The House from the South 
SHARSTED COURT, KENT 
SEAT OE ALURED FAUNCE DE LAUNE ESO. 
By The Honourable Miss Sackville West 
CHARSBED Court is in the Parish of Dodding- 
^ ton, Kent. Hasted’s “History of Kent” men¬ 
tions the mansion as being in a gloomy, retired 
situation; the Manor of Sharsted being amongst 
the possessions ot Odo, Bishop of Bayeux about the 
year 1080. The seat of the Manor of Sharsted, 
(or as it was anciently called “Shersted,”) is Shar¬ 
sted Court. 
In the time of Edward I. it belonged to Sir Simon 
de Sharsted, who died in the twenty-fifth year of 
that reign and lies buried in the Sharsted Chapel 
attached to Doddington Church. Erom the De 
Sharsted it was sold to the Bonines and again, in 
the reign of Charles I. to Abraham de Eaune, from 
whom it has passed indirectly to the present owner, 
Alured Eaunce de Eaune. As first of his direct 
family Eaunce came here to live about one hun¬ 
dred and sixty years years ago. Through marriage 
with Alured Pincke, a grandson of Sir William de 
Eaune, the family assumed the name of De T/aune 
in accordance with the will of Alured Pincke. T he 
house was replaced about the year 1711. The 
south wing, wTich is small, is supposed to he of the 
time of Henry VHE, hut this is uncertain. It wtis 
restored about twenty-eight vears ago as it had 
fallen into great decay. T he jiresent library was 
once the kitchen, doubtless for convenience when 
the whole family dined above and helow' the salt in 
the Hall. T he old library, which opened from the 
tapestry sitting-room upstairs on the north wdng, 
and stood on arches, was pulled down owing to its 
had state of repair. A portion of the rear of the 
house w'as pulled dowm for the same reason. En¬ 
tirely new" kitchens and servants’ (juarters have been 
recently built and also a ballroom opening from 
the library. The tapestries of the staircase, 
tapestry sitting-room and bedrooms are supposed 
to he Charles 1 . Amongst other things the house 
has thirteen sets of stairs, including a secret stair¬ 
case leading from the tapestry sitting-room to a 
bedroom above. T he hall originally went to the roof, 
hut rooms were added above tw"o hundred years ago. 
T he gardens to a great extent are modern, though 
the South Ciarden has not been altered. All the 
gardens are divided up into different compartments 
and terraces, the dipt yew" hedges, (topiary work), 
being the chief feature, some of them being tw'enty 
feet high. Combined wdth large masses of climbing 
roses and some fine trees, these give a most beauti¬ 
ful effect. 
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