very sorry that it has taken me so long to reply to you. I'm afraid I've spent most of the week at
home with flu!
I would count 500 as a very small print run - that in this case we won't charge reproduction fees for.
Shall I send you an invoice for the £25 (plus VAT)?
Best wishes,
Emma
Courtauld Gallery Images
Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R ORN
T: +44 (0)20 7848 2879
F: +44 (0)20 7848 2589
galleryimages@courtauld.ac.uk
vmwv.artandarchitecture.org.uk
-—-——Original Message—----
From: mmraraty [mailto2mmraraty@btinternet.com]
Sent: 16 November 2006 17:30
To: galleryimages
Subject: Re: Schellincks
Thank you for this reply.
Apologies for the circuitous approach to you.
I do not know what you would regard as a small print run, but I imagine we
will print a few hundred — 500 (probably) - 1000 absolute maximum. We will
hope to recover (some of) the cost by sales at a modest price
A digital image will no doubt be an enhancement and a useful addition to our
archive. Do you have any information as to the provenance of the picture?
Please let me know how I must now proceed.
Thank you
Maurice Raraty
Please --——— Original Message --———
From: "galleryimages" <galleryimages@courtau1d.ac.uk>
To: <n1mra1‘aty@btinternet.coni>
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 ll:O1 AM
Subject: RE: Schellincks
Dear Maurice Raraty,
22/01/2007
Page 2 of 3
Thank you for your email. It was forwarded to me by my colleague Joanna
Selborne.
Please could you tell me the print run of the booklet? Is it for sale or to
give away? We usually charge reproduction fees, but do offer discounted
rates for small print runs.
If you would like to use a high resolution digital image of the drawing (in
colour) we can supply it for £20 plus £5 handling fee.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Emma Hayes
Courtauld Gallery Images
Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R ORN
T: +44 (0)20 7848 2879
F: +44 (0)20 7848 2589
galleryimages@courtauld.ac.uk
www.artandarchitecture.0rg.uk
———--Original Message—----
From: mmraraty [mailto:mmraraty@btinternet.com]
Sent: Tue ll/7/2006 4:06 PM
To: Selborne, Joanna
Subject: Schellincks
I am seeking permission to reproduce, in a booklet dedicated to the history
of Bridge in Kent, for the occasion of the annual conference of the Kent
History Federation to be held there next year (2007), a drawing held by the
Courtauld Institute by Willem Schellincks.
It is a view taken of Bridge High Street in about 1662.
The photograph of the drawing I have in our collection (which was obtained
some years ago by Mr John Williamson) is inscribed on the back: Negative No.
218/31/38, and further: Witt 4207.
If you are not the person to whom I should be addressing this request, I
apologise, but would be grateful ifyou would therefore pass it on to the
relevant person.
Thank you
Maurice M Raraty
Bridge
This e-mail, including any attachments. is conï¬dential and may be legally
22/01/2007
Page 3 of 3
privileged. It is intended solely for the use of the individual(s) to whom
it is addressed. Any unauthorised dissemination or copying of this e-mail or
its attachments and any reliance on or use or disclosure of any information
contained in them is strictly prohibited and may be illegal. If you have
received this e-mail in error please notify us by return of e-mail [or by
telephone +44 (0) 20 7848 1272] and then delete it from your system
This message has been scanned for Viruses by BlackSpider MailControl
- www.blackspicler.com
No Virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.430 / Virus Database: 268.l4.2/528 - Release Date: 10/11/2006
14:31
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.430 / Virus Database: 268.1414/547 - Release Date: 22/11/2006 17:41
22/01/2007
Courtauld Institute of Art
RIGHTS AND REPRODUCTIONS FOR THE COURTAULD
INSTITUTE OF ART GALLERY
TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR THE REPRODUCTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS,
TRANSPARENCIES AND DIGITAL IMAGES
These Terms and Conditions apply to conventional reproduction only. Reproduction
in an electronic or multimedia product is subject to separate terms and conditions.
Permission to reproduce is dependent on the full acceptance of the Terms and
Conditions detailed below and will be automatically withdrawn should any part be
infringed.
Ix)
This agreement represents the entirety of the terms and conditions between SCT
Enterprises Ltd.. on behalf of the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery (SCTE), and its
Licensees. No variation ofthese terms and conditions shall apply unless agreed in writing
by both parties.
Rights granted by SCTE are strictly limited to the use specified in the Licence and are
subject to any further conditions laid down by the Licensor in Schedule A. Compliance
with requirements arising from artist’s copyright is the responsibility of the Licensee.
