Historical names: Allington (Manor)
Location: Aldington, Kent
Places / associated places: Aldington, Kent
Listed in Domesday Book: Yes
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 51.0876, 0.9618
Identity: confirmed — The registry record and associated archival series identify the Kent manor of Aldington, including medieval surveys, account rolls, court rolls, rentals and the 1608 royal survey. Independent historical and archaeological evidence identifies Aldington Manor as an important manor of the Archbishops of Canterbury, with its manor house or archiepiscopal palace at Court Lodge Farm beside St Martin's Church in Aldington, Kent. This is distinct from the unrelated Aldington manor in Worcestershire and from Allington Castle near Maidstone.
Representative point: 51.0876, 0.9618
Basis: documented_manor_house — Court Lodge Farmhouse, formerly the archiepiscopal manor house or palace and hunting lodge of Aldington Manor. The site is recorded at Ordnance Survey grid reference TR0752036203.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern; particularly documented by the 1285 survey, 1540-1541 survey and valor, 1608 surveys, and 1624-1625 survey and rental
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The evidence establishes a territorially extensive but non-contiguous manor rather than a single surviving polygon. Aldington included the demesne and park/chase around the manor house, reportedly more than 1,000 acres and later represented by Upper Park, Middle Park and Lower Park, as well as detached or outlying dens in the Weald and extensive holdings on Romney Marsh. Scholarly evidence specifically identifies Aldington dens including Hinksden, Iden, Hole, Leasden and related holdings, but does not provide a complete, reliable perimeter for the manor as a whole. The modern civil parish of Aldington cannot be substituted for the historical manorial boundary.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Aldington Manor, F287542: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F287542 — Registry record for the exact manor, identified as Aldington Manor in Aldington, Kent, with authority reference GB/NNAF/M313590.
- Kent Historic Environment Record: Court Lodge Farmhouse, Aldington, MKE23358: https://heritage.kent.gov.uk/Monument/MKE23358 — Identifies Court Lodge Farmhouse as incorporating the remains of the Archbishops' manor house or archiepiscopal palace at Aldington; gives grid reference TR07523620 and describes the associated park and chase.
- Research Notes — Kent History & Archaeology: the Archbishop's Palace at Aldington: https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/journal/137/research-notes — States that Aldington was an important manor of the archbishops from Lanfranc's time and locates the surviving manor-house remains at Court Lodge farmhouse, TR0754 3619.
- Cobb's Hall, Aldington, and the Holy Maid of Kent — Archaeologia Cantiana: https://kentarchaeology.squarespace.com/journal/86/cobbs-hall-aldington-and-holy-maid-kent — Describes Aldington as one of the largest archiepiscopal manors in Kent, the surviving palace fragments at Aldington Court Farmhouse, and the former park of over 1,000 acres represented by Upper, Middle and Lower Park farms; also identifies Aldington Frith as the former deer chase.
- Kentish land measurements of the thirteenth century — Archaeologia Cantiana: https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/journal/109/kentish-land-measurements-thirteenth-century — Documents that Aldington's dens and extensive Romney Marsh holdings were treated as outlying manorial units, supporting a dispersed territorial extent rather than a compact parish-sized estate.
- The dens of Benenden and a possible early lathe boundary — Archaeologia Cantiana: https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/journal/125/dens-benenden — Provides scholarly identification of Aldington-associated Wealden dens, including Hinksden and former Aldington dens at Hole, Iden and Leasden, while emphasizing approximate locations and the difficulty of reconstructing the complete manorial extent.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No complete historically defensible polygon was located in the available evidence.
- The historical manor was dispersed and included parks, a chase, Wealden dens and Romney Marsh holdings; its extent changed over time and should not be represented by the modern civil parish boundary.
- The representative coordinate identifies the documented manor-house site at Court Lodge Farmhouse, not the centre of all historical Aldington Manor lands.
About the Manor
Aldington Manor was a major ecclesiastical manor in Aldington, Kent, historically associated with the See of Canterbury and its archbishops. An early charter of 805 x 815 identifies the estate as Stanhamstede, later Aldington, and records its grant to Christ Church, Canterbury. In Domesday Book in 1086 Aldington remained in the possession of the Archbishop of Canterbury and was a very substantial estate. The surviving Court Lodge Farmhouse incorporates remains of the medieval archiepiscopal manor house or palace, including fabric dating from the fourteenth century. The manor was transferred from the archbishopric to Henry VIII or the Crown in 1540 in an exchange of properties. The later descent is incompletely documented in the readily accessible sources; William Deedes is explicitly reported to have bought the manor in the late eighteenth century.
Ownership / Holder Account
The earliest securely identified holder is Christ Church, Canterbury, which received the estate called Stanhamstede, later Aldington, by charter dated 805 x 815. The estate was still held by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Domesday in 1086 and continued as an archiepiscopal manor through the medieval period. The archbishops maintained a manor house and hunting lodge at Aldington, particularly associated with Archbishops Simon Mepeham or John de Stratford in the fourteenth century and with Archbishops John Morton and William Warham in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. In 1540 the manor was taken from the archbishopric by Henry VIII in an exchange or seizure and entered Crown ownership. The intermediate descent after 1540 is not established here. William Deedes is explicitly reported to have purchased the manor in the late eighteenth century. The evidence reviewed does not securely establish the subsequent descent of the manorial lordship.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
76 records found · showing 1–8.
1938-1939: extinguishments of manorial incidents (5)
Held by: The National Archives
1928-1952: correspondence and papers relating to quit rents and extinguishment of manorial rights (1 file)
Held by: Kent History and Library Centre
1928-1928: lists of tenants
Held by: Kent History and Library Centre
1911-1929: rough minutes (1 small vol)
Held by: Kent History and Library Centre
Further information: NRA 11066
1903-1919: account books of quit rents (3)
Held by: Kent History and Library Centre
1903-1909: correspondence relating to enfranchisements (1 bundle)
Held by: Kent History and Library Centre
1903-1903: deed of enfranchisement
Held by: The National Archives
1893-1916: declarations and receipts relating to enfranchisements (13)
Held by: Kent History and Library Centre
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: William Deedes
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 1 holder entry in this manor's saved Conveyance & Descent history.
No recorded holder currently has a usable saved direct-blood or collateral-blood relationship path from which to calculate proximity percentages.
First recorded holder → present holder
A usable saved blood relationship path between the first recorded holder and the present holder has not yet been recorded, so that first-to-present genealogical distance cannot be calculated.
Transfer: Purchase of the manor of Aldington. The precise year, vendor, and conveyance instrument have not been established in the sources reviewed.
Shared holding: Private ownership
Previous holder: Unknown intermediate holder after the 1540 Crown acquisition
An Ashford Borough Council heritage assessment states that William Deedes bought the manor of Aldington in the late eighteenth century. The statement establishes a direct link between William Deedes and this Aldington manor but does not identify the vendor or document the intervening descent from the Crown. No later securely sourced holder of the manorial lordship has been added.
Source: Ashford Borough Council, PN2207 Sherfield Heritage, Environmental and Design Baseline Assessment, paragraph 4.73, citing Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, 1799, pages 314-327. — source link
Corrections / Challenges
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JSON API
Machine-readable published manor data, including public images, mapped land areas, notes, rights, conveyances, relationships, records, source/document-library entries and public file links.
https://manorialregistry.com/index.php?rest_route=/mhr/v1/manor/aldington-manorPublic API access is currently disabled. Authorised API clients must use a private X-MHR-API-Key; currently only administrator keys are enabled.
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