Stansted and Fairseat Footpath Guide local information

I found a copy of the Stansted and Fairseat Footpath Guide, produced by the Stansted and Fairseat Society, in NAG Oxfam shop the other day, a snip at .49p! Listed below is the historical information contained within, plus a few photographs.

I don't know when this booklet was produced, but it was when the rector still lived in Fairseat, at the well known landmark white shiplap clad house which is now known as The Old Rectory. I am guessing that house became a private dwelling some time in the early 80s, when the church sold off a lot of its rather valuable property and bought cheaper housing. The picture shows the house before the right hand side was extended upwards, which I can remember happening in approximately 2003. You can also just see the the rather lovely, large Cedar tree which used to be in the garden. It was in the conservation area so in Dec 2007 permission had to be granted for the tree to be trimmed back. Then I think high winds caused part of it to come down. There is an item in the Parish Council report of April 2009 stating: Mrs Rodway has commissioned a report on the condition of the Cedar in their front garden...the conclusions recommend that the tree should be felled withing three months. (There is no form of tree surgery that would allow the tree to remain in any reasonable form).

Personally, I am very sad when the old trees come down in the area, and I was very upset when winds blew down some fantastic beeches along the part of Fairseat Lane which goes down to the A227. Driving along that road was like driving through a wooded tunnel, with dappled sunlight shining through the leaves. It is still not bad, and give it another couple of hundred years it will be back to its former glory. I once found a big adder along that road, but that is another story, so for now, here below is the promised copy.

'Early documentary records relating to the parish are noted by Hasted and date from 1210.  However it is likely that the area was populated well before that date; indeed the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, in Stansted, although itself of uncertain age has a yew tree near the North entrance which is reputed to be at least a thousand years old.  Since it was once customary to plant a yew to the North side of a church, it seems likely that a church has existed on this site for a similar period.

The present church probably dates from the 14th century and certainly before 1312. It was restored in 1863.

In the 14th century it seems that the parish was a place of some importance as the residents had the right to hold a three day fair here.

The roads and paths of the parish are likely to have developed through usage over time. Wises Lane was at one time an important road from Dartford to Wrotham and was called Wrotham Road.  The present name  derives  from Wyse's  Farm which no  longer exists.

An ancient drove road passed through both villages, and parts of this can still be followed. Outside the parish,  at the bottom of Vigo Hill on the outskirts of Trottiscliffe, and by the Pilgrims Way stands Pilgrim House which was once an inn called the Kentish Drover.  At the top of Vigo Hill stands the Vigo Inn, built around 1471 and then named the Drovers Rest.  On the opposite corner there was once a toll house and toll gate on the Gravesend Road.

Proceeding through Fairseat and Stansted,  it is presumed that the herds were watered at the various ponds on this route, one of which was at the foot of  Stansted  Hill,  where  now  stands  Stansted's distinctive war memorial statue.

The oldest house in the parish is said to be Church Cottage in Stansted, which is probably late 13th or early 14th century,  it would have been used by the priest visiting from Wrotham, to which Stansted was then a subordinate parish.

In Fairseat the house known as Soranks Manor stands on the foundations of  a much earlier,  medieval manor house.  The manor land was held during the reign of Henry III by Ralph de Sandwich.  It was passed to Edmund Sorank whose name is recorded in the assize roll of 1313 as a juror for Stansted. Around 1700 the land was bought by one John Cox who built a facade onto the house opposite Fairseat pond and called the house 'Fairseat'.  This seems to be the first time in history that the name Fairseat appears, the area having previously been known as Farsee.

Nearby, the Chapel of Holy Innocents, designed by the architect Waterhouse, was built in 1930 by the Waterlow family.

The Old Rectory in Stansted was built in 1847 and housed rectors until 1969 when it was sold and became a private house. Nearby, in the rectory meadow, to the right of the drive entrance  in Plaxdale Green Road stood the brick and timber framed Tithe Barn until its demolition in 1920. The present rectory is in Fairseat and is illustrated in the pages of this booklet.