The rights granted to the Licensee by SCTE are non—exclusive and non—transferable. All
reprints, further editions or use of the image(s) other than for the agreed purpose,
including an increase in the print—run, necessitate a new application to SCTE and may
involve payment of a further fee. This also applies to television programmes where
permission to reproduce covers one transmission only (or speciï¬ed terms of contract).
The Licensee must satisfy himself/ herselfthat all necessary rights, releases or consents
which may be required for reproduction of the image(s) are obtained, and SCTE gives no
warranty or undertaking that any such rights. releases or consents are or will be obtained
whether in relation to the use of names, people, trade marks, registered or copyright
designs. or works of art included in any image(s).
The Licensee indemniï¬es SCTE in respect of any claims or damages or any loss or costs
arising in any manner from the reproduction without proper rights or consents of any
image(s).
SCTE shall not be liable for any lloss or damage suffered by the Licensee or by any third
party arising from the Lise of any image(s).
lfthe image(s) have not been previously published then any publication rights therein are
hereby assigned to SCTE for the full period of such publication rights.
13.
14.
Reproduction of the image(s) mL1st include the correct acknowledgement: see contract.
No part of the image(s) may be manipulated, masked out, cut down, superimposed with
typed matter, or in any way defaced without prior written agreement.
. In order to ensure qL1ality control, SCTE only allows reproductions directly from prints,
transparencies or digital files obtained from the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery’s rights
and reproductions department or any of its agents.
. SCTE reserves the right to require payment in full even if a photographic order is
cancelled and prints, transparencies or digital ï¬les and permission to reproduce them are
no longer required.
. The Licensee must pay the fee payable by reference to the scale of fees set out by SCTE.
Cheques must be made payable to ‘SCT Enterprises Ltd.’. All bank charges must be
borne by the Licensee.
Permission to reproduce the image(s) does not come into effect until payment has
been received.
. Electronic storage is permitted only if it is incidental and wholly necessary to the process
of production for products properly licensed by SCTE, and any electronic copies must be
destroyed at the conclusion of such production.
. The Licensee must also send at least one complimentary copy of each publication or
product to the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery for its records.
The accompanying document must be returned and signed in agreement with these Terms and
Conditions.
This Licence is governed by the terms set out above which may not be altered in any
particular without written consent of the Licensor.
Page 1 of 3
mmraraty
From: "galleryimages" <ga|leryimages@courtau|d.ac.uk>
To: "mmraraty" <mmraraty@btinternet.com>
Sent: 23 November 2006 16:48
Subject: RE: Schellincks
Dear Maurice,
I am very sorry that it has taken me so long to reply to you. I'm afraid I've spent most of the week at
home with flu!
I would count 500 as a very small print run - that in this case we won't charge reproduction fees for.
Shall I send you an invoice for the £25 (plus VAT)?
Best wishes,
Emma
Courtauld Gallery Images
Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R ORN
T: +44 (0)20 7848 2879
F: +44 (0)20 7848 2589
galleryimages@courtauld.ac.uk
www.artandarchitecture.org.uk
-----Original Message-—-——
From: mmraraty [mailto:mmraraty@btinternet.com]
Sent: 16 November 2006 17:30
To: galleryimages
Subject: Re: Schellincks
Thank you for this reply.
Apologies for the circuitous approach to you.
I do not know what you would regard as a small print run, but I imagine we
will print a few hundred - 500 (probably) - 1000 absolute maximum. We will
hope to recover (some of ) the cost by sales at a modest price
A digital image will no doubt be an enhancement and a useful addition to our
archive. Do you have any information as to the provenance of the picture?
Please let me know how I must now proceed.
Thank you
Maurice Raraty
Please -—--- Original Message -—---
From: "galleryimages" <galleryimages@courtauld.ac.uk>
T0: <mmraraty@btinternet.com>
Sent: Friday, November 10. 2006 11:01 AM
Subject: RE: Schellincks
Dear Maurice Raraty,
1 1/02/2007
Page 2 of 3
Thank you for your email. It was forwarded to me by my colleague Joanna
Selborne.
Please could you tell me the print run of the booklet? Is it for sale or to
give away‘? We usually charge reproduction fees, but do offer discounted
rates for small print runs.
If you would like to use a high resolution digital image of the drawing (in
colour) we can supply it for £20 plus £5 handling fee.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Emma Hayes
Courtauld Gallery Images
Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R ORN
T: +44 (0)20 7848 2879
F: +44 (0)20 7848 2589
galleryimages@courtauld.ac.uk
www.artandarchitecture.org.uk
-—--—Original Message-----
From: mmraraty [mailto2mmraraty@btinternet.com]
Sent: Tue ll/7/2006 4:06 PM
To: Selborne, Joanna
Subject: Schellincks
I am seeking permission to reproduce, in a booklet dedicated to the history
of Bridge in Kent, for the occasion of the annual conference of the Kent
History Federation to be held there next year (2007), a drawing held by the
Courtauld Institute by Willem Schellincks.
