PRESTON

THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS—FRIDAY, 18 JULY, 1902.
OUR VILLAGES

LXI.—PRESTON.

Preston is a pleasantly-situated village on an elevated tongue of land which extends ¦ north from Wingham, and is bounded on the west by the well-watered valley of the lesser Stour. The parish of Preston covers an area of 1478 acres, and the population at the last census was 495. With the excep-tiw of a village church which plainly bears the marks of antiquity, there is nothing to b* seen in Preston which would suggest to the casual observer that the place teems with historic associations; yet there are few villages which have so much to interest the historian and antiquarian.

ROMANO-BRITISH CEMETERY.

A feature of great antiquarian interest in connection with Preston is the Romano-British cemetery unearthed about thirty years ago on the south west of Preston -church. The discovery was not all made at once. At different times traces of Ro-mano-British interments have been found along the gravel edge of the upland, about half a mile in length, from the south-west corner, of the church yard to Deerson’s farm. The late Mr. George Dowker, of Stourmouth, took great interest in this discovery. Mr. Goodson, the then owner of the property, being interested in the matter, kept Mr. Dowker informed of anything new turned up, with the result that careful notes were taken of everything found. It seems that signs of Romano-Britisb interments have been traced and Roman fictile vessels found on the whole line from near Preston Church along the old track to Ickham. Near Preston Church seven or eight vessels were found in one grave. Many of the vessels taken from different graves were alike. Amongst them was a fine oval blue vase w'hich contained burnt bonus. A tall blue urn ornamented round the upper part also contained charred bones. Another larger urn, with crossed lines below the centre and arched lines above, contained calcined human remains. Perhaps the most unique" vessel found was an urn njade of 'blue ware and ornamented with rude forms like geese, and between them a figure of a man with his arms brought across his stomach and the feet turned in. The modelling is rude. The most curious vessel was a bottle in terra cotta, in the form of a rabbit with ears and tail elevated, and the neck of the bottle between them, with also an opening at the mouth of the rabbit. Mr. Dowker was of opinion that this singular Roman relic was a child’s feeding bottle. The many interments which have been made south of the church is. an indication that this part was thickly populated in the time of the Roman occupation, although the dwellings now are mostOy on the north side of the parish. It is not difficult to understand why the Romans selected the Preston upland for the establishment of a colony. The marsh land to the north and west protected it like a moat, while the Roman road from Richborough to Canterbury traversing the south west side, invested the position with importance.

SAXON AND NORMAN TIMES.

The Manor of Preston was part of the ancient possessions of the Abbot andCon-•A-ent- of St. Augustine in the tune of the Saxon kings. It wTas in the same condition when Domesday book was compiQed, it being recorded that “In Prestetun Hundred the Abbot himself holds Prestitun; it- was taxed at 5 sulings (1110 acres). In demesne there are two carucates, and 25 villeins with 17 borderers. There is very small wood. Of this Manor Vitalis holds one suling and half a yoke, and there he has in demesne two carucates and 17 borderers with half a carucate.’' From the foregoing it seems that there were about «0 heads of families on the Manor at that period. Not long after the compiling of -the Domesday Survey, the Preston Manor was devised by the Abbot and Convent in fee farm, at an annual rent, to the family of Capel, by which tenure it was held by John Capel in the year 1207, the grant being confirmed by Roger, the^ Abbot in that year. The patronage of the church was ¦expressly excepted from that grant. About fifty years after that date John Capel passed away his interest in tire Mano- of Preston to William, son of Roger de Leyborne, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. William Leyborne lived a long life at Preston. It is not recorded when he first came into possession, but it was before the death of Henry III., in 1272, and he continued the Lord of Preston Manor and also of the ad-jr.ining one of Elmstone until his death in the year 1310. During his time he built a mansion at Preston Manor, which has been tailed a palace. He obtained from Edward I in the vear 1307, the grant of a weekly market, which was held at Preston every Monday, and of a fair, which was held on the 14th, 15th. and 16th of September. Only five years after Sir William de Leyborne had obtained these privileges for Preston he died, and his son having died previously, his great estates, including his establishment at Preston, were inherited by his grand-daughter Juliana, who had the reputation of being the richest woman in Kent.

THE INFANTA OF KENT

The most illustrious historic personage who has been associated with Preston was Juliana de Lcyborne, Countess of Huntingdon, who, by reason of her peat wealth, was called the Infanta of Kent. By birth she was the heiress of countless demesnes. She was the mother of the Earl of Pembroke and the widow of the Sarlof Huntingdon. Her wealth was unbounded, and she lived in princely splendour m the tapestried halls of Preston, where she kep her state in a right regal manner, as wou a

srssra MjnMfhS

^o'a£7a &E idea than any general terms. In her ward robe was found in ready money (goldI and silver) £1241 6s. 8d—unbounded wealth in those times: gold and silver plate. £410. oV?ths of gold worth £26 13s. 4d.; cloths of silver and silk, £5 6s. 8d. The ornaments in her chapel at Preston were valued at C31 0s 8d • the ornaments, apparel, in her chamber, £96 9s. 6d.; Mr ® the

sty/e of6hlr ladyship’s *lh-ing and hospital

S ks sat.