The Vigo Inn has already been mentioned in the context of the ancient drove road. Its present name was given by its owner in the early 18th century who fought under Admiral Rooke at Vigo Bay (Spain) in 1702.  The other inns in the parish are: the Anchor and Hope at the northern end of Wises Lane, built around 1537; the Horse and Groom on the A20 near the  end of Plaxdale Green Road built in 1770/5; and the Black Horse in Tumblefield Road, which in the 18th century was a dwelling named 'Palmers' until it was licensed by its owner, one Joseph Fremlln, between 1833 and 1847, whereupon its name was changed to the Black Horse.'

The Old Rectory, Fairseat, when it was still The Rectory!

Church Cottage, Stansted, reputedly the oldest in the parish

14th century three-day fair in Stansted!

Climbing out of Wrotham, northwards, the traveller comes to Stansted, which reaches thickly wooded heights of up to 700 feet. Today's village retains little enough to remind visitors or residents either that it was a borough and a place of some importance as long ago as the fourteenth century, when residents had the right to hold a three-day fair there. There is a yew tree in the churchyard which is said to be more than 1,000 years old and Soranks Manor at nearby Fairseat was built on the foundations of an old medieval manor house.

Kent Villages by Alan Bigness
Published by Robert Hale, 1975

Stansted in The Companion Guide to Kent and Sussex by Keith Spence

High up on the other side of the Gravesend road is Stansted, the perfect downland hamlet, built on a switchback of hills, with a large village green in the valley, and an impeccable flint church, complete with giant yew tree outside the door. At the edge of the churchyard an art nouveau black granite memorial, surmounted by scroll-carrying angels, commemorates Sir Sydney Hedley Waterlow, one of the founders of the great Waterlow printing firm, who lived at Trosley Towers near by. Waterlow's was a typical Victorian success story. Born in 1822, he began printing in 1844 in partnership with his brothers, starting with £120 from their father. They made their fortunes from cornering the market in railway printing and stationery. Waterlow was a philanthropist as well as a businessman. As Lord Mayor of London in 1872, he was responsible for opening the Guildhall Library to the public. He held. many offices in the City, and found time to be Liberal M.P. for Maidsione and then Gravesend.

Taken from The Companion Guide to Kent and Sussex by Keith Spence
1973 Collins. This book is in Longfield library.

Stansted in The King's England, Kent by Arthur Mee

Stansted. It stands with smiling hills all round, with an exceptional war memorial, a splendid nude youth, in bronze, at the meeting of the roads. Two bells ring out from the old church tower, one of them among the oldest in Kent. "His name is John", it says.

The church is a rare little place- The porch has two tiny slot windows, the chancel has a dainty timbered roof, and there is a small quatrefoil window in the west wall. Two curious glazed tiles, probably from the Wrotham pottery, let into the walls are in memory of the son and daughter of Edward Wooden, both of whom died in 1638, and a brass of c. 1510 is to John Skudder,whose name is kept green by the beautiful house of that name at Fawkham nearby. Laid to rest here not long, ago was a chorister who sang in this choir for 67 years.

In the churchyard is the grave of Sir Sydney Waterlow, with angels over it. At one end of the monument is a medallion of Sir Sydney looking across to the grave of a devoted servant, and there are two lead medallions expressive of great sorrow. One shows a workman with his bag of tools thrown down and two delightful children hailing him, with a shadowy figure of one lost, and the other shows the parents mourning the lost one.

But it is by the old yew near the tower that the imagination is stirred in this churchyard, for here lies a heap of broken masonry, flint rubble overgrown with grass. There was a church here soon after the Conqueror came, and 600 or 700 years ago they pulled it down to build this one. They built it well, for nowhere are flints squared up and shaped and set more neatly. But these workmen left their rubbish heap behind them; these masses of flint are from the church they pulled down, and they have lain where they left them while the old yew has grown from a sapling and the centuries have come and gone. Such at any rate is the story.

