Slaves, Scouts & an Ambulance

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Slaves, Scouts & an Ambulance

The Saxons called it “the way of the passage”. Some suggested East Farleigh got its name from the Gaelic word for the “clearing in the woods”. What we do know is that Roman temples and villas were set up along the River Medway in Kent, and the quarry near present day East Farleigh produced most of London’s ragstone and walls from Roman times.

With the Norman invasion, the church in East Farleigh was already over a 100 years old, and the Domesday Book listed the community as Ferlaga and in the hands of the Bishop Odo of Bayeaux, who was also Archbishop of Canterbury and happened to be the half-brother of William the Conqueror. In the Book, East Farleigh was made up of 110 villagers and slaves, 4 mills, 6 eel fisheries, woodland for 145 pigs and a church.

The parish church of St Mary’s has no evidence of being dedicated, as many of the records have been lost, are unclear or contradictory. There are however some records, which show the church to be interesting and unique…these records were kept in the Parish Chest, which had three locks. One key was kept by the Vicar and other two were kept by Churchwardens.  They all had to be present at the same time, to open the chest.

As the money usually ran out during construction or renovations of a church, the wealthy of the congregation would often sponsor the building of a Lady Chapel. The local quarry owner, John Pympe, refurbished the Lady Chapel in 1411.  He then went on to fight in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and his quarry provided 6,000 cannon balls for the battle.

The Lady Chapel

Two of the vicars in the mid-1800s were the sons of William Wilberforce, the anti-slavery campaigner, and his wife, Beatrice, is buried in the churchyard.

With the outbreak of cholera in 1849, 45 local hop pickers died.  43 of them were buried and remembered with a wooden ‘headstone’ in the churchyard.

An unusual flag hangs in the church. From the beginning of the 20^th century, the old Boy Scout flag was made up of the Scout symbol of the fleur-de-lis on a Union flag.  Later, the law changed and did not allow for any design to be incorporated into the Union flag, so we now have the Scout flag that we all recognise today. But one of the few remaining old flags hangs in the back of St Mary’s.

One of the most unusual stained glass windows in the church is a window to remember Stephen Walter who, at 20, died in action on 31^st July 1917. This window is believed to be the first to show a soldier dressed in a khaki uniform, and is also unique in that it features a Red Cross ambulance from World War I.

Due to Kent’s location close to France, the eastern part of the county was known as ‘Hell Fire Corner’ during the Second World War. Thankfully so much of this ‘Garden of England’ has survived a turbulent history…

Dawn Denton©

www.traveltrales.wordpress.com

The First Anniversary

When asked about his first year of married life, Prince William replied,

“It’s all it’s cracked up to be – no major arguments or domestics at the moment.  It’s all going well.”

Image Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Hoare Bankers

Stourhead has a fascinating history – only 10 miles from Frome and across the Somerset / Wiltshire border, the family home of the famous Hoare banking family, is not only a marvellous house, but is surrounded by wonderful gardens, farmland and ancient woods that make up the 1,072-hectare (2,650-acre) estate.

The house and land came into the hands of the Hoare family in 1717, when Henry Hoare I bought it for the family home, far away from the hustle and bustle of London, where his father had founded a bank in Fleet Street. His father, Sir Richard Hoare’s bank had been so prosperous that he had been knighted by Queen Anne and became Lord Mayor of London.

 “Henry the Magnificent”, or Henry II, was responsible for the enchanting  gardens and he no doubt got a helping hand from his friend Capability Brown, who, in 1764 he was appointed to the  position of Master Gardener at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey. In a country that celebrates the art of gardening, Stourhead is the most admired example of 18th-century English landscape gardening.

The house is just full of family heirlooms and items that reflect the different personalities of the many generations of the Hoare family.

The Hoares are even more interesting than their house:

1. In 1676 the Hoare family founded the Hoare’s Bank, which today has the oldest purpose built banking hall in Britain.
2. In 1798 and 1810, some of the first recorded excavations of Stonehenge were done by Richard Colt Hoare and his archeology companion William Cunnington.
3. Richard Hoare is elected Lord Mayor of London (three Hoare’s have held the position of Lord Mayor of London) in 1712 and during the Jacobite Rebellion, he mobilises the local guard to defend London from Bonnie Prince Charlie, if he were to reach the City.
4. 1763 the Hoare Bank issued the first printed cheque
5. Due to the bank’s location, temporary balconies were erected for the staff and customers to watch Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee procession.
6. Customer ledgers were written by hand until 1962.
7. Lord Byron (poet) and Jane Austen (author) were customers of the bank

Today the bank is still in the Hoare family and run by 10^th and 11^th generation, they have three West End branches, 350 staff, a balance sheet of almost £2billion and apparently a partner or member of the family has to stay in the bank overnight.

Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare was completely devoted his beloved Stourhead. He was devastated when his son died in World War I and feared the house and estate would not preserve the history of his family, and so in 1947 he gave Stourhead to the National Trust for us all to enjoy.

Dawn Denton©

www.traveltrales.wordpress.com

To Produce Joy

“To produce joy, eat saffron, but beware of overeating it or you will die of over-joy”.

This Medieval position was common from the 14th century when saffron was billed as the most perfect spice and alchemists called it the ‘gold of the plant kingdom’! It was believed that saffron tea would give you the gift of clairvoyance, the incense enhanced psychic powers and the spice itself was sprinkled on the beds of newlywed nobility, in the hope of producing large families.

During the Black Plague the demand for saffron was high due to its healing qualities and was thus probably quite widely grown at that time. Today Iran is the biggest grower but in Britain, the only commercial grower is in north-east Wales.

According to legend, saffron was created when Hermes accidentally injured his friend Crocus. Crocus’ blood dripped to the earth where is sprouted as the saffron flower.

Saffron was sacred to the Egyptians, and in Persia the priests used it to control the wind and to protect expectant mothers. In Greece, Eos (god of the morning light) described saffron as “the dawn’s light solidified”.

The English friar Roger Bacon believed that saffron delayed the body’s aging process. Although he lived in the 13^thCentury, it wasn’t until 100 years after his death that his work was truly appreciated.

Born in Ilchester in Somerset in 1214, he explored philosophy (especially the works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle), alchemy, geometry, astrology, mathematics and applied his ideas to the wider field of science (he even experimented with gunpowder).

Sadly, this pioneer died in relative obscurity, but his work, 800 years ago, confirmed the value we place on saffron today – its healing powers and the help it can offer those with depression.

Dawn Denton©

www.traveltrales.wordpress.com