The History and Antiquities of the Church and Parish of St. Laurence, Thanet ... Illustrated with maps, & pedigrees, lithographs & zincographs, etc

Front matter

ST. LAWRENCE CHURCH, THANET. FROM THE SOUTH WEST, THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF THE CHURCH AND PARISH OF ST. LAURENCE, THANET, IN THE COUNTY OF KENT, BY CHARLES COTTON, f.r.c.p. Edin., m.r.c.s. Eng, Mem. Kent Archæolog. Soc, With Special Articles upon Local Subjects by other Contributors. Illustrated with Maps, & Pedigrees, Lithographs & Zincographs from Photographs specially taken for the work. 3lvt*i» of tlje fanitlij of $t. gtirljotaa. of Stetljer Coui-t, grt. Saurencc. LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, & Co., Limited. RAM SG ATE : S. R. WILSON, 36, HARBOUR STREET. 1895. Copies only, printed, of which this is Aro. Signed. Printed by S. R. Wilson, The Library, 36, Harbour Street, Ramsgate.

Preface

. :0: Some apology is due to the Subscribers to this volume for the delay in its issue ; but I must plead in extenuation, that when I took the work in hand I had no idea that the subject matter would extend to nearly joo pages ; and secondly, that the exigent demands made upon the time of a Physician in general practice, leaves but little leisure for the writing and compilation of a work of this description. It is due to the fact that I have been amongst so many of the " oldest in habitants" of the parish during the past fourteen years, that the book has been written. It has been my lot to have had many conversations and taken ■many notes upon past local matters and traditions with such, of whom many have passed away from our midst, and whose remains now lie with the successive generations of former inhabitants of the Parish and Ville in the picturesque Churchyard which surrounds the noble Church, the Tower of which was a haven of peace and safety to our Saxon forefathers.

No one can look at the Church Tower, without being struck with its venerable appearance ; and a closer inspection of its masonry will prove that there is good reason to believe that the date local tradition has assigned to it (1062) is not improbable ; though the earliest record of the existence of the building is in Thome's Chronicle, in which he states that in 1124, the Church of Minster in Thanet with the Chapels of St. John, St. Peter, and St. Laurence were assigned by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Abbot and Convent of St. Augustine's Monastery, Canterbury, to the sacristy of that Monastery. The Chapel became the Parish Church of this part of the Isle of Thanet, and it included in itsboundary, the small cluster of Fishermen s huts in the ancient Ville of Ramsgate, which from its very name seems to have been the key to the Island; RAMSGATE being in the time of Edward I, called RAUNS GATE, the gate of KAUN or RuiM, the ancient British name for Thanet being RUIM or Inis RUOCHIM, i.e. Richborough Isle.

Very grateful acknowledgements are here made to the many kind friends who have rendered most valuable help in the shape of notes and suggestions or contributed special chapters to this work, amongst whom I must mention the two former and present Vicars of St. Laurence, the Churchwardens and the Church Officials, for their courtesy and ever ready assistance upon all occasions ; to the late Rev. C. A Molony, M.A., for his work upon the St. Laurence Wills, for the use of his Note Book and much interesting information gathered by him during his Incumbency of the Parish ; to the Rev. T. E. Egan of St. Augustine s, for his very able article upon the Fragment of the 14th Century Service Book preserved in the Vestry; to Robt. Hicks, Esq., M.R.C.S., for his valuable article upon the British and Roman Remains found in the Parish ; to his son Mr. Harry Hicks for the very beautiful photographs taken by him specially for illustrating this volume ; to Mr. W. T. Stock for his accurate drawing of the Plan of the Church ; to the Rev. Christopher Hales Wilkie, M.A., Rector of Kingston, Kent, for notes with regard to the List of Vicars of the Parish ; lo Kenyon W. Wilkie, Esq., M.A., J. P., for his contribution of the LJst of Vicars and Churchwardens, list of Payers of Romescot in the time of Edward I., and holders of Penygavel Land in the time of Henry VIII, for his most successful researches in the Parochial Registers whereby nearly all the interments in the Churchyard are verified, (where inscriptions appear upon the tombstones,) for the account of the Church Books iviih extracts, for his many valuable suggestions, and for his exceeding patience and ever kindly help in the revision of all the proof sheets as the volume passed through the press.

