St John the BaptistChurch
There was almost certainly a church on the site of St. John the Baptist,
Penshurst before the Norman Conquest. We do know that in 1170. Thomas a Becket
appointed a rector, Willelmus, as the first priest of the parish. There is
some evidence to suggest the foundation to be 860AD and in 2004 many Saxon
artefacts were unearthed on adjoining land which might also support this.
Note in the churchyard in front of the porch is a large stone table which
was used once a year to distribute money to the needy of the village. Also
note, for more notorious reasons, the grave of Richard Sax under a yew tree
near the bottom of some steps as you enter the churchyard under the arch.
Mr Sax was a farmer who was brutally murdered in 1813 following an argument
with a farm labourer who worked on the estate of Baden-Powell (the founder
of the world scout movement).
Entering
the church via the porch you open a 15th century door and possibly the first
things a visitor notices are the delightful chancel screen carved from Penshurst
Oak and erected in 1897
as a memorial to 2nd Viscount Hardinge, the 15th century font, brightly painted
as it was originally and the bell ropes. The oldest of the bells was cast
before 1400 and still rings out over the village today.
Detailed information on the interior of the church is to be found in a booklet entitled ‘Penshurst Church and Village’, available for purchase when visiting the church.
The Church House
To be seen in the square on the left as you face the church. One of possibly
only two still left standing in England. Every parish used to have one to
house spits, crocks and other utensils for the preparation of food and drink.
After The Reformation parish clergy had to provide shelter for travellers and their parishioners from outlying districts who came for morning and afternoon services on feast days. Church Inns were set up to provide food and drink in respectable surroundings controlled by the church. Church ales were brewed and profits went to provide the poor with feasts on special occasions, and for church upkeep. Shelter was provided in a room which forms the archway under which you pass to enter the churchyard.
In later times the upkeep of these inns became the duty of the Lord of the
Manor, hence the name “landlord” for the person of the innkeeper.
Church Inns were finally abolished by the Puritans.
Picturesque Leicester Square nestles near the
village church and the entrance to Penshurst Place
The Village Hall
This is a large stone building in the centre of the village on the corner. It was erected in 1900 as the result of the generosity of a benefactor and it stands on the site of three almshouses. After the monasteries had been abolished there was no-one with responsibility for the poor until Queen Elizabeth 1 decreed the first “Poor Law” which left their care to the church wardens.
Charitably minded individuals then began to make bequests in their Wills
for the assistance of those less fortunate. Records show that at least one
of these was very shrewdly managed by the churchwardens, assisted by the generosity
of Sir Robert Sydney.
A certain individual named “Bullfinch” gave 5 cows for the relief
of the poor in Penshurst and for the repair of the bridges in the parish.
The church wardens were empowered to sell them for twenty shillings per cow.
Instead they let them out for eight shillings and four pennies per year of
which they gave five shillings per annum to the poor and three shillings and
four pennies to bridge repairs. Finally they sold all the cows for five pounds.
With the five pounds they built a cottage for the poor on land given by Sir
Robert Sydney for 1000 years at a token rent of “3 red roses at midsummer”.
This cottage was then let to Anthony Williams for eight shillings and four
pennies per year of which five shillings was given to the poor and three shillings
and four pennies to repair the bridges! This was the first almshouse to be
built in Penshurst.
The Turnpike Roads
Maps of 1711 & 1843 show that there was a turnpike house and gates opposite the present village hall to the point where the seat now stands. A toll fee was taken from all vehicles except carriages attending royalty, and carts on local farm work.
The Old Post Office
Until
1830 the only sign of a post office in Penshurst was a letter box in the window
sill of the Leicester Arms. The Post Office then moved to Leicester Square
in a house bearing the date 1850. On the front door is a miniature door knocker
bearing the broad arrow emblem of the Sidney family in whose ownership it
remained.
At one time it was the home and workplace of the village tailor William Eagleton from Chiddingstone. He was the postmaster as well, and both businesses were carried out there by more than one generation of the family.
Pioneer Cottages
These 3 pairs of semi detached cottages are to be found on the left of Smarts Hill near the top when travelling up the hill. They are reputed to be the first purpose built council house properties in England and were built by a local builder, George Constable. They were built in 1900 on freehold land, under the provision of The Housing Act 1890.
The foundations were laid in Spring 1900. In October of the same year they were completed and before Christmas all six homes were occupied. Tenants paid a rent of 25% of the average income (about five shillings) and at least one applicant from a couple had to be a local person.
The arrangements for sanitation were:
a) a pail closet for each house in a wooden shed at the bottom of the garden,
night soil being trenched into the garden
b) one soak away pit in the garden for each pair, to take the waste from the
sinks. Theses pits are cleared by the Council’s cesspool empties as
and when required. The sink waste was originally disposed of by means of open
irrigation channels but these were finally dispensed with in 1936.
Star House
Victorian addition to a much older house. Evidence of De’Lisle connections are to be seen For about a hundred years it was a village butchers shop and Victorian & Edwardian children attending the village school recall the sound of squealing pigs on Mondays, which was slaughter day! Later it became a fashion boutique and in the last twenty years a private home.
Return to Things to Know History
