LIMPSFIELD
Limenesfeld (xi cent.); Lymenesfeld, Lemnefeld
and Lymenesfeld (xiii cent.); Lymefeld, Lemnesfeld (xiv cent.); Lemnysfeld, Lempnesfeld (xv cent.).
Limpsfield is a village and large parish on the
borders of Kent, a mile east of Oxted station and
3 miles west of Westerham in Kent. It measures
5 miles from north to south, 2 miles from east to
west, but tapers at both extremities. It contains
4,688 acres. The parish extends over three soil areas,
from the high ground of the chalk range which here
forms part of Botley Hill to the north, over the
Green sands and Gault to the Wealden Clay. The
church and village are in the usual place, on the sand.
The Kent brook bounds the parish on the southern
part of its eastern side and falls into the Medway, but
north of Bowling Green by the village the drainage is
thrown off northward and then eastward to the head
of the Darenth valley. The scenery is picturesque
with the characteristics of its various soils. The
abrupt slope of the chalk hills to the north gives
extensive views. The Green sand forms a ridge,
which though of no great height (600 ft.) is broken
and well wooded. There are considerable open
spaces, at Limpsfield Common south of the village,
Bowling Green north of this, Chart Common on the
Kent border, and Itchingwood Common in the Weald.
No Inclosure Act exists, but it would seem that
there must have been recent inclosures south-west of
the village, where patches of land are appropriated as
glebe. There was a park (see manorial account), and
the name Park Farm north of the village perhaps
preserves its site.
Palacolithic drift implements in a water-worn
condition were found by Mr. A. M. Bell, F.G.S., in
gravel below the chalk escarpment, and in a bed
which is now dry but which lies apparently in
the upper valley of the Darenth. (fn. 1) Upwards of
300 specimens have been found near Redland Farm
on the escarpment of the Lower Green sand, on the
surface (owing no doubt to a landslip) or some feet
down in a layer of brick earth. (fn. 2) Neolithic flints
and Roman pottery have also been found, some of
which are now in the Surrey Archaeological Society's
Museum at Guildford. A fine British gold coin has
also been found in Limpsfield. (fn. 3)
The village of Limpsfield is situated about 3½
miles east of Godstone immediately to the north of
the main road running east from the latter place
through Westerham and Sevenoaks to Maidstone.
The oldest part of the village lies along the road
leading northwards to Warlingham, which here
descends rapidly from the high level of the main
road. The church is situated at the north end of the
village, standing above the road in a churchyard
of moderate extent, entered by a lych-gate at the
north-west angle. Adjoining the churchyard to the
south is the Manor House, a building of 18th and
early 19th-century date (not the ancient manorhouse of Limpsfield), which has been added to within
recent years to adapt it to the requirements of a
school. It was once the residence of the widow
of Philip Stanhope, natural son of Lord Chesterfield,
to whom he addressed his well-known letters. The
rectory opposite the church is a pleasant-looking
Georgian house. It was damaged by lightning in
1717. South of the church, on the west side of the
road, opposite the Bull Inn, is Detillens House, the
residence of Mr. J. Hamilton Adams, which appears
to have been built about the middle of the 15th
century. The original portion of the building is of
half-timber construction, consisting probably in the
first instance of a hall with entrance, screens, and
offices at the northern end, and private apartments on
the south, extending to the rear in two projecting
wings. The hall originally had a central hearth,
traces of which were discovered some years since.
The central roof-truss still survives. Late in the
16th century the plan was completely transformed by
the addition of a fireplace and chimney-stack on the
west side of the hall. At the same time the hall
was divided into two stories. With the exception of
the hall roof-truss above referred to, most of the
internal fittings and panelling belong to the period of
this remodelling. The fireplaces of the two rooms
into which the hall was divided by the new floor
are of stone, with moulded four-centred heads and
jambs. The overmantel of the room at the south of
the hall is a good piece of Elizabethan work. The
brick chimney-stacks throughout are of this date.
Early in the 18th century the house underwent
further drastic alterations, the north wall of the hall
being demolished on the ground floor, the entrance
closed up, and a new and larger room formed by the
addition of the space occupied by the passage and
divided from the hall by a partition occupying
the position of the original screens. The upper floor
of the hall alone now represents its original extent.