For the rest, I can only say that the compilation of the volume has afforded me many happy hours, and has brought me many friends ; and though I am fully aware that the work contains not a few faults and many imperfections, I trust that criticism may be disartned when I state that though the work has been entirely a labour of love, yet I would that it had been placed in abler hands, so that greater justice might have been done to a neighbourhood teeming with many and national associations, and full of a domestic history of a most interesting character, CHARLES COTTON. 42, Spencer Square, Ramsgate, i8g$. TABLE OF CONTENTS. :0: PAGE. Title, Preface, Contents, List of Illustrations, and of Subscribers ... I-VII Chapter I. — Ancient History, with description and perambulation of the Parish of St. Laurence, Thanet, and its boundaries ... i Chapter II. — The History of the Church of St. Laurence, in Thanet, Note upon the Septvans of St. Laurence ... ... 18 Chapter III. — Transcriptions of the Mural Monuments and Tablets within the Church ... ... ... ... ... 65 Chapter IV. —^Transcriptions of the Leger Stones within the Church 80

CHAPTER V.

— The Brasses, Ancient and Modern, and the Hatchments hanging within the Church ... ... ... 93

CHAPTER VI.

— Description of a Fragment of a 14th Century Service Book ... ... ... ... ... ... 113

CHAPTER VII.

— The Churchyard, Parish Clerks and Sextons, the old Church House, and Transcriptions of the Tombstones down to the year 1800, &c. ... ... ... ... ... 124 Chapter VIII. — The Vicarage Houses and Glebe, with a list of successive Vicars and Churchwardens, and of the Constables of the Upper Half Hundred of Ringesloe ... ... ... 153 Chapter IX. — Description of the Manors of St. Laurence, alias Upper Court ; of Nether Court and Manston, with an account of their successive owners ... ... ... ... 167

CHAPTER X.

— Description of Ozengell and Newland Granges ; Ellington ; and Cliffs End ... ... ... ... ... 200

CHAPTER XI.

— Description of the Hamlets of Pegwell, alias Courtstairs, Chilton, Southwood, Spratling Street, Haine, Northwood, Hereson, and Hollicondane ... ... ... ... 224

CHAPTER XII.

— List of the Payers of Romescot, temp Edward I, and Holders of Penygavel Land, temp Henry VIII, in the Parish ... ... ... ... ... ... 238

CHAPTER XIII.

— Description of the Church Books, with extracts ; early Sesses, Churchwardens' Accounts, &c. ... ... 241 Chapter XIV. — Abstracts of some of the St. Laurence Wills, and the Benefactions to the Parish of St. Laurence, Thanet ... 249

CHAPTER XV.

— Description of the Neolithic, British, and Roman Remains found in the Parish ... ... ... ... 261 Chapter XVI. — Appendix, Act for Building Ramsgate Chapel, &c. 268 Index to Names ... ... ... ... ... ... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, AND PEDIGREES. PLATE. PAGE. I. Exterior of the Church from the South-west ... Frontispiece. II. Map of the Isle of Thanet ... ... ... 14 III. Map of the Church ... ... ... ... 18 IV. Interior of Nave ... ... ... ... 32 V. Interior looking South-west ... ... ... 34 VI. Screen in Manston Chapel ... ... ... 36 VII. Fifteenth Century Coffer and High Chancel ... 42 VIII. High Chancel looking into South Chapel ... ... 44 IX. Interior prior to the Restoration in 1858 ... ... 52 X. Brasses of Nicholas Manston and Eleanor his wife ... 96 XL Brasses of Joan Manston, Margaret Sprakeling, Sir Adam Sprakeling, Kt., and Adam Sprakeling, Gent. loo XII.

(1) Fragment of Fourteenth Century Service Book 120 XIII. (2) Fragment of Fourteenth Century Service Book 122 XIV. Pedigree of Criol or Kerioll ... ... ... 176 XV. Pedigree of St. Nicholas ... ... ... 182 XVI. Pedigree of Johnson ... ... ... ... 184 XVII. Pedigree of Garrett ... ... ... ... 186 XVIII. Pedigree of Sprakeling ... ... ... ... 208 XIX. Ellington House from the Grounds ... ... 2 lo XX. Chantry House and Chapel ... ... ... 218 XXI. South Chilton House, now demolished ... ... 226 XXII. Pedigree of Curling of Chilton ... ... ... 2,0 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS :0: Barber, Mrs. F., (2 copies) 1 5, Vale Square, Ramsgate. Barrett, J. Plœtt, 3, St. John's Villas, Margate. Bartram, Rev. H., M.A., The Vicarage, Ramsgate. Beevor, Mrs., Penistone House, St. Laurence. Bergh, The Very Rev. F. T„ O.S.B., St. (Augustine's Ramsgate.

