s. BRIDGE VILLAGE The village of Bridge, if you have time and inclination, is worth A A small distance to the south of the church is the house "built by Sir Arnold Braems of which only the wing remains of the original structure; recently drawings of the original house were discovered in Amsterdam museum and after Chilham Castle it was the largest country house in East Kent in the 17th century and had a large deer park and aviary. further study. At a later date it belonged to the Reverend Edward Taylor of Bifrons who was a friend of Geroge IV and Jane Austen. Much of the house is built with hand-made Dutch brick which was brought over from Holland and landed at Sandwich. A little further up the road from the church towards Dover lies "Englands Old Hole" which is reputed to be the place where the seventh Roman legion captured and slew the Britons in their last attempt to stem off the Roman invasion. In 1829 when excavations were made, a number of Roman arms and skulls were discovered at a depth of five feet. The circular earthwork of the redoult still remains in very good preservation after a lapse of more than 1900 years. The village main street has not changed a great deal since the middle of the 19th century. There is a fine example of a Tudor cottage in the middle and the White Horse public house is the scene of the famous brawl of Christopher Applegate, a friend of Christoper Marlowe who became famous in the English army in the early 16th century. This incident is mentioned Further up the street at the post office is the place where Field Marshal Lord Kitchener sent his first despatches at the beginning of the First tbrld War. A little further up the road is Dering Road named after Colonel Dering who raised the Duke of York‘s own Regiment in 1794. in the Canterbury Court records of 1598. He subsequently bought Howletts, a fine palladian villa between Bridge and Littlebourne which was sold in 1816 to George Gipps a founder of the Canterbury Bank. In Union Road is an old workhouse founded in 1835 now maintained by the Kent County Council as an old age home. In 1793 Zechariah Cozens wrote: “the parish of Bridge is but small and the soil in general is but chalky and barren, producing a several places heath and coppice wood, though throughout the whole extent of the parish there is a beautiful variety of hill and dale. From the woods around Bridge we have a most delightful view of the Vales which are adorned with many gentleman's seats" and in 1815 Mr. Haddy Jmnes Assistant Surgeon to the lst Life Guards returning from the Battle of Waterloo wrote that "The neatness of the farms and the mode of agriculture much impressed him between Dover and Canterbury". The Dover Road Charles H. Harper Canterbury under the Angevin Kings. Kent Marcus Crouch History of Kent 1793 Zechariah Cozens Topographical Survey of Kent 1792 Hasted England Arthur Mee 1936 Surgeon James Journal 1815 Chapman & Hall 1885 Dr.W.Urry Cathedral Archivist Joan Vasittart BRIDGE cHUa_q_1g The village of Bridge, straddling the main road from Dover to Canterbury, has been an important village since the Roman occupation of England. There was probably a Roman bridge across the river (cf Brugge, Bruges which has a similar name and site). There is however no village mentioned in the Domesday Book but there is a "Hundred of Brige" i.e. a meeting point for the villagers on the "Burns" Bishopsbourne, Patrixbourne and Bekesbournel and hence perhaps it had its chapel (not a chantry) built. This Hundred was part of the manor of Blecknersbury and was part of the possessions of St. Augustine's Abbey until the supression of the monastries by Henry VIII. In 1258 the church at Bridge was appropriated by Archbishop Boniface to the Prior and Convent of Merton in Surrey in which patronage they remained until the middle of the 15th century. The church has three aisles and a chancel with some Norman features remaining in the tower and the western doorway. There are three bells and there is a board above the belfry stating that the church and steeple were repaired by one Samuel Hills Churchwarden in 1787. The pillars which separate the aisles are large for this size of church; the east end of the north aisle was formerly partitioned off for a school room. The