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On Monday the 17th April 2023 Mike and I drove to Sutton Valence in Kent and parked up in a free car park at ME17 3DA.
We walked down Tumblers Hill and down towards a chapel we can see.
On reaching Chapel Road, we reach the chapel that was Built as a Congregational church, closed in 1975 and now the senior art school of Sutton Valence School.
We walk on down Chapel Road passing a rather nice E Type Jag and a old Landrover.
Looking back up Chapel Road.
We turn left onto Rectory Lane and follow this up to Sutton Valence Castle.
Sutton Valence Castle was probably built in the second half of the 12th century by the Counts of Aumale, most likely by Baldwin of Bethune, but perhaps by William le Gros, Baldwin's father-in-law.
The castle was built on a commanding position overlooking the strategic route between the towns of Maidstone, Rye and Old Winchelsea and the location was also known as Sudtone and Town Sutton.
The castle keep was constructed around 1200.
In 1203, Baldwin gave the castle to his daughter Alicia on her marriage to William Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke, who later remarried, passing the property to his second wife, Eleanor. After William's death, Eleanor married Simon de Montfort, the Earl of Leicester. Simon led a rebellion against King Henry III during the Second Barons' War, but was killed at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, after which Eleanor lost ownership of the castle.
After the de Montfort rebellion, King Henry III gave the castle to William de Valence, his half-brother, who had supported him during the conflict. Under William, the castle and village acquired its current name of Sutton Valence. Aymer de Valence, his son, inherited the castle in 1307. The Valences travelled around their estates, increasingly focusing their attention on a handful of their various great houses, and stayed at Sutton Valence on at least several occasions.
After Aymer's death in 1324, the castle passed by marriage to Lawrence, Lord Hastings, and was held in the Hastings family until 1390, when Reginald Lord Grey de Ruthin acquired it. There are few historical records of the castle beyond this point, but it appears to have been abandoned in the early 14th century and by the 15th century had become ruined.
We walk back down Rectory Lane passing the 15th or early 16th century Court House. Court House is a substantial Grade II Listed village house which is understood to date in part from the Tudor period with later Georgian additions.
Back up Chapel Road and turn left onto Broad Street now passing the Swan Public House.
The Swan Inn was one of Kent's original coaching inns and it is reputed to be one of the longest continuously open pub in Kent since 1348 that was until it closed in 2013 and now a private residence.
We walk onto High Street and take a long steep flight of stairs up on our right.
At the top of the stairs is a fine view across Kent.
At the top on a green area we turn left and follow this out onto School Lane.
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A photo taken from Paradise Education website. |
There is a great looking building asking a local resident, she said it was a private school. Glad I decided not to stand outside taking photos in fear of being accused of being a paedophile.
Since it was founded in 1576 by William Lambe, a local benefactor, Sutton Valence School has been part of Sutton Valence village. Lambe was a member of the court of King Henry VIII, a chorister in the Chapel Royal and a Master of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers.
At the end of School Lane we turn left onto North Street and meet the top of High Street and its great views down into Sutton Valence.
We cross North Street and head down Chart Street up to St Marys Church, Sutton Valence.
The first stone church at Sutton Valence dates to the early Norman period, though there was almost certainly a church here before the Norman Conquest.
The church was in the hands of the lords of Sutton Valence until 1396, when it was granted to the Prior and Convent of Leeds. At the Reformation Henry VIII granted it to the Dean and Chapter of Rochester, but in 1914 it finally passed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, where it remains.
The list of former rectors, vicars, and curates is of interest. Ricardus de Hannyngfield, the rector in 1326, was royal chaplain to Edward II and undertook a mission abroad on behalf of the king.
Nicholas Wooton, vicar from 1519-1530 was a privy councillor to four Tudor monarchs, and a royal ambassador. Later, John Gohier, the vicar in 1690, became a Canon of St Paul's Cathedral. On a less positive note, Thomas Scriven, the vicar in 1386, was deprived of the living by the Archbishop after he beat his wife.
A later vicar, Edmund Henshaw (1614), was responsible for having the local constable thrown into gaol for being regularly late for evening prayer and refusing to take an oath. The unfortunate constable was cleared of the charges by a civil court, but that did not stop him from being imprisoned by church officials for 15 years for his 'crimes'.
There was a sizeable 14th-century building here, but by the 19th century that building had become unsafe, and in 1823 the decision was made to pull it down and build a new church. Initial estimates for the job quoted a figure of £3,000, but when the work was actually undertaken that figure rose to over £6,000, proving, perhaps, that escalating building costs are not a modern phenomenon!
One of the few remaining bits of the old church to survive is a pair of grotesquely carved corbels at the east end of the aisle arches. The font was reused, and has been partially restored.
At the east end of the churchyard is a memorial to John Wilkes of Sutton Valence. Wilkes is credited with being the first to introduce the concept of round-arm bowling to the game of cricket. Unfortunately, his new method was initially ill-received, and when he tried to use it in a match at Lords the delivery was called a no-ball, after which Wilkes decided to retire from the sport!