Berry, J. B..M.R C.S., Wellington Crescent, Ramsgate. Boulter, H E., Effingham House, Ramsgate. Bowden, R. T., M.D., Rochford House, Ramsgate. Boyton, W. M., The Cottage, Ramsgate. Burfield, F. G., 21, Lanier Road, Lewisham, S.E. Caldwell, Col. R. T, Corpus Christi Coll., Cambridge. Capes, C. J., 87, West Cliff Road, Ramsgate. Caught, Miss, Stoke House, Ramsgate. Chapman, H. M., St. Martin's Priory, Canterbury. Cobham, G. R., F.S.I., 1 & 3, Edwin Street, Gravesend. Cobham, C, F.S.I., The Shrubbery, Gravesend. Cockle, Major G., Mus. Bac, Truro Lodge, Ramsgate. Corbin, Mrs. S. A., 2, West Cliff Villas, Ramsgate. Cotton, H. P., (2 copies)Seaway, Cockinjton, Torquay. Cotton, Miss, 24, Albion Place, Ramsgate. Cotton, H. H. P.J.P.,(thelate)QuexPark, Birchington Cotton, Charles Leigh S., Ramsgate.

Cotton, Robert Hugh A., Ramsgate. Cotton, Francis, M., C.E., Gorse Hill, Holyhead. Couchman, J. B., The Ferns, Ramsgate. Curtis, C. W., J. P., Kearsney Abbey, Dover. Curling, W., J. P., C.C., (S copies) Ramsgate. Cowper, J. M., St. Mildred's, Canterbury. Daniel, Mrs. A. H., Chapel Place, Ramsgate. Daniel, Major A. H., Chapel Place, Ramsgate. Davis, T, Birkenfield, Bromley, E.C. Dean and Chapter Library, per Right Rav. the Bishop of Dover, Canterbury. De Vaynes, Miss, (2 copies) Updown, St. Peters. Duncan, L. L., F.S.A., Rosslair, Lewisham. Edwards, F., Catistock Villa, Margate. Elgar, Miss E., Carisbrook, Ramsgate. Eliot, Mrs. E., Cavarra, Codrington Road, Ramsgate. Elwyn, Rev. Canon, Master's Lodge, Charterhouse, E.C Fowler, The Rev. M., M.A., Church House, London. Fox, A., M.A., 34, Spencer Square, Ramsgate.

Fuller, S., Lewknor Lodge, Ellington Road, Ramsgate. Gadd, W. F., Queen Street, Ramsgate. Garnett,'F. B., C.B..F.S.S., 4, Argyll-rd., Kensington. Garrett, Col. A. R., Nethercourt, Bournemouth. Gibbs, W., Sen., St. Laurence. Gibbs, W., High Street, St. Laurence. Gorely, F., 42, High Street, Sittingbourne. • Guildhall Library, per C. Welch, F.S.A., Librarian. Gwyn, C. J., 3, Effingham Street, Ramsgate. Haedy, Miss, Steinschænau, St. Laurence. Halliday, Gen. J. G., 5, Belmont Park, Lee, S.E. Harrison, Miss, (2 copies) Barham, near Canterbury. Hatfeild, Capt. C. T., J. P., Hartsdown, Margate. Hazelwood, Rev. Dr. F. G., Chislet Vicarage, Cantbry. Hemming, J. J., M.R.C.S., I, Kerfield Crescent, Denmark Hill, S.E. Larkin, W., Effingham Street, Ramsgate. Leach Lewis, W., Margate College. Leigh, Maj-Gen. R.T., (2 copies) Ilfracombe, Devon.