It is a view taken of Bridge High Street in about 1662.
The photograph of the drawing I have in our collection (which was obtained
some years ago by Mr John Williamson) is inscribed on the back: Negative No.
218/31/38, and further: Witt 4207.
If you are not the person to whom I should be addressing this request, I
apologise, but would be grateful if you would therefore pass it on to the
relevant person.
Thank you
Maurice M Raraty
Bridge
This e-mail, including any attachments, is conï¬dential and may be legally
1 1/02/2007
Page 3 of 3
privileged. It is intended solely for the use of the individual(s) to whom
it is addressed. Any unauthorised dissemination or copying of this e—mail or
its attachments and any reliance on or use or disclosure of any information
contained in them is strictly prohibited and may be illegal. If you have
received this e—mail in error please notify us by return of e—mail [or by
telephone +44 (0) 20 7848 1272] and then delete it from your system
This message has been scanned for Viruses by BlackSpider MailControl
- www.blacl<spider.com
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.430 / Virus Database: 268.l4.2/528 — Release Date: 10/1 1/2006
14:31
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.430 / Virus Database: 268.1414/547 — Release Date: 22/11/2006 17:41
1 1/02/2007
Page 1 of 2
mmraraty
From: "Hayes, Emma" <emma.hayes@courtauld.ac.uk>
To: "mmraraty" <mmraraty@btinternet.com>
Sent: 27 November 2006 11:39
Attach: CIA Terms printdoc
Subject: RFP20906
SCT ENTERPRISES LTD
Courtauld Institute Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, LONDON WC2R ORN
Tel +44 (0)20 7848 2879 Fax +44 (0)20 7848 2589 Email galleryimages@courtauld.ac.uk
VAT Registration no. 672007652, Company Registered in England no. 3137515
Dr Maurice M Raraty
41 Bridge Down Date: 27/11/2006
Bridge Account No. CLI3587
Canterbury Client Email: mmraraty@btinternet.com
CT4 SBA
Request for Immediate Payment No. RFP20906
USAGE: To illustrate a booklet on the history of Bridge, Kent to be published by the Kent History
Federation for their conference in 2007. Print run of up to 1000 copies.
RIGHTS: One time. non-exclusive use. English language, UK rights. Reproduction in colour.
D. l952.RW.4207 Schellinks, Willem (1627-1678): View of bridges, Kent
28.9 cm x 17.8 cm, graphite & pen and ink (brown) on paper
CREDIT LINE: Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London
Photography/Imaging Fee 20.00
Handling Fee 5.00
Subtotal 25.00
VAT at 17.5% 4.38
TOTAL FEE 29.38
I have read and agree to the Courtauld Institute of Art's Terms and Conditions attached herewith:
NAME: SIGNATURE: DATE:
All amounts are in Pounds Sterling. Payment Terms: Images cannot be sent out until payment is
received IN FULL. Reproduction rights are licensed subject to full payment, and strictly in
accordance with the usage and rights outlined. Our curators request that you send us a courtesy copy
of your publication in which our image appears. Transparencies are normally loaned for THREE
MONTHS. You will be charged an additional fee of £15 PER MONTH for each extra month of the
loan; alternatively, we can negotiate a flat fee for a longer loan period if you let us know in advance.
Images MUST NOT be cropped, overprinted or manipulated in any way without prior permission.
Payment may be made by cheque in Pounds Sterling (or in Euros), made payable to SCT
ENTERPRISES LIMITED and sent for the attention of the Rights and Reproductions Manager at the
address above. We also accept VISA and MASTERCARD credit cards. For international bank
1 1/02/2007
Page 2 of 2
transfers, please quote the following lBAN/ SWIFT numbers for the appropriate currency: Pounds
Sterling IBAN: GB07 NWBK 6080 0754 1482 35, Euro IBAN: GB91 NWBK 6072 1406 5830 83,
SWIFT: NWBK GB 2L. NatWest Bank, PO Box 83, Tavistock House, Tavistock Square, LONDON
WCIH 9XA; account number 54148235, sort code 60-80-07.
You must acknowledge that you agree to the Courtauld Institute of Art Terms and Conditions
by returning a copy of this document, signed and dated, by fax or post, to the Rights and
Reproductions Manager at the address above, with your full payment. Please quote this
document reference RFP20906 in all correspondence.