A little more than a mile on the road to Ash stands an old house with wattle and daub in its walls, the primitive form of building with hazel twigs interlaced and filled in with mud and straw. The Old Malt House, which all may see, has still this reinforced mud in its walls, and had been made beautiful with a new thatch when we called, a sturdy place again after its 500 years.

Taken from The King's England, Kent by Arthur Mee. First published 1939. The copy in the library in Longfield is the 1974 edition.

Ordnance Survey Historical maps of area

I copied these two maps from a book in Longfield Library published in 1988 called Ordnance Survey Historical Guides: Kent. The one above shows Wises Lane, (highlighted) these days a rough Byway, as big as all the other roads in the area!

The other (below) shows Fairseat marked as Facy Street (highlighted).

A little history behind Fairseat Nursery

This information was gathered from their website. I hope they don't mind me reproducing it, and the picture.

In 1923 Mr Fielden and Mr Stan Chapman decided to uproot and move their very established Alpine growing nursery in Exeter to the better location of Fairseat, considering it to be a ideal 
location for frosting the plants they specialised in growing. This took a tremendous amount of hard work and additional assistance from Mr Fred Hills, who left school at the age of 15 to help work the nursery and stayed there until his retirement in the 80's.

With this niche market Fairseat Nursey was a regular at the Chelsea Flower Show winning many Banksian Medals (the highest of which was the Silver Guilt) along with many others which are proudly displayed at the Nursery today.

Both Mr Fred Hills and Mr Stan Chapmans family still live local to the nursery.

Link to information on Stansted at Aboutbritain.com

There is some information about the area here. I think the bit about Morris Dancers is a bit out of date as I've never seen any at the pub, but maybe I've just missed them!

The Sir Walter Scott link to Fairseat Lane

On Fairseat Lane (the one which goes between Stansted Hill and Haven Hill, not the other one) there are about 10 houses. There is a house called Waverley and a semi-detached pair called Kenilworth and Primrose Cottage. BUT Primrose Cottage USED to be called Ivanhoe.

An Openreach engineer told me something quite interesting. Sir Walter Scott wrote a series of 18 novels, known as the Waverley novels. Part of the Waverley novels are

Waverley (1814)    Ivanhoe (1819)    Kenilworth (1821)

So we concluded that whoever built these houses was a Sir Walter Scott fan!

Thomas Cromwell - Lord of the manor of North Ash

Going a bit further afield here - but only up the road to Ash! I hope you can read the two pages on the left. They were taken from a book on Ash/New Ash Green in Longfield Library.

Thomas Cromwell served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540.

More information on Thomas Cromwell's link to Ash to be found here.

The Eolith Controversy and Parsonage Farm, Hatham Green Lane

Extract below taken from The Kent Downs by Dan Tuson, published 2007 by Tempus. This book is in Longfield library.

Eolith description here on Wikipedia.

The Eolith Controversy
Eoliths were first described by Benjamin Harrison from the dipslopes of the North Downs in west Kent where they were found in large numbers over ploughland, embedded in the drift deposits of the plateau country. Harrison and his supporters, including the eminent geologist Professor Joseph Prestwich, maintained that these coarsely worked flits were the product of human manufacture of some ancient prehistoric society. Our present day knowledge of the Pliocene deposits in which they were found suggest a date of some 2-4 million years ago. One of the sites frequented by Harrison was Parsonage Farm near Stansted where, on 22 May 1865, he found a spread of worn gravel deposits. For many years Harrison and his associates visited the site and found many eoliths and other worked flints of the Neolithic period within these deposits.

Harrison's claim inspired a wealth of debate in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with many geologists and antiquarians arguing that the stones were simply the result of natural flaking of flints as a result of sub-soil pressures. The debate continued for three decades and more and more evidence was discovered that suggested a purely natural origin for eoliths.