Leigh-Lye, Rev. A., M.A., Rugby. Lambert, Capt., Scanmjre, Canterbury. Levy, J , J. P., (the late) Kingsgate Castle, Thanet. Mercer, W. J., (2 copies) 12, Marine Terrace, Margate. Miller, R., (4 copies) The Lawn, Vicarage Road, Battersea, London. Molony, Rev. CA. , M.A.,(the late) (6 copies) Barton Fields, Canterbury. Montefiore, J. Sebag, J. P., East Cliff Lodge, Ramsgate. Moses, W. H., 73, West Cliff Road, Ramsgate. Needham, Capt. R., R.N., H.M. Coastguard, Ramsgate Nichol, F. E., M.B., 11, Ethelbert Terrace, Margate. Oblein, J., 5, Nelson Crescent, Ramsgate. Page, Pilcher, King Street Ra nsgate. Page, W. G., 2, Queen Street, Ramsgate. Palmer, Mrs., Stone Cross, St. Laurence. Parker, Mrs., Barham, near Canterbury. Pembroke, G. P. A., 11, King's Bench Walk, The Inner Temple, E.C. Pittock, G. M., M.B., J.P., 23, Cecil Sq., Margate.

Port, W. H., Elm Lodge, Ellington, Ramsgate. Price, W. H., Argyle House, Broadstairs. Prior. G. N. S., Brockley House, Hendon. Raven, T. F., L.R.C.P., Barfield House Broadstairs. Read, Rev. C, M.A., Somerset House, Ramsgate. Roberts, A., L.R.C.P., Tramore, St. Laurence. Rose, H. G, Paragon House, Ramsgate. Rutt, Capt., Buckhurst, St. Laurance. Sale, Miss, Montrose, Salt Hill Road, Slough. Saunders, Mrs. S., 6, Albion Terrace, Ramsgate. Scoct, A. G, 41, Lexham Gardens, London, W. Shaw, C. L., St. Lawrence, 2, Brandram Road, Lee, S.E. Sprakeling, R., 58, Merton Road, Bootle, Liverpool. Smith, Very Rev. R. Payne, D.D., Dean of Canterbury. Snowden, T., Lincoln Villa, Grange Road, Ramsgate. Snowden, Rev. H. C. V, M.A., St. Peter's, Thanet. Stock, W. T., Wykeham, South Eastern Rd., Ramsgate Styan, T. G.F M.D., 2, Chapel Place, Ramsgate.

Sykes, G, Bengal Villa, High Street, Ramsgate. Taniere, Mrs., 3, Albion Place, Ramsgate. Theophila, Sister, Convent of Assumption, Ramsgate. Thornton, W. P., M.R.C.S., Canterbury. Tomson, M., (2 copies) Courtstairs, St. Laurence. Vaile, Capt., L. W., Sion Hill, Ramsgate. Valon, W. A., J. P., 8, Chapel Place, Ramsgate. Vinten, H. G., Elmside, Elms Park, Ramsgate. Vye, G. F., The Elms, Ramsgate. Vye, G., J. P., 5, Chartham Terrace, Ramsgate. Wastall, E. E., J. P., 5, Ellington Terrace, Ramsgate. Weigall, H., J. P., D.L., Southwood House, St. Laurence. White, A. H. S., B.A., B.Sc.,(Lon.) St. George's College, Ramsgate. White, E., Thanet House, Herne Bav. White, Rev. L. B., D.D.,67, Queen St., London, E.C. Wills, Sir W. H., Bart., East Court, Ramsgate. Wilson, H. S. L., The Hall, Crofton, Wakefield.

Wilson, S. R., (10 copies) 36, Harbour Street, Ramsgate. Wilkie, E. H., Rocklands, East Grinstead. Wilkie, Rev. C. H., M.A., Kingston Rectory, Canterbury Wilkie, K. W., M.A., J. P., (2 copies) Ellington, Ramsgate. Wire, Col. T. B., 54, Croom's Hill, Greenwich, S.E. Worsley, R. C, L.R.C.P., Dashwood House, Ramsgate. Young, S., Hyndford House, Church Street, Chelsea. Hills, W. H., 42, King Street, Ramsgate. Hinds, H.. F.S.I., 57, Queen Street, Ramsgate. Hodgson, J. B., 4, Granville Gardens, Ramsgate. Howell, G. O., 210, Eglinton Road, Plumstead. Hovenden, R., F.S.A., (2 copies) Heathcote, Croydon. Hume, Mrs., Westwood College, Ramsgate. Hurst, Miss, (2 copies) 8, West Cliff Road, Ramsgate. Kennedy-Purvis, Capt. C. K.. R.N., Kings Lynn. Kent Archæological Society, Maidstone Museum. git* gatxvence* :0: IV.