oxen. 2 bSare. 200 hogs. 280 16 f“'

a™u\™V equtl £30 000 at the present dav The opulence of the great Infanta was such that it is said she owned more

held'since the'day^o? tb^Sop^fBryeu^

M £

liam de Clinton. The latter, after his mar riage with Juliana, was created Earl o^ Huntingdon. She survived them all. retaining the control to the last of her grea .estates Hasted states that this Manor oi
’reston, and all her other estates, were at ° ier death escheated to the Crown for want t f an heir, but this is an error. She had g . son Laurence by her first husband, John q jord Hastings, and he was created Earl ^ f Pembroke, but he having an ample in- „ eritance from his grandfather, shared none c

i his mother’s wealth. With all her great ti

ospitality and vaunted benevolence, she r as evidently a very tenacious woman. She k ad at last to recognise that she could cany K othing away with her, but she disposed £ f her estates in a way by which she hoped c ) secure something better than ordinary mils in the life to come. Her property w as not escheated to the Crown as Hasted 0 ays, but some five years before her death „ tie conveyed the whole of her Manors to ^ le King, reserving for herself only a life jj fe interest in them, the intention being s1 lat the King should, after her death, grant, rj le property to religious houses, which, in D

early every ease, he did After a short £

iterval the Priory of Chiltern Langley in [ertfordshire obtained the greater part of n le Leyborne estates, and they remained le possessions of the Priory till the Re- S( >rmntion. Having thus made arrange- a lents for the disposal of all her estates p xcept the personal property about her a. ouse and on her farms atPreston, two days „ efore her death she made a will disposing f that residue for pious uses. Thus closed jj lie scene on the pomp and affluence of the C( nfanta of Kent, and with her passed away Cl lie illustrious name of de Leyborne. The si lanorial palace at Preston soon degenera- *i ?d into a mere monastic farmhouse, and ., ot a trace now remains of the establish- h ient which was at its zenith of grandeur s, i the middle of the 4th century. ^

’ROM PRESTON TO THE BLOCK. " Although King Edward III. conveyed 7 (lost, of Juliana de Leyborne’s Manors to d jligious houses without- delav. in dealing a ith the Preston Manor the King procras- I nated, and dying seven years after Juli- c tia, he left the Preston property in the r ands of the Crown. Nine years later, in I le year 1386, Richard II. granted Preston fi [anor to Sir Simon de Burley, Lord War- y en of^the Cinque Ports, and he finding the t larket and fair which William de Leyborne a ad established in the year 1307 fallen into a isuse, he obtained a new grant of a mar- t :et to be held on Fridays, and a fair yearly v o be held on St. Mildred’s Day. Only a t ear after obtaining this privilege for his t ommunity at Preston, Sir Simon de Bur- s ey became entangled in State troubles, was 1 ttainted, and afterwards beheaded. Thus c he Manor of Preston reverted to the f Jrown, and two years later Richard II. 1 ettled it on the Priory and Canons of Chil- * ern Langley, in accordance, it is supposed, f nth Juliana de Leyborne’s desire, and it j emained the property of the Priory til'll the i Reformation. i

IODERN HISTORY OF PRESTON. I 'When Henry VIII. took possession of f ’reston Manor on the dissolution of Chil- ® ern Langley Priory, he granted it to J Jichard, the Bishop Suffragan of Dover, to 1 lold for life or until he should be promoted o some ecclesiastical benefice of the cftear nnual value of £100, which promotion he lid obtain six years later, and thereupon he King granted Preston Manor, in the ear 1545, to Sir Thomas Moyle. He dying rithout male heir, his daughter carried it n jjiarriage to Sir Thomas Kerape, who lied possessed of it in the year 1607, when ( gain the property descended in the female ] ine, his daughter Anne entitling her hus-iand, Sir Thomas Chicheley, to it. Their on, Sir Thomas Chicheley, in the latter nd of the reign of Charles I., sold it to ilr. Spence, of Baukham. Sussex, in which * amily it continued till 1769, When the heirs if Elizabeth Spence then deceased, sold :he estate to Nathaniel Elgar, of Sandwich, ,vho dying in 1796, Preston Court became 1 :he property of one of his nieces, and it :hus passed to her husband, S. Toomer, Esq., and it remains in the same family, 3eorge Elgar Toomer, Esq., J.P.. of Dover, being the present Lord of the Manor.

PRESENT - DAY PRESTON.