This e—mail, including any attachments, is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for
the use of
the individua/(s) to whom it is addressed. Any unauthorised dissemination or copying of this e—mail or its
attachments and
any reliance on or use or disclosure of any information contained in them is strictly prohibited and may be
illegal. If you have
received this e—mail in error please notify us by return of e—mail [or by telephone +44 (0) 20 7848 1272] and
then delete it
from your system
This message has been scanned for Viruses by BlaekSpider MailControl
No Virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.430 / Virus Database: 268.14.14/547 - Release Date: 22/11/2006 17:41
11/02/2007
Courtauld Institute of Art
RIGHTS AND REPRODUCTIONS FOR THE COURTAULD
INSTITUTE OF ART GALLERY
TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR THE REPRODUCTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS,
TRANSPARENCIES AND DIGITAL IMAGES
These Terms and Conditions apply to conventional reproduction only. Reproduction
in an electronic or multimedia product is subject to separate terms and conditions.
Permission to reproduce is dependent on the full acceptance of the Terms and
Conditions detailed below and will be automatically withdrawn should any part be
infringed.
1. This agreement represents the entirety of the terms and conditions between SCT
Enterprises Ltd., on behalf of the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery (SCTE), and its
Licensees. No variation of these terms and conditions shall apply unless agreed in writing
by both parties.
2. Rights granted by SCTE are strictly limited to the use speciï¬ed in the Licence and are
subject to any further conditions laid down by the Licensor in Schedule A. Compliance
with requirements arising from artist’s copyright is the responsibility of the Licensee.
3. The rights granted to the Licensee by SCTE are non-exclusive and non—transferable. All
reprints, further editions or Lise of the image(s) other than for the agreed purpose,
including an increase in the print-run, necessitate a new application to SCTE and may
involve payment of a further fee. This also applies to television programmes where
permission to reproduce covers one transmission only (or specified terms of contract).
4. The Licensee must satisfy himself / herself that all necessary rights, releases or consents
which may be required for reproduction of the image(s) are obtained, and SCTE gives no
warranty or undertaking that any such rights, releases or consents are or will be obtained
whether in relation to the use of names, people, trade marks, registered or copyright
designs, or works of art included in any image(s).
5. The Licensee indemniï¬es SCTE in respect of any claims or damages or any loss or costs
arising in any manner from the reproduction without proper rights or consents of any
image(s).
6. SCTE shall not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by the Licensee or by any third
party arising from the Lise of any image(s).
7. Ifthe image(s) have not been previously published then any publication rights therein are
hereby assigned to SCTE for the full period of such publication rights.
10.
ll.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Reproduction of the image(s) must include the correct acknowledgement: see contract.
No part of the image(s) may be manipulated, masked out, cut down, superimposed with
typed matter. or in any way defaced without prior written agreement.
In order to ensure quality control, SCTE only allows reproductions directly from prints,
transparencies or digital ï¬les obtained from the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery’s rights
and reproductions department or any of its agents.
SCTE reserves the right to require payment in full even if a photographic order is
cancelled and prints, transparencies or digital ï¬les and permission to reproduce them are
no longer required.
The Licensee must pay the fee payable by reference to the scale of fees set out by SCTE.
Cheques must be made payable to ‘SCT Enterprises Ltd.’. All bank charges must be
borne by the Licensee.
Permission to reproduce the image(s) does not come into effect until payment has
been received.
Electronic storage is permitted only if it is incidental and wholly necessary to the process
of production for products properly licensed by SCTE, and any electronic copies must be
destroyed at the conclusion of such production.
The Licensee must also send at least one complimentary copy of each publication or
product to the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery for its records.
The accompanying document must be returned and signed in agreement with these Terms and
Conditions.
This Licence is governed by the terms set out above which may not be altered in any
particular without written consent of the Licensor.
If
ENGLISH HERITAGE
N AT I O N A L
M O N U M E N T S
R E C O R D
Dr M M Raraty Your Ref:
41 Bridgetown Our Ref: B/9641/06/07
Bridge Direct Dial: 01793 414628
Canterbury Direct Fax: 01793 414606
Kent E-mail:a|yson.rogers@engIish—heritage.org.uk
CT4 5BA
8 February, 2007
Dear Dr Raraty
Reproduction Permission
Thank you for your application for Reproduction Permission.
I am pleased to enclose two copies of our Reproduction Licence. I would be grateful if
you could sign both copies and return the second copy to the address below.
4/
Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further help.