What happened to this footpath?

Map of 1841 showing lost footpath highlight

I was looking at the old map of 1841 and found evidence of a footpath which has completely disappeared. I wonder what happened to it?

It comes off the Vigo Road, and goes over the small field (which usually contains sheep) to the stile - that is as it is today. But instead of heading off towards Stansted, as it does now, it cuts across to the pond at the top of Stansted Hill, crosses the road and then shoots straight across to come out some way down Malthouse Road. The footpath then crosses the road and comes out near to the Anchor and Hope pub on the South Ash Road. This part is also still used today.

What happened to the middle section? I wish it were still there as you get some good views from that area. Interestingly, if you look at a modern satellite map the section which went through the woods is still obvious, see below.

Missing section (in orange) OS view.

Missing section satellite view (showing cut in trees where path went)

Stansted Manor - where was is?

I found this reference to a Stansted Manor (below) on a website documenting the Culpepper family's history. I have never heard of a Stansted Manor, and a quick Google search threw up nothing. More research needed!

Stansted Manor
Stansted Manor was held by several generations of the la Zouch family, and Henry la Zouch owned it at his death circa 1447. Soon after it appears to have passed to Sir William Culpeper, son of Sir John Culpeper of Oxen Hoath. At Sir William's death, it passed to his eldest son, Sir Richard Culpeper of Oxen Hoath. Sir Richard had no sons, and at his death in 1484, Stansted Manor passed to Richard's three daughters: Margaret Culpeper, wife of William Cotton of Oxen Hoath; Joyce Culpeper, wife of Edmund Lord Howard (one of their daughters was Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII); and Elizabeth Culpeper, wife of Henry Barham, Esq. They sold it to Thomas Leigh of Sibton in Liminge. (Hasted's Kent, Vol. V, pp 2-3)

In March 2000, Stansted Manor could not be found and is probably no longer standing.


For source click here.

January 2007 - Eastenders filmed in Stansted

Kent was visited by members of the cast and crew of Eastenders back in January 2007.  

Scenes for the Easter Monday episode were shot in St. Giles Church in Wormshill, The Ringlestone Inn near Harrietsham, and Court Lodge Farm in Stansted, Kent.

Dot (June Brown)  and Jim Branning (John Bardon) were in Kent filming  the Eastender’s Easter special. June Brown is no stranger to Kent, she has links with Folkestone, where she has lived in the past.

For source click here.

What made me laugh was the sign at the entrance to Court Lodge Farm, which was part of the storyline. It said:

Land acquired by Northridge Homes. Phase 1 - an exclusive development of luxury 4 and 5 bedroom houses in a gated community. 

I bet that had some locals having kittens! You can just see it in 2nd picture below, I wish I'd got a better picture of it... on the back it says Asylum Seekers Go Home, obviously that must have been in another episode!

1870-72 Imperial Gazetteer of England description of Stansted

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Stansted like this:

STANSTEAD, a parish, with S. village and Fairseat hamlet, in Malling district, Kent; 5 miles SW by S of Meopham r. station, and 7 NE of Sevenoaks. Post town, Sevenoaks. Acres, 1,956. Real property, £2,371. Pop., 403. Houses, 73. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £400.* Patron, the Archbishop of The church is good; and there is a parochial school.

For source click here

Listed buildings of Fairseat and Stansted

Below are links to the listed buildings of the area. I have heard that the phone box located by the Black Horse Pub is listed, but I can't find any reference to it online.

Fairseat Manor
Fairseat House
Church Cottage, Stansted
St Mary's Stansted
The Old Rectory, Stansted
Rumney Farmhouse, Stansted
Horns Lodge, Ash-cum-Ridley
Coldharbour Farmhouse Stansted
Court Lodge, Stansted
War Memorial, Stansted
Old Malt House, Ash-cum-Ridley

Soranks Manor and the origin of the name Fairseat

At British History Online (click here), there is some fascinating history on Soranks Manor in Fairseat, and also how Fairseat came by its name. Below is an exerpt.

