Canterbury - St. Paul

Canterbury - St. Paul is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Canterbury, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury and in the deanery of Canterbury.  The church is named for St. Paul with Archdeacon's Transcripts commencing 1568.

St. Paul's church is early English; comprises two chancels and two aisles, with a rudely formed square tower; and contains a very curious pillared font, and a tomb of Admiral Rooke.  The living is a vicarage of St. Paul.¹

This church was united with the church and living of St. Martin's in 1681.²

The Canterbury registration district includes St. Paul's parish as well as Longport, which was a borough under the old common law division of the county.¹

An abbey was founded by St. Augustine, outside the walls, in the eastern suburb of Longport. It was designed by him mainly as a mausoleum for bishops and kings; it became the burial place of himself and his successors, and of Ethelbert and his successors; it possessed much grandeur as an edifice, and great wealth and consequence as a monastery; it was always regarded as more sacred and important than the cathedral, till the latter outshone it by means of the glory of A' Becket's shrine; and it competed to the last with the convent of Christ Church in the splendours and fetes of its guest hall. The buildings of it were greatly injured at the Reformation; were, some time after, partly converted into a royal palace; were subsequently given to Lord Woton; were several times damaged by fire and by flood; were eventually degraded to the uses of a brewery; and were purchased, in 1844, by A. J. Beresford Hope, Esq., to give place to a Missionary college. Richard II and his queen were guests in them in their original condition; and Elizabeth, Charles I, Henrietta, and Charles II were in them when a palace. Their guest hall seems to be preserved in the refectory of the Missionary college; but the only other portions of them which remain are some wall fragments of late Norman character, the cemetery gate built in the time of Richard II, and a superb great gateway built in 1287, flanked by two turrets and embattled. A ruined chapel, 31 feet by 21, at the northeast angle of the cemetery, was originally Ethelbert's heathen place of worship; was changed, at his conversion, into a Christian church, dedicated to St. Pancras; and was rebuilt in 1387.¹

The Church

St. Paul's church stands on the south side of the street of that name, within the city liberty, at a small distance without Burgate, in the high road to Deal and Sandwich. It is a small mean building, consisting of two isles and two chancels, having a square tower at the west end, in which hang three bells.

This church, like others in this city, of the patronage of the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, had no particular cemetery or church-yard of its own, but in like manner buried in the common cemetery within the precincts of that abbey; after the dissolution of which, being deprived of that privilege, the parish was obliged to resort for this purpose to the church-yards of other churches in the neighbourhood, until the year 1591, when having purchased a piece of ground on the south side of Longport-street, a faculty was that year obtained for confirming it as the burial place of this parish; as it remains at present.

Prior to 1560, the parishes of St. Andrew, St. Mary Magdalen, and for some time St. Paul buried in the cemetery of St. Augustine's abbey before its' dissolution, these three churches having that abbey's patronage. These three parishes also had the church-yard of St. Mary de Castro's church (of that abbey's patronage likewise) assigned to them in lieu of that cemetery, for the burial of their dead there; a privilege in which St. Mary Bredman's parish did and does now partake of, with the others, but all, or some part at least of the burials there, was received by the poor of Maynard's spittal, who in return for it anciently kept it in repair, and for default, anno 1560, were presented by St. Andrew's; since which the case is altered, each parish jointly keeping in repair the inclosure.

This church was part of the ancient possessions of the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, to which it was appropriated, and a vicarage erected and endowed in it in the year 1268, anno 52 Henry III. by Hugh Mortimer, the archbishop's official, with the consent of the patrons, and of Hamo Doge, then rector of it, who presented, with their consent likewise, Virgil de Alcham, chaplain, to the vicarage of it, who was by the said official instituted canonically to the same; saving nevertheless to Master Hamo, rector of it, and his successors, eight marcs of silver yearly, from the fruits of the vicarage, at the four principal feasts of the year, in equal portions; and that the vicar should pay the procurations of the archdeacon, and should sustain all other ordinary burthens; but that he should have and receive in the name of his vicarage, all obventions, oblations, chance payments, and all other rights to this church, in any manner belonging or appertaining (except grain and beans in the field) according to which, at that time the vicarage was taxed; sealed with the seal of the official's office, anno 1268.