At the same time the east front was entirely rebuilt,
with a doorway in the centre of the hall, and a new
entrance hall formed in the middle of the south side
of the house, with stairs against the south side of the
central chimney-stack. In this state the house now
remains, except that the 16th-century kitchen has
within recent years been enlarged by the removal of
the passage and converted to the drawing-room, and
the original kitchen at the north-west corner has
again been put to its former use. A porch has also
been added to the entrance hall.
To the north of Detillens is a row of good halftimber cottages. On the same side of the road and
near the southern end of the village is the house now
known as White Hart Lodge, formerly an inn of the
same name, a gabled 17th-century building. Opposite
Detillens is an old house called Court House, now an
old curiosity shop, whilst another ancient building has
been lately removed for an extension of the post office.
About a mile to the south-east, situated just off the
road which leads over Limpsfield Common towards
Edenbridge, is Limpsfield Chart, a small settlement of
comparatively modern date. There is nothing of
interest here with the exception of a now disused
windmill. The modern church of St. Andrew
stands at the east end of the hamlet. Moor House
and Moat Farm are old farms.
Hookwood belonged to the Gresham family and
was sold, probably by Sir Marmaduke Gresham, to John
Godfrey of Limpsfield, gentleman, formerly a linendraper of Newgate Street, London. The latter by his
will dated 13 March 1753–4 (fn. 4) left all his real estate
to his cousin Marmaduke Hilton, a merchant of
London, who succeeded him, and, dying on
3 January 1768, was buried in Limpsfield Church. (fn. 5)
He devised his house and lands to his three sisters
Elizabeth, Susanna and Jane for the term of their
lives, with remainder to his partner Vincent Biscoe. (fn. 6)
The latter was succeeded by his son Vincent Hylton
Biscoe, who died in 1847. (fn. 7) He built a new house
on the site of the old one and sold the property to
William Leveson-Gower, of whom apparently it was
leased by Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of
Bombay and author of The History of India, who is
stated to have taken a house in Surrey and died at
Hookwood on 20 November 1859. (fn. 8) He was buried
in Limpsfield churchyard. (fn. 9) A number of tenants
followed, Mrs. Gower living here in 1862, Mr. Ernest
Noel in 1870, Mr. C. N. Wilde in 1874, Lieut.-Gen.
Sir Richard J. Meade in 1887, and Mr. Lancelot
Fletcher in 1895, since which date the Hon. Mrs.
Sophia Leveson-Gower has lived there. The house
stands in a park.
Detillens House, Limpsfield: Roof of Hall
The house called Tenchley or Tinsley Park was built
by Thomas Antony Teulon after 1806. The estate
formerly belonged to the Holmedens. Anthony
Holmeden of Tenchley married Clemence daughter of
John Challoner of Horsted Keynes, Sussex. (fn. 10) He died
in 1607 (fn. 11) and was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas
Holmeden, who married Beatrice daughter of Sir
Thomas Gresham of Limpsfield in 1621. (fn. 12) He was
living here in 1623. (fn. 13) John Holmeden sold it in
1674 to Mr. Raleigh, and he in 1690 to Thomas
Harrison. Harrison's widow Elizabeth left it in
1738 to her sister's daughters Mrs. Hall and
Mrs Teulon. It has remained in the latter's family
ever since, being now the property of Mrs. Esdaile
and Mrs. Sonnenschein, daughters of the late William
Teulon. (fn. 14) The late Mr. Brodie Hoare lived here till
his death in 1911.
Tenchley Farm, the old house of the Holmedens, (fn. 15)
is a 16th-century house with later additions, now
the residence of Mr. Bowen. It was L-shaped in
plan, with a south wing projecting westwards. Early
in the 19th century it was enlarged by the addition of
a corresponding wing on the north and a modern
porch at the south end of the east wall of the centre
block, while in more recent years the southern wing
has been extended eastwards. Alterations, however,
appear to have been made to the building late in the
17th century, when practically all of the old windows
were taken out and new ones substituted. The old
part of the building is constructed of brick with halftimber framing, but externally the walls, as well as the
roof, have now been hung with tiles. The centre
block contains the hall, in the north wall of which
is a large open fireplace with an original door on the
west leading to the modern servants' quarters. Behind
the staircase is a room panelled with a 17th-century
oak dado and having in its west wall a four-centred
chalk fireplace. The drawing-room has a similar
fireplace and some early 17th-century oak panelling.
