FIELDS
Imagine what Chiddingstone must have looked like 2,000 years ago. Most of Kent and Sussex were covered with a huge oak forest called Andreswald - which is where the name "The Weald" of Kent derives from. Pig farmers made small clearings in the forest - known as 'dens' - where their hogs could feed on the rich crop of acorns. Many village names in Kent end in 'den', such as Tenterden, Marden, Benenden or even Somerden Farm that you can see across the river, which betray their origins as a swineherd's forest clearing. The Romans occupied Britain in the first half of the first millennium and built many roads, which can be recognised today by their length and straightness. The road that runs right through the middle of Edenbridge is a good example of one. When straying off these roads, the Weald of Kent must have been virtually impassable with heavy clay soil and thick forest. The rivers were the easiest way to travel. Their strategic importance, even of the humble river Eden that runs past Chiddingstone, is underlined by the ugly brick 'pillboxes' that you can still see. These were built to house machine gun posts to guard the river in the Second World War when Kent was threatened by invasion. Traces of Roman Britain remain in the names of the two farms closest to Larkins. They are referred to in early title deeds as the 'Yoke of Chested' and the 'Yoke of Vexour'. In Roman units a 'Yoke' was a quarter of a 'Sulung', or roughly 50 acres. If you look at the boundary of Chiddingstone Parish it looks like a giant has taken a bite out of it. The boundary skirts around two 50-acre plots centered on Chested and Vexour demonstrating their special status. When you drive down the hill from Larkins across the bridge and up the other side, picture in your mind the two Roman farms both sited on knolls overlooking the river that linked them to the main road in Edenbridge. Two beacons of civilisation in a dark expanse of forest.
Lets jump forward to the beginning of the second millennium. William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at Hastings in 1066 and moved northwards through Kent. He was met by a group of Nobles and Yeomen known as "The Men of Kent" who organised a parley with him. They offered uncontested passage to him so long as they could keep their ancient customs. William agreed and went on to take London. Think of this event the next time you are cruising around the M25. The brown sign that says "Welcome to Kent" shows a shield with a white horse rampant and the motto "Invicta" meaning 'Unconquered'. It's a rather slender difference but Kent is still proud that it negotiated a settlement and was therefore the only county in England that was undefeated. More importantly, that manicured landscape that you see out of the car window came about because of one of the ancient customs that they kept - known as 'gavelkind'. In every other part of England, the law follows the Norman concept of 'primogeniture' - that the eldest son inherits everything on his father's death. This is what has held the great English country houses and estates together in one piece down the passage of the centuries. In Kent it is different. Gavelkind means that the father's estate is equally split amongst the children, which results in a large number of small holdings that are actively traded each generation. Being a local historian in Kent is truly a joy, as there is an amazingly full historical record of real estate transactions over the last 800 years kept in the archives in the County Hall in Maidstone. This has had a visible impact on the landscape. Though now known as "The Garden of England", Kent was the industrial heartland of Britain in Elizabethan times with easy access to London and plenty of iron ore, coal and timber. It was an entrepreneur's dream. Any ambitious man could easily buy a smallholding of land in Kent and set out to make his fortune. Visitors to Kent are often struck by small dimensioned detail of the landscape, the cosy, rolling countryside and the manicured fields. The unit of measurement seems to be just longer than a man's arm but still within the reach. We have the "Men of Kent" and Gavelkind to thank for that.
Chiddingstone Fields
A complete list of the fields in Chiddingstone Parish by name and number can be found in the Tithe Apportionment books that accompanied the maps made under the Tithe Act of 1836. Here is a transcription for Chiddingstone North and Chiddingstone South
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