After which, the appropriation and advowson of the vicarage of this church continued with the abbot and convent, till the dissolution of the monastery in the 30th year of king Henry VIII.'s reign, when they came into the king's hands, who soon afterwards, in his 33rd year, settled them by his dotation charter, on his new-founded dean and chapter of Canterbury, who are the present possessors of this appropriation. But since the above time, by the mutual consent of the dean and chapter, and of the archbishop, patron of the adjoining rectory and church of St. Martin, this vicarage of St. Paul was in 1681 united to it; so that the patronage of these united churches is now become alternate in the archbishop, and the dean and chapter, in which state it continues at present.

On the abolition of deans and chapters, at the latter end of king Charles I.'s reign, this rectory appropriate came into the hands of the state, and was surveyed by their order in 1650, when it was returned, that it consisted of the tithes of corn and hay, and other profits belonging to it, estimated to be worth £100 per annum, being then let by the late dean and chapter, anno 1641, to George Best, gent. for twenty-one years, at the yearly rent of five pounds, but that the premises were worth over and above the said rent 97l. and 7d. per annum. (fn. 211) On the restoration in 1660, this parsonage returned again to the dean and chapter, and in 1678 there was a terrier taken of it, by which it appears, that it consisted of the tithes of the farm, then belonging to the earl of Winchelsea, in the occupation of John Sutton, containing by estimation, 120 acres, except the Hoath, which was bought heretofore of Mr. Smith, and was parcel of the manor of Barton; the tithes of twenty acres of wood-land; the tithes of twenty acres of land lying in Moate park, then in the occupation of William Ginder; the tithes of sixteen acres of land, lying within the park, late lord Camden's, and then of Edward Hales, Esq. in the occupation of Wm. Holmes; the tithes of the farm called the Old Park, containing by estimation sixty acres of land, in the occupation of John Sutton; all the residue of the lands within the parish, were parcels of and belonging to the tithery of St. Laurence.

In the year 1594, Andrew Peerson, clerk, prebendary of Canterbury, died possessed of the interest in the lease of the parsonage barn of St. Paul's, commonly called Caldcott barn, with three acres of land about it. George Best, gent. was lessee of this parsonage, as above-mentioned, in 1650. He was owner of the house and estate of St. Laurence adjoining to it, in whose successors, owners of it, the lease of this parsonage continued down to the late lord viscount Dudley and Ward, whose tithery in this parish will be mentioned hereafter, in whose heirs the interest of it remains at this time.

This vicarage was anciently valued at 66s. 8d. only, but on account of the slenderness of its income, was not taxed to the tenth.

It is valued in the king's books at £9 18s. 9d. and the yearly tenths at 19s. 10-1/2d. In 1588 here were one hundred and ninety-six communicants. In 1640 it was valued at forty pounds, the like number of communicants. There is paid to the vicar, by the dean and chapter of Canterbury, in lieu of tithes of land in St. Laurence, £5 per annum, and another £5 as an augmentation of the vicarage.

There is a terrier of the vicarage, dated in 1630, in the registry of the consistory court of Canterbury.

Of the foundation of the hospital of St. Laurence, near this parish, in the year 1137, by Hugh, abbot of St. Augustine's, he granted to it, in alms, inter alia, as part of its endowment, the whole tithe of wheat and peas of all the land, which adjoined to Longport, of their demesne on the left side of the highway which led from Canterbury to Dover, which land was within this parish of St. Paul. These tithes, which consisted of those of the lands that were parcel of the manor of Barton, after the suppression of the hospital, came, with the rest of the revenues of it, into the hands of the several grantees and possessors of it, as are mentioned hereafter, in the account of that hospital, who in succession became possessed of them down to John, viscount Dudley and Ward, and are usually known by the name of St. Laurence tithery; who, though he alienated the mansion of the hospital, with the lands contiguous to it, yet he retained the possession of this tithery, of which he died possessed in 1788, and his heirs are now entitled to it.

In the year 1348, in the visitation of Thomas Bradwardin, archbishop of Canterbury, on a complaint made by Thomas Carlton, vicar of St. Paul's before the archbishop's commissary; that all the small tithes of the manor belonging to the abbot, &c. of St. Augustine, vulgarly called Longport, alias Barton, in St. Paul's, howsoever arising, to the said Thomas, as vicar, had belonged from old time, and ought then to belong, as well of right as custom; and that Thomas Wardrobe, farmer of that manor had, to his great detriment, unjustly withdrawn, and held all manner of tithes of this kind. He therefore sitting to determine the same, and all parties having been summoned and appearing in Christ-church, on Sept. 27, anno 1349, and Richard Scholdon, monk of St. Augustine, and the master of St. Laurence's hospital, having then there produced to him certain muniments, which being diligently inspected and read over, it sufficiently appeared to him, that these tithes wholly belonged to the hospital, and ought in future so to do; he therefore proceeding lawfully in the said matter, at the instance and prayer of the said vicar, dismissed the said Thomas Wardrobe, farmer, as aforesaid, so far as related to the premises. In testimony of which, he had put his seal at Canterbury, on Dec. 10, in the year aforesaid.