The old building was erected on a foundation of
stonework which stops under the sills of the ground-floor windows, but in the chimney is carried up
end of the south block the stonework is carried up
almost to the level of the eaves. At the diminution
in the width of this stack immediately above the last
course of stonework are shaped brick corbels surmounted by small wrought-iron finials.
Storkenden or Stockenden was the residence of a
branch of the Holmeden family and was later purchased by Henry Smith, (fn. 16) who in 1624 gave the farmhouse and 100 acres of land called Storkenden alias
Limpsfield, worth £50, as a benefaction to his charity
in Croydon. (fn. 17) Since 1855 it has been a farm in the
tenure of the local yeoman family called Young.
Trevereux, an old house which stands in a park at
the south-eastern extremity of the parish, was the
residence for nearly two centuries of the Burges family
until 1817, when it was purchased by Mr. Cox. (fn. 18) It
was in 1891 the residence of Mr. A'Court-Repington,
and is now the seat of Mr. Carmichael Bruce. It is
a fine late 18th-century house with a projecting east
wing added later.
A house in this parish called Bolters or Bolthurst
was held by Beatrice widow of William Gresham on
her death in 1604 and was then worth £4. (fn. 19) In
1602 she settled this house on Gresham Woodhouse
son of her daughter Cicely and Sir Henry Woodhouse. (fn. 20)
In 1855 Bolters was in the possession of Robert
Passenger, and in 1866 Mrs. Passenger was living
there. It is now occupied as a farm-house.
Ravensbrooke is the seat of Sir T. H. Elliott,
K.C.B. Hazelwood is a boys' preparatory school.
The family of Heath was settled in Limpsfield and
at Edenbridge in Kent from early times. John Heath (fn. 21)
died here in 1491 and left a son John. (fn. 22) A John
Heath in 1590 was holding a farm called the Curtilage
of Limpsfield which he had leased to Michael Heath. (fn. 23)
In 1537 Richard Heath of Titsey was pardoned for
the murder of Richard Aldriche at Limpsfield. (fn. 24)
Robert Heath, a member of this family, was Solicitor-General to James I, Attorney-General to Charles I and
Chief Justice of Common Pleas in 1631, and though
dismissed from that office was Chief Justice of the
King's Bench in 1642. He was very obnoxious to
the Parliamentary party, was impeached and died
abroad. He wrote historical memorirs with a strong
partisan bias. (fn. 25)
The parish has become more residential since the
railway was brought through Oxted in 1884, and
some large houses have been built round Limpsfield
Common. It has recently become a favourite place
for schools and institutions. The Passmore Edwards
Convalescent Home in connexion with Charing Cross
Hospital was built by Mr. J. Passmore Edwards and
opened in 1896 by King Edward VII when Prince
of Wales. Previously, in 1894–5, Mr. Passmore
Edwards had built the Caxton Convalescent Home,
intended for members of the printing trade. There
is a convalescent home for women and children on
the edge of the common, and a home for boys in the
village connected with Oxford House in the east of
London. The home and school for the children of
missionaries working under the Church Missionary
Society was built in 1887, at a cost of £35,000, for
120 children. In 1901 another house was added for
thirty younger children.
In 1838 there was a parish church school and
infants' school at Limpsfield, and when Brayley wrote
there was also 'a handsome school-house built by
Mr. W. Leveson-Gower on the road to Titsey.' (fn. 26)
This school, which was built to serve Titsey and
Limpsfield, was presented by Mr. G. W. G. Leveson-Gower to the rector and churchwardens in 1871.
In 1850 there was a school at Chart in the parish,
the present buildings of which were apparently put up
in 1852.
Under a scheme sanctioned by the Charity Commissioners in 1886 the old parochial schools of 1838
were sold and the proceeds applied to Mr. Leveson-Gower's school. (fn. 27) There is now also a school on
Limpsfield Common which is the private property of
Mr. C. G. Leveson-Gower.
