A Kentish Tale of Men and Manors

This book tells the tale of the Kentish Downs and Wye Gap (an area continuously inhabited since prehistoric times) through the prism of the ancient manor of Eggardon in the parish of Godmersham.

The author tells the story of the ancient ridgeways which carried traffic to the sacred sites in the Stonehenge area, the barrows and burial mounds containing the earliest human remains in the area, the Roman occupation, and the subsequent use of the ridgeways as pilgrim trails following the murder of Thomas à Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.

His researches show that Eggardon is first mentioned in connection with the knight Aymer de Valance, Earl of Pembroke, and supporter of Edward I. In succeeding chapters, he tells the stories of the various families who owned the manor, some the foremost in the land who influenced the course of our history. Before this gets too repetitive, he devotes an intriguing chapter to a period in the 17th century when widowed owner, Dorothea Scott, was defrauded over some land in Long Island and subsequently bankrupted.

The ascending influence of neighbouring Godmersham Park is never far away and eventually Eggardon Manor was pulled down in 1828 by Godmersham’s then owner, Edward Knight, brother of Jane Austen, leaving some of the outbuildings. The story is brought up to date with a description of recent events and the inhabitants of the surviving buildings.

Two minor quibbles – I am not sure the author is correct to assert that glaciers retreated from the Downs at the end of the last Ice Age (they were further north), and the River Darent is mis-named Darrent. Nevertheless, this should not detract from what is a labour of love and a well-researched book written by the present owner and inhabitant of one of the manor’s surviving buildings.

It is lavishly illustrated with photographs, maps and illustrations (some by the author’s sister Anne Lever), together with copious footnotes with references to Hasted, Philpott and Belloc. Written at times in a light-hearted vein, it will be of interest to the casual reader and local historian alike.