Charities

Sir Henry Palmer, of Bekesbourne, by his Will in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, anno 1611, gave 10s to be yearly paid out of his manor of Well-court, to the minister and churchwardens of this parish, towards the relief of the poor of it.

Sir Edward Master, of Canterbury, by his Will in 1690, gave £5 towards the purchasing of a piece of ground for the enlargement of the church-yard, lying in the Borough of Longport, belonging to this parish of St. Paul; to be paid to the churchwardens of it, when they should have procured such piece of ground, adjoining to the church-yard, for that purpose.²

¹ John Marius Wilson, comp.  The Imperial Gazatteer of England and Wales. (London, England: A. Fullerton & Co., 1870).

² Edward Hasted, Canterbury: The churches within the city and suburbs, in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 11 (Canterbury, 1800), pp. 209-288 https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol11/pp209-288.

Canterbury - St. Paul Bibliography

-- various. 'Archaeologia Cantiana'. Publisher: Kent, England: Kent Archaeological Society, various dates.  [Note:  The following volumes can be found on archive.org:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (1876), 11, 12, 13 (1880), 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 34, 35, vol. 1907 supplement.]

• General references to Canterbury - St. Paul: vol. , pp.
• Currently in revision

Great Britain, Public Record Office. 'Calendar of the patent rolls preserved in the Public Record Office--Edward II, Vol. 1. 1307-1313'Each volume has own index. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Great Britain, Public Record Office. 'Inquisitions and assessments relating to feudal aids : with other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office, A. D. 1284-1431', Vol. 3. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Great Britain, Exchequer. 'The book of fees commonly called testa de nevill, pt. 3'. The Book of fees contains information about the holdings of feudal tenants. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Hall, Hubert, 1857-1944. 'The Red book of the Exchequer - Liber rubeus de Scaccario, Vol. 3'. The Red book of the Exchequer was a register intended to preserve important documents comprising charters, statutes of the realm, public acts (Placita), private deeds and ordinances, correspondence. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Glencross, Reginald Morshead. 'Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Vol. 1. 1559-1571'. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Hasted, Edward. 'The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent; Containing the ancient and present state of it, civil and ecclesiastical; collected from public records, and other authorities: illustrated with maps, views, antiquities, etc. The second edition, improved, corrected, and continued to the present time'. 12 volumes. Publisher: Canterbury: Printed by W. Bristow, 1797-1801. URL: British History Online

Hussey, Arthur. 'Notes on the churches in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, mentioned in Domesday book, and those of more recent date'. Publisher: London J.R. Smith,(1852).

Letters, Dr. Samantha. 'Kent', Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 (2005).  URL: British History Online.

Page, William, 1861-1934, ed.. 'The Victoria history of the county of Kent'. Publisher: London: Constable (1908).  URL: British History Online

Sharp, J. E. E. S., ed.. 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward I, File 39', Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 2: Edward I. Published:(1906), pp. 315-323.  URL: British History Online.

Sharp, J. E. E. S., ed.. 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry III, File 45', Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 1: Henry III. Published:(1904), pp. 296-302.  URL: British History Online.

Location of Records

The following list of records is not intended to be exhaustive.  There are many records that are awaiting discovery in archive offices throughout Kent and England.  This list is intended only to set out those records that are available via at least two relatively easy-to-access avenues.  If you have used or discover a record that would be of benefit to other researchers, that is not on this list, please send me an email with the details of the archive - name, address and archival call number.

Census | Church of England | Non-Conformist | Parish chest | Workhouse and Poor Law | Land | Assizes and Sessions | School

Census

Church Records, Church of England

Church Records, Non-Conformist

Parish chest records

Workhouse and Poor Law Records

Land Records

Assizes and Sessions Records
(poor laws, jail terms, oaths, and other municipal and public records)

School Records