MANOR
In the time of King Edward the
Confessor (fn. 28)
LIMPSFIELD was held by
Earl Harold, and on his fall this manor,
with his other possessions in Surrey, passed into the
hands of William the Conqueror, (fn. 29) who gave it, with
free warren, to the abbey of Battle (fn. 30) and exempted the
abbot from all taxation and payment of aids. (fn. 31) His
charter granting the manor and privileges was confirmed by Henry I and Henry VI. (fn. 32) In 1086 this
manor, which before the Conquest had been assessed at
25 hides, was worth £24, and comprised a mill, a
fishery, two stone quarries and three nests of hawks. (fn. 33)
The manor continued in the possession of Battle
Abbey until the Dissolution,
the last abbot, John Hammond,
surrendering on 27 May
1538. (fn. 34) On 1 September
1538 Henry VIII granted
the manor to Sir John Gresham (fn. 35) of London, kt., and
Mary his wife at an annual
rental of £5 12s., to be held
in chief by the twentieth part
of a knight's fee. On Sir
John's death in 1556 the
manor descended to his son
William, who bequeathed it
to his wife Beatrice for life,
and on her decease to his second son Thomas. (fn. 36) He
excepted the capital messuage and the farm there,
which he gave to his daughter Mary (fn. 37) during the
minority of Thomas. The latter, who was knighted
in 1603, (fn. 38) obtained permission in 1616 to inclose
and impark 400 acres in the manor of Limpsfield,
and to stock the same with deer. (fn. 39) The manor
remained in the Gresham family (fn. 40) until Sir Marmaduke Gresham by his will (fn. 41) dated 4 June 1741
devised it with other estates to his trustees Thomas
Mompesson and John Godfrey for 500 years, to
mortgage or sell in payment of his debts. (fn. 42) In 1745
an Act of Parliament was passed (fn. 43) for vesting part of
the estate of Sir Marmaduke Gresham, bart., in
trustees for sale immediately in payment of his debts
and legacies, as this course was deemed more advantageous for his heir than the sale of the term of
500 years appointed by his will. On 28 December
1750 the trustees sold the manor of Limpsfield, with
all titular manors thereto appendant, the tenements
called New Hall and Court Lodge, the Lodge Farm,
Grants, Park Farm and the woods called Limpsfield
Chart and Limpsfield Common, to Bourchier Cleeve
of London, and later of Foot's Cray Place, Kent, and
his heirs, for the sum of £15,800. (fn. 44) By his will dated
12 September 1759, Bourchier Cleeve devised
Limpsfield to Neighbour Frith of North Cray and
James Walton of Cornhill in trust for his wife Mary,
and after her death to his daughter Ann Cleeve, and
desired his trustees to mark 6,200 of the best timber
trees on the estate, to be cut down and sold for her
benefit either on her marriage or when she reached
the age of twenty-one. (fn. 45) In 1765 Ann married Sir
George Yonge, bart., (fn. 46) M.P. for Honiton, and later
Secretary of State for War and Governor of the Cape
of Good Hope. (fn. 47) The manor, however, did not
remain long in their possession, as three years after
their marriage it was advertised for sale as the 'manor
of Limpsfield, containing the Royalties of Prinkham,
Limpsfield and Crowhurst, with a Court Leet and
Court Baron, demesne lands in several farms containing upwards of 1,000 acres, with near 900 acres
of wood and waste land, let at an old rent of £508 19s.,
Quit-rents £23 11s. 11½d.' (fn. 48) In 1779, after passing
through various hands, (fn. 49) it was purchased by Sir John
Gresham, and was thus re-united to the family estate. (fn. 50)
Sir John Gresham died in 1801, leaving Limpsfield
to his wife Henrietta Maria for life, (fn. 51) with remainder
to their daughter Catherine Maria, who in 1804
married William Leveson-Gower, in whose family
the manor has since remained. (fn. 52)
Gresham. Argent a cheveron ermine between three pierced molets sable.
