Tenterden, Kent
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Tenterden, Kent, England

Heronden Manor

There are three different references in ancient wills to Culpeper holdings called Heronden (Hernden, Heryngden and Harrenden).
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Sir Thomas Culpeper6 will of 1428: "Touching the manor of Wyggesell and lands in Hernden in Sandherst and Newynden because Wyggesell was settled on me and my wife Joyce and our heirs on our marriage "p chartr endente," notwithstanding I have made anothor feoffment, I wish the original gift to stand good."

Heronden Manor, Tenterden, Kent, March 2000
Heronden Manor, March 2000
Photograph taken by Warren Culpepper

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William Culpeper of Wigsell10 will of 1529: "My manor of Heryngden in Kent to John my son to pay my debts and legacies and if he will not to Francis and Martin my sons.." William was a direct ancestor of the American Culpeppers.

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Thomas Culpeper12 of Wigsell will of 1614: "All timber on my mannor of Wigsell and on my mannor of Harrenden in Sandherst and Newenden in Kent to my executors for payment of my debts"

In 2000, there were four different locations, all close together, with Heronden in their name. They all lie within a triangle formed by the towns of Sandhurst, Newenden and Tenterden.

Location: Off Smallhythe Road (B-2082), 0.5 mile south of Tenterden.
National Grid Coordinates
:
TQ 882 327

Morghew and Godden Manors

The manors of Morgue (Morghew) and Godden came into the possession of Sir John, later Lord Culpeper13w, of Hollingbourne. When he died in 1660; they passed to his second son John (who subsequently became 3rd Lord Culpeper14w upon the death of his brother Thomas). John died without children in 1719, and the manors passed to his wife Frances, daughter of Sir Thomas Culpeper of Hollingbourne. By will, Frances devised them to her nephew, John Spence Culpeper, Esq. of Charterhouse. These were the last of the vast possessions of the different branches of this family, and John sold them 1781 to Mr. Richard Curtis.

References to Godden and Morghew (Morghue) may be seen in John Lord Culpeper's will of 1660.

Morghew Manor, Tenterden, Kent, March 2000
Morghew Manor, March 2000
Photograph taken by Warren Culpepper

Source: Hasted, History of Kent, Vol. VII, pages 210-211.

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Morghew Location : South of Tenterden, W of the B2082 (Small Hythe Road)
National Grid Coordinates: TQ 886 322.

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Godden. Location is unknown. Probably no longer stands.

St. Mildred Church, Tenterden

Ancient Parish
Registers from 1544.

The Culpepers left no traces in this church.

Photograph taken by Warren Culpepper, March 2000.

Tenterden

Tenterden is known as the "Jewel of the Weald"; although it occupies a site that is right in the border between the dense woodlands of the Weald and the flatter, farming country that leads eastwards into the Romney Marshes. Today's well-earned nickname is a far cry from its earliest days, when it was known as "Tenet-ware-den"; or "pig-pasture of the men of Thanet"!

Despite the fact that pigs flourished here, sheep inevitably became the more profitable animal to farm on these fertile lands, and the wool trade quickly took off. In 1331, the far-sighted Edward III prohibited the export of unwashed wool and encouraged weavers

from Flanders to settle here and bring their dyeing and weaving techniques to the English. The town of Tenterden and some of its neighboring villages were to become the most important centers for the manufacture of broadcloth.

Once again, it was thanks to that earlier reclamation of the Romney Marsh that the area provided excellent grazing land, and brought about a profitable trade for the Wealden communities. Just outside Tenterden, Smallhythe and Reading Street provided access to the sea. These two small ports were founded as a means of transporting lumber from the Wealden forests, but by the 14th century, Smallhythe was firmly established as a boat-building center.

The church of St. Mildred can be found in the heart of Tenterden, and with its unusual twin doors at the western end, it is lovely. From the top of the 15th century tower - some 100 feet above the town – are far reaching views across the Weald to the Channel Coast. Near the church is the Town Hall and the delightful Woolpack Inn, a proud reminder of the town’s former days as a cloth trading center. Another inn, the William Caxton, takes its name from the man who brought printing to England and who is said to have been born in Tenterden in 1422.

The center of Tenterden stretches along its broad High Street, lined with shops and houses, nearly all with their original facades dating from the 16th to 18th centuries. Most of them, however, were built in a busy period between 1720 and 1760, so there is something of a Georgian feel to the town as a whole.

Source: Sean Connolly, Hidden Places of Kent, Travel Publishing Co., 1998, page 118-119.

1831 Topographical Dictionary
Tenterden, a market town and parish within the cinque-port liberties, having separate jurisdiction, though locally in the hundred of Tenterden, lathe of Scray, county of Kent, 18 miles SSE from Maidstone, and 53 SSE from London, containing 3,259 inhabitants. This place, of which the present name appears to be a corruption of Theinwarden, or the ward of Thanes, that is, the guard in the valley, was one of the first places in which the woollen manufacture was established, in the reign of Edward III. It became a scene of opposition to the Church of Rome at an early period, prior to the Reformation, when, in the time of Archbishop Warham, forty-eight inhabitants of the town and its vicinity were publicly accused of heresy, and five of them condemned to be burned. The town stands upon a pleasant eminence, surrounded by some fine plantations of hops: the houses are well built and of respectable appearance. The town-hall was built in 1792, the former having been destroyed by fire, and contains a commodious room occasionally used for public assemblies. The Royal Military canal passes within six miles of the town.

Location: 12 miles SSE of Goudhurst and 17 miles SE of Maidstone. On the A28
National Grid Coordinates:
TQ 885 335

Last Revised: 02 Jan 2015

 

 
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