I. TPVEAR Saint I of Christendom beloved, Whose sacred memory is enshrined In every calendar, whose name But far more glorious than now In the long ancient years gone by, Its chapels with their frescoed walls With their sweet shades of harmony. In ancient Liturgies we find. The Rood-screen with its cross and lights, Its oaken panels richly dight, Full many an altar has been reared In honour of thy well-known name ; Christians of many lands have paid Their homage to thy hard-earned fame. With painted figures of the Saints In chastened colours soft and bright. II. V. Like the first deacon martyr, thou Hadst the same sweet angelic face, Then the destroyer's ruthless hand Defaced and marred this sacred fane, Like him met death with fortitude, With constancy and cheerful grace. When rude fanatics won their way, And Faith and Love were on the wane.

Ah marvel I that in mortal pain Some antique Brasses yet remain, One has been placed upon the screen, Thou could' st e'en with thine anguish jest, And with a smile of sweet content Back to the past it carries us A memory of what has been. Pass from thy torture-bed to rest. III. VI. With thurible, or book, or cross, Artists have loved to picture thee, And she whose figure there we see Once worshipped in the self same place, On frescoes and on storied glass Thee with thy gridiron still we see. When other forms were blazoned there Of which now scarce remains a trace. And here in Thanet too we find And so as generations passed An ancient Church which still may claim In beauty and in form to be They in their turn have worshipped there, And in the solemn Eucharist Not all unworthy of thy name. Have lowly offered praise and prayer.

VII. And those who in these latter days Their homage in this temple pay, Are linked together still, with those Who from this earth have passed away. Ah yes I the ancient worshippers Are with us as in prayer we bend, And in the Fellowship of Saints They still with us their praises blend. M.H. ANCIENT HISTORY WITH DESCRIPTION AND PERAMBULATION OF THE PARISH OF ST. LAURENCE, AND ITS BOUNDARIES. " When the winter's away And our skylarks are gay, Here St. Laurence the saint Cures every complaint. Here the sea and the soil Fit the natives for toil; Here the weak are made strong And dance up with a song. Search England around, Scarce the like's to be found." — From an old Rhyme.

Chapter I. Hf

Parish of St. Laurence in Thanet lies at the St. Laurence *■ A *-• in Thanet. North East side of the County of Kent, in the Isle of Thanet ; it is in the hundred of Ringesloe, the Bailiwick of Bridge and Petham, the lathe of St. Augustine and Eastern division of the County- Kiibume's ° J ■ " Survey of Within the Parish is the Ville of Ramsgate, adjoin- Kent" ing the sea, now a corporate borough, but before the year 1884, a limb of the town and port of Sandwich, within the division of the Justices thereof, and the liberties of that town and port. Ramsgate was united to Sandwich by letter patent in the reign of King Henry VIII, but it was certainly connected with the Cinque Ports for many years before, as Mr. Boys in his " History of 3°ys' Sandwich" mentions that amongst the records of Sandwich, Ramsgate ' History of ° Sandwich." is found to have contributed to the port's service on the intended marriage of the King with Margaret of Sicily, in aid of Sandwich 1444; and the following entry occurs in the records of Sandwich in 1483 :—- " The bounds of the liberty of the Cinque Ports at Ramsgate.

" Imprimis, a via vocata Steyres way (a way from Court Stairs, or " it may be an older form of writing Taryes way, as in the follow " ing paragraph) in le south, et sic directe usque Buntyngez ; et abinde " per viam communem usque quandam crucem vocatam Thacchers' " crosse ; et abinde usque molendinum2 ventriticum ; et abinde per " communem viam usque Middleton's crosse, et abinde directe per 3le " viridem lynche usque 4fossatum maris." In the year 1560 there is another entry of the bounds of Ramsgate in this manner : — "The sea lyeth on the east side of our liberties, and, on the south " side from the sea towards the west, a way called Thomas Taryes way, " leading by a close called Nynne close, and so leadeth by a close called Beysannts, and so down thro' Ellington, and so the way leadeth "towards the south part of Ramesgate mill; and so down to a way "that leadeth between Herston and Ramesgate, and so on that way " up to the end of Jellyngham hill ; and so on almost to the sea cliff " a way of six foot broad."