Yours sincerely
//
I v}X;‘2s;~,.-\: , 3
96/ â€,v7 _
é J‘
Alyson Rogers
NMR Enquiry and Research Services
Please note that NMR Information is supplied subject to the conditions specified overleaf.
KEMBLE DRIVE SWINDON SN2 ZGZ LL,,_\#
. 69?" Telephone 01 793 414700 Hzcsimile 01 7 93 414707 www.erLgli5h—heritage.org.uk 8;} ‘‘{\v,’
"" National Monuments Record enquiries: Telephone 01 7 93 414600 Facsimile 01 7 93 414606 ‘I5 (,9
INVESTOR IN PEOPLE
The National Monmnerzts Record is the public archive of English Heritage
Reproduction of NMR Information
Permission is hereby granted by English Heritage to You, subject to proper
acknowledgement and written acceptance of the conditions outlined here and overleaf
to use The Information specified below.
Permission No: 236 Our Ref: 9641
Permission granted to : Dr MM Raraty
Date Issued: 08 February 2007 Duration:
The Information: AA78/1566 Bridge windmill, Kent (HES Simmonds)
The Use: A Brief Historical Tour of the Village of Bridge
Author / Organiser: M Raraty and M Connor
Publisher/Organising Body/ Bridge and District Local History Society
BroadcastlExhibition:
Date of Publicationl 2007 Edition: First (Pbk)
BroadcastlExhibition:
Retail Price approx £3-50 Print Run: 500-1000
The Territory: Book/Report (World/All languages)
Additional Conditions:
Acknowledgementlcredit Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR
Fee Payable (excl. VAT) No, waived. Copy Required: No
Issued on behalf of English Heritage by Signed
it “T
NMR Officer A/‘ ’ Cg�
ALYSON ROGERS
We accept the terms and conditions of the licence as outline above and overleaf.
Signed by Signed
[On behalf of B D H S ] D 2
Please sign both copies and return $2 to NMR Enquiry & Research Services at the
address given.
Maurice
Here’s the next draft then!
I have tried to include the school entries. Have I interpreted your intentions
correctly?!
I have had a Very speedy reply from Laurence Boyle with his amendments, which I
have implemented. He is probably to be regarded as the authority on the
Conynghams and Bifrons, I think. I am intrigued about the Bridge Gas Coke and Coal
Company. I am sure I read a copy of a document which gave me this information — I
know I can’t have dreamt it. I’Ve looked for it everywhere here, so I suppose it must
have been amongst the papers which you lent me? If you can turn it up, then well and
good. If not, we’ll omit this sentence to be on the safe side.
You are going to see Mr Sole. Then are we nearly there? We do want to do the best
we can, but the sooner we get it off to the printer, the sooner it is off our desks!
Meriel
Patrixbourne, its ‘mansion’, and the Conynghams
Patrixbourne derives its name from the illustrious Patrick family, who came to Kent
from Normandy at the Conquest. In 1174, the manor was inherited by Ingelram
Patrick, whose daughter Maud married Ralph Tesson, sensechal seneschal of
Normandy. His estates in England, including Patrixbourne, were awarded to Geoffrey
de Say. In the ï¬fteenth century, a number of manors in the area were held by the
Isaac family.
I cannot comment on the above — I expect Mary Berg knows most about that period. l"¥:§3 I I ‘I
’7
By the early Early in the 17th century. according ‘to Hasted. John Bargrave built a
house in Patrixbourne, Bifrons, presumably on the site of the old manor house. John
Bargrave’s brotheriilyac, became dean of Canterbury Cathedral. The family sold the
house in I661 or 662 and there were a number of owners before the house was
purchased by John Taylor in September 1694. H‘ grandson, the Rev. Edward Taylor. , ‘I
inherited the property in c./l.’/'75 1767;/In 17 P22 demolished the house and began
reconstruction. A number of drawings surv 'e of this ‘plain building’ in the a/,/''
classical style with ‘little architectural embellishment’ survives. In 1802, Edward’s
son, Edward, married Louisa Beckingham of Boume Place, and Bifrons was let to
tenants.
This is probably incorrect. The Taylors had let Bifrons to tenants earlier and later but
in 1802 itself (and probably before) until perhaps 1807 the Taylors were probably in
residence.
It was sold in 1830 to the ï¬rst Marquis Conyngham. /
You may wish to use the current spelling, “Marqyssâ€. The Conynghams were
among the first to standardise on it. P.
Henry Conyngham was created marquis 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) Castle Slane castle,
between Belfast and Dublin. The Marquis 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 conï¬dante of George IV. A favourite at court, she was
described as ‘fat, handsome, kindly, shrewd and extremely fond of jewels’! 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
Quafï¬ng 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.