THE KENTISH SYSTEM 273 



veys relating to Kentish manors or townships and collected in one 

 volume, the tale, except for an occasional item, is one of enclo- 

 sures.^ A long survey of Northbourn likewise speaks almost 

 entirely of closes.^ All this, however, does not necessarily imply 

 that sixteenth-century closes in Kent formed compact estates, 

 as one might at first infer. 



All Souls College, as owner of several Kentish estates, had maps 

 of them made in the years 1 589-1 593. On the maps of the prop- 

 erties which lay in and about Romney Marsh, the parcels, both 

 large and small, appear as plats rather then open-field strips and 

 for the most part were consolidated.^ With two manors which 

 were situated near the mouth of the Medway in the northern part 

 of the county the case was different. The manor of Horsham, in 

 the villages of Upchurch, Alteram, and Ham, lay to some extent 

 intermixed with other properties, and this characteristic is pro- 

 nounced in the plan of a manor at Newington,^ reproduced in the 

 accompanying sketch. 



Such lack of contiguity between the parcels of a holding as is 

 shown in these instances suggests an earUer system not charac- 

 terized by consolidation. That sixteenth-century closes were 

 sometimes of recent origin is clear from an account of the manor 

 of Westcourt or Sibertswold, which, it is said, consisted of 

 demesnes and services. " The demesnes lye contiguously to 

 another and they are all now in Enclosures "; the services were 

 due from some 420 acres in sixteen closes, " for the most part 

 lately made." ^ Although, according to a long survey, the 

 manor of Eltham consisted largely of closes, there are ref- 

 erences to an East field in which seven tenants still held parcels 

 containing from \ acre to 2 acres each.^ 



^ Land Rev., M. B. 196, 6 Jas. I. The exceptional items tell us, for example, 

 that at Faversham were 8 acres of arable " in communi campo vocato le Abbey 

 wrongs," and at Shoreham i^ acres of arable " in communi campo vocato Shorham 

 hill" (ff. 116, 1 1 76). 



2 Stowe MS. 858, 6 Jas. I. There is, however, mention of one acre and ten 

 poles " in communi campo vocato Ashley field " (f. 39). 



' All Souls Typus Collegii, iii, maps 8-14. 



* Ibid., maps i (Horsham), 4 (Newington). 



« Exch. K. R., M. B. 40, f. 7 (1616). 



6 Exch. K. R., M. B. 44, ff. 406-506 (1605). 