THERE IS A MANOR in this parish called SORANKS, which in the reign of king Henry III. was held by Ralph de Sandwich, of the archbishop of Canterbury as one quarter of a knight's fee, but in the next reign of king Edward the 1st, it was got into the possession of a family, who implanted their name on it, one of whom, Edmund Sorank held it in the reign of king Edward II. as did Roger Sorank in the 20th year of king Edward III. 

This manor did not remain long in this name, for in the beginning of the reign of king Richard II. it was become the property of Thomas Mortimer, of Mortimer's, in Cliff, near Rochester, and he in the 20th year of that reign passed it away by sale to William Skrene, from which name it was alienated to Wood, in whose descendants it remained until the latter end of the reign of king Henry VII. when Thomas Wood passed it away to Robert Barefoot.

He died in the 1st year of king Edward the VIth, being then possessed of this manor, and one hundred and forty acres of arable, and wood in Stansted, held of the king, as of the manor of Otford, by knight's service. Thomas Barefoot was his son and heir, and he, with Catherine his wife, in the 2d and 3d year of king Philip and queen Mary, sold this manor to Henry Fanshaw, and Dorothy his wife, who in the beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign alienated it to George Wifeman, and he passed it away to Launce, in whose descendants it continued till it was conveyed by sale to Mr. John Cox, who having purchased of Sir Roger Twisden, bart. an estate on the summit of the hill, on the eastern side of this parish, built A SEAT for his residence on it, naming it FAIRSEAT, from the pleasantness of its prospect, the extensiveness of which has caused it commonly to be called Fairfee. Of this family there are several memorials in Stansted church; they bore for their arms, Sable, a chevron argent between three attires of a stag fixed to the scalp of the second. He died possessed both of this manor and seat in 1736, leaving by Hannah his wife, who survived him, John Cox, esq. who was of Fairseat. He left no issue, and was succeeded by his only sister Sarah, married to George Wilson, esq. who is jointly with her the present possessor of this manor and seat.

I have seen Fairseat also called Facy Seat on the map of 1841 in one of my earlier posts. And I'm sure I've heard tell of it also once being called Fair Street. If anyone has any further information I'd love to hear it.

Also on the subject of Soranks Manor, I found this information on Ancestry.com about a former inhabitant of note. Click here for the source.

William Edward Hickson was indeed a pioneer in the education of the poor of London and the owner and editor of the Westminster Gazette. He was brought up in his father's business (Boot & Shoe Manufacturers). In 1840 he retired to devote himself to philanthropic & literary pursuits. He was one of the pioneers of national education. He was a composer of some merit and published "The Singing Master". He married Jane Brown in 1830, he died in 1870, she died about nine months later. He was brought up at Soranks Manor, Fairseat, Kent.

Click here for William Edward Hickson's Wikipedia entry. Apparently he credited with writing the proverb If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again. Here is some more information, and shows where he is buried in St Mary's Stansted (photo below).

Grave of WE Hickson

The parish of Stansted on British History Online

There is some interesting information on Stansted at the British History Online website (click here to be taken to the full entry).  It is taken from The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 5,Author Edward Hasted, published 1798.

But my favourite paragraph is the one below, just imagine it raining fish! 

About Easter, in the year 1666, a pasture field in this parish, which is a considerable distance from the sea, or any branch of it, and a place, where there are no fish ponds, but a scarcity of water, was scattered all over with small fish, in quantity about a bushel, supposed to have been rained down from a cloud, there having been at that time a great tempest of thunder, hail, wind, &c. These fish were about the size of a man's little finger, some were like small whitings, others like sparts, and some smaller like smelts. Several of these fish were shewn publicly at Maidstone and Dartford. 

