Challock

Challock, a parish in East Ashford district, Kent;  adjacent to the river Stour and to the Ashford and Canterbury railway, 2-3/4 miles northwest-by-west of Wye rail station, and 5 north-by-east of Ashford.  It has a post office under Ashford and a fair on 8 October.  Real property as of 1860, £2,643. ¹

The property is subdivided.  Eastwell Park, the seat of the Earl of Winchelsea, is on the south.  The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Godmersham, in the diocese of Canterbury.  The church is ancient.  Charities, £5. ¹

The church stands at the boundaries of the hundred of Felborough, part of the church-yard, being in the hundred of Wye. It is said to have been founded by one of the family of Apulderfield, and consists of three isles, a high and a north chancel, having at the west end a tower steeple embattled, with a beacon turret at the south-east corner, in which hang four bells. There are several memorials in this church for the Gyles's, Hawkers, and Thurstans. In the north chancel, on the south side, there is a plain flat tomb, very ancient; and on the north side, a low plain tomb, cos fin-shaped; and on the pavement, an ancient gravestone of the like shape, with five or six letters, in French capitals, remaining on the upper side, but illegible. There has been much good painted glass, as appears by different fragments in the windows. In the north isle still remain the arms of Apulderfield, Ermine, a bend vaire, or, and gules; and in the east window of it a shield, 1st and 4th, Ermine, a bend vaire, or, and gules; second, Azure, fretty, argent; third, Azure, a lion rampant-guardant, double tailed, or. The north chancel is now repaired by the parish. Part of one of the isles is said formerly to have belonged to the Lewknors to repair. In the churchyard are six yew-trees, of a remarkable large size. The lessee of the parsonage now repairs the chancel; but in the endowment of the vicarage, the repair of it was allotted to the vicar. ²

This church being a chapel of ease to that of Godmersham, constitutes a part of that vicarage, though it had a separate endowment, and the vicar of Godmersham is presented and instituted to that church, with the chapel of Challock annexed. It is separated from the jurisdiction of the archdeacon. Archbishop Juxon, in conformity to the king's letters mandatory, anno 15 Charles II. augmented this vicarage with a pension of ten pounds per annum, to be paid by the lessee of the parsonage. The lessee of the parsonage claims all tithes in this parish, (except turnips, hops, potatoes, gardens, and of lands pastured, which belong to the vicar) and are worth to him about twenty-six pounds per annum. There are no tithes payable from woodland in this parish. ²

The parsonage or great tithes of this parish, like that of Godmersham, was parcel of the possessions of the priory of Christ church, in Canterbury, and on the dissolution of it, in the 31st year of king Henry VIII came into the hands of the crown, where it stayed until queen Elizabeth, in her 3rd year, exchanged it, among other premises, with archbishop Parker, when it was valued at £14l 13s. 4d. per annum. Since which it has continued to this time parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury. Mr. John Hilton, of Sheldwich, is the present lessee of it. ³

In 1588 here were communicants one hundred and seventy-seven.  In 1640, only one hundred and twenty. ²

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

² Edward Hasted, ed. and comp.  Parishes: Challock, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 2 (1797), pp. 60-78.

³ Pigot's Directory, 1839

Challock 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 Challock: 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 antient 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