ELHAM

 Elham is a very pretty village, laying between Folkestone and Canterbury, which can trace its' history back to the Domesday Book of 1087.  It is well worth taking a walk around the village. Afterwards you can always take a break at the Abbot's Fireside, which was built in 1614, and was formerly called the Smithies Arms. (currently closed and up for sale, sorry - but see below if you're hungry and thirsty)

There is more information about the Abbot's Fireside under both names, on the Dover Kent Archive site. Here are the links:

The Smithies' Arms, Elham

The Abbot's Fireside, Elham

The Duke of Wellington used the hotel as his headquarters whilst preparing his final battle with Napoleon at Waterloo, although it was then called the Smithies Arms. King Charles II and the Duke of Richmond hid from Cromwell's Roundheads in the main fireplace, during a clandestine visit to England during their exile.

There are 4 lions guarding the rear entrance to the hotel, but I could only get 3 in the shot!

Although a very small village, Elham at one time had 4 inns and  vineyard! Three of the inns were on this part of the High Street. The New Inn has gone - now existing only as a small row of houses. 

The Abbot's Fireside, as you can see, is still there, and, on the other side of the street, the Rose And Crown still stands.

Rose & Crown, Elham

The New Inn, Elham

Rose & Crown. A traditional 16th century coaching inn. The Rose & Crown Elham is a Grade II Listed building, it was originally timber framed and built in the 16th century. Most of it has been re fronted, and extended at the south end, where a date stone gives the date 1740. This inn was used for many years for the Elham Petty Sessions, and the courtroom can still be made out on the first floor. Mortises and grooves in the beams show where a small room was set aside for the use of the magistrate, who visited here once a fortnight. The first game of Bar Billiards was played here in the Rose & Crown, Elham in 1932. David Gill of Ox Road Farm, North Elham was responsible for creating the first Bar Billiards table, which was first played on here at the Rose & Crown Elham. 

Apparently, Baroness Orczy based her character, The Scarlet Pimpernel, on a real person who used to stop there and dine, while he waited for a fresh horse to carry him to France, where he really did rescue French Aristocrats from the guillotine!

New Inn. Grade II listed, now residences. Public House. Probably early-to-mid C19 with late C19 and early C20 alterations. 

Just off the main road, opposite the Abbot's Fireside, is St. Mary's Road, which leads to Church Square, and the church, of course.

Elham's market charter was granted by Prince Edward in 1251, 21 years before he was crowned Edward I. 

The Well House stands where St. Mary's Road joins the Square. It is Grade II Listed. Late C18 facade to an earlier building. Timber framed. Attractive shell hood over door, with name written in gold leaf.  

The King's Arms was built in the middle ages, but the medieval framework is now hidden behind the tiled facade. It was previously known as The Cock, and further information is found on the Dover Kent Archive site - links here:

The Cock Inn, Elham

The King's Arms, Elham

1450. Situated in the sought after Elham Valley, this beautiful Grade II pub, The Kings Arms, has been restored to its royal glory in celebration of the coronation of King Charles III.

One of Elham's more notable residents was Audrey Hepburn, formerly Audrey Ruston,  who both lived, and went to school there. She and her mother lived in Orchard Cottage, Duck Street.

Elham Village Stores. 

The shop premises are still there, but sadly, no longer the village stores

The Master’s House (Historic Building of Kent) next to tea rooms, & row of terraced cottages opposite date to 1742

Parish Workhouse and the Master's house, now house pair. Late C18.  Blocked carriage entrance to left end of central section. Panelled door with two small top lights and flat bracketed hood up three steps to left end of right 'wing', to Poor's House. (A building to rear, now in The Row, said to have been the old Hospital of the Workhouse. Not listed).

Methodist church built in 1839. The Methodist Church has been part of Elham since the start of the nineteenth century when the influence of the Revd. John Wesley had led to groups of Christians meeting in classes to share their understanding of the work of Christ in all believers.  At one time there were at least two Methodist Chapels in Elham, the present one was erected in in 1839, after what is now the adjoining Hall became too small for the congregation.

Elham Manor House at top of lane beside Abbot's Fireside. It is Grade II* listed. House. Early C16 orearlier, with late C18 alterations. Timber- framed with rendered infilling. 

The history of this handsome building is quite well documented. Built in 1387, this delightful house stands at the top of Culling's Hill, on the Old Road which was once the only way through Elham towards Canterbury. The present house is L.-shaped in plan, and consists of the old hall, once open to the roof, and a large wing on the Culling's Hill side. The services wing, where the buttery and the pantry were, is missing, and was evidently pulled down to make room for the long timbered house on the right of the Old Manor, where a long row of windows on the first floor show that a weaver lived here in the 17th century.

The site of the earliest manor house, sometimes referred to as the 'Palace of the Earls of Eu', was situated a little to the south of the present house, around St. Mary's Church Hall, where fragments of foundations have been found. Some ancient stone walling in the cellars of the two cottages, Nos. 1 and 2 the New Road belong to the Old Palace.

The history of the present house dates from the execution of Sir Simon Burley in 1387. He owned the manor at that time, and his estates were forfeited to the Crown, and were granted shortly afterwards by Richard II to the Dean and Canons of Westminster. It would appear that the Old Palace was then demolished, and the present house erected, this having a central open hall, with a two storey wing on each side of it. The hall had a floor inserted in it when the first brick chimneys were added in the 16th century.