1806 watercolour of St Mary's by H Petrie

Stansted, Kent  St Mary's Church
Photograph of watercolour 1806

Half plate B & W negative
Creator: Petrie, H., F.S.A.

Source of information here.

May Fairs past and present

 We start with two photographs from the S&FHS (Stansted and Fairseat Historical Society). The first is entitled First May Queen Fairseat 1978, so it looks like the May Fair used to be a Fairseat event.The second picture below looks like it was taken at Stansted as I recognise the big tree next to the village hall which unfortunately had to be felled in 2011. There is no date but looking at the fashions I would estimate the 80's.

The other photographs are of various May Queens and Kings from 2007 - 2014, and all of these fairs have been on the village field in Stansted, and are fund-raising events for the school. The procession usually starts at 2pm and goes from the Black Horse Pub, down to the War Memorial and ends up in the Village Hall car park where the May Queen declares the Fair open.

It's always a jolly affair, with maypole dancing by the school children and many stalls. If you've never been before come to the next one!

2007

2008

2009

2009

2010

2010

2010

2011

2011

2011

2012

2013

2013 May Queen and King (Brogan Roberts)

2013 carriage

April 2011 The transformation of the Stansted Telephone Box

Before...

After!

In this age of the mobile phone most red telephone boxes are rarely used. So Stansted School was given the challenge of coming up with a new use of the box, which is on Plaxdale Green Road. The ideas were so good that several were chosen, see the winning entries below.

The box was painted and restored by Mr Phil Broszek of West Kingsdown and the grand opening was on the day of the Royal Wedding 29th April 2011 (hence the Union Jack livery). It was formally opened by George Goring and Councillor Sarah Hohler, with the school, villagers and a photographer from the local paper in attendance.

It has certainly become a village landmark and seems to be much admired - see this link here. You can also view a video of the opening and more pictures on the school's website here.

There is an online news article here.

Max's idea

Ruby's idea

Tianey's idea

Emily's idea

Work in progress

Mr Broszek

The school children April 2011

BBC Domesday 1986 entries for Fairseat and Stansted areas

In 1986 the BBC launched an ambitious project to record a snapshot of everyday life across the UK for future generations. A million volunteers took part. In 2011 the BBC published the survey online and for six months invited updates to the photographs and text to celebrate the 25th anniversary. Shortly afterwards the website was added to The National Archives’ UK Government Web Archive.

You can find the Stansted block here.

I found this photograph of the Black Horse there, taken before the pub was painted white.

The Fairseat block is here.

From there I picked up this nice little description of Woodbine Farm in 1986.

Woodbine Farm,which is owned by Mr. Frank King, is situated in the small village of Fairseat. The farm is fairly small,about 28 acres in size. Some of the land is rented to another farmer for grazing. The rest of the land is used to grow most types of soft fruit,including a few white currants which is rather unusual.

Most of the fruit is picked by the customer, (this makes it much less expensive,) although Mr King employs some casual labour in the picking season. The customers are mainly local coming from the nearby villages of Culverstone and Vigo.

             
Mr King works the farm himself with the help of two ladies who work part time throughout the year. At one time most of the villagers worked on local farms but nowadays with modern farming methods far fewer do.       

Stansted School celebrates Centenary in 1974

In 1974 Stansted School celebrated it's centenary. Below are a few photos of the book created by the pupils of that time. I only had time to take a few photos of the book (which resides in the Fairseat and Stansted Historical Society's archives), I'd love to go back and photograph it in its entirety.

This is written on the opening pages:
This year our school is one hundred years old. It is our Centenary year. In January the senior class decided to try to find out more about our school and its pupils, and about our village and its people during the past one hurdled years. This book is the record of what we found out.

One of our most exciting finds was the first Log Book which is kept in the County Archives. We were able to borrow it and we enjoyed reading the entries. We have copied out some and provided our own illustrations. 

By Christine Osbourne

Empire Day by Sarah

The pupils dressed in Victorian costume - 1974 celebrations