There are( two principal approaches to Preston, the one along a pleasant road, . margined by hop gardens, from the north md of Wingham, and the other crosses the ! marshes from Grove Ferry. Viewed from the first road the country looks flat, , abounding with extensive and luxuriant fields, largely devoted to the growth of wheat, barley, oats, and green crops. By the other approach, over the Stour, the contour of the country presents a greater variety, the Lesser Stour winding down a well-watered and, in parts, a marshy valley, with Preston Church and village on an eminence which looks high, although according to Ordnance data it is not more thap fifty feet above sea level. The village called Preston Street is nearly in the middle of the elevated fand, pleasantly situated on each side of the very broad road which leads from Grove Ferry to Wingham. The church stands about a quarter of a mile from the village, approached by a cross road which coming from Elmstone intersects the main road, the way up to the church being bounded on the south by a row of fine old elms, while north of the church stands the Court Lodge, now the residence of J. M. Vinson, Esq. There is a fine spring of water rising above the Court7 which after supplying several ponds —one a very large one on which are swans —descends to the marshes, of which about 200 acres lie in this, parish. On the northeastern side of the tongue of high ground adjoining Elmstone, there is another copious spring, w'hich forms a stream wlnoh is the line of partition between the two parishes. Although Preston has luxuriant fields, it has no great industries beyond agriculture, to which market gardening and hop growing are subordinate. The old windmill has been modernized by the introduction of steam, and the new mill has like dual power. Other village occupations are those of the carpenter and wheelwright. the village blacksmith, the saddler, bricklayer, grocer, and baker: and there are two inns, the Moon and Stars, and the Swan. The education of the children of the poor was attempted more than a hundred years ago by means of a school in the north chancel. The first regular school at Preston w'as built in 1832 by the Rev, T. A. Mutton, vicar, and in 1841, Mr. Toomer built two schools to accommodate 100 boys and 60 girls. The elementary schools of tori a v accommodate 130 children, and Mr. Thomas Armstrong is the Master. There has long been a considerable Nonconformist element in the population of Preston, and in the vear 1825 an Independent Chapel was built, and it vras enlarged in 1836 at the expense of Mr. Samuel Elgar Toomer, who at. that time usually officiated there. The population of Preston has gradually increased, with many fluctuations, during the last. 400 vears, In the year 1588 the Communicants numbered 166. which would mean about that number of adult inhabitants. In 1640 the number of Communicants was 1%. At the census of 1801 the population was 418; in 1821 there were 504 persons dwelling in 79 houses. In 1841 the number was 515 ; in 1891 the number was 494; and at the last census 495.
PRESTON CHURCH.

The. church stands in a large churchyard, through which there is a beautiful avenue of lime trees from the gate to the porch. The edifice, dedicated to St. Mildred, is built in the Early English style. Portions of the present fabric existed in the time of King John, but it seems probable that there i£as an earlier church dating from | Saxon times. The sacred edifice consists of a chancel, north chapel, a nave of three bays, north and south aisles, north porch, and a western tower of the 13th century, containing five bells. The chanceli has three windows on the south side, the one nearest the east being two lancets, and between the lights is a disengaged shaft of polished dark marble. Next is a long lancet with coloured glass, and nearest the chancei], arch is a small lancet at a low level, which some would say was a leper window. On the north side is a large arch opening into the north chapel, which is now used as an organ chamber and vestry. The east window of the chancei, consisting of three separate lancets, is filled with stained glass. The east window of the north chapel is plain. There are three piscinas, two 13th century rather mutilia-ted, and one 14th century. The chancel is fitted with stalls, and separated from the nave by a carved screen. The three pointed arches on each side the nave rest on square plain piers. The windows of the aisles hgve been handsome ones of the Perpendicular style, but alM on the south side; and one on the north has been built up. probably to save the expense of restoring them. The body of the church is well lighted by a curiously arranged clerestory consisting of two gables on each side, each j containing three lancet lights of varying; sizes. There is a very fine window in the north aisle filled with stained glass, as j a memoral to the Slater family. At the bottom of the north aisle is a very handsome coloured lancet with a cartoon of St. Mildred. The memorials within the church include one in the chancel to Peter Vala- ; vine, A.M., wrho w-as vicar, obit 1767, aged : 70 years; and one to the Rev. Henry Wad- j dell, vicar, obit 1729. In the south chancel | are tombstones of Anne and Michael Hougham, dated 1677 and 1679. In the churchyard, on the south-east, is a memorial stone cross to the memory Of the Rev. Dr. Henry Lascelles Jenner, who was the first Bishop of Dunedin, and he was 44 years vicar of this parish, dying at Preston in September, 1898. This church was appendant to the Manor of Preston until a.d. 1206, when, on the leasing of the Manor to the Capels, the patronage of the church was reserved to the Abbot of St. Augustine’s. Tn the year 1258 it was provided that a portion of the profits of the living should be assigned to the vicar. Arch-bisho’' Peckham created a perpetual endowment of the vicarage with a residence for the vicar, but that was subsequently burnt down, and in 1711 Mr. Robert Wy-bome bequeathed a house for the vicarage on condition that the vicar should live ui it and conduct two services each Sunday in the church. The patronage of the church remained with the Abbot of St. Augustine’s until the Reformation, when Henry VIII. transferred it to the newly-created Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, with whom it still remains. The present vicar is the Rev. W. D. Lindley, who is also rector of the adjoining parish of Elmstone.