We walk on down Chart Street and take a footpath on our right, going uphill and onto some farmland paths and out onto the Greensand Way and up to St Michaels Church at Chart Sutton.
There has been a church on this site since at least the time of the Domesday Book. The tower was built in 14th century, but on St George's Day 1779 the church was struck by lightning and set on fire. Even the bells melted. After fundraising a rebuilt church was reopened in 1782.
We walk on down Church Road and onto Chart Road again and follow this with amazing views across Kent and with Apple orchards all around us.
At the end of Chart Road where it meets Chart Hill Road we cross straight over onto a footpath opposite.
We follow the footpaths along until we reach East Hall Road and then onto Wierton Road. We walked up and enter Buttercups Goat Sanctuary.
Buttercups very first began when Bob and Valerie Hitch agreed to take two unwanted goats into care in 1989. A few months later, an RSPCA inspector asked if they could accept another goat in need of urgent care. In less than a month, yet another arrived. Before long, goats suffering from all sorts of cruelty and neglect were arriving from around the county. By 2003, with so many goats to care for, the sanctuary became a registered charity. Our Patron is the wonderful and invaluable Rt. Hon. Ann Widdecombe.
They have about 137 goats living on site, with about another 109 under their protection in foster homes. Some of the goats are rescued from cruel and unsuitable situations and others can no longer be looked after by their original owners.
We leave Buttercups and walk out onto Wierton Place and take a path that re-joins us onto the Greensand Way and pass some woods where the signs of Spring is here. Bluebells, Wood Anemones and Lesser Celadine! A glorious sight!
We continue walking on, it really is a lovely day, warm and sunny in stark contrast to the wet and cold we’ve had recently.
We continue on across fields towards Boughton Monchelsea.
We see a sign for Church, we follow this but before we reach the church we are passing Boughton Monchelsea Place.
The estate is private property and is not usually open to the public, but the Greensand Way long-distance walk crosses the parkland east–west to the north of the house.
However there were some workmen here so I cheekily asked if we could take some photos and they were happy to let us!
Prior to the sixteenth century, the manor of Boughton Monchelsea passed by marriage or sale through the ownership of several families of minor gentry. From 1214, the manor was in the possession of the Hougham family. On the death of Robert de Hougham in 1317, it passed to his daughter Benedicta, wife of John de Shelving. On her death in 1349 without a male heir, the manor was divided between her daughters Helen and Joan.
The portion of the manor of which the Boughton Monchelsea Place estate was part passed to Joan de Shelving's husband John Brampton. The estate then passed to his daughter Benedicta, wife of Thomas Towne, and to her daughter Benedicta, wife of William Watton. Around 1460, Watton sold the estate to Reginald Peckham who recombined the two parts of the manor. On the death of Peckham's grandson Thomas Peckham in 1521, the manor was left to his daughter. Her husband quickly sold the estate to Sir Thomas Wyatt.
His son, Sir Thomas Wyatt the younger, sold the estate to Robert Rudston in 1551. Following Rudston's involvement in Wyatt's rebellion against Mary I, he was fortunate to be reprieved from a death sentence, though his estate was confiscated by the Crown. It was restored to him when Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558. Rudston had the first parts of the current house built circa 1567–75 as an extension to an earlier house to the west.
Rudston's son Isaac next owned the house. On his death without a son, he left the house to his brother Belknap Rudston, who, on his death in 1613, left it to Sir Francis Barnham, several times member of parliament for Maidstone. Sir Francis's son Sir Robert Barnham next occupied the house, taking the manor's name as his territorial designation when created a baronet in 1663. Sir Robert served as MP for Maidstone in the Convention Parliament of 1660 and in the Cavalier Parliament from 1661 to 1679. His son Francis predeceased him and, on his death around 1685, the estate was inherited by his daughter Philadelphia Barnham, wife of Thomas Rider.
Thomas Rider was MP for Maidstone in 1690 and from 1696 to 1698. He carried out a number of alterations to the house and its grounds between 1685 and 1690. Following his death in 1698, the estate was inherited by his son Sir Barnham Rider, MP for Maidstone from 1722 to 1727, and then his son, Thomas Rider. The second Thomas Rider left the house to his cousin Ingram Rider in 1786. In 1805, Ingram Rider left it to his son Thomas Rider, MP for Kent and West Kent from 1831 to 1835. The third Thomas Rider rebuilt parts of the house and extended and re-landscaped the park. On his death in 1847, he left the house to his nephew, also Thomas Rider, who let the house to a series of tenants. From 1903 to 1998, the house was occupied by the Winch family, firstly as leaseholders then, from 1960, as freeholders. The Winches sold the house in 1998; it remains in private ownership and belongs to the Kendrick family.