font is small and though it appears to be old has nothing peculiar on it. In the Chancel at the north side is a semi-circular compartment containing in stone the following particulars exceedingly well carved in "alto relievo"; in the division at the top was formerly a figure for the Almighty and now much defaced; in the second division form the West end is the serpent with Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. In the first from the same end, the Angel driving them out of Paradise; the third contains Cain and Abel preparing their sacrifices; the fourth Abel offering his sacrifice with Cain standing beside him and the fifth Cain staying Abel. Under an arch in the wall below the above compartments lies the effigy of a man with his hands closed in the attitude of prayer. On the same wall is the portrait of Robert Bargrove painted on carpet in a wooden frame believed to have been executed by Cornelium Jensen the Court painter. There are several intersting tablets in the Church — in the middle of the Chancel lies buried the second daughter of Sir Dudley Bigges of Chilham Castle, Master of the Rolls in 1643, Joan first wife of Sir Arnold Braems who built much of Dover harbour in the 17th century and lived at Bridge Place behind the Church. Notice also in the left side aisle the tablet to Mr. Sicard who is oneoof the many people who lived in the village with Hugenot forbears. The church was restored by Mrs. Gregory of Bridge Hill in the middle of the 19th century and it is to her that we owe the striking Kentish flintstone on the exterior. She was not a native of the village but the daughter of Nathaniel Pattison of Congleton in Cheshire and whose grandfather founded the first silk mill in Congleton in 1752. tr”, 1 .c 9T«>r<\/ ’<‘-€30 A 3R '0 GE: PKN/=nTe: &c£ao¢r:N‘T.g F‘[o(L.ns~r/R «M Cdhgqfl K/’w( mm) mm $c,u~rt Aybm 'L7Qz\,r\\j Cc’l,L.u~o( C9.Ir_;oq. /vo /*o;Lm<,5.u:.n 77~«.:v\_.V; /hQ.J(r~€«z;4 FU«¢:, (mJl~ "‘\3J«T 3.54/awr. Hmu /{.n»u.x/Gvo 'L"~4»:3LAa4 H,n.H.C_3Ln.m Had» TL«.r\nu fmLu /1»: Law -L-4’L«‘xS“€p Gum.» Gu~r{:~g,4 /xmprgmlzr cr1:‘vg7Jr‘~«6u\s /(Q1438 G‘€-s/4&1 /‘tuwqyd CUJO [K1/~w, \Ie./7»-.043 <9l..r3’~‘z4v\_ Lu'~«b~J> No /(Qnm.Lt x/cm Nwpufl In AL. Hmraan /"\wJl-gq ckfln Clurrxfi J5‘--‘\.A3¢.'*-s Gaye E°{lJu-rl ,()L'u,r-\(rL)" hobo Ive Nun. who /'-‘mJe;m¢<~ [.)Lm,3kvH.a.»m\/ ’n(!\/'0-’\.r Iva /14.1,: Sid; J-t,u“wa»z ,am;~/~u3.G~ o~ /4'.‘~m-U &v‘L(rU»o- /lea/mum /Log. V*U./L«J\' "U3—0~aLn. 8-F7. 7”Lu‘€KJ Rf/run! Srocas er 8'\“YU' C~J<~41:.a') Jsqrrl-.gLw~ er Bag.‘ ,O¢;.3»< /4//‘~L.IJJ:LALx [mruur Rapfib kw Frutmx Njmaw fm. A-igdsa Giwga Cumu (_Lg_P L94,‘ U,\_,_$,., F\r\n,'<~£—f’(;\/(J/‘JLv-A W ‘QC/\:1"’\ C.L£'«n_;/4 /‘(Q/\§j £\—5e,\;~»\ o~ /LO.oLc.ri-1 '7'°.AJL»<> (1-x.J.»L/J -9'~—<»'- }‘l.a1.N.»€43 Crust; Kl;/{A:Iv\J\f\.n C C.‘~szr1IJ.sf’ <1 /Vgrrfk <5’ 913K/ma «CuCI.CLCP> , [Novel I‘\(;L,(Q_a;,,»-, F4 N Aw QAv<>wH>—J‘ 01:-4,-0.1.1.1" (-,7.,L.4 dis» “%rLAl:f—VJ6() two. om./C; L Axf ,os«~J.:, mm U1 may ‘4 /'\§:-I'u—5/<4 »+ /'€L~.‘n.\v~5=* \°\.53»4-L\°~Z»_/\ Q/pm.-. L‘/sf _.T..©..I_.%.t:._j.,,CJ_.?'s>.69/_«_,_[§ 9 0 8 R '0 G5 Pep wag /88! $37 o\c.u¢;,.\,, 12.2 o7+u;J-.0 k1"(;3’MLCL‘<) cg CC». »\.-.~n=A.-wt [§¢U1.o‘-~ cmk L..r~;L.4L.°.}s ‘Uwup Pcor i\s;:,cLzLm Dug wuwu, M14 Am C3-/\L.:~ln,L§7 -x,m,;,z (0 mm can sew. 0" ’2.(f.5‘/‘am. 0(,(.c.V~;L»_i'(',(.9.al Q} /0 Qwx :r 6pm, @1941,» v«m.AzL.~ As. L‘«‘LJ<\9b.. Ewfu MW /2.1.4 him c.~:m‘z2= or) q "“\:ur:.jc~~.-.IIq }'V\_O./\A»\__.._/( egg“. + Qlru\.}' 72.3 p..,L £3 AN-».;&'. /\—\,f“1/-~.J.«qq Q C¢\_yg<;)L<>..n Q«._’o’m,»\., "\.L4h"\.{)~J‘ J) W /4.. /\foxZ:1¥\oJ $r,L5‘u'1 /«M CL. d'—.n_,\,( /J“-n'.AL¢'w 117 ,l)(s./v€AZ. éfit /.rxrb»<) 53' _‘j'J‘(A « -SS C«,Lo»\L'o /Qaflz-J‘- N74). V\9»oL:’ /"9 5‘~0€L/~ E""’\D—J-&»\J NH /\LuZ:<.d;L:;v, mmfif. ’u&'I*KIwua.~ cx /ru..{,(3l.,;$ bu (mick L-ul,u ck ‘£35 11 L619! 350 cLm-J.:o 36.4.‘.-ufi, J9’CC‘<»\o(.9u'\.€JL Co‘v“»u(I3...«_ '-‘J [D K.-u,u..~ol v~u-av“. @n‘.Og,z rU,.-Jib c’\ /Laqg (Lb ck/' /2 I\.4.ruv'.. /any-"U. /3~.x7T.w\./,3 ;\Q.{__&‘, OJ“ 1:» Quwd Rgmwa Q--(EH, €U\&.U F-J3.LAI,R~, q,(_1 77»_b.,QoL¢\j "VJ" /I o'F.(«3cK. Cmrrxé-A I3..m.«4 I‘\::«LL cm /~rw‘~ 7» '\m—Ia3ea. ".§m—‘c(g;4q; s~1a.L—‘.- U‘ 8”\fl‘Q.f\ ‘c,~c..~E,,w -0:‘Q_j2cv: manna Lma. Im2.~«L—‘.- q ,t\uIL«.,1., f\n«)'