Today, the interior of the house is a most charming place, with its wealth of old beams and panelling. The massive tiebeam and crown-post seen upstairs, mark the centre of the old hall, and the moulded and crenellated beams once adorned each side of the hall. The two dragon-beams allowed the joists to give an overhang on three sides. All these features belong to the original house, except the panelling and the old floorboards, which are 17th century. The Old Manor House has been granted the plaque of the Committee for the Preservation of Rural Kent and the Kent Archaeological Society.

In 1947, The old manor house at Elham was extensively damaged by fire at about 4 o'clock on Friday morning. Mrs. Parkinson, wife of Major C. N. Parkinson, a lecturer at Liverpool University, her two children, a maid and her child, and a nurse, were able to leave in time. Dover Express - Friday 04 April 1947

N.B: The previous house can be traced back to 1060, when it was owned by a Saxon called Edric. The next three centuries read like a Who's Who of Norman and then Plantagenet aristocracy.

1067 - Odo de Bayeux      He was was a Norman nobleman who was a bishop of Bayeux in Normandy and was made Earl of Kent in England following the Norman Conquest. He was the maternal half-brother of duke, and later king, William the Conqueror

From 1086 it passed to the d'Aubigny family,  then in 1151, to the d'Eu family.

1218 saw it in the hands of Raoul d'issouden, or d'Exoudun 

Around 1226, it was in the ands of Alice d'Eu

 1234 Henry III

1245 Edward I

 1257 Boniface of Savoy

1260 Roger de Leyburn

1271 William de Leyburn 

1310 Juliane de Leyburn or Clinton

1310 Henry de Leyburn

1328 William de Clinton

1368 Simon de Burley 

Further along The Row stand Well Cottage and Updown Cottage, once a medieval Hall house, now two separate residences.

It incorporates a medieval hall house, which has been extended on the south-west side. The original timber-framed house, which appears to date from the 14th, or 15th century, once had an open hall, and a jetty, or overhang at one end. It takes up the whole of Updown Cottage and extends into Well Cottage. A floor was inserted in the old hall, and the main chimney added in the 16th century, and the whole was encased in brick and tile in the 18th century. Of the original house, most of the main framework still survives, as can be best seen inside the bedrooms. The roof also is largely original 

Braeside Cottages, opposite the lions at the rear of the Abbot's Fireside, features this curious face

The beautiful Elham Tea House. Just to re-iterate what I said on the front page.............

One bottle of sparkling Kingsdown rhubarb (my new favourite) and a delicious cheese and tomato sandwich later, served by a lovely lady, I thought this is so me.

It's a very pretty place, the food and drinks are locally sourced, the service is impeccable and the pricing appropriate to the style of food they serve. I for one will make it a regular stop every time I pass between those hilly sides.

So, unusually for me, this is a firm recommendation: 

Go on, treat yourself - The Elham Tea House, two doors down from the Abbot's Fireside in the centre of the village, right on the main road. Please visit and show your love by signing the petition on the counter, to stop the Parish Council limiting their hours unfairly.

Elham Tea House

clicky-wicky their web-site above too.

Menu

The war memorial is at the Canterbury end of the village, on the main through road. The Elham War Memorial, is a Grade II listed structure recognized for its historical significance and design.

St. Mary’s church.   The 12th. century church of St. Mary the Virgin is noted for its' tall spire atop a crenellated tower.

The high altar has four charmingly painted panels by John Ripley Wilmer in Pre-Raphaelite style, executed in 1907.

In the south chancel wall are two windows of great curiosity. One contains a fifteenth-century figure of St Thomas Becket while the other shows figures of David and Saul. This dates from the nineteenth century and was painted by Frank Wodehouse who was the then vicar's brother. The face of David was based on that of Mme Carlotta Patti, the opera singer, while Gladstone and Disraeli can be identified hovering in the background, and three of Victoria’s daughters! 

So............as usual, here are the remainder of the pictures, and I will fill in the details as I do the research. (sigh) will my list ever get shorter? Still, keeps me out of mischief I suppose!

The organ loft, at the west end.

A very ornate font. The inscription "BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY" and "HE THAT BELIEVETH AND IS BAPTISED SHALL BE SAVED" are visible, reflecting the theological significance of baptism in Christianity, particularly as described in passages like 1 Corinthians 12:13, which speaks of being "baptized into one body". 

The canopy above the altar in the south chapel.

Plaque commemorating the 50th. year as Vicar of Elham, for Rev. Walker Wodehouse in 1896. Rev. Wodehouse died, unmarried,  in 1899 age 80, and is buried in the churchyard here.

The window above this plaque was originally in Davington Priory in Faversham, and was given to the church in memory of Albert Castle, chorister and bellringer, by his family. (I'm surprised Bob Geldof doesn't want it back :D )

Another memorial to the Rev. Walker Wodehouse.

The Transfiguration - it seems to be based on a piece in the Hermitage Museum in Russia

the World War One Shrine at Elham Church, Kent. 

• The shrine features a carved stone altar and an icon depicting the Deposition of the Cross. 
• The current icon was commissioned in 1983 from a Russian Orthodox Monastery, replacing a 14th-century French Pieta that was stolen in 1979. 
• The shrine serves as a memorial to the local community's sacrifice during World War One. 

The Rev. Dr. Warly gave a dole of bread to six poor widows in perpetuity.

Given the overall magnificence of the church, I was surprised to see such a plain parish chest.

Sadly, most of the tablet memorials are too high up to get pictures of, so I didn't. However, if, whilst doing the research, I come across any notable information as to what's there, I shall publish it without pictures. (cheaper than hiring a gurt big ladder, or a cherry picker in order to read them)