Sir William Gresham (ob. 1578) built the
manor-house of New Hall. (fn. 53) Sir Thomas Gresham,
who married Mary daughter of John Leonard of
Knole, Kent, and widow of Guilford Walsingham,
is described as residing in New Hall. (fn. 54) In 1678
a clause was inserted in Gresham's Westerham
Rectory Bill (fn. 55) forbidding Edward Gresham to demolish
or deface the family seat called New Hall in the parish
of Limpsfield. The Gresham family resided here
until 1706, and mention is made of it in the sale of
the manor to Bourchier Cleeve in 1750 (fn. 56) ; it was
subsequently pulled down. (fn. 57) A court leet belonged
to this manor, at which a constable for Limpsfield
and tithingmen for Wylley, Chart, Walda, Prinkham
and Horley were chosen. (fn. 58) Fines of freehold land
were levied at the abbot's court. (fn. 59) The descent of
freehold is according to common law, while the copyhold descent is of the nature of Borough English,
descending to the youngest child. (fn. 60)
The old water mill at Limpsfield was superseded
by a windmill, which was working twenty years ago,
but has now been pulled down.
CHURCHES
The church of ST. PETER consists
of a chancel 18 ft. by 31 ft. 4 in., north
chapel 31 ft. 10 in. by 17 ft. 5 in.,
tower at the south-west of the chancel 14 ft. 3 in. by
12 ft. 11 in., nave 36 ft. 3 in. by 21 ft. 7 in., modern
north aisle 38 ft. 11 in. by 14 ft. 6 in., south aisle
35 ft. 5 in. by 8 ft. 3 in., and south porch 8 ft. 2 in.
by 6 ft. 7 in. The measurements are all internal.
The original church, built probably about 1180,
consisted apparently of a chancel, nave and tower.
The tower (with the original windows in the ringing
and belfry stages and the original arch opening from
the chancel) and probably parts of the nave walls of
this church exist. The chancel, however, was rebuilt
about 1220, and about 1250 the north chapel with
the chancel arcade and south aisle with its arcade were
added. The south doorway and porch are of the
16th century, and a modern vestry to the east of the
tower was removed at a recent restoration. The
north aisle was added in 1854.
Except for three modern east lancets, replacing a
15th-century window, the chancel is wholly of the
13th century. There is an aumbry at the south end
of the east wall. A doorway at the east end (originally
external), and the arcade of two bays with a circular
central pillar with moulded capital and base (apparently
recut), in the western portion of the north wall, open
to the north chapel. There is a widely splayed lowside window in the east end of the south wall, and
westward from it a piscina and a sedile, both with
plain two-centred heads, and a wide recess with a
segmental head, possibly a double sedile. Over the
piscina is a locker-recess. Above the three recesses
are two widely splayed lancets, with external glassrebates. A keel-moulded string runs below them and
drops over the low-side window at the east. The
rest of the south wall is really the north wall of the
tower, and contains a 12th-century arch, now filled
by the organ. The chancel arch is of the 13th
century, and like those of the north chancel arcade.
The north chapel, like the chancel, is nearly all of
original 13th-century detail. The east windows are
new, and the west wall contains a new arch of the
date of the north aisle, to which it opens. But of
the two windows in the north wall, the western, a
lancet, is original, and the eastern is a 14th-century
square-headed window of three ogee-lights. In the
same wall are the remains of an original 13th-century doorway opposite that between the chancel
and chapel. Beneath the east window is a little
stone set in the wall, with a sculptured spray of
foliage, of uncertain date, but probably of the 14th
century.
The south aisle was built about 1250, and has an
arcade of three bays, with circular columns and halfround responds and moulded capitals and bases. After
its completion an arch was cut through the west wall
of the tower, with boldly moulded capitals to the
responds, and the tower ground-stage was fitted as
a chapel, with a new plate-tracery window and a
piscina with an elliptical head in the south wall. The
wide pointed altar recess in the east wall of the tower
is of the same date, but the window is a 15th-century
insertion. The aisle has a modern west window and
15th-century south windows, at a higher level than
the original windows, the jambs of the easternmost
13th-century window being visible below the present
one. The west wall of the tower, within the aisle,
shows the line of the steep 13th-century
roof, which was removed when the walls
were heightened and the new windows
inserted.
In the nave wall, to the north of the
chancel arch, are the south jamb and half
the four-centred head of a 16th-century
rood-stair entrance. The north arcade is
modern, and is designed to resemble the
south arcade. At about half the height of
the eastern arch of the south arcade is a
two-centred rood doorway with rebated
jambs. The five-light west window is
modern. The modern north aisle has
three two-light windows in the north wall
and a window of three lights in the west
wall. At the eastern end, next the chapel
arch, is a north doorway.