All the rest of the parish was under the jurisdiction of the justices of the lathe of St. Augustine. Ecclesiastically, it is in the Rural Deanery of Westbere and the Lambard's diocese of Canterbury. In 1596 the only Justice of the Peace for the Hundred of Ringesloe was Richard Cryspe of Quex. In a return made by Archishop Parker in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1563, St. Laurence had 98 households ; two hundred years later, in 1773, there were 487 houses in Ramsgate and 212 in 1 Ellington Chantry Chapel. Thatcher formerly resided at Ellington in the latter part of the 15th century. 2 Ramsgate Windmill, which formerly stood upon the site of the South Eastern Railway Station. The Mill is shown in the Map of Thanet in Lewis' " History of Thanet," upon the high ground to the north-east of St. Laurence Church. 3 The green lynch, i.e. the present Boundary Road from Chatham Street to King Street. 4 During tbe building of the Granville Hotel this ditch was filled up.

St. Laurence, and the population of the whole parish numbered 2726. In the same reign (Queen Elizabeth) St. Laurence used to be rated to a Tenth and Fifteenth, 13s. 4d. In October 1878 the Ramsgate Improvement Bill came into opera tion. Before this date the whole parish of St. Laurence then numbered 3246'904 acres (including o'o87 acres, a formerly detached part of Minster) ; and Ramsgate parish, a limb of the Cinque Port Liberty of Sandwich numbered 3o8'456 acres. By the above Act 1970 acres from the parish of St. Laurence were added to the district of Ramsgate, together with about 6000 inhabitants. The new boundary passes from Little Cliff's End along the main Mar gate and Sandwich Road, past the Lord of the Manor; Ozengell; along the top of Staner Hill, through Haine, to the old parish boundary west of the Railway (Ramsgate and Margate Branch) ; so that the whole of the old parish of St. Laurence, including Ramsgate, upon the eastern side of this boundary is within the jurisdiction of the Borough of Rams gate, and only that part of the old parish upon the western side of this boundary remains under the jurisdiction of the County.

Ramsgate, the ancient limb of the Cinque Port of Sandwich, together with the above mentioned portion of the parish of St. Laurence, was incorporated a Borough by Charter upon the 21st March, 1884. It is divided into six Wards, and the Council consists of a Mayor, six Aldermen, and eighteen Councillors. The Borough remained under the jurisdiction of the County and Cinque Ports Justices of the Peace until the year 1893, when a Borough Bench of Magistrates was appointed, and thus the only remaining link between the " Limb" and its ancient Town and Port was severed, and its privileges, grown in the course of ages, misty and indistinct, quite lost. In 1801 the population was returned at 3,110; and in 1881 the population of Ramsgate was 16,234, and that of St. Laurence was 6,839. St. Laurence takes its name from the Saint to whom the Church is dedicated, which we shall discuss later on ; but Ramsgate is evidently from Ruim's Gate, the port or gate near Richborough ; and in times anterior to the Roman occupation, the way from the sea, between the east and west cliffs, say up through where York Street and High Street, now stand, led to a British village upon the high land, Elling-ton,' extensive remains of which have lately been discovered.

That the Romans had a footing here, there is abundant evidence, both upon the high ground of the east and also the west cliffs, which were probably important stations for the purpose of signalling to the garrison at Richborough ; this will be dealt with in a most interesting and instructive article upon the Roman and Anglo-Saxon remains found in the parish, for which I am indebted to my friend, Mr. Robert Hicks, whose researches are well known to members of the Kent Archæo logical Society. It is probable that the Romans afterwards dwelt peaceably with the Britons, from whom no doubt the latter learnt many useful arts ; and at the termination of the Roman occupation when the Roman legions were recalled to their own country to defend Italy from the attacks of the Barbarians, they left behind them a people, who, though of barbarous origin, were yet veneered with the polish of civilization; and certainly softened and refined by the teaching and progress of Christianity, a religion they had learned from converts amongst the Roman soldiers and which rapidly spread and blossomed into the British Church.