The house sits in grounds of approximately 40 hectares (99 acres) on a south-facing escarpment giving views south and east across the Weald. The formal entrance is north-west of the house, which is approached through woodland along a drive of approximately 850 metres (930 yd). Immediately to the east and south of the house are open lawns. To the north of the house are three enclosed gardens, two of which are arranged as kitchen gardens. These are remnants of a 16th-century formal garden scheme which was removed and replaced by informal landscaping during the third Thomas Rider's tenure. The steeply sloping ground to the south and south-east of the house is maintained as a deer park with a lake about 400 metres (440 yd) south-east of the house.
We left Boughton Monchelsea Place and turned left down the hill to St Peters Church.
The first religious building in the hamlet was a chapel of ease in the parish of Runcorn built in 1236 by Sir Thomas de Dutton which was known as the chapel of Poosey (or Pooseye). Towards the end of the 13th century the bishop of Lichfield (in whose diocese the chapel then was) received a complaint and he gave orders that a chaplain and a lamp should be provided by the prior of Norton Priory. The chapel remained in use until a domestic chapel was built at Dutton Hall and Poosey chapel fell into decay and became a ruin.
The first chapel on the site of the present church was built in the early 16th century, not later than 1542. All that remains of this chapel is a stone in the churchyard which has been used for sharpening spears and knives. This chapel was damaged in the Civil War. In 1637 the chapel was refurnished and restored by Sir Thomas Aston. Following this the present chancel was built in 1697 for Sir Willoughby Aston, the architect being Thomas Webb, and the mason has been named as Edward Nixon. The nave was reconstructed between 1736 and 1740. By 1857 the Aston family pews on the north and south sides of the chancel had been replaced by choirstalls. An organ chamber was added to the south side of the chancel in 1897, obliterating one of the windows. It was rebuilt in 1907.
The church was badly damaged by a land mine on 28 November 1940; damage was caused to the roof and the interior of the church. The roof was replaced but the church was still unusable and services were held elsewhere. It remained derelict until restoration began on 30 May 1949; this was completed in June 1950. The church was re-hallowed on 27 June 1950 by the Bishop of Chester. Until it was damaged by the land mine, it was one of the least restored early Georgian churches in the diocese of Chester. The damage mainly involved the south side and the east end of the church. The south porch was completely destroyed, as was the organ chamber in the chancel. Also destroyed were the sundial over the south porch and the stone cross on the gable at the east end. In 2004 the church received a grant of £35,000 under the Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme.
They were closing up after toddler group but the vicar was happy to show Mike and I about telling us all about its history. Very kind of him to take the time.
He said in the bell tower, there was a staircase that’s been bricked up and there was a room above where the vicar would stay and pointed out the fireplace above.
We left and went outside to look at the views across the Deer Park below.
As we left through the Lynchgate, the vicar appeared again telling us this is the second oldest Lynchgate in then UK.
We pass a very old yew tree, got to be at least a few hundred years old!
Now I got a bit confused and we walked about a bit trying to get our bearings to continue our walk, but at least we got to see the Peacock and Peahen!
We walk back up Church Hill a way until we take a footpath off to our right and pass some woods being harvested for, well wood.
We emerge out onto Heath Road and follow this up pass The Cock Inn.
We continue along the busy Heath Road until we take a path on our left after Monchelsea Farm. Relived to be off the busy Road.
We walk through a Farm that was growing Strawberries and CCTV cameras by the looks of it!
We emerge out onto Brishing Road, passing a council estate and a industrial Estate before following the road around and taking a footpath on our left.
We walk by Langley Loch, well that’s what it’s called certainly didn’t look like a loch to me! But there were signs warning us of rats and snakes, but we survived!
Up ahead we can see the Parish Church of St Mary Langley.
St Mary's church dates from about 1150, and is the largest and most historic church in Langley. It benefited greatly from the expansion work of the Kedermister family in the 17th Century, which gave the church a tower and bells and also a unique library, which has not been changed since.
All is welcome says a sign but the doors are locked!
We follow a footpath across farmland, the path isn’t marked as the field is full of wheat so we have to skirt the edges of the field instead.
We walk out onto Plough Wents Road and follow this pas some old Oast houses now homes.
We take a path on our left and across more farmland.
We walk out onto Warmlake Road turning left and walk up a way before taking another path on our right that leads us back to St Micheals at Chart Sutton that we passed earlier and back the way we came until we reach High Street at Sutton Valence Again.
We walk on down the road into the charming village.
The earliest mention of a settlement at Sutton Valence was in 814, when Coenwulf mentioned Suinothe in a charter. Before the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the manor was owned by Leofwine Godwinson, brother of Harold who was to become King of England in 1066 and be defeated by William the Conqueror.
In 1086 the village is recorded in the Domesday Book under the name of Sudtone (South Town, or Sutton), granted to Adam FitzHubert who held it from Odo Bishop of Bayeux, the half-brother of William the Conqueror. Domesday also records a Church of St. Mary in Sudtone, which may have been built of wood in about 1070. The manor was then granted to the Count of Aumale, Baldwin of Bethune, who built a castle, the remains of its keep or tower can be seen on the east side of the village.
A walk of 10.5 miles, now for the drive home.