The trussed rafter roofs of the chancel
and north chapel may be of original 13th-century date. The nave roof, though of
a somewhat lower pitch, may possibly be
of the same date. The south aisle is
roofed by a plain 15th-century lean-to
roof. The roofs of the chancel, north
chapel and north aisle are covered with
tiles, while those of the nave and south
aisle, which are roofed continuously, and of the south
porch have stone slates.
The font is of early 13th-century date, and has a
square bowl with a moulded capping, supported by a
moulded octagonal stem and circular shafts with
moulded capitals and bases, all on a double plinth.
The internal jambs of the lancet windows in the
south wall of the chancel are pointed with a masonry
pattern, probably of 13th-century date. The oakpanelled pulpit was the gift of Samuel Savage, who
also presented the church with communion plate in
the year 1764, but it has been cut down and placed
on a stone base.
The only monument of any interest is a brass plate
let into a slate slab, now detached from its original
position, and leaning against the west wall of the
nave. The inscription is as follows: 'Here lyeth
George Elyott | Esquire and Groome of the | Privie
Chamber to ye Queene | Aged 62 yeares who
dyed | the 15th of February Anno | Domini 1644.'
There is a peal of six bells, the treble and second
by John Warner & Sons, 1877; the third inscribed
in black letter 'Sancta Mergareta Ora Pro Nobis.
T.H.', and probably dating from the latter part of
the 15th century; the fourth inscribed 'Bryan
Eldredge Made Mee 1619'; the fifth inscribed
'Johannis in multis annis resonet campana'; and the
tenor 'Sum Rosa Pulsata Mundi Maria Vocata.'
The fifth and sixth have been recast within resent
years, the old inscriptions being retained. They are
undated. The portion of the original fifth containing the inscription has been preserved, and may be
seen in the church. It is written in Lombardic
capitals, and appears to be of early 15th-century date.
The original tenor probably dated from the latter part
of the same century.
Plan of Limpsfield Church
The communion plate consists of nine pieces, a
small silver paten of 1749, a silver-gilt chalice, paten,
cover-paten and flagon of 1764, all inscribed 'The
Gift of Samuel Savage Esqr. to the Parish of Limpsfield January 1765,' a modern silver-gilt chalice and
paten of 1888, a modern silver-mounted glass flagon
and a shell, 1905.
The registers previous to 1812 are in five
volumes, the first containing all entries from 1539
to 1653; the second baptisms 1653 to 1733,
burials 1653 to 1735, marriages 1654 to 1743;
the third baptisms 1733 to 1759, burials 1735 to
1759, marriages 1744 to 1754; the fourth baptisms
and burials 1759 to 1812 and marriages 1754 to
1812.
The church of ST. ANDREW ON THE CHART
consists of a chancel, north transept and vestry, nave,
north and south aisles, a tower and shingled spire on
the south-west side of the chancel, and a south
porch. The foundation stone of the church was
laid in the year 1895, and the tower and spire were
added in 1902. The walls are of squared rubble,
and the roofs are covered with tiles.
There is a Congregational chapel on the common.
The land for it was conveyed in 1822.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of the church of
St. Peter, which is mentioned in
1086 in the extent of Limpsfield
Manor, was, together with the manor, the property
of Battle Abbey; the latter, however, did not
appropriate the church. After the Dissolution the
advowson was sold, together with an annual pension
of 2s. which the rector had been accustomed to pay to
the abbey, to Sir John Gresham. (fn. 61) It passed with the
manor excepting during the years 1700 and 1728,
when it was in the hands of James Brockden and
John Holman, sen., (fn. 62) respectively, and is now held
by the Leveson-Gower family, Mr. C. Leveson-Gower
being the present patron.
CHARITIES
Sir Marmaduke Gresham and
others gave 3 acres of land and nine
tenements for the poor. They were
sold with the sanction of the Poor Law Commissioners,
and the proceeds were devoted to the erection of the
union workhouse.
One Brete in 1696 left 5s. a year from the rent
of a cottage to provide bread for the poor. The
benefaction has long been lost.
— Wood gave 10s. a year, secured on the rent
of a farm called Plum Park, which is applied in
clothing.
Smith's Charity is distributed as in other Surrey
parishes.