ch. iir. 



KENT. 



69 



KENT. 



Three parks are noticed in the Domes- 

 day Survey in the county of Kent, at 

 Wicheham {Wickhani), EsJedes {Leedes), 

 and Certh [Great Chart), all belonging to 

 the Bishop of Baieux in Normandy, who 

 was half-brother to William the Con- 

 queror and Earl of Kent. At Leedes, the 

 park may still be said to exist, though at 

 present without deer, surrounding the his- 

 torical castle of that name, belonging 

 to Mr. Wickham-Marten, and originally 

 founded by Sir Robert de Crevecoeur, in 

 the early part of the twelfth century. 

 . Lambard, in his ' Perambulation of 

 Kent,' written in 1571, observes of this 

 county : ' Parkes of fallow-deere, and 

 games of gray conyes, it maynteyneth 

 many, the one for pleasure, and the other 

 for profit, as it may wel appeare by this, 

 that within memorie almost the one halfe 

 of the first sorte be disparkedt and the 

 number of warreyns continueth, if it do 

 not increase dayly. As for red-deere and 

 blacke conyes, it nourisheth them not, as 

 having no great walkes of wast grounde 

 for the one, and not tarying the tyme to 

 rayse the gaine by the other; for blacke 

 conyes are kept partly for their skins, 

 which have their season in winter; and 

 Kent, by the nearnesse to London, hath 

 so quicke market of young rabbits, that it 

 killeth this game chiefly in summer.'^ 

 Lambard proceeds afterwards to give a 

 list of Kentish parks, distinguishing those 

 which were at that time disparked ; and 

 which were, Panthyrst, Brasted, Hcnden, 



Hever, Broxam, Wrotham, Ightani, Cage, 

 Postern, Sutton, Langley, A ling ton. Mere-, 

 wood, Lye, Folkston, Stonehyrst, and 

 Oxenhoth, where there had been two 

 parks, now disparked. The parks exist- 

 ing in Lambard's time were, three parks 

 in the south and north frythe, or forest, 

 in the south-western corner of the county, 

 two parks at Otforde, one at Knoll, one 

 at Gromebridge, and at Penshirst, Cool- 

 ing, Byrling, Cobham, Grenewiche, three 

 at Eltham, one at Ashowre, at South- 

 ^arke, Lullingstone, Calekyl, Leedes, S. 

 Ai4gustines, Bedgebury, Westenhanger, 

 Halden, Hamswell, Hungershall, Shor~ 

 land, Stowting, Saltwood, Posting, Ash'* 

 ford, Sissinghirst, and Glassenbury. 



The Royal parks were those of Green- 

 wich and Eltham. The former was founded 

 by license granted by King Henry VL in 

 the eleventh year of his reign (1433), to 

 Humphry Duke of Gloucester and Alia- 

 nor his wife, to crenelate the mansion of 

 his manor of East Greenwich, and to im- 

 park 200 acres of land and pasture ; this 

 license was confirmed by Act of Parlia- 

 mect passed in the fifteenth of the same 

 reign (1436). Hentzner, in his travels in 

 1598, thus mentions Greenwich : — ' Near 

 this palace is the Queen's Park, stocked 

 with deer ; such paries are common 

 throughout England, belonging to those 

 that are distinguished either for their 

 rank or riches. In the middle of this is 

 an old square tower called Mireflevr, 

 supposed to be that mentioned in the 



' Lambard's Perambulation of Kent, p. 9. 