From the extensive size, and the remains found in the Cemetery at Ozengell,3 it is extremely probable that the Saxons had a numerous population both in Ramsgate and Manston, the Cemetery lying between the two places and being common to both. We hear but very little of Ramsgate until the time of Edward I, (1274) ; when it is mentioned in "The Hundred Roll of Kent." In the court of the Hundred of Ringeslo (comprising so much of the Isle of Thanet as is not within the Cinque Ports) " Cristina de Remmesgate " and others have stopped a common road at Remisgate." And in the same reign we find the following persons who took their name from Ramsgate, amongst those who paid Romescot in the parish of St. Laurence ; they were the heirs of Martin de Ramisgate, Stephen de Ramisgate, Bartholomew de Ramisgate, Baldwin de Ramisgate, Johanna daughter of John de Ramisgate, and Clement de Ramisgate, in all 141 persons paid Romescot in one year in this parish, and as the 1 Ellington i.e. Elling's Boundary.

Furley's " The Weald of Kent." Vol. II. Pt. i p. 162. Canon Scott Robertson's Thanet, Arch. Cant. Vol. xii. P 366. 2 Ossinghelle, i.e. son of Ossa's Hall, or the burial place of Ossing. Churchyard was consecrated in the following year, and the Church made a Parochial one instead of being merely a chapel of ease to Minster, it is likely that Romescot was very thoroughly collected. Previous to the year 1275, St. Laurence Church, and the inhabitants of this part of the Island were all within the Mother Parish of Minster, as were also St. John's Margate, and St. Peter's ; the Patrons of the Mother Church and the three chapels, being the Abbot and Convent of St. Augustine's Monastery, Canterbury. It is doubtful when the original Mother Parish was constituted, as the date of the division of the country into parishes is a matter of uncertainty, the Antiquary Camden stating that England was divided into parishes by Archbishop Honorius about the year 630 ; and Sir Henry Hobart's opinion was that they were first erected by the Council of Lateran, held in 1 1 79.

It is probable however that some date between these two would be more correct, and we may conjecture that we owe to the efforts of Archbishop Theodore (668-687) the boundaries of the Mother parish, and it may be, the provision of the three chapels within that parish for the convenience of those parishioners living so far from the Mother Church, and also a settled and localised clergy to officiate in them, as he encouraged the lay people to build Churches, and obtained from the King a grant that those who built the Church should have the patronage of that Church, and that the tithes and offerings which had hitherto been paid to the Bishop of the Diocese should be paid to the particular Church itself. Perry's " History of the English Church," Vol.1, p. 68. The Venerable Bede, who was himself instructed in the Greek language by Archbishop Theodore, thus describes the Isle of Thanet in his History : " There is, on the east side of Kent, the Isle of Thanet, "of a considerable Bigness, that is, according to the English way of " reckoning, consisting of six hundred families, which the river " Wantsume divides from the Continent, which is about three furlongs " broad, and passable over only in two places, viz. Sarre and Sandwich, " and goes into the sea at both its Heads."

Bede's "Ecclesiasti cal History.' Chap. xxv. Whether or not there was a chapel, upon the site of the present St. Laurence Church, dating from about this time, is quite unknown, but in my opinion it is extremely likely ; and if so, it occupied the position of the present chancel, as not only are the north, south, and east walls Earliest Church on the site of St. Laurence of the present chancel of great antiquity, but in 1888, during the restoration of the Tower, the foundation of an old wall was discovered running north and south at the west end of the chancel, and the foundations of old walls were also discovered under the chancel arcades on either side. The true orientation of the chancel is 30 18' to the south of east, and I am informed by the Astronomer Royal that the sun rises in this position upon the 13th March, and upon the 29th September.

It is likely therefore that this first chapel had its founda tion laid upon one of the two days named, and at the subsequent rebuilding and enlarging of the chapel in 1062, the same site and orientation was adopted ; and here it may be noticed that the axes of the chancel and nave are in one straight line, and are continuous with one another, but the axis of the central Tower varies considerably ; this may be well seen upon reference to the plan of the Church. It is likely also that the first building was dedicated to God in honour of St. Laurence the Archdeacon and Martyr, a Saint who was at that time in the zenith of his popularity ; and in support of this it may be mentioned that historians of Kent record that " a Fair is held here " yearly on August 10th, for toys, pedlary, &c," which according to the Calender is the Festival of St. Laurence, Archdeacon and Martyr, the day upon which in olden times the Patronal Festival was kept, and survived until the last few years as the annual village Fair day, when booths were erected down St. Laurence Street, from the Church to Nether Court, and down the High Street as far as Ellington Lane, with the usual accompaniment of Merry-go-rounds, shooting galleries, &c. Dedication of Church to St Laurence, Archdeacon and Martyr.