THE VILLE OF THE HUNDRED OF WESTGATE,
ALIAS DUNKIRK,
FORMERLY the king's antient forest of Blean,
is a large district, consisting, almost all of it, of large
tracts of coppice woods, mostly of oak, having great
quantities of that timber growing over the whole of
them. It extends from the bottom of Boughton-hill
in length eastward almost as far as the Harbledowne
turnpike, on the London road, about two miles and
a quarter, and across from Whitstaple and Seasalter
parishes southward as far as that of Chartham, about
four miles, besides the manor, and large wood of
Thornden, which lies detached from the north-east
corner of it, and contains in the whole about 5000
acres of land, having many houses and cottages interspersed throughout in different places of it.
The forests of this realm were antiently waste
grounds belonging to the kings of it, in which there
were all beasts of chase, which were under their royal
protection, for their pleasure and recreation. And so
late as king Henry VI.'s reign, there were wild boars,
which were hunted in these woods. And in the 15th
year of queen Elizabeth, it appears there was then a
patent subsisting, granted by the crown, of the office
of keeper of the Blean, and the woods contained
within it. (fn. 1) This forest seems to have been formerly
of much greater extent, for in king Henry I.'s reign,
it reached as far, and partly encircled the hospital of
Harbledowne, then called from it, the hospital of
Blean wood. And from the name of the parish of
St. Cosmus and Damian in the Blean, it seems probable that it was once likewise, or the greatest part
of it, within the bounds of this district. But before
the Norman conquest, as well as afterwards, the several kings made grants at different times of large
tracts of lands within it, especially to the neighbouring religious houses, till at length almost the whole
of it was separated from the crown, and became the
property of the subject, by which means it entirely
lost all privileges of a forest, and even the name of
being one, and in the room acquired that of the
Blean, without any further distinction, which name
continued till within memory; but several houses
having been built within the bounds of it, many especially on the south side of the common, at the bottom
of Boughton-hill, which were inhabited by low persons of suspicious characters, who sheltered themselves
there, this being a place exempt from the jurisdiction
of either hundred or parish, as in a free port, which
receives all who enter it without distinction, the whole
district from hence gained the name of Dunkirk. But
the neighbouring parishes complaining of the burthens they were continually subject to, occasioned by
the casual support of the poor resorting hither, and
other inconveniences arising from it, procured it,
though not without great opposition from the inhabitants, to be made a ville, by the name of the ville of
the hundred of Westgate, alias Dunkirk, and the jurisdiction over it was annexed to the upper division of
justices acting for the lath of Scray.
The high road from London to Canterbury croffes
the whole length of this ville, from the bottom of
Boughton-hill eastward. This part of the road being
in neither hundred or parish, was always neglected,
and left in a ruinous state, the only method taken to
repair it being by presentment at the affizes, as a common county charge, (fn. 2) and it continued so till the beginning of the present century, ever since which, by
an agreement entered into by the two divisions of East
and West Kent, it has been repaired wholly out of the
county-stock of the eastern division.
King Offa, in 791, granted to the priory of Christchurch, in Canterbury, lands in the woods, called
Bocholt and Blean Heanric; after which Richard I.
in his first year, gave his whole wood of Blean, with
all assarts, lands and rents belonging to it, to the
monks of that priory, to hold by the payment of one
pair of gloves; excepting that portion of it which his
father had given to the priory of St. Gregory; which
gift was renewed by him under his great seal in his 9th
year. One of the above grants was certainly the MANOR OF THORNDEN, with the wood belonging to it,
which lies adjoining to the parishes of Whitstaple,
Swaycliffe, and Bleane, but detached at near three
miles distance from the rest of this district north-eastward; and in the register of Christ-church are the
deeds of gift of several persons, of premises at Thorndenne, to the priory, a witness to one of which was
William de Wygge, then forester of Thorndenne.
This manor and estate continued part of the possessions of the priory of Christ-church till the dissolution
of it, in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. when it
came into the king's hands, and was, in his 33d year,
settled by him on his new-founded dean and chapter
of Christ-church, in Canterbury, part of whose possessions it continues at this time, Mr. James Lypeatt,
of Swaycliffe, was lessee of it at his death in 1790, and
his interest in it is now possessed by his three nephews,
William, James and Thomas Foord.
BESIDES THE above-mentioned manor and wood, the
priory of Christ-church was possessed of a very large
tract of woodland in this district, contained in one of
the grants above-mentioned, which woods lay on the
north side of the high London road.
After the dissolution of the priory in the 30th year
of king Henry VIII. it came into the king's hands,
and was by him settled by his dotation-charter, on his
new-founded dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of
whose possessions it now continues. It contains upwards of one thousand acres of woodland, and is now
in their own occupation.
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY has upwards of three hundred acres of woodland within this
district, called North and South Bishopsdenne, and
Hurste woods; which seem to have been granted by
Henry II. at the latter part of his reign, to the see of
Canterbury.
THE MANOR OF BOSENDENNE, with its appurtenances, is situated likewise in this forest of Blean, being
purchased by Clarembald, the first abbot of Faversham, for the use of his abbey in king Stephen's reign,
of Fulco Fitz-Richard. And it was confirmed to
that abbey, among the rest of the possessions of it, by
king Henry II. king John, and king Henry III. After the dissolution of the abbey in king Henry VIII.'s
reign, it came, with the rest of the revenues of it, into
the king's hands. At which time there was an officer appointed by the abbot, for the management of
this manor and their woods here, stiled the chief forester of the Blean. Whom it was first granted to
afterwards, I have not found, but about the middle
of the reign of queen Elizabeth, it was become the
property of a family named Lewes, who then resided
at it. They bore for their arms, Argent, a chevron,
gules, between three beavers tails erected, proper; as
exemplified by William Camden, clarencieux, at the
request of Robert and Bevel Lewes, gents. of Bossenden, in Blean. After which it became the estate of
the Kingsfords, from whom it passed in marriage to
Venner, in which it continued till Kingsford Venner,
esq. of Chelsea, in Middlesex, in the year 1786, alienated it to George Gipps, esq. and he is now the
owner of it.
THE ABBOT AND CONVENT of Faversham was
likewise possessed of a large tract of woodland in this
forest, adjoining to the above-mentioned manor of
Bosendenne westward, which perhaps might once have
been esteemed part of it, and as such bought by abbot
Clarembald of Fulco Fitz-Richard. It consisted of
upwards of 1100 acres, and was from its situation at
first called Northblean, and afterwards Feversham,
alias Abbots Blean. After the dissolution of that abbey, it came, with the rest of the revenues of it, into
the hands of the crown, and was granted by king Edward VI. to William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, to
hold in capite, (fn. 3) and he, about the beginning of queen
Elizabeth's reign, alienated it to William Lovelace,
esq. sergeant-at-law, whose son Sir William Lovelace,
of Bethersden, afterwards possessed it, and he having
sold certain parcels of it to Sondes and Hawkins,
(now possessed by lord Sondes and Mr. Hawkins, of
Nash), died possessed of the remainder of it, then
estimated to contain about 1100 acres. His heirs afterwards sold it to Sir William Thomas, bart. from
which name it passed into that of Aucher, and thence
again to Sir Henry Furnese, bart. of Waldershare;
by a female coheir of whose grandson, of the same
name, this, on a partition of the rest of his estates,
was allotted to Selina, the youngest of them, who afterwards married Edward Dering, esq. son of Sir Edward Dering, bart. whose son of the same name, now
of Surrenden, bart